A friend of mine recently loaned me her copy of ‘Ottolenghi The Cookbook’, a book that anyone who is serious about food, flavour and adventure – should have a copy of. The book is written by Yotam Ottolenghi who along with his business partner Sami Tamimi opened a small shopfront in Notting Hill that took London and now world-wide food lovers by storm. Soon after returning Michelle’s copy I bought my own which I treasure as part of my weekly menu planning, along with ‘From Tapas to Meze’ by Joanne Weir, ‘French Bistro Cooking’ by Patricia Wells and ‘Moorish’ by Greg Malouf.
Last weekend, armed with my copy of Ottolenghi and some beautiful wines that my long weekend buddy brought along, I cooked exclusively from his cookbook. Below are the three dishes out of the six that I cooked that really were above and beyond either of our expectations. And made our Sunday afternoon and evening a very flavoursome memory! It wasn’t that the others weren’t enjoyable at all, I’ll tell you about them at a later date though.
I need to preface this also by saying that you really must follow the order and quantities of his recipes, don’t try and get clever – it will end in tears!
Etti’s Herb Salad
This was my dish of the day. I love herb salads and the simultaneous complexity and elegance of this dish was second to none. This does require you though to focus and coordinate your timing so as it gets to the table, perfectly.
35g coriander leaves
40g flat leaf parsley leaves
20g dill leaves
35g tarragon leaves
30g basil leaves
40g rocket leaves
50g unsalted butter
150g unskinned almonds
1/2 tsp course sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
Gently immerse the herbs leaves in cold water, being careful not to bruise them. Drain in a colander and then in a salad spinner (or by spreading them over a dry cloth)
Heat the butter in a frying pan and add the almonds, salt and pepper. Saute for 5-6 minutes over a low to moderate heat until the almonds are golden. Transfer to a colander to drain – making sure that you keep the butter that’s left in the pan. Leave it somewhere warm so as it doesn’t set. Once the almonds are cool enough to touch, chop them roughly.
To assemble the salad, place the herbs in a large bowl. Add the almonds, cooking butter, lemon juice and olive oil. Toss together gently and season to taste before serving.
Seared duck breasts with blood orange and star anise
This was a stunning dish. If you can’t get your hands on blood oranges as they are only in season for a short time, use mandarins instead.
Serves 4
4 ducks breasts, weighing 180-200g each. If you can get either Muscovy or Pekin Aylesbury duck breasts, these are ideal.
2 tbsp fennel seeds
pinch dried chilli flakes
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp coarse sea salt
240ml blood orange juice (from about 4 oranges) plus 4 extra oranges
180ml red wine
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
16 star anise
6 dried chillies
Score the skin of each duck breast in three or four parallel incisions, without cutting into the meat. Repeat this process at a 90° angle to the other cuts to get square shaped incisions. Mix the fennel seeds, chilli flakes, cumin, black pepper and salt together then rub them into the duck breasts with your hands. Place on a plate, cover and put them in the fridge for at least four hours, but better if it’s overnight.
To prepare the oranges, use a small sharp knife to cut the top and bottom off each orange. Stand them up on your board and neatly (and slowly) follow the natural curves of each orange. Cut each orange horizontally into 6 slices. Remove the pips and put all the pieces into a bowl and set aside.
It’s now time to sear the duck. Thoroughly heat a large heavy based frying pan (make sure it has a lid). Place the duck breasts, skin side down, and cook for three minutes, until the skin is golden brown and crisp. Turn over and cook the other side for three minutes. Remove the breasts from the pan and let them rest in warm place. Discard most of the duck fat from the pan and add the wine, orange juice, vinegar and star anise. Bring to the boil and simmer 5-6 minutes until reduced by half. Taste and season if necessary. Return the duck breasts to the pan and cost with the sauce. Cover with the lid and simmer gently for 7 minutes
Take the dried chillies, orange slices and any additional juice and place closely to the breasts in the pan, continue simmering for 3 minutes. At this stage, the breasts will be medium rare. Remove the duck breasts and place on a board and allow to rest 3-4 minutes. Check the sauce again and season again if necessary. Slice each breast at an angle into pieces that are 1cm thick and place on serving plates. Pick some of the orange segments from the pan and place on the plate next to the sliced breast. Gently spoon over the top of the breasts and serve the rest on the side.
We loved this dish! Etti’s Herb Salad was a great accompaniment, as was the fennel salad below.
Fennel and feta with pomegranate seeds and sumac
In its purest form, this salad is just a festival of colour and flavour. It’s crisp, aromatic and over delivers in all its sensory pleasures, especially the heady fragrance of tarragon and fennel together.
1/2 pomegranate
2 medium fennel bulbs
1.5 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sumac, plus extra to garnish
juice of half lemon
4 tbsp tarragon leaves
2 tbsp roughly chopped flat leaf parsely
70g of good quality Greek feta cheese, sliced
salt and pepper
Start by releasing the pomegranate seeds, The best way to do this is the halve the fruit along it’s belly then hold one half with the seeds facing your palm and start hitting the back of the fruit with a wooden spoon. Be careful not to hit too hard so as you don’t bruise the fruit.
Remove the leaves from the fennel, keeping a few to garnish the salad later. Trim the base, making sure that you leave enough of it still attached to hold the slices together. Slive very thinly (a mandolin is very handy to do this).
In a bowl, mix the olive oil, sumac, lemon juice, herbs and some salt and pepper. Add the fennel and toss well. Taste for seasoning remembering that the feta will add saltiness.
Layer the fennel, then the feta and the pomegranate seeds into your serving dish. Garnish with fennel leaves, sprinkle over some sumac and serve.
