Yair's yummy breakfast 2 - Halloumi on toast with capers
Of course neither of these breakfasts have to be breakfast. But they do make a perfect late breakfast or brunch on the weekend.
Ingredients - per person (I've given quantities for 1 slice - but one slice is never enough)
1 slice of good bread (sour dough for preference)
4 slices of halloumi
Enough slices of a good tomato to cover the bread
1/s tsp chopped fresh chilli (red or green)
2 tsps of chopped capers
1 tsp chopped coriander
Olive oil
Pre heat the grill
Lightly toast the bread and sprinkle with olive oil. Then sprinkle on the chilli and coriander and lay on the sliced tomato. Season.
Next lay on the slices of halloumi and grill until golden
Finally sprinkle with the chopped capers and a bit of coriander if you have any left
enjoy
Yair's yummy breakfast 1 - shakshuka
Shakshuka is a North African dish brought to Israel by Sephardi Jews. It’s a fantastic weekend brunch dish.
Ingredients – for 2
1 small onion finely chopped
1/2 small red pepper finely chopped
1 large clove garlic finely chopped
1 small red chilli finely chopped
handful parsley finely chopped
1 large chopped beef tomato (skinned and finely chopped)
2 eggs
Add olive oil to a frying pan and heat gently. Then add the onion and fry gently until soft and a bit translucent. Add the garlic, pepper, chilli, half of parsley and tomato - cook on a low heat until soft but not dry for about 15 to 20 minutes – add a bit of extra olive oil if necessary. After this time add a tablespoon of tom puree and mix well. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Then break two eggs into the mix in let them cook until white is firm. Sprinkle over the rest of the parsley and serve with pitta bread or turkish bread.
For my daughters
This is for the both of you.
At last, I promise I'll write down those recipes that both of you have been asking me to.
Can't work out how to do an index - so this'll have to do
January - soups
February - Starters
March - Salads
April - Meat
May - Fish
June - Puddings
July - Cakes
August - Preserving
September - Apero
Recipe for creme de cassis - Blackcurrant liquer
Creme de Cassis is a delicious blackcurrant liquer. Most often it's used in Kir. Creme de Cassis topped up with white wine, or for KirRoyale with champagne.
It's relatively easy to make and this year we had a chance to make our own in Marcillac.
We picked the blackcurrants in Josette's garden and followed her recipe.
How to make creme de cassis
Mash the blackcurrants in a vegetable mill and put in a large container. For every 1 kl of blackcurrants add 1 litre red wine.
Leave the mixture for up to 5 days in a cool place.
Then strain the mixture through muslin laid in a colander into a cooking pot. Make sure you get every bit of juice out of the muslin by giving it a good squeeze. Add 1 kl of sugar per litre of juice you've extracted and bring the mixture to a boil. Take off the heat as soon as it reaches a boil. The smell in the kitchen at this point was wonderful.
At this stage you can bottle the liquid and what you'll have is blackcurrant syrup, which can be drunk diluted with water. If you want to make Creme de Cassis add a glass of tequila for every litre of blackcurrant syrup you've made. Tequila has very little flavour which is why it can be used. If you can get to a French supermarket you can buy 'Alcohol for Fruit' which is specially made for this kind of thing, and much cheaper.
We picked 3 and half kilos of blackcurrants and ended up with 2 bottles of syrup and 7 of blackcurrant liquer - Creme de Cassis. Apparently, it will be at its best in 3 years time!! Small chance of the bottles lasting that long.
Yemenite Charoset
Y and I celebrated Passover with his family in Israel this year. His brother made the charoset for the Seder plate. This is very different to the Charoset we used to have for Passover meals, more spicy and very delicious. Before eating the maror — usually horseradish or lettuce — you dip the maror into the charoset and then shake off the charoset before eating the maror. This action symbolises how hard the Israelites worked in Egypt, combining a food that brings tears to the eyes (the maror) with one that resembles the mortar used to build Egyptian cities and
storehouses (the charoset).
As well as its symbolism, the charoset is lovely spread on matzo.
Ingredients 300 gms dates
300 grms raisins
100 grms dry figs
100 grms almonds
100 grms walnuts
200 grms sesame seeds (dry roast first)
20 grms cumin
10 grms cinammon
10 grms ginger
the seeds of 3 cardomom
black pepper to taste
Grind all the ingredients finely - separate first and then together to make a paste. If it's too dry add a little sweet wine, or grape juice
Hag Semer
Recipe for Raspberry liquer - Creme de Framboise
Follow the recipe for creme de cassis below, but use white wine or rose when you are macerating the raspberries.
Yemenite beef stew with mint
Y cooked this for us. It's a recipe his parents cooked, both of whom were Sephardi Jews who came from the Yemen. It has very few ingredients but is fantastically flavourful. Serve with some rice or naan bread.
2 lbs (1k) stewing beef in cubes
tblspoon oil
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
3 cardomom pods slightly crushed
cup of chopped mint
1 and half cups of chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in a large pan and fry the onion for a few minutes until translucent. Add garlic and cook for a couple of minutes more. Then add the beef and the spices, stir well and cook until the meat is very lightly browned. Add the mint and parsley, stir well and cover with a tight fitting lid. Cook for 1 and half to 2 hours or until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened enough to coat the meat - Stirring every now and again during cooking.
The stew creates its own juice during the cooking.
Coarse French country pate
Every 2 or 3 years Simone, who is 86, makes fantastic pork pate from a recipe passed down from her mother. The pate is always made in house in Marcillac and that feels right. It's definitely a country pate, robust and full of flavour. Delicious on good bread with a few cornichon and a glass of wine (or two)
The first step is to buy the onion, garlic and parsley and take it to Ritout, the village butcher, who minces them in with the meat ready for the next stage.
When we were ready to fill the jars we collected an ancient old 'sterilizateur' from Simone's niece Josette and boiled gallons of water in the 'cave' under the house.
Once the jars were sterilised Simone filled them. The only frustrating thing with this entire process is that the pate can't be eaten for a minimum of 4 months.
Ingredients
2 kg shoulder of pork (and a bit of neck) minced 200g pork liver minced
2 large onions chopped
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1 bunch of parsley chopped
2 to 3 glasses of dry white wine
45gms salt
pepper (liberal amount)
1 glass of cognac
as much black truffle as you can afford (we used 2 x 30g jars)
Mix the meat, liver, garlic, onions and parsley with the salt, pepper and white wine and leave it to marinade overnight.
The next day add the cognac and truffles and mix again.
Sterilise the jars with boiling water and fill (the amount above filled 17 small jars) and seal.
Put the jars in a steriliser (or large pan, weighted down so that they remain under the water).
Boil for 2 hours and then leave them in the steriliser to get cold.
Leave for a minimum of 3 to 4 months before eating.
Orange and Almond Cake
A no flour cake - I have had a lot of praise for this cake. It's really worth trying and pretty simple to make. It's great on day one and improves over the next couple of days
Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees
Ingredients6 eggs, separated
240g caster sugar
230g ground almonds
finely grated zest of 4 oranges
juice of 4 oranges
juice of 1 lemon
For the syrup
1 tablespoon of orange flower water
caster sugar to taste
MethodPreheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Line the bottom and sides of a 23cm spring-form tin with greaseproof paper.
Keep one tablespoon of caster sugar for later amd beat the rest of the 240g caster sugar together with the egg yolks until pale and frothy. Then mix in the almonds and zest.
Beat the egg whites with the retained tablespoon of caster sugar until stiff and then fold gently into the egg mixture trying not to knock out the air.
Carefully put the mixture into the lined tin, place on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for about 50 to 60 minutes until the cake is golden on top and firm to the touch.
While the cake is baking, make the orange syrup. Place the orange juice and, if using, the lemon juice into a saucepan together with the orange flower water and sugar to taste. Bring this gently to the boil and simmer for about five minutes. Taste – the syrup should be quite tart. Allow to cool then place in the fridge.
When the cake is ready, remove it from the oven and allow to cool before opening the spring-form tin. Transfer it to a plate and pierce holes in the top (a skewer works well). Soak about up to about half of the syrup into the cake. Serve the remaining syrup in a jug. Often, though, the cake is moist enough without the extra juice.
Boiled fruit cake
This is the easiest cake to make and always comes out right.
Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees
Ingredients
500 gms mixed fruit
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
125 gms butter
Put all the above ingredients in a large pan. Bring to the boil and then let it simmer for 5 minutes
Allow to cool then add
1 cup plain flour
1 cup self raising flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon mixed spice
2 eggs
Mix all the ingredients well with a spoon then put in a buttered cake or loaf tin.
Cook for 1 hour
