Balsamic Roasted Figs with Burrata & Prosciutto

November 19, 2023November 19, 2023 Belinda

Sweet & spicy balsamic roasted figs with burrata cheese and prosciutto, served with toasted bread alongside

Serves 6-8
1lb fresh black figs, stemmed + halved*
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Calabrian chili peppers (crushed in oil)
1 tbsp honey, plus more for serving
Kosher salt
½ cup pecans
1lb burrata cheese
flaky sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper
3 oz thinly sliced prosciutto
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
olive oil, as needed
toasted bread, for serving

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Add the halved figs, balsamic vinegar, Calabrian chilis, honey, and a pinch of salt to a mixing bowl. Gently toss to combine and set aside.
Line a sheet pan with a piece of foil. Add the pecans in an even layer. Place the pan in the oven and toast the pecans for about 6 minutes, or until fragrant. Transfer them to a cutting board (reserve the foil-lined sheet pan) and roughly chop them.
Set the oven to high-broil. Place the figs onto the sheet pan, cut-side facing up. Pour any remaining balsamic mixture over top. Broil for 4-5 minutes, or until caramelized.
Tear the burrata into large pieces and arrange it on a platter. Season with a pinch of flaky sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Arrange the prosciutto and figs over top.
Garnish with the fresh thyme. Drizzle the dish with olive oil and extra honey. Serve the toasted bread alongside.
notes

*Figs are typically in season from the end of August to November. Sometimes, figs at a grocery store won’t be fully ripened (similar to stone fruit) and can be firm, dry, and fairly tasteless. It’s important to find ripe figs that are soft to the touch.

Do-ahead

A do-ahead dinner party from my blog

October 28, 2023October 28, 2023 Belinda

Tomorrow I am doing a no-stress-do-ahead dinner party with all recipes from my blog. Two of our guests are Pescatarian so I decided to have some grilled prawns as one of the appetizers, but the main course is vegetarain.

I make a bulk amount of the eggplant parmesan dishes and freeze them before baking, therefore I only have to pull one out of the freezer, defrost it and bake it on the day.
The roasted nuts, I always have in large glass jars, the prawns and Peruvian sauce I can make 1-2 days ahead of time and the goat cheese starter can be made up to 3-4 days ahead.

The Spanakopita can also be prepped the day before and baked on the day.

Of course the ice cream can be made up to a week in advance and the lemon-lime possets can be made the day before.

The only thing you need to make on the day is the salad! I hope this is helpful and as long as you plan ahead this is a breeze!

The menu
With drinks
Chipotle and rosemary roasted nuts
Grilled prawns with Spicy Peruvian green sauce
Marinated goat cheese with ginger, basil, garlic and orange zest

Main Course
My ultimate eggplant Parmigiana
Phyllo cheese and spinach pie (Spanakopita)
Brussels sprouts salad with hazelnuts, dates and apple

Dessert
Lemon and lime possets
Curry ice cream with mango and pistachio

Chipotle and rosemary roasted nuts

Aji Verde (Spicy Peruvian Green Sauce)

Marinated goat cheese with ginger, basil, garlic and orange zest

My ultimate Eggplant Parmigiana

Spanakopita (Spinach filo pie)

Shredded Brussels sprout salad with hazelnuts, dates and apple

Lemon and lime posset

Spiced mango and pistachio ice cream

Betty Crocker baked custards

September 25, 2023September 25, 2023 Belinda

These smooth and creamy custards are delicious and easy. I prefer to serve them cold and they’re great to make ahead, served with some stewed fruit.

3 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 – 1 tsp good quality vanilla extract
Dash of salt
2 1/2 cups very warm milk (120°F to 130°F)
Ground fresh nutmeg

Heat oven to 350°F.
In medium bowl, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt with wire whisk or fork. Gradually stir in milk. Pour into six 6-oz custard cups. Sprinkle with nutmeg.
Place cups in 13 x 9-inch pan on oven rack. Pour very hot water into pan to within 1/2 inch of tops of cups.
Bake about 45 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Remove cups from water.
Cool about 30 minutes. Unmold and serve warm, or (as I prefer) refrigerate and unmold before serving.
Store covered in refrigerator.

It’s lovely serving these with some stewed fruit.

Uncategorized

Spiced Ginger Shrimp With Burst Tomatoes

September 19, 2023September 19, 2023 Belinda

Serves 2-3

About 1½ tsp aromatic spice blend, such as garam masala, Baharat, five-spice, curry powder, or a mild chili powder blend, plus more to taste
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced or finely grated
5 scallions, thinly sliced, greens and whites separated
¾ tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
¼ tsp black pepper
1lb extra-large shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup small (or halved large) cherry tomatoes, preferably yellow Sungold tomatoes
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Fresh lime juice
½ cup fresh mint leaves, torn or roughly chopped

Step 1
In a medium bowl, combine spice blend, ginger, garlic, scallion whites, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add shrimp and toss well. Heat a large skillet over high heat, then add the oil. Add the tomatoes and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook until the whole tomatoes burst and the halved ones start to wrinkle, about 2 minutes.

Step 2
Add shrimp mixture and sauté for another 2 to 4 minutes, turning the shrimp, until they are pink all over.

Step 3
Gently stir in butter and cook for another minute, until the shrimp are cooked through. Remove from heat and add a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Taste and add more salt and spices, if needed. Garnish with mint and scallion greens and serve immediately.

TIP
If your spice blend is heavy on the chiles, you might want to cut back by ¼ to ½ teaspoon; you can always add more to taste just before serving.

Appetizer Vegetarian · Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Sauces

Cacik (Turkish yoghurt and cucumber)

September 12, 2023 Belinda

Cacik is one of the simplest Turkish meze dishes to put together. No cooking, just assembly. It’s a creamy, refreshing and healthy side dish that pairs with just about anything. An essential for any Mediterranean-style dinner party spread.

1 cup Greek yoghurt plain
1 cucumber about 300g(deseeded then grated)
1 bunch dill about 50g (finely chopped)
1 garlic clove minced
salt and pepper
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
pinch sumac for garnish

Cut the cucumber in half and then using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and discard.
Coarsely grate the cucumber and then wrap in a clean tea towel. Squeeze out the excess water (keep the liquid and use, added to water for a refreshing drink with lemon. or add a little to a gin and tonic!)
Place the cucumber in a bowl and mix in the yoghurt, dill, garlic, salt & pepper, extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.
Decant to a bowl and then drizzle over a little extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with a little black pepper and sumac.

Notes
Cacik complements a wide range of dishes, including grilled meat, seafood, and rice-based dishes like Chicken Pilaf.
Perfect Meze Companion: When preparing vegetable meze recipes, cacik serves as an excellent accompaniment. Simply provide ample bread or raw vegetables for dipping and scooping.
Fridge Storage: Keep cacik covered in the fridge, where it remains fresh for 2-3 days. Avoid freezing, as it tends to become watery upon defrosting. Freshness is key!

Fish · Sauces

Salmon with fennel puree

September 9, 2023September 9, 2023 Belinda

This fennel puree is quite stunning and well worth making. I think you could use many different varieties of fish with it, but I tend to use salmon as it’s easy to get

SERVES 6

FOR THE FENNEL PURÉE
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 tsp fennel seeds
1/3 tsp ground fennel seeds
2 pinches dried chilli flakes
2 medium onions, peeled and finely sliced
4 large fennel bulbs, trimmed and thinly sliced, with green fronds reserved
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
250ml dry white wine
150ml double cream
1–2tbsp lemon juice

FOR THE SALMON
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
6 thick salmon fillets, skin on, about 175g each

TO SERVE
1 lemon, quartered
Baby potatoes and a green salad

Step 1
To make the fennel purée, heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the fennel seeds, ground fennel, chili flakes, onions and 1 tsp salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions start to soften.

Step 2
Add the sliced fennel and cook for another 35 -45 minutes, stirring often, until it has softened and is starting to caramelize in places. Add the garlic and white wine, turn up the heat and cook until the wine has evaporated.

Step 3
Pour in the cream and bubble away for a few minutes more to thicken, then tip into a blender, add 2–3 tsp of the lemon juice and purée until smooth. Taste and adjust the salt and lemon (you may need only a little more lemon juice or twice as much, depending on the acidity of the wine), then add a few grindings of black pepper. Put to one side and keep warm.

Step 4
To cook the salmon, heat 4 tbsp oil in a large non-stick frying pan until it starts to shimmer. Season the salmon fillets well on both sides with salt and lemon pepper and add to the pan, skin side down. Leave to cook over a low-medium heat for 4–5 minutes, until the skin is crisp (check after a couple of minutes to make sure the skin is not burning), then turn the fillets over and cook for 1–2 minutes more, until cooked most of the way through, but still a little pink in the middle.

Step 5
To serve, spoon a mound of purée on to six plates and place a fillet on top of each one. Drizzle with more olive oil, scatter with the reserved fennel fronds and add a turn of black pepper.
Serve with lemon quarters for squeezing, buttered baby potatoes and a simply dressed salad.

Dairy-free · Fish · Gluten Free

Buttered Salmon with Red Onion, Capers and Dill

September 7, 2023September 7, 2023 Belinda

Recipe by Alison Roman

“While salmon really is the best fish for this dish (the cooking method, the flavor profile, the whole thing), other proxies like trout and Arctic char would also work well here for their comparable fattiness.
To serve it, I just use a large spoon and scoop out large hunks of it (as in, no need to “slice” or cut into even portions). The more rustic and wild, the better.

Serves 4

1 lemon
2lbs (907 g) skin-on salmon fillet (if you can only find skinless, that’s okay)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tbsp (90 ml) unsalted butter
¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
½ small red onion, sliced into very thin rings, divided
2-3 tbsp (30 ml) brined capers, drained
1 cup (250 ml) fresh dill (you can use parsley if you absolutely refuse to use dill)
2 tbsp (30 ml) toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325° F (163° C). Thinly slice half the lemon and remove any seeds; save the other half for juicing.

Place the salmon skin side down on a baking sheet or in a large baking dish and season with salt and pepper.

Heat the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, swirling occasionally, until the butter has started to brown, 2-3 minutes. Add the olive oil, sliced lemon and half the onion. Season with salt and pepper and cook, tossing occasionally, until the lemon and onion have started to brown and frizzle, 2-3 minutes (you’re looking for a kind of crisped rather than softened and caramelized). Add the capers and let them pop and fry a minute or two.

Pour the brown butter-lemon mixture over the salmon. Place it in the oven and roast until just cooked through but still medium rare inside, 12-15 minutes; the flesh will more translucent, less opaque. Remove from the oven and transfer to a serving dish.

Meanwhile, toss together the dill and sesame seeds, if using, in a medium bowl. Give a squeeze from the halved lemon and season with salt and pepper. Scatter on top of the salmon, along with the remaining sliced onion.

Appetizers · Dairy-free · Fish

Rosé Shrimp

August 30, 2023August 30, 2023 Belinda

Recipe by Eric Kim for the NY Times

“This zippy, pink shrimp dish captures the crisp and flowery flavors of rosé wine in just 20 minutes. A dusting of herbes de Provence, bloomed in hot, shrimpy olive oil, amplifies the savoriness that crustaceans cooked in butter and wine tend to provide, like that of shrimp scampi. Piment d’Espelette — the fruity, moderately spiced pepper named after a commune in France and prevalent in Basque cooking — turbocharges the color and flavor of the shrimp. This chili can be swapped in a pinch, but don’t skip the orange zest; it brings out the wine’s inherent fruitiness. Serve this dish as an appetizer with crusty bread, or as an entrée with pasta or white rice, whatever can sop up the rosy pan juices.”

Serves 4
1 lb extra-large peeled and deveined shrimp
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp herbes de Provence
½ tsp piment d’Espelette, plus more for garnish
1½ cups dry rosé wine
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
¼ cup unsalted butter (½ stick)
Orange zest, for serving

Step 1
On a plate, season the shrimp with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Heat a large skillet over medium-high and add the oil. Lay the shrimp down in a single layer and cook on the first side, undisturbed, until rosy around the edges, 1 to 2 minutes, then flip and continue cooking, about 30 seconds. Transfer to the plate. (The shrimp will still be gray in spots at this point, but it will continue to cook in the sauce later.)

Step 2
Stir the herbes de Provence and piment d’Espelette into the hot, shrimpy oil until fragrant, just a few seconds. Add the rosé and brown sugar. Raise the heat to high to bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until glossy and reduced by three-quarters, about 10 minutes.

Step 3
Off the heat, add the butter, stirring constantly until melted. Toss the shrimp in the hot, buttery sauce, then let sit until cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed. Top with freshly grated orange zest and a final sprinkle of piment d’Espelette. Serve immediately.

TIP
You can easily find piment d’Espelette, or Espelette pepper, online as well as in many supermarkets and specialty spice stores. Its sunny flavor is worth seeking out for this particular dish, but gochugaru, Aleppo pepper and red-pepper flakes, though different in taste, are all adequate substitutions.

Appetizer Vegetarian · Do-ahead

Turkish beet and yoghurt dip

August 29, 2023 Belinda

Recipe from food blog, “Cook Eat World”

This vibrant and beautiful bright pink dip is an essential at any Turkish-inspired meze table. A light, sweet, earthy and incredibly addictive dip.

8 oz beets (225g) pre cooked or raw
2 tbsp plain Greek-style yoghurt
Salt & pepper
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp ground roasted cumin
2 tbsp fresh dill (chopped)
2 tbsp fresh parsley (chopped)

Place cooked beets in a food processor, along with all the other ingredients. Blend for 1-2 minutes until very smooth.
Spread over a platter or shallow bowl
Mix a little extra yoghurt with a little milk to make it more runny then drizzle over the surface of the dip.
Sprinkle liberally with the herbs then drizzle over a little extra virgin olive oil and some black pepper. That’s it, you’re done.
If cooking the beets from raw
Preheat oven to 400F/200ºC.
Trim the stalks and wrap each beet in foil separately – skin on and place on a baking tray. Bake in the oven for 45-60 minutes until the beets are soft through (pierce with a sharp knife). Unwrap the foil and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
Cover your hands in a plastic bag, or wear rubber gloves and peel the beets. The skin should come away very easily. Leave to cool completely before using.
Notes
Extra flavor – Sprinkle this salad with a little feta cheese for a perfect salty counterbalance to the sweet, earthy beets.
A tasty salad dressing – Dollop a little of this dip over a platter of peppery rocket leaves or watercress and top with some lightly roasted walnuts or pine nuts for a simple, flavoursome salad.
Make a yellow dip – yellow beets will make a delicious alternative to red.
Storage
Fridge – You can keep this dip fresh in the fridge for up to 4 days. Be sure to store it in an airtight container.
Freezer – This salad is best eaten fresh, but will freeze for up to 2 months. Be sure to completely defrost before using. For better flavour, bring up to room temperature.