watermelon and feta
This is the perfect salad for a hot day. Cool and refreshing, a beautiful combination of the sweet and the salty.
Ingredients
1/4 fresh watermelon
1/2 green chilli
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
1 -2 heads of Little Gem Lettuce
150 g feta
4 sprigs of fresh oregano
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Method
Cut the watermelon flesh away from the skin and chopped into large cubes. Put the watermelon in the fridge and keep it there until the last minute at as it needs to be eaten cold.
It’s a chilly really finally we leave the seating but if you prefer a more mellow cake shake them out place in a small bowl or jug and covered with the Olive Oyl and lemon juice. Set aside until serving.
Pull the letter support and wash the leaves in cold water. Drain or dry in a salad spinner.
Scatter the watermelon over the lettuce, then break the feta up into chunks (about half the size of the watermelon cubes) and dot them all over. Pick the leaves off the oregano sprigs and scatter them over the top. Finally, just before serving, sprinkle everything with salt and pepper and spoon over the chilli oil.
Serve immediately.
Delicious.
Reference: Honey and Co Food from the Middle East. Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich. Page 131.
Peach, goats cheese and roasted almonds
another salad from this wonderful recipe book
Serves 3-4 as a starter
- 1 round lettuce (the soft-leaved one), broken into leaves and washed
- 3 flat white peaches (such as doughnut or Saturn peach), each cut into 8 segments
- 4 oz/120g soft rindless goats’ cheese
- 1/3 cup/50g roasted almonds, roughly chopped
- 4-5 sprigs of cilantro, picked
- a touch of sea salt
- a pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Dressing
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp orange blossom water
- 1/2 tsp Demerara sugar
- a pinch of salt
Arrange the soft lettuce leaves as a base on a serving plate, then top with the peaches, goats’ cheese, almonds, and cilantro leaves. Sprinkle with a touch of sea salt and grind a little black pepper over the top.
Shake the dressing ingredients around in a small jar or airtight container, then spoon over the entire salad.
We ate this as a whole meal polished off between the two of us. Delicious – sweet and creamy.
Feta and spring onion bouikos
Saturday morning, I got up early and took a bike ride around the Roding Valley. I have started an August active challenge committing to some sort of activity every day for the next month. I’m not sure they include cooking and baking but it was the stimulus for me this morning to bake these little snacks I’ve been looking at for the past few days since I’ve acquired this wonderful cookbook.
It’s an outrageously simple recipe to make. It takes less than 20 minutes to cook and then they’re done. Easy peasy baking.
Ingredients
50g cold butter
40g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
40g feta, crumbled
100g plain flour
a pinch of salt
50ml sour cream
½ teaspoon nigella seeds
2 spring onions, chopped
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200˚C and line a baking tray with parchment.
- Cut the cold butter into dice-sized small cubes, and prepare the cheeses.
- In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, or by hand, combine all the ingredients until just combined. Be careful not to overwork the mixture.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and pat down to a rough rectangle 2-3cm thick. Cut the dough into triangles using a lightly floured knife. Do this by cutting the dough twice lengthways. Then slice across three times, and cut each rectangle diagonally to make triangles.
- Place on the baking tray and bake for 10 minutes. Turn the tray around, reduce the oven to 180˚C and bake for a further 6-8 minutes, or until golden.
- Serve hot or cooled. They are best eaten the same day.
These didn’t last the whole day. They are absolutely delicious.
Tomato, sumac and garlic toasts
My two very good friends from medical school bought me a recipe book (Sabrina Ghayour – Bazaar) and my mother bought me another recipe book (Honey & Co – Food From the Middle East) as birthday gifts. I am a very happy woman.
I have decided that I am quite interested in exploring Middle Eastern cuisine. The presentation, tastes and flavours are quite something. I’m hoping to recreate this in my home as while we won’t be dining out for a while.
So I thought I would start with a little snack not dissimilar to bruschetta. It was very easy to make. I did not have Greek yoghurt or labneh so I used sour cream instead.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 large ciabatta, cut into 12 slices
- 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, peeled
- 4 large, ripe vine tomatoes, very finely chopped
- 1 small red onion, very finely chopped
- 2 tsp sumac, plus extra to garnish
- 1 small packet (about 15g) of fresh coriander, finely chopped (reserve some for garnish) Olive oil
- 4 heaped tbsp labneh or thick Greek yogurt
- Maldon sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
- Chargrill the bread in a griddle pan on both sides or use a toaster. Lightly rub the surface of each slice with the raw garlic.
- Mix the tomatoes, onion, sumac and coriander in a bowl. Add a little drizzle of olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.
- Divide the tomato mixture between the toasts, spreading it across the surface of each piece. Top each with a teaspoon of labneh or yogurt and garnish each with a little pinch of sumac, the reserved coriander and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve immediately.
Delicious.
Reference:
Bazaar by Sabrina Ghayour page 14
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/recipes/0/sumac-tomato-garlic-toasts-labneh-recipe/
