Baba Ghanoush

Baba Ghanoush is an Arabic dish. It's made from roasted aubergine (egg plant to you American types) and seasonings and is so simple. Unfortunately it's one of those foods that isn't particularly photogenic (the fading light didn't help either). I apologise for that but it is amazingly tasty.



I don't have specific quantities for this one as the seasonings you add will depend on your personal taste and the size of aubergine you are using. It's open to a wide range of variation and I've shared some of these in the links below.

I used
1 medium aubergine
Lemon juice
Plenty of salt and pepper
1tbsp of tahini
A small clove of crushed garlic.

You need to bake your aubergine (prick it all over fisrt) in the oven until it's really soft (30 minutes + at 180C). When it's cooled enough to be able to handle it, you need to scrape the soft insides out of the skin and put them in a jug or bowl. Add the other seasonings and mash/puree (I used a stick blender to puree) and taste. Add more of whatever it needs and taste again.

If I was making this again, I'd use 2-4 aubergines for a higher yield. This was mostly an experiment as we'd never had it before but now I know that we like it I can make a larger batch.

Serve with pitta breads or flat breads, salad, falafels...whatever you like really. I think it'd be delicious spread insteasd of butter in a granary sandwich or roll with ham and salad. The possibilities are endless!

Dutch Girl Cooking has this recipe for a hummus and baba ghanoush mix. Beautiful step by step pictures too.

This recipe from the Merrilees Parker at the Good Food Channel uses natural yogurt and mint to lighten the dip up.

Finally this recipe from Vegetarian.About.com uses chili and lime to give the dip a mexican twist.

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Fat Free Falafels

I love falafels. I think I first tried them when I was vegetarian (yeah...I never told you about that did I?) and I fell in love with them. I even managed to convince Al (a hardcore carnivore) that they were a good thing.



The little spiced balls of chickpeas, onion and carrot (in this recipe at least) are fragrant and delicious. These ones are baked in the oven rather than fried so it makes them a little drier than usual. I always serve these with a dip (I made baba ghanoush to go with these, the recipe for that will follow) and plenty of salad. They are also delicious in pitta bread or flat bread (we made some flatbreads too - again, recipe will follow).


This recipe required you to leave the mixture overnight or for at least a few hours. I can't recommend that enough really. The resting time enables the flavours to mingle and really come together to make the overall falafel really tasty. It's worth the extra planning.

Ingredients
1 can chick peas
1 carrot, grated
1 small onion (1/2 a large), chopped
1 1/2 tbsp chopped coriander
1 clove garlic, crushed
1tsp fresh ginger, grated
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp chilli powder (or to taste)
1tsp ground coriander
1 small egg

Method
Place all the ingredients except the egg into a food processor and pulse until blended but with some texture.
Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, season with salt and pepper and add the egg.
Mix everything thoroughly and chill in the fridge for 6-8 hours (or overnight)
Shape the mixture into balls (should make around 25), spray with a little cookign spray and bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 15-20 minutes.

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Lemon Blueberry Upside Down Cake

Here's another dish from the dinner party I mentioned so long ago. This was dessert and it was so delicious!

I found the recipe via BakeBakeBake which is a cooking community based on Live Journal. I love Live Journal for its communities as there is no limit as to what you might find. People from all over the world add their recipes and photos of their creations which means you can always find something to make.



The original recipe is from Bon Appétit April 2006 but I will reproduce it here as I made it with the alteration of marzipan instead of almond paste.

Ingredients

Blueberry topping
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Lemon-almond butter cake
3/4 cup cake flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 ounces marzipan broken into small pieces
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons finely grated lemon peel
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, room temperature
3 large eggs, room temperature

Preparation

For blueberry topping:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine brown sugar and butter in 8-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides (preferably nonstick). Place cake pan over medium heat and whisk constantly until butter and sugar melt and mixture is smooth and bubbling. Using pot holders, remove pan from heat; cool 15 minutes. Sprinkle blueberries evenly over.

For lemon-almond butter cake:
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Combine marzipan, sugar, and lemon peel in bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until marzipan is broken into very small pieces, about 1 minute. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, beating until mixture is smooth and scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well and scraping sides of bowl after each addition. Add flour mixture and beat just until batter is smooth. Spoon batter in dollops over blueberries in pan; spread evenly with offset spatula to smooth.

Bake cake until deep golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 43 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 1 minute. Run small knife around cake to loosen. Place large platter atop pan. Using oven mitts or potholders and using both hands, hold platter and cake pan firmly together and invert; shake gently, allowing cake to settle on platter. Cool at least 20 minutes.



This was a really big hit with everyone eating. The blueberry topping is sweet and the lemon and almond cake compliment it beautifully. I will definitely add this to my repertoire and I really think it is the epitome of summer eating. The deep purple topping with the yellow lemony cake is beautiful and so tasty. I recommend that you make this before the season is out.

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