Turkish Spiced Pilaf

Occasionally,  you find something really special - both delicious and easy - this is one of those.  I found it in Rick Stein's Venice to Istanbul.  His original recipe has pine nuts but I think toasted flaked almonds are better.

Serves 6 - (note 50g rice/75g water per person gives moderate sized portions of rice for a dinner party but allow a bit more for main course only or younger male diners)

Ingredients

• 300   gms Jasmine or basmati long-grain rice
• 30     ml Olive oil
• 1       Onion - chopped
• 0.5    tsp ground cinnamon
• 0.5    tsp salt
• 6       turns of black pepper
• 450   ml cold water
• 2       tbsp sulatnas or currants
• 2       tbsp toasted flaked almonds
• Good handful of chopped flat-leafed parsley and dill

Method

Soak the rice in plenty of cold water for 30 mins, then drain.

In a saucepan,  gently soften the onion in the olive oil then add the rice, cinnamon, salt, pepper and sultanas. Mix thoroughly and add the cold water.  You can tip everything into a rice cooker at this stage and leave it - just turn on the cooker 20 mins before you want to serve.  Alternatively,  bring it all to athe boil,  then immediately reduce to a gentle simmer,  put lid on pot and cook for 10 mins until the water is absorbed.

Just before serving,  stir through the herbs and almonds.

Oven Roasted Chicken with Sumac, Pomegranate Molasses, Chilli & Sesame Seeds

This is a Rick Stein recipe (From Venice to Istanbul) and it's great with his Turkish Spiced Pilaf and Taze Fasulye (Green Beans in Tomato Sauce) or a green salad.

Serves 4 to 6

• 1   Whole chicken jointed into 8 pieces (or use bone-in, skin-on chicken portions)
• 3   tbsp Olive oil
• 1   tbsp Sesame seeds

    For the marinade

• 2   tbsp ground sumac
• 2   large cloves garlic, fine (chopped, crushed or grated)
• 1   tsp chilli flakes
• 1   tbsp tomato paste
• 1   tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 1   tsp salt

Mix all the marinade ingredients together,  rub well into chicken and leave for one hour.

Heat oven to 2000C.  Put chicken in a roasting tin,  drizzle with olive oil and scatter the sesame seeds over.  Roast for 30 minutes

Sauce
If you like to have a sauce,  saute a chopped garlic clove and add some chicken stock, sumac, pomegranate molasses and chilli flakes.  Add any liquid from the roasting tin and stir in some yogurt (preferably Greek or whole milk - not low fat)

Tom Yum Soup

(Serves 6 people)

1,200 ml        Chicken Stock (Homemade best but stock cubes taste ok)

90 g              Tom Yam Paste (Mae Ploy is very good and widely available in Ireland)

3 Stalks         Lemongrass – chopped & bruised (keeps well in freezer)

6 no.              Dried Kaffir Lime Leaves

2 no.              Limes – juiced.

60 ml             Fish Sauce (Squid brand widely available in Ireland)

30 ml             Sugar

Sprinkle         Fresh Coriander - chopped

Prawns or Thin Sliced Mushrooms or Shredded Cooked Chicken

• Boil the stock – add paste, lemongrass, lime leaves & lime juice.  Simmer 20 mins
• Add fish sauce and sugar to get a balanced salt-sour-sweet-hot taste (may need to add a little more paste)
• Strain out the foliage,  add choice of prawns, mushrooms or chicken and sprinkle fresh coriander on each bowl

Brocolli, Chicken & Cashew Stir Fry

FOCACCIA

	Small	Medium	Large	Very Large
kg	0.5	0.75	1	1.5	Strong White Flour (plus more for kneading)
tsp	0.3	0.5	3/4	1.2	Salt
	0.5	0.75	1	1+	Sachet dried yeast
ml	350	525	700	1,050	Water
tsp	1	1.5	2	3	Sugar
ml	30	40	60	90	Olive oil (+ lots more for top)

Mix water, sugar, yeast, salt and oil

Add flour and knead well in a big bowl, basin or on worktop

Tip into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic and leave to rise (overnight if cold, 2hrs if using lukewarm water and leaving in warm place)

Press dough into (very) oiled tray or baking sheet - about 15-20mm thick, cover with plastic and leave to rise 30 to 60 min

Dimple, oil and coarse salt the surface and bake in a very hot (220c) oven until golden and sounds hollow when tapped - c.40 min

Salmon & Prawn Thai Curry

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Pasta Puttanesca

You’re Doing It Wrong: Puttanesca Sauce

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By L.V. Anderson

Puttanesca sauce.

Juliana Jiménez Jaramillo for Slate

Let’s get it out of the way: Yes, puttanesca literally translates to “of, relating to, or characteristic of a prostitute,” to quote the OED. I’ll wait while you finish chortling. It seems that no food writer can resist elbowing their readers in the ribs, making ill-advised jokes and double entendres at the mere mention of pasta puttanesca. The name is often said to have originated with old-timey courtesans, who ostensibly favored it because it was quick enough to make in between appointments, or because it smelled so good while cooking that it lured clients in from the street. But on further consideration, neither of these origin stories seems particularly plausible—I mean, sex workers aren’t the only people who appreciate quick, aromatic meals. According to food historian Jeremy Parzen, the name has more to do with the practical use of puttanesca in Italian than its literal definition: Italians use puttana (and related words) almost the way we use shit, as an all-purpose profanity, so pasta alla puttanesca might have originated with someone saying, essentially, “I just threw a bunch of shit from the cupboard into a pan.”

L.V. ANDERSON

L.V. Anderson is a Slate associate editor. She edits Slate's food and drink sections and writes Brow Beat's recipe column, You’re Doing It Wrong. 

Regardless of its etymology, that’s what puttanesca sauce is: a bunch of shit from the cupboard, thrown into a pan. And it’s really good. That’s because the ingredients it relies on for flavor—garlic, capers, olives, anchovies, and crushed red pepper, primarily—are assertive, pungent, and invigorating. Unlike traditional tomato sauce, which is tomatoey through and through, puttanesca sauce is a study in opposites: Anchovies and olives are salty where tomatoes are sweet, oily where tomatoes are watery, dark in color where tomatoes are vivid. The combination of these contradictory ingredients is—to borrow a term from the label on my jar of capers—nonpareil.

There are two main errors people commit when making puttanesca sauce. The first is not using enough garlic, capers, olives, anchovies, and crushed red pepper. I have seen recipes that call for a mere tablespoon of capers, only three or four anchovies, and a pinch of red pepper flakes, per large can of tomatoes. This is not enough! Throw your seasonings into the pot with abandon, and don’t hesitate to add an entire tin of anchovies: They melt into the sauce, adding a nearly unidentifiable undertone of umami. If you’re still scared, keep in mind that this is a sauce, not a soup: It’s supposed to be intensely flavored, so as to keep your pasta interesting. (It doesn’t have to be pasta, though: I’m hard-pressed to think of a bean, vegetable, fish, or meat that wouldn’t be improved by puttanesca sauce.)

The second mistake is not adding lemon zest to their sauce. Lemon zest is not a frequent presence on puttanesca recipe ingredient lists, but it is a crucial component: Lemon’s tanginess goes famously with fish, and with olives, and with capers, so why wouldn’t it go well with puttanesca sauce? Lemon is the linchpin here, turning a motley crew of pantry items into a sauce you don’t want to stop eating.

Pasta Puttanesca
Yield: 4 servings
Time: 45 to 60 minutes

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
Salt and black pepper
One 2-ounce can anchovies packed in oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
One 26- to 28-ounce box or can chopped or crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons drained capers
½ cup pitted black olives, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
Grated zest of 1 lemon
12 ounces spaghetti or other pasta

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the anchovies and garlic and cook, stirring, until the anchovies disintegrate and the garlic has softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and continue to stir for 1 minute, then add the tomatoes, capers, and olives. Cover the pot, adjust the heat so the mixture simmers gently, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it’s thick and saucy, 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in the basil and lemon zest, and taste and adjust the seasoning.

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Everyone already knows that this popular pasta dish was named after Slate columnist and founder of The Gist podcast Mike Puttanesca  More...

-Matt Cooper

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2. When the water comes to a boil, salt it generously and add the pasta. Cook until al dente, usually 7 to 8 minutes, depending on the package instructions. Reserve about 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid and then drain the pasta. Toss the pasta with the sauce, adding the reserved cooking liquid as needed to thin out the sauce. Serve hot.