It's certainly been more than a few months since I posted on this blog, which certainly isn't to say I haven't been cooking plenty and eating out, because I have. I just haven't had the inclination to necessarily share.
Over the last week or so, I've been feeling an itch though, so I thought I'd share some of my recent culinary adventures. One of these has been cooking from Ottolenghi The Cookbook that was the subject of much praise when it came out a few years ago.
There are plenty of vegetable dishes, with delightfully unexpected twists in flavours. My first two dives into this book resulted in a dish of Grilled Broccoli with Chile and Garlic and another of Mixed Mushrooms with Cinnamon and Lemon.
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| Grilled Broccoli with Chile and Garlic |
The broccoli dish was surprisingly easy and with a refreshingly interesting flavour. A short period of blanching, followed by a bit more grilling, with a finish of hot, flavoured oil and the dish was done.
The mushroom dish was a little curious-er. And it featured more than a handful of mushrooms.
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| Mixed Mushrooms with Cinnamon and Lemon |
At one point, I thought I was going to burn the mushrooms at the bottom of the pan to crisp (you're warned quite sternly to leave the mushroom alone for 5 minutes over high heat). Sure, the garlic burnt but the mushrooms themselves were more than fine.
For all the worry they caused, in less than 15 minutes I had a fragrantly steaming bowl of mixed mushrooms, with subtle variations in flavours and textures of the mushrooms, and the lift from a few squeezes of lemon rendering the dish anything but boring.
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| Mixed Mushrooms with Cinnamon and Lemon |
So my first experiences with Ottolenghi was a smashing success. Onwards and upwards with trying more recipes; the Harira soup looks interesting, as does the Fried Scallops with Saffron Potatoes, Asparagus, and Samphire. And maybe one day experiencing the original dining experience in London myself.
