Monday, August 26, 2013

Pies and Tarts!

Photo Credit: Heather of girlichef - Caramelized Garlic Tart






Yotam Ottolenghi has a wide variety of sweet and savory pies and tarts. 


Photo Credit: Joanne of Eats Well With Others - Very Full Tart

We know that some of you are natural born bakers and love making crust from scratch.  However, there are some of us (ahem...perhaps all three of your IHCC hosts) that do not enjoy making crust from scratch!  Thankfully, for our sake, there are lots of options using puff pastry and Phyllo dough which are right up our alley!

Please make and post your Pies and Tarts by Sunday, September 1st.  Please remember to post a thumbnail image and leave a comment after so that we do not miss out on your tasty dish!

New to IHCC?  Need help linking up?  Check out our Welcome pageIf you have any questions please leave a comment below and we will get back with you.

If you missed our Potluck theme last week, be sure to click on the links and check out all the fabulous dishes everyone made.

Don't forget to check out the Optional Monthly Community Recipe - there's still a couple of days to get your entries done, and you can post them using the linky at the end of this post. This month we're making Labneh, and you'll also find a round-up of all the Hummus dishes everyone posted last month.  This fun IHCC feature is a great way to join in cooking one recipe as a group, to share your experiences and connect with other members of the group.



Please note the voting poll on the upper right sidebar.  We are asking participants to vote on whether they would like to continue cooking the recipes of Yotam Ottolenghi until the end of November or if they'd rather vote in a new female chef/cook starting October 1st.  There is only one more day to vote so please get your vote in!  Once the voting is complete we will make an announcement on the sidebar so stay tuned!



Monday, August 19, 2013

August Pot Luck

Oh, yes ... we all love a Potluck around here!


And, what's not to love, when Potluck means not only do you get to choose the recipe, but you also get to choose the chef.

That's right, choose any Ottolenghi recipe you like, or if you prefer choose any recipe from any one of our previous seven IHCC chefs:

Nigella Lawson
Mark Bittman
Giada de Laurentiis
Jamie Oliver
Tessa Kiros
Rick Bayless
Madjur Jaffrey

That makes for a veritable smorgasbord of English, American, Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Indian and Middle Eastern recipes to choose from.

To join in just post and link your August Potluck dish from any one of our IHCC chefs by Sunday 25 August.  Please remember to link a thumbnail image and leave a comment after you link so that we don't miss out on your dish.

New to IHCC?  Need help linking up?  Check out our Welcome pageIf you have any questions please leave a comment below and we will get back with you.

If you missed our Nuts and Seeds theme last week, be sure to click on the links and check out all the fabulous "nutty" dishes everyone made.

Don't forget to check out the Optional Monthly Community Recipe - there's still a couple of weeks to get your entries done, and you can post them using the linky at the end of this post. This month we're making Labneh, and you'll also find a round-up of all the Hummus dishes everyone posted last month.  This fun IHCC feature is a great way to join in cooking one recipe as a group, to share your experiences and connect with other members of the group.

**Please notice the poll on the sidebar.  We are asking participants to vote on whether they wish to continue cooking the recipes of Yotam Ottolenghi for an additional two months (end of November) OR whether they wish to vote in a new female chef/cook starting October 1st. The poll will be up for one week only, until August 27th.  Depending on the results of the poll, we will either announce a continuation with Ottolenghi or post a new poll asking for your vote on a new female chef/cook!

Monday, August 12, 2013

Nuts and Seeds!

Sometimes you feel like a NUT...    (or maybe a SEED!?!)
It's time to pick a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe that includes Nuts and Seeds of any kind.


So just go NUTS and don't be afraid if things get a little SEEDY!

Make and post your recipe by Sunday, August 18th!

Make sure it is a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe from online, one of his books . Don't forget to link your dish with a thumbnail image, below.  Please remember to leave a comment after linking so that we don't miss out on your dish


New to IHCC?  Need help linking up?  Please see our Welcome pageIf you have any questions, please leave a comment below and we will get back with you.  

If you didn't check out the entries for last week's Gorgeously Green theme, be sure to check out the links and see the fabulous dishes that were made. 

*** Don't forget to check out this month's Optional Monthly Community Recipe.  There is still time to join in! This month we're making Labneh, and you'll also find a round up of last month's delicious Harissa recipes.  This  is a great way to join in cooking one recipe as a group, to share your experiences and connect with other members of the group.  Do join us. ***

Monday, August 5, 2013

Gorgeously Green!



This week we're celebrating all things green.


Chose a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe that features any green ingredient and post your Gorgeously Green recipe by Sunday, August 11th.   Don't forget to link your dish, as well as a thumbnail image, below.  Please remember to leave a comment after you link so that we don't miss out on your dish.

New to IHCC?  Need help linking up?  Check out our Welcome pageIf you have any questions please leave a comment below and we will get back with you.

If you missed our Mezze Madness theme last week, be sure to check out the links and get a taste of all the amazing "small plates" everyone shared.

*** Don't forget to check out this month's Optional Monthly Community Recipe.  This month we're making Labneh, and you'll also find a round up of last month's delicious Harissa recipes.   You have until August 31st to submit your entries - just link them at the end of this post. This  is a great way to join in cooking one recipe as a group, to share your experiences and connect with other members of the group.  Do join us, and come back on September 1st for a round-up of all the Labneh posts and discover what we're doing for next month's community recipe. ***

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Harissa Round-up & August Optional Monthly Community Recipe

 
July's Optional Monthly Community Recipe was Harrisa, the fiery chilli sauce that defines North African cooking.  In Tunisia, harissa takes the place of other seasonings, such as salt and pepper.  Used to season everything from grilled meats, fish, and roasted vegetables, to soups and stews, harissa is spicy and complex in flavour, but can be adjusted anywhere along the heat spectrum to suit your personal tastes.

Just as every Middle Eastern housewife will have her own recipe for harissa, so our participants had a multitude of variations and uses for their harissa.  Let's see what they came up with.


My co-host, Kim at Stirring the Pot, made Braised Eggs with Lamb, Tahini & Sumac.  Kim says, "This is a very satisfying and eye-pleasing meal that can be served family-style for breakfast, lunch, or dinner."  She goes on to say "The harissa adds a really flavorful dose of heat to this recipe that is distinctive and so delicious. After tasting the harissa in this recipe I have grown to absolutely love it.  My jar of harissa is front and center in my refrigerator.  I've added the harissa to my standard meatloaf.  I've added it to eggs.  I added it to my spaghetti sauce.  Just this morning I added it to my breakfast burritos.  It's my new favorite condiment!  If you enjoy a very flavorful way to heat up your food then I encourage you to make a batch!"  I could not agree more.


Renia from The Development of Taste made her own hybrid version of harissa adapted from a couple of different recipes, and used it in Ottolenghi's Garlic Soup with Harissa.  She says "it was sunny and delightful - just enough to start a meal the right way", and suggests that a more substantial meal could be made of this soup with the addition of some vegetables or garbanzo beans.  Mmmm, yes please!


My other co-host, Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, was on the same page and made Garlic Soup with Chickpeas and Harissa to give herself an immune-system boost after a bad cold and dose of laryngitis.  Deb says, "This is a good one! The soup itself is full of flavor--sweet, herby and garlicky and tasty on its own. Stir in the tangy yogurt and add the heat of the harissa paste and it becomes even better. The yogurt is optional--but adds extra flavor and texture."  She also suggests that the addition of chickpeas, or other beans, are a must to make this a particularly satisfying dish.


Zosia at Are You Cooking? used her harissa in Shakshuka - the wonderful dish of eggs poached in a vibrant, spicy sauce of tomatoes, peppers, harissa and other spices.  Zosia says of her harissa, "It's garlicky and spicy and very versatile; I've used it as a marinade for chicken and shrimp, spiced up some pasta sauce with it and used it in place of ketchup on burgers. Delicious!"  She goes on to say that her Shakshuka "was spicy, tomatoe-y and a little sweet with richness provided by the egg yolks. It was a quick and delicious any-time-of-day meal that will be repeated often."  A sentiment shared by all of us who made this dish when it was our Optional Monthly Community Recipe back in April.


Joyce at Kitchen Flavours made Scrambled Eggs with Potatoes, Preserved Lemons and Harissa.  Although Joyce was a little disappointed with her dish as she wasn't able to get the spicy Merguez sausages called for in the original recipe, she found "There's a hint of spiciness from the Harissa paste, and a mild spice fragrance from the caraway seeds. The preserved lemons adds a nice interesting bite."  Although I'm not normally a scrambled egg lover, the thought of all these flavours spicing up those eggs really excites me.


Just like last month, Kim and I were once again on the same page.  Over at Couscous & Consciousness, I too made the Braised Eggs with Lamb, Tahini & Sumac, using both a red and a green harissa in my dish.  This dish was an absolute explosion of wonderful flavours and textures - soft, sweet lamb;  crunchy nuts;  sweet/salty hits of preserved lemon; a bit of heat from the harissa;  sweet, juicy tomatoes;  tangy, tahini-spiked yoghurt;  and oozy, gooey eggs.  I think this is my favourite Ottolenghi dish so far.

August's Optional Monthly Community Recipe is Labneh

Photo courtesy of Zosia at Are You Cooking?

Labneh is a strained yoghurt cheese, made by simply doing just that - straining yoghurt through a muslin cloth, fine strainer, or even paper filter - to remove the whey.  The resulting "cheese" is often served in the Middle East as part of a selection of mezze.  The strained cheese can be used as a spread on toast or in sandwiches, or rolled into balls and rolled in a variety of herbs, and crumbled into salads.

If you would like to participate in this month's Optional Monthly Community Recipe then go ahead and make Ottolenghi's version of labneh (there is a recipe in his book, Jersualem).  If you don't have the book, then feel free to leave a comment below (including your email address) and we will send you the recipe/instructions. 

Make and post your labneh, with the added challenge of using it in a recipe, on or by August 31st.  Labneh would fit nicely into this week's theme, which is Mezze Madness, but you can also post your labneh in place of any weekly theme during the month.

Please note, there will be no linky with this post - simply link to any current weekly theme post during the month.