Recipes: Starters and Appetizers

Cacik
This is a Turkish form of tzatziki popular over all over the near and far East.

            1 large cucumber
            1 tsp salt
            4 – 6 cloves of garlic
            ½ litre of thick natural yoghurt
            4 heaped tbls chopped garden mint
            Freshly ground black pepper

Peel the cucumber and cut into small dice. Sprinkle with the salt and leave in a colander for 1 hour to drain. Wash well and squeeze to remove the moisture with kitchen paper.         
Crush the garlic with a pinch of salt in a pestle and mortar and add to the yoghurt with plenty of black pepper and the chopped mint leaves.
Mix in the cucumber just before serving.

Serve with pitta breads or as a sauce with kebabs or grilled lamb.

Lemon thyme and garlic dip

            5 tbls mayonnaise
            5 tbls crème fraiche
            2 large garlic cloves
            1 tsp french mustard
           2 tsp of lemon thyme leaves, chopped
            Salt and black pepper

Crush the garlic cloves to a paste in a pestle and mortar with ¼ tsp salt.
Spoon the mayonnaise and crème fraiche into a bowl and mix in the garlic paste, mustard and lemon thyme leaves. Season with black pepper and more salt if desired.

Serve decorated with golden lemon thyme leaves.
Any left over dip will keep in the fridge to be used as a topping for baked potatoes or a sauce with kebabs.

Pesto Sauce

            50g basil leaves of any type
            1 large clove of garlic, peeled
            1 tbls pine kernels
            6 tbs olive oil
            25g parmesan cheese, grated
            salt to taste

Put all the ingredients except the cheese into the processor and pulse until you have a smooth mixture. Do not overblend, try and leave tiny but distinguishable leaf pieces in the final mixture. Spoon into a bowl and stir in the cheese and extra salt if required.

Pesto keeps for several days in the fridge in small containers, cover the surface with a thin layer of oil before covering tightly. It can also be frozen to use in the winter.

Parsley and wild rocket can also be used to make excellent and unusual pestos. Simply replace the basil with the herb of your choice. When using rocket leaves hazelnuts can be used instead of pinenuts.

Shiso Pesto

            40 large shiso leaves
            100g rocket (wild or salad variety)
            40g almonds – coarsely chopped
            1 clove of garlic
            100ml olive oil (or less if you prefer)
            Salt as seasoning.

Blitz all the ingredients except the salt in a food processor, scrape the leaves down the sides as you go to get an even paste. Try and stop processing before the pieces of leaf lose all identity, don’t let it become a smooth paste.
Season with salt if you wish and transfer to a small bowl. The pesto will keep well in the fridge for a day or so if you cover with a cm of oil.

Try experimenting with the quantities of shiso and rocket, and also the addition of lemon juice to get some varying flavours!

Potato and Parsley Soup is a warming bowlful. (serves 4)
           
            1 tbs olive oil
            1 large onion – chopped
            1 clove of garlic – crushed
            2 medium potatoes – peeled and diced
            750ml vegetable stock – either home-made or from concentrate / cubes
            seasoning       
            285 ml crème fraiche – regular or low fat version
            large bunch of parsley

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently sweat the onion and garlic until it is soft but not browned. Stir in the potato dice and continue gently frying for a minute or two.
Season to taste with black pepper and salt and add the vegetable stock.
Simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the crème fraiche and reheat.
Chop the parsley including the finer stalks until you have enough to fill a coffee mug tightly packed. Add this to the soup, stir well and turn off the heat.
In a minute or so the parsley will be wilted, allow the soup to cool slightly and then liquidise until smooth.

Serve garnished with more chopped parsley and, for a more substantial meal, some of our sage bread still warm from the oven.

Sweet potato and roasted garlic soup.
Serves 4 – 6

This warming winter soup uses sweet potatoes that are now readily available, but you can of course substitute ordinary potatoes in the recipe if you wish.

            2 whole garlic bulbs                                      1 – 1¼ litres stock (chicken or vegetable)
            2 tbs oil                                                            2 tbs thyme leaves – removed from stems
            2 onions – coarsely chopped                      6 tbs crème fraiche
            1 kg sweet potatoes – peeled and             chopped french parsley to garnish
                                          coarsely chopped

Heat the oven to 350F, Gas mark 4 or 180C. Separate the garlic into individual cloves and put onto a small baking tray – unpeeled. Drizzle with 1 tbs of the oil and roast for about 15 minutes until soft. Set aside to cool.

Heat the remaining oil in a large pan and gently cook the onions until very soft and only just coloured. Add the sweet potato pieces and the thyme leaves. Cover with a lid and leave to sweat for a further 5 minutes.

Add 1 litre of the stock and simmer the pan gently uncovered for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are very tender. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of its papery peel into a small bowl. Stir this garlic pulp into the soup and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

Blend the soup to a smooth puree adding the remaining stock if it is too thick, stir in the crème fraiche and add seasoning to taste

Cool tomato and basil soup will be a real winner, both for taste and ease of preparation.
           
            300g low fat Greek yoghurt
            300ml tomato juice
            150 ml semi skimmed milk
            2 cloves garlic – crushed then finely chopped.
            4 ripe tomatoes – seeded skinned and finely chopped
            4 tbs basil – chopped
            Black pepper – freshly ground
            Basil leaves to decorate

Mix together the yoghurt, tomato juice and milk in a large bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and chill for 2 hour in the fridge before serving garnished with the basil leaves.
This recipe will serve 4, try it with our home-made sage bread.

Mitsuba and cucumber soup

            1 medium onion, chopped               seasoning
            50g butter                                            2 egg yolks
            ½ large cucumber                             2 tbls double cream
            1 heaped tsp flour                             8 tbls Japanese parsley (Mitsuba)
            1½ litres vegetable stock                 plus extra for garnish

Melt the butter and gently cook the onion for 5 minutes, then add the peeled and diced cucumber and continue to cook for another 5 minutes but do not allow the vegetables to brown. Stir in the flour, followed by 1 litre of the stock and simmer for 15 minutes.
Puree the soup in a blender and add the remaining stock, season to taste.

Beat together the egg yolks and cream with a little of the hot soup. Reheat the rest of the soup and add the egg mixture to the pan along with the finely chopped Japanese parsley.
Stir over a low heat for a few minutes to thicken but do not allow to boil. Serve garnished with chopped Japanese parsley leaves.

Creamed Sorrel Soup

            30g butter                                                        Salt and pepper
            1 onion – finely chopped                              Pinch of ground cumin
            A lettuce – shredded                                     150ml crème fraiche
            200g diced potato                                          8 tbls sorrel leaves - prepared and finely chopped
            1L good quality chicken stock                                   

Soften the onion in the butter, add the potato dice and cover the pan. Leave the vegetables to sweat for 10 minutes over a low heat. Stir in the lettuce followed by the seasonings and the stock. Simmer for 15 minutes then add the sorrel leaves.
Liquidise the soup until it is quite smooth. The acidity of sorrel varies with the time of year so exact quantities are difficult, slightly more maybe needed.
Reheat the soup to nearly boiling point then stir in the crème fraiche. Serve sprinkled with a little more chopped sorrel.

Shiso leaves stuffed with rice and pinenuts.

            10 large shiso leaves                       25g butter
            1 onion – very finely chopped          3 tbls chives or lovage – chopped
            125g cooled, cooked rice                 1 beaten egg
            Seasoning                                           40g pine nuts

Dip each leaf into boiling water and lay out flat to cool.
Fry the onion in butter until very soft but not brown. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and mix gently, season to taste.
Place a teaspoon of the mixture into the centre of each leaf and roll up like a cigar, tucking in the ends as you go.

Arrange on a pretty serving dish and chill until required. Serve garnished with chopped shiso leaves, or flowers if available, and a vinaigrette dressing.

Marinated summer olives

These olives are tasty and moreish to serve with drinks, or they can be used as part of a mixed starter.

            500g stoned olives (black or green, or a mixture of the two)
            125ml good olive oil (or home-made basil oil – see recipe under sweet basil
            125ml dry white wine
            4 tsp chopped common thyme
            2 cloves chopped garlic
            6 crushed black peppercorns
            A sprig of rosemary.

Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade and pour over the olives in a jar or plastic bowl with a lid. Refrigerate for at least 5 days before serving, giving them a shake or a stir each day.