Pure artichoke & dip

Now is the prime time for artichoke and what an easy starter for any dinner.

1. Cut off the stalk of the artichoke, see pic above. 
2. Rinse  in cold water to rid it of any sand or bugs. 
3. Place in a large pan filled with water. Place a plate ontop of the pan to ensure the artichoke stays under the water while cooking. 
4. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat. 
5. Allow to cook for approx. 40min. To check for readiness, try to pick off a leaf, if it comes loose easily its ready if not then allow to cook longer. 
6. Strain and rinse in cold water so that it doesn't keep cooking.

I love to serve this as a starter with a simple zesty & creamy dipping sauce which highlights the artichoke flavor.

Simple dipping sauce - IMPORTANT all the below ingredients need to be room temperature:
1 egg
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 dl sunflower oil (I think olive oil can become to over powering in it's flavor)
pinch of salt & pepper

1. Place all the above ingredients in a hand held blender except for the oil, blend. 
2. Slowly add the oil, keep blending. 

Babaganoush - smokey aubergine spread & dip

If you're an aubergine fan, such as myself, you are going to down this entire bowl of babaganoush on your own linking the bowl after its all gone. Really, I am not trying to make my cooking sound that amazing, this is all about the ingredients speaking for themselves. As has been said by most of the recent top chef of our time, use good quality products and you won't need lots of ingredients.

Anyone can make this dip, its really simple. My version doesn't use tahini, which many recipes do, and as many of you reading my blog are not big tahini bread spreaders I am sure you will appreciate me sparing you having to go hunt for this ingredient element.

Sadly for this recipe its imperative that you have a gas stove, that's the only way I know how to get the smokey taste that makes this dip so delicious.

You will need:
2 medium aubergines
juice form 1/2 lemon
pinch of salt & pepper
1 garlic clove
pinch dried chili - optional
drizzle olive oil

1. Pre heat your oven to 175 C.
2. Burn the aubergines directly in your stove. turn them every so often, they should become charred, the skin black and cracked and slightly peeling. this process should take between 8-12min. Make sure to turn them and move them so that you get as much charring as possible. 

3. Place the aubergines on baking paper & on an oven tray, allow to cook till completely soft in the

oven. this should take between 30-40min. 

  

  4. Allow the aubergines to cool, cut off the tops & add to a blender along with the rest of the  ingredients. 

  5. Whizz in the blender till the its become a dip. 

Enjoy with some pita, or turkish bread or use in your hamburger or a sandwich with some ruccula and roast beef.

So simple, so yummy DIY Tapenade

For those who don't know what DIY stands for, Do It Yourself!

This recipe is just way too easy and very versatile, use anything you have in the fridge along with some olives, garlic, lemon juice and good extra virgin olive oil, whizz it in your blender and Wham, you have made your own tapenade. Perfect for pre dinner on a cracker, too boost a sandwich, even to add to a pasta tomato sauce.  Also I kept mine in the fridge for about 2 weeks, no problem, as long as the tapenade is covered with oil, it should be fine.

For this specific tapenade I used:

0,5 dl walnuts
4-5 semi sun dried tomatoes
6 kalamata olives (greek, great strong taste and pricey)
approx 100gr parmesan
squeeze of lemon juice
pepper
2-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp Capers

Add all the ingredients to your blender and mix, till it's at the consistency you like.

You could exchange the:

- walnuts for almonds (roasted almonds even better), pine nuts (again roasted better), pistachios.
- Kalamata olives for green olives.
- semi sun dried tomatoes for regular sun dried tomatoes.
- Parmesan for Pecorino or feta or you can leave cheese out completely
- add anchovies (1-3 files) to add a punch
- add lemon zest or orange!

You can also easily add a leaf or two of basil or parsley along with 1/3 of a garlic clove.

So you see for this you can really create your own version so easily!

Tzatziki - Greek yoghurt sauce

Tzatziki reminds me of my teens, it was a staple in our weekly dinner menu, easy, fresh, yummy. We ate it a lot simply with rice and chicken file, preferably fried on a griddle pan. its laos so good served with falafel, in a pita bread with some grilled/fried paprika/capsicum.

1 cucumber
3 dl greek yoghurt (thick)
salt
pepper
pinch dried chili flakes or 3-5 tabasco drops
0,5 tsp lemon juice

1. Half the cucumber, lengthwise,  so you can de-seed it (middle, soggy wet part)
2. Grate the cucumber, squeeze the waer out of the grated cucumber. I find it easiest to just take half the gratings and use my hands to squeeze it "dry" (it wont be dry but it will be less watery)

3. Put the "dry" gratings into a bowl, add the yoghurt
4. Add your seasoning. Taste. If needed add more seasoning.

Done! so easy, so good! This is also great with fresh bread, dipped into it.

My version of Guacamole

I could eat this all day long. Avocado is food from heaven. My version of guacamole is super simple, you can even skip certain ingredients if you don't have them at home.

1 ripe avocado
salt & pepper
1/2 garlic clove
1/3 fresh chili /4 drops tabasco/ pinch of dried chili (I like my guacamole slightly spicy, this amount can be Adjusted to your own taste)
Squeeze of lime
1/2 red or yellow onion - can be skipped
8 Coriander/Cilantro leaves- can be skipped but not recommended
4-5 cherry tomatoes/1 regular tomato - can be skipped

I use a bowl to mix everything in, an old mexican bowl from my parents time in Mexico. Somehow this bowl enhances the guacamole, for me.

1. Mash up the avocado with the back of a fork.
2. Add the lime juice.
3. Salt & Pepper
4. Add the finely chopped onion
5. Add the chopped and de-seeded tomato
6. Add the chopped coriander
7. Taste! Add more lime, salt, pepper & the chili.

addictive, yes.

Making your own Pesto

Pesto is just so simple and just so satisfying. You can make many varieties of pesto by simply changing the nuts in it, usually pine seeds (until recently I called them pine nuts but apparently since they done have a shell they can not be called a nut), walnuts, almonds, pistachios.

I usually roast the nuts slightly, but its not necessary. However, in my opinion the roasting brings out a nuttier taste. The real secret is salt, the salt will bring out that special pesto flavor so don't be shy with it. taste your way through the process.