Quinoa with Roasted Olives, Cashew Nuts and Oranges

Photo provided by Sadiq Food Photography (Click here)

Here's a incredibly healthy and hearty salad that'll keep you sustained throughout the day. Very tasty and fully satisfying which is quite tricky to achieve when it comes to a vegan lunch.

250g quinoa
150g black pitted olives
1 long red chilli
2 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
100ml extra virgin olive oil
100g cashew nuts
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
Sea salt
2 oranges
1 small bunch basil
70g rocket

Method:
Place a large pot of salted water on to the boil. Thinly slice the red chilli and garlic and lay out on oven tray with olives, bay leaves and half the olive oil, place in oven set at 180ºC for 20 minutes. In a separate oven tray lay out cashew nuts, drizzle over remaining olive oil and season with tumric and salt, place in oven with olives and cook until golden in colour.
Once the water is boiling add quinoa and cook for about 7-10 minutes until tripled in size, drain and cool under cold running water.
Slice the top and bottom off the orange and using a small paring knife run the blade round the orange removing the skin and pith, then slice the segment out of the oranges. Pick the leaves off basil and roughly chop, and in a large bowl add the quinoa and mix in the basil, oranges, olives and cashews until evenly combined. Serve with washed rocket leaves. 

Poppy Cracker Sandwich with Pickled figs and Reblochon

Photo provided by Sadiq Food Photography Blog (Click here)

This is a great, little fancy snack to serve for afternoon tea: home-made poppy crackers sandwiched together with soft musky french cheese, cranberry sauce and pickled figs. This also makes ideal picnic food with a big glass of sauvignon blanc, however the weather conditions may not be ideal for this time of year, unless you're reading this from the southern hemisphere.

Crackers:
350g plain flour
200g salted butter
50g grated mature cheddar
2 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 egg
50ml cold water

Pickled figs:
12 dried figs
50ml red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic
2 bay leaves
100g sugar
1 tablespoon sea salt
500ml water

Cranberry Sauce:
200g fresh or frozen cranberries
100g sugar
50ml water

200g reblochon de savoie, at room temperature
30g wild rocket leaves

Method:
First make the cracker dough. Place a small pan over medium heat and add mustard and coriander seeds, move around the pan until lightly toasted and fragrant. Put seeds in a mortar and pestle, roughly ground into a powder. In a large bowl add the flour, cheddar, baking powder, salt, pepper and ground spices, and stir together. Cube butter, add to dry mixture and rub together until butter is incorporated into flour, add egg and water, knead into a rough dough. Wrap the cracker dough with a cling film and place in the fridge to rest for an hour.

Next pickle the figs by placing all ingredients into a pot and placing over high heat, bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes until figs are tender. Remove from heat and transfer into container to cool.

For the cranberry sauce, place all ingredients in a small sauce pan and place over medium heat. Once simmering stir for 2-3 minutes to help break down the cranberries, then transfer into a food processor and blend until smooth. Place in a small container and leave to cool.

Once the cracker dough has rested roll out on a lightly floured surface until 5mm thick, using 10cm in diameter round cutter, cut out the crackers. Lay crackers on several baking trays lined with parchment paper, prick each one with a fork several times. You can press and roll the off cuts of dough to create more crackers if you wish. Place crackers in oven set at 180ºC for 12-14 minutes until golden and crisp. Leave the cracks to cool completely before using.

To make the cracker sandwiches, lay a few rocket leaves over the desired amount of crackers followed by a fig torn in half. Tear a knob of reblochon and place on top of the fig then garnish with a small teaspoon of cranberry sauce. Lastly sandwich together with another cracker, you should get about 12 cracker sandwiches from this recipe, with a few extra crackers to spare

Whoopie Pie

Photo proved by Sadiq Photography Blog (Click here)

What is a whoopie pie? Two sponge-like biscuits sandwiched together with icing. Rumor has it that these baked treat were invented by Amish women who would use leftover cake batter to make biscuits and sandwich them together using icing. Whoopie pies got their name because the men would shout "WHOOPIE!" when they see what was in their lunch baskets.

So to celebrate the American election and hopefully all-things Obama, here's my recipe for whoopie pies. Definitely worth a try.

300g plain flour

30g dark cocoa powder

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon of salt

250ml buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

110g soften unsalted butter

200g golden caster sugar

2 eggs

Icing:

280g giant white marshmallows

150ml double cream

250g cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla

Method: 

Place flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in small bowl and whisk together until evenly combined.

Pour the buttermilk and vanilla into a small jug and stir together.

In a large bowl whisk the sugar and butter together with electric hand beater until pale and creamy, then separate the eggs and whisk in yolks until smooth.

Alternately beat the buttermilk and dry flour mixtures into creamed butter and sugar until all incorporated.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form then gently fold into woopie mixture using a metal spoon and gently transfer mixture into piping bag.

Line 2 large baking trays with parchment paper and pipe 8 even blobs onto each tray leaving large gaps between each whoopie pie. Bake in oven at 180ºC for 12 minutes. Once baked, leave to cool completely. 

For the icing place marshmallow, cream, cream cheese and vanilla in large bowl and place over a pot of simmering water to melt. Stir marshmallow every now and then until melted and all ingredients and well combined. Remove bowl from heat and place mixture in the fridge for around 15 minutes to cool down.

Once the icing is at room temperature, whip it using an electric handmixer until light and fluffy. 

Evenly spoon the icing onto 8 of the whoopie biscuits and sandwich together with remaining of the whoopie biscuits. Leave to set for half an hour before eating. 

Slow Roasted Beef with Rainbow Carrots and Truffle Oil

Photo provived by Sadiq's Food Photography Blog (Click here)

Rainbow carrots have just come into season and the varieties usually consist of purple, white and yellow. Originally, carrots used to be purple but after years of agricultural science and lack of imagination from our supermarket suppliers we've become accustom to orange carrots.
Here's a lovely winter salad recipe in which I marry beef, truffle oil and rainbow carrots together.

800g beef shoulder
1kg mixed rainbow carrots
70g hazelnuts
120g watercress, washed
75ml dark truffle oil
Sea salt and crushed pepper corns
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Method:
Place beef in a baking tray and pour over 250ml water, then generously rub beef in salt and pepper and drizzle over truffle oil. Cover tray with foil and place in oven set at 160ºC for 2 and half hours.

Peel the carrots, cut the top and tail then slice into 1cm thick long strips. Place carrots in a baking tray and pour over olive oil. Season carrots with a little salt and pepper then place in the oven with beef and roast for 50 minutes.

Roughly chop the hazelnuts in half, place a small pan over a medium heat and lightly toast the hazelnuts.

Once beef is cooked pull apart using 2 forks. To make the salad, you can either make 4-6 individual portions or one large platter. First lay down the watercress followed by carrots and shredded beef and lastly sprinkle over with hazelnuts and serve.

Piccolo Parsnips with Smoked Garlic, Wild Fennel Seeds and Wood Sorrel

Photo provided by Sadiq's Food Photography Blog(Click here)

A very simple and tasty side dish that goes well with any main weather it be roast pork, chicken or even fish. Piccolo parsnips are a smaller, sweeter and more tender type of parsnip--no peeling required, just wash and cook. I've combined this parsnip dish with wood sorrel, which grows wild around tree stumps and is a foraged item. It has a distinct sweet lemon flavour and resembles clovers. Well balanced and no fuss to prepare.

1kg piccolo parsnips
1 bulb smoked garlic
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
50ml extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and cracked pepper
50g wood sorrel

Method:
Wash the parsnips then lay out on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Peel garlic and lay whole cloves over parsnips, lastly sprinkle over fennel seeds. Place in oven set at 180ºC for 20 minutes, then mix parsnips around tray and return to oven for a further 20 minutes.
Once cooked leave to cool for 10 minutes, then rub soften garlic cloves onto parsnips. Serve parsnips with a generous garnish of wood sorrel.

Fennel Gratin

Photo courtesy of Photography by Sadiq

My friend Sadiq has started taking new images for my blog and he's also started his own food photography blog which will feature a lovely preview of what's to come in Redjar Cooking. Simply click on the link, Or even better you can follow Food Photography on the following link http://foodphotographybysadiq.blogspot.co.uk/.

This is an older recipe of mine and like most things I make they evolve over time. The adjustments include the addition of mustard and thyme, making this tart ideal for winter. One of my favorites and probably the tart recipe I get asked for the most, so here it is in all its evolved glory.


PASTRY:
175g plain flour
75g cold butter cubed
75g cheddar, grated
1 egg, beaten
60ml cold water
pinch of sea salt

FILLING:
2 medium sized fennel weighing around 250g each
1 small onion or banana shallot
50ml double cream
1 tablespoon olive oil
50g grated parmesan
1 tablespoon dijon or pommery mustard
4 sprigs thyme
Sea salt and cracked pepper to taste

METHOD:
To make the pastry place flour, butter, cheddar and salt in a large mixing bowl and rub together until the butter has incorporated into the flour, doesn't matter if the mixture is a bit lumpy. Add water and half the egg, roughly knead together to form a dough, try not to over mix as this will give the pastry a better flake. Wrap pastry in cling film and place in the fridge to rest for at least 1 hour.

Grease a 22cm fluted tart baking dish with removable base and set the oven to 200oC.
Once the pastry has rested roll out on floured surface until about 4-5mm thick, line the tart dish with pastry, press down on the corners, trim and pinch at the edges to get a neat finish. Place the pastry case back in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.

Start on the filling, place a small pot of water over a high heat and bring to the boil. Slice the fennel down the middle and cut out the core and remove the stalk on top. Finely slice the fennel and onion, place into the pot of water with a good pinch of salt cook for around 7-10 minutes until tender, drain then tip the fennel back into pot and season well with salt and pepper and stir in the olive oil, parmesan, mustard and leaves from the thyme.

With a fork prick the base of the pastry 10 times then line with grease proof paper and pour some rice or dried legumes onto the grease proof and blind bake pastry for 12 minutes. After the 12 minutes carefully remove the grease proof paper with legumes and bake the pastry for a further 6 minutes till golden brown.

When the pastry has cooked evenly spread out the fennel round the casing and sprinkle with cracked pepper. Using a small jug pour a slow thin stream of cream into the center of the tart and work your way round in a spiral till all the cream has been added. Bake the tart in the oven set at 180oC for 30 minutes. Once cooked you can either eat it hot or cold.

Rose-Hip Jelly

Photo courtesy of Photography by Sadiq

Here's another foraged recipe made using rose-hips and apples or pears all of which grow in an abundance during autumn months. This recipe is a great way to use up foods that are most likely growing on your street or in the yard. However if you can't be bothered making jelly you can always pop into Kaffeine and buy a couple jars to get you through the winter.

1kg rose-hips
4kg quince pears or crab apples
1 lemon
Granulated sugar

Method:
Place rose-hips and pears or apples in a large pot and pour in water until fruit is just covered. Put pot over a high heat and bring to a simmer, once simmering leave to cook for 20 minutes. Line a large colander strainer with muslin cloth and place over a large bowl of pot. Once the fruit is mushy and has started to disintegrate pour the fruit into the strainer and leave uncovered to drain for 8 hours or over night.

Remove the muslin and strainer and discard the pulp, then measure the liquid: for every litre you will need 750g sugar. Place liquid  sugar and juice of lemon in a large pot and place over a high heat, bring to the boil then cook for 30-40 minutes. Place a small sauce in the fridge to cool completely as this will be used to test setting point of the jelly. To see if the jelly is ready, pour a tablespoon of jelly on cold saucer and place back in the fridge for one minute, then run your finger through the middle. If the jelly wrinkles and doesn't merge back together, the jelly is ready.

Pour into sterilised jars and screw on lids while still hot, leave jelly to set for 3 days before using.