The Family Cook Book

Seems like this has been a weekend of Ottolenghi recipes from his excellent book ‘Simple’. We had a lovely Sunday BBQ lunch featuring these lamb patties, cauliflower tabbouleh and sweet potato fries from Simple plus Josh Katz’s Saffron chicken and Moro chickpea salad. The interesting thing about the patties is the use of blitzed rocket, pistachios and onion. The recipe Ingredients For the sumac yoghurt 250g Greek-style yogurt 1 tablespoon sumac 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice For the lamb and pistachio patties 90g shelled pistachios 50g rocket 1 1/2 onions, quartered 2 large garlic cloves peeled 800g ground lamb 3 tablespoons olive oil Salt and black pepper 1 Tsp ground cumin (my addition) Preparation Prep time: 15 min + Cook time: 15 min Mix together all the ingredients for the sumac yogurt sauce and keep in the fridge until needed. To make the patties, put the pistachios into the bowl of a food processor. Blitz for a ...

We all love tapas or mezze or indeed the lovely cicchetti of Russell Norman's Polpo. If you read my blog you will know that  I have been rather obsessed with cooking Morito recipes over the past few days but there are also some wonderful little bites in Ottolenghi's Jerusalem and indeed the excellent Polpo book. We love lunches and dinners made up of these little dishes and I don't think that's just because the layout of our kitchen makes it look like a tapas bar.Most people seem to love the opportunity to graze on a variety of different flavours from salty to sour, soft to crispy, meaty to veggy not forgetting of course the very,very fishy joys of the oft featured but much maligned anchovy. I have to confess that his beetroot recipe from Ottolenghi should have goat cheese crumbled on top but I'm afraid that just isn't my bag. Serve with some great bread or even better some lovely freshly made flatbreads  Ingredients 6 medium cooked be...

It was lovely to have everyone home for Xmas. Whilst we were preparing for the big event we also managed to spend a bit of family time in the kitchen, watching the telly, catching up and snacking at the bar. Here are some great canape recipes from Sybil Kapoor that we found in House and Garden. Roast tomato relish ingredients 750g baby plum tomatoes 1 medium red onion, finely diced 1 fat clove garlic, finely chopped 4 tbs ex virgin olive oil method heat oven to 180c mix rest of ingredients in a roasting tray. Roast for 45 mins until everything is soft. Leave to cool roughly mash together and season to taste. Spiced Lamb burgers ingredients 4tbs olive oil 1 medium onion finely chopped 1 clove garlic finely chopped 1 thai red chilli seeds removed and finely chopped 2 tsp ras al hanout or garam masala 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander, finely chopped 1 small bunch fresh coriander 500g lean minced lamb finely grated zest of two lemons salt and gr...

something I saw today and thought I might cook. David Tanis is/was head Chef at the legendary Chez Panisse. Tabbouleh A proper tabbouleh is a parsley salad with a little bulgur wheat, not the other way around, as many people know it. SERVES 4-6 bulgur wheat 100g salt and pepper lemons juice of 2, or to taste spring onions 4, finely minced mint leaves a small bunch, finely chopped olive oil 60ml, or to taste parsley leaves 2 large bunches, coarsely chopped cherry tomatoes 450g, halved Method Soak the bulgur in cold water for 30 minutes. Dump the grains in a colander and give it a good shake to drain. Put a clean tea towel in a salad bowl and gather up the drained bulgur to further dry it. Gently remove the towel, put the bulgur in the bowl, and begin to assemble the tabbouleh: season the grains generously with salt and pepper, then stir in the lemon juice and toss well. Add the spring onions and mint and toss. Drizzle in 3 tablespoons of the oil, and then taste and a...