Orzo Salad with feta

Gosh that was a rough week. My road was closed and I couldn't get to work. Ok, that could have been a good thing but I had no power and at one point even lost the old emergency phone. I don't have cell reception out here. It was tough going as we were lambing. I lost 2 lambs in the living room.

But the week is over, my lambs are all born and life goes on. We'll be fencing for weeks to come because of all the downed tree limbs. Firewood for next year!

I found this lovely salad that I think really does it for me. If you can't find Orzo then get rosini.

Orzo salad with Feta and Cherry Tomatoes

1/2 pound orzo (rice-shaped pasta, about 1 cup)
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup packed fresh basil or parsley
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes halved and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper or other chopped
1/4 pound feta cheese 

Kalamata olives halved
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Fill a 4-quart pasta pot three fourths full with salted water and bring to a boil for the orzo.   Once the orzo has cooked to al dente, drain in a colander and rinse with cold water until the pasta has cooled down.  Place in a large bowl.

In a small heavy skillet toast pine nuts, stirring frequently, until golden.  Do not walk away…..they brown easily. Let cool.

Mince garlic and chop basil.  Halve or quarter the tomatoes and coarsely crumble feta.  In a small bowl whisk together garlic, basil, vinegar, oil and salt and pepper to taste.  In the large bowl with the cooled orzo add the, tomatoes and feta and gently toss together.  Add olives Gently add half of the vinaigrette to the pasta mixture, adding more if necessary.  Garnish the pasta mixture with the toasted pine nuts and basil leaves.  Serves 4 as a side.

Coriander

Coriander is a funny herb. You either love it or can't stand the smell or the taste. It is difficult to describe it - sort of musty, I suppose.

Coriander or cilantro are not different names for different herbs; it all depends where you hail from. But ground coriander always refers to the ground seed. You can buy dried leaf or even bottled but I prefer to buy the real thing. Read the ingredients on the bottles - sometimes there are things in there you don't want. The added bonus of buying the real thing is that is comes with the roots which are used for a real flavour burst in Thai cooking or making your own Thai curry paste. (if you want the recipe for this make a request)

I try to keep it growing in my greenhouse all winter because it's in the winter that I want to have the Thai and Indian curries comfort foods. But I have some lovely summer recipes as well.

Primarily coriander is used as a garnish. Tear it rather than cut it and sprinkle it over hot rice or hot couscous. It goes really well over scrambled eggs as well!

Let's start with a wonderful healthy chickpea salad good for winter or summer.

Chickpea Salad with Coriander (makes a party salad for 10)

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 4 cans garbanzo beans, drained (chickpeas)
• 2 yellow bell peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. In a bowl, crush together the garlic and salt. To prepare the dressing, mix in olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, ginger, cumin, and cayenne pepper.
2. In a separate bowl, stir together the garbanzo beans, yellow bell peppers, green onions, and cilantro. Mix in the dressing. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator 8 hours, or overnight.

Or you could try an amazing Indian Salad called Bhel Puri. This is made from a base you can buy at Moshem's in Petone or Newtown. This is a package of dried ingredients to which you add-

wedges of tomatoes

sliced capsicum (variety of colours)

thin slices of red onions

a large handful of torn coriander

The dressings are included which must be made in advance. 

I hope you give coriander a try. If you have any questions please ask.

Cole Slaw

In our house winter means no salads. I think this a terrible pity as I love salads any time of the year but my good husband isn't keen - makes him cold.

One salad I can get him to eat is a good slaw. I have a couple of favourites that I would like to share with you and would like to hear from you about others that work well.

I have a mandolin to make wonderful juliennes of carrots used for this recipe or for making the colourful insides of sushi. Getting one is well worth while if you love to cook. You don't have to buy an expensive one (but it would turn into a family heirloom if you did) as there are some very economical "V" slicers around that will do a similar job.

By all means make your own mayonnaise if you are so inclined or use Eta dressing for cole slaw but for my money I always use Best Foods mayonnaise. It just tastes fresh.

Carrot Slaw

2 carrots (peeled or it will go black)
2 stalks of celery
1 red apple skin on
1 green onion
pinch of celery seed (optional)
1-2 Tsp of mayonnaise (to taste)

Julienne the carrot and apple. Thinly slice the celery and finely chop the green onion (scallion, spring onion)
Dress with mayonnaise and sprinkle with seed if using. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Pear and Carrot Slaw

same as above but substitute the apple for a pear and the scallion for a few very thinly sliced rings of red onion. Omit the celery seed. Dress the same

I hope you enjoy this. Please share your comments.

Are you planning your herb garden now?

In my garden I have some plants that are permanent such as bay, thyme, purple and green sage, rosemary, lemon grass, parsley and mint. Each year I plant coriander, basil and tarragon.

I would really enjoy hearing from others what they are planting this year and where they will plant them. Have you a dedicated spot for all of your herbs or, like me, do you distribute them around the garden under hedges and roses so you can walk around clipping and cutting your way around your garden?

Celebrate Singapore day

Today is national Singaporean Day. I'm not sure what we are supposed to do about this but I'm going to have noodles for dinner done in the style of Singapore. I love the fresh taste of these. Give them a try! I leave out the pork but either way they are great.

Singaporean Noodles

250g rice vermicelli noodles

vegetable oil

150g pork fillets, cut into bite-sized strips

12 raw peeled tiger prawns

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2cm piece ginger, grated

1 onion, cut into thin half moons

1 red pepper, sliced

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp turmeric

300g bean sprouts

4 tbsp soy sauce

1 bunch fresh chives, chopped or 3-4 scallions

4 eggs, beaten

2 red chillies, sliced

2 limes, quartered

Soak the noodles following the packet instructions and drain. Heat some oil in a wok and fry the pork until it is browned and just cooked through, tip onto a plate. Add the prawns and fry until cooked. Rinse out the wok.

Add a little oil to the wok and fry the garlic and ginger until light brown. Add the onion and pepper and cook until just beginning to soften, then add the spices and cook for a minute. Add the bean sprouts, noodles and about 2 tbsp water and toss everything together.

Add the soy sauce, some seasoning and chives and stir for another minute. Push the noodles to one side of the wok and drop in the eggs. Cook, stirring for 1 minute then stir through the noodles.

Serve both with sliced chillies sprinkled on top and lime wedges to squeeze over.

Left-over salad dressing

Sometimes I make too much salad dressing and don't want to store it because it will pick up the flavours in the fridge or we just don't feel like salad for a while.

After the demonstration I had a herbal oil and vinegar dressing left over and knew that my husband wasn't keen to eat a salad, this being winter and all.

I marinated a few lamb chops in the dressing for about 30 minutes. I then lightly spread a bit of good Dijon mustard on one side of the chops and dredged them in bread crumbs.

I put the chops on a hot tray in an oven set at 240c for 5 minutes then turned the over down to 200 and continued to cook for about 15 minutes (depending on desired done-ness).

This turned out very well. The Dijon is both sweet and tart as was the dressing/marinade.

The marinade at the bottom of the bowl then was poured over the roasting chicken thighs during the last 20 minutes of cooking. Well talk about frugal!

If you are interested, I do have another such recipe using a left-over dressing (or a first over if you like) for chicken.

Just drop me the word if this is the sort of idea you are looking for or ask a question. I am always happy to talk cooking.

Welcome to Cook with Herbs

I just finished doing a demonstration of Cooking with Herbs. It was great fun. I was very surprised that the old fashioned recipe of Green Goddess salad dressing seemed to be the highlight.

I also did preserved lemons and people asked for my chicken tajine recipe. So here goes.

Tagine of Chicken and preserved Lemon

1 whole chicken, skin removed, cut into pieces

2 large onions, very finely chopped

one small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped*

one small handful of fresh parsley, chopped*

2 or 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or pressed

2 teaspoons ginger

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tin chick peas

1 preserved lemon, quartered and seeds removed

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup water, approximately

Remove the flesh from the preserved lemon, and finely chop it. Add the chopped lemon flesh to a bowl along with the chicken, onion, garlic, cilantro, parsley, spices and mix well. If time allows, let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for several hours or even overnight.

Fry chicken mixture in tagine with onions and olive oil. Add the water, cover and let stew for 30 minutes (longer if on the bone).

Add drained tin of chick peas, heat through.

Serve on a platter sprinkled with parsley and cilantro and flat bread or couscous.