Nigel Slater's Recipes for Mint Tahini Fried Cauliflower and Maple Syrup Apple Cake
Spring comes quite late in the kitchen. With gardens, greenhouses and vegetable plots teeming with seedlings and buds opening, anyone who likes to cook seasonally has no choice but to make do with what is essentially March throughout the month of March. winter vegetables and fruits. Still, there are great cauliflowers to cook under paprika cheese sauces or simmer in a thin ivory soup. I rang the changes instead, frying the creamy white florets in a crispy, spicy batter to eat with a batter batter of tahini and mint.
I I brought some purple shoots from the shops too. So good it deserved a real hollandaise, battered to a deep buttery yellow, which is exactly what it got. Another day I dropped a handful of purple tips and green stems into deep boiling water for just over a minute, drained them, then put them in a pan of oil warm, shallow olive oil, grated lemon zest and chopped green olives. They were even better stacked on thick sourdough, the juices dripping onto the warm toast.
There are still plenty of lovely apples and pears. I've used Cox's apples in a cake, baking them first in a little butter and maple syrup before adding them to the base of a ginger cake thick cream cheese drift on top. I filled the hollows with more syrup and served it both as a dessert and as a teatime cake.
Fried cauliflower with mint tahiniServes 2-3< /p>
plain flour 80 g corn flour 40 g salt ½ tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp ground paprika 1 tsp ground chilli 1 tsp hot or slightly iced water 175 ml cauliflower 1 medium
peanut oil for cooking
< p>For the mint tahini: garlic 2 lemon cloves ½ tahini 125g sea salt ice cold taste 150ml mint leaves 15, mediumMake the dough: mix the flour and the cornstarch, add the salt, the spices and beat in the iced water with a fork or a small whisk. Leave to stand for half an hour.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the cauliflower into large florets and save the leaves if they are in good condition. (I like to keep a good chunk of the stem on my florets, but that's up to you.) Rinse the florets under cold water, and when the water boils, salt it lightly and add the cabbage. flower.
Boil for 3 minutes, then drain and let dry on paper towel.
Prepare the tahini sauce: crush the garlic to a fine paste and put it in a small bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice – I use about 2 tbsp – and mix with the garlic. Add the tahini, then beat in the water with a fork. Stir in a good big pinch of sea salt. Finely chop the mint leaves and stir in. Taste and add more salt or lemon as desired.
Heat 3cm peanut oil in a deep saucepan. Drop a cube of bread or a small piece of cauliflower into it and if it turns golden in about a minute, the oil is hot enough.
Stir the batter and dip the bouquets in it, making sure that each one is well coated. (Adjust with a little more flour or water if necessary.) Dip them, no more than half a dozen at a time, into the hot oil and let sit for a few minutes until the dough is pale golden. Flip and brown the other side, then remove, drain on paper towels and repeat with the rest of the cauliflower. Lightly salt the bouquets, then enjoy with the mint tahini.
Apple and maple syrup cake
Spring comes quite late in the kitchen. With gardens, greenhouses and vegetable plots teeming with seedlings and buds opening, anyone who likes to cook seasonally has no choice but to make do with what is essentially March throughout the month of March. winter vegetables and fruits. Still, there are great cauliflowers to cook under paprika cheese sauces or simmer in a thin ivory soup. I rang the changes instead, frying the creamy white florets in a crispy, spicy batter to eat with a batter batter of tahini and mint.
I I brought some purple shoots from the shops too. So good it deserved a real hollandaise, battered to a deep buttery yellow, which is exactly what it got. Another day I dropped a handful of purple tips and green stems into deep boiling water for just over a minute, drained them, then put them in a pan of oil warm, shallow olive oil, grated lemon zest and chopped green olives. They were even better stacked on thick sourdough, the juices dripping onto the warm toast.
There are still plenty of lovely apples and pears. I've used Cox's apples in a cake, baking them first in a little butter and maple syrup before adding them to the base of a ginger cake thick cream cheese drift on top. I filled the hollows with more syrup and served it both as a dessert and as a teatime cake.
Fried cauliflower with mint tahiniServes 2-3< /p>
plain flour 80 g corn flour 40 g salt ½ tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp ground paprika 1 tsp ground chilli 1 tsp hot or slightly iced water 175 ml cauliflower 1 medium
peanut oil for cooking
< p>For the mint tahini: garlic 2 lemon cloves ½ tahini 125g sea salt ice cold taste 150ml mint leaves 15, mediumMake the dough: mix the flour and the cornstarch, add the salt, the spices and beat in the iced water with a fork or a small whisk. Leave to stand for half an hour.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the cauliflower into large florets and save the leaves if they are in good condition. (I like to keep a good chunk of the stem on my florets, but that's up to you.) Rinse the florets under cold water, and when the water boils, salt it lightly and add the cabbage. flower.
Boil for 3 minutes, then drain and let dry on paper towel.
Prepare the tahini sauce: crush the garlic to a fine paste and put it in a small bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice – I use about 2 tbsp – and mix with the garlic. Add the tahini, then beat in the water with a fork. Stir in a good big pinch of sea salt. Finely chop the mint leaves and stir in. Taste and add more salt or lemon as desired.
Heat 3cm peanut oil in a deep saucepan. Drop a cube of bread or a small piece of cauliflower into it and if it turns golden in about a minute, the oil is hot enough.
Stir the batter and dip the bouquets in it, making sure that each one is well coated. (Adjust with a little more flour or water if necessary.) Dip them, no more than half a dozen at a time, into the hot oil and let sit for a few minutes until the dough is pale golden. Flip and brown the other side, then remove, drain on paper towels and repeat with the rest of the cauliflower. Lightly salt the bouquets, then enjoy with the mint tahini.
Apple and maple syrup cakeWhat's Your Reaction?
