A Recipe for the Best Burnt Cauliflower You Will Ever Taste!

Israeli food is fresh, gutsy and vibrant and having spent a couple of weeks eating my way around this wonderful country as part of Vibe Israel Food Tour of 2016, I soon became fascinated (if slightly obsessed) by it. As a chef, food & travel writer, I can honestly say that Israel has been one of the most inspiring culinary destinations I have visited in recent years. 

Israelis place great importance on good quality vegetables and how these are prepared; vegetables play a major role in any Israeli meal from breakfast to lunch and dinner. I was intrigued by some of their cooking techniques (they make extensive use of char-grilling), and also by their clever use of Middle Eastern spices, salted cheeses and yoghurts, lemony dressings and nutty tahini, elevating some of the simplest ingredients to completely new levels. I can say that this trip made me look at vegetables in a totally different light.

Take for example Eyal Shani’s burnt cauliflower – who would have thought you needed a recipe to burn cauliflower? Well apparently you do! One of the restaurants we got to visit in Tel Aviv during our trip was North Abraxas owned by celebrity chef Eyal Shani (reviewed here). Here we tried his signature burnt cauliflower, whose recipe he was kind enough to share with me.

I have tried this at home in London on a number of occasions, and it still impresses me every time. I love how such an inexpensive and ordinary vegetable can be transformed into something so utterly delicious.

We have all tried to be clever about cauliflower – we have added bacon, or baked it with tons of cheese or smothered it with curry sauce, but this recipe is all about the humble veg and it alone, with nothing else added but olive oil and salt. It is a winner of a recipe, dead easy to prepare and super quick too. I hope you will give it a try!

Burnt Cauliflower

Ingredients:

• 1 medium-sized cauliflower (about 600g)
• 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Malden sea salt flakes
• Freshly ground black pepper

For the tahini dressing (optional)

• 100g good quality tahini
• Juice of ½ lemon, to taste
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• Pinch of salt, to taste
• 100-200ml water, to taste

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to its highest setting (300°C or higher if possible). If your oven temperature does not go this high, you will need to use the grill at the end of the cooking process.

2. Fill a pan (large enough to take the entire cauliflower) with salted water (10g salt/litre water). Bring it to boil, then add the whole cauliflower to the pan and simmer for 8-10 minutes until softened.

3. Carefully remove the cauliflower from the pan and drain it over a colander for 10 minutes.

4. Using your hands, gently baste the entire cauliflower head with the extra virgin olive oil, season with the Malden sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

5. Place the cauliflower (head side up) on a baking tin lined with greaseproof paper. Cook it in the pre-heated oven for 20-30 minutes or until blackened. If the cauliflower is not thoroughly blackened (because your oven is not hot enough), you may use the grill – place the cauliflower under the grill and let it burn for 3-5 minutes, carefully rotating it so that the entire upper part of the cauliflower is caramelized.

6. While the cauliflower is in the oven, prepare the tahini dressing – in a bowl add the tahini, salt, crushed garlic and lemon juice, then start adding the water little by little mixing vigorously as you do to incorporate it into the mix. The mix will initially curdle but do not worry, continue adding more water and mixing all the time, it will bind again. Add enough water until it has the consistency of double cream, check for seasoning and adjust if necessary. 

7. Serve the burnt cauliflower whilst hot with the lemony tahini dressing.

Nikkei Recipe - Salmon Tiradito with Passion Fruit and Aji Amarillo Tiger's Milk

My cookbook 'Nikkei Cuisine: Japanese Food the South South American Way' was recently published by Jacqui Small. It was a hectic but incredible time writing this book, which saw me travelling to Peru, Brazil and Europe to research it. I learnt a great deal about Nikkei life and cuisine and some touching stories about my own family I never knew. The book is a personal collection of over 100 recipes ranging from family favourites to contributions by Japanese and Nikkei Michelin-starred restaurants I visited during my research trips.

I will be sharing with you in the coming 12 weeks, 12 recipes from the Nikkei cookbook and I hope they will encourage you try cooking Nikkei at home. If you try one of these recipes I would be keen to hear your thoughts.

Thanks and enjoy!

Salmon and Passion Fruit Tiradito
Crispy Butternut Squash, Espelette Pepper

The world is your oyster when it comes to seasoning Tiradito. Much as I love using lime as a major component for Leche de Tigre, there is a whole range of different fruits to play with. Here, I use passion fruit and aji amarillo (Peruvian yellow chilli) to create a zingy, punchy dressing that works really well with the fatty salmon. Finish the dish with a dusting of fine Espelette pepper for a gentle, fruity hint of chilli.

Serves 4

200g sushi-graded salmon fillet, skinned
½ butternut squash 
Sunflower oil for deep-frying
a few sprigs of chervil (or coriander)

For the passion fruit Leche de Tigre (Tiger’s Milk):
4 small passion fruit, juice and seeds (around 50g in total)
1 teaspoon of aji amarillo paste
1 lemon, juiced (60ml)
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 clove garlic, cut 
1cm slice of ginger
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sugar
¼ banana shallot, very finely chopped
2 tbsp of chervil, very finely chopped (or coriander)

A sprinkle of Espelette pepper (can substitute with sichimi pepper)
A sprinkle of Maldon salt flakes

Make the passion fruit leche de tigre by whizzing all the ingredients (except the shallot and chervil, and 1-2 tablespoons of passion fruit seeds to be reserved for the presentation) in a food processor. Pass it through a fine sieve, add the finely chopped shallot and chervil. Refrigerate until needed.

Peel the butternut squash. Using a zester, cut fine strips of squash rather like spaghetti. Line a plate with absorbent paper. Add sunflower oil to a pan and heat to 140°C (note – use a deep pan and do not fill more than 1/3 full as the hot oil will rise to the surface as the squash is added). Fry the butternut squash spaghetti for about 1 minute until lightly browned, transfer to the lined plate. The squash strands will not be crispy at this stage but do not worry – they will crisp up as they cool down. Season with sea salt.

Remove any residual brown flesh from the salmon fillet. Cut the salmon into thin slices and arrange them in a single row over each of the four serving plates. For each plate, spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of the passion fruit leche de tigre over the salmon, dot with a few passion fruit seeds around the plate, arrange a line of crispy butternut squash spaghetti in the middle of the salmon row, and scatter a few sprigs of chervil (or coriander) over the squash and on the plate. Sprinkle some Maldon sea salt flakes and Espelette pepper. Serve immediately.

If you would like to purchase a copy of this book, it is on sale on Amazon here. Alternatively, if you are visiting my supper club, you can purchase a signed copy here.

Recipe: "Ankimo" - Sous-Vide Monkfish Liver with Grated Radish & Ponzu Dressing

Since finishing Cordon Bleu last autumn, I have been able to apply some of the French cooking techniques I learnt there to a number of different Japanese dishes at my supper club. Of all my recent experiments, the one I am happiest about is Ankimo - Japanese monkfish liver.

In Japan, monkfish liver, sometimes referred to as the Japanese foie gras, is very much a delicacy - it is usually cooked in a mixture of water and sake for about 10-15 minutes, rolled in a sushi mat to shape it and served with grated white radish (mooli) and ponzu dressing. It is soft, unctuous and very lightly fishy with a delightfully creamy texture. I love Ankimo and had it often when I was living in Tokyo.

Returning to the UK and after much research, I found that Fin & Flounder in London's trendy Broadway Market could supply me with monkfish liver. I had already eaten and purchased Fin & Flounder's fish on some occasions so I knew I was in good hands. Richard, the proprietor, was very helpful and despite having stopped selling monkfish liver at his shop a while back, he was happy to source and sell it to me whenever I placed an order. I cannot recommend Fin & Flounder highly enough - the level of service and the range and quality of fish Richard supplies are second to none.

Fish Counter at Fin & Flounder

So having found the monkfish liver, I was now ready to recreate this dish in London using my newly acquired Sous-Vide Supreme. Sous-Vide, pronounced "soo veed", is the French term for "under vacuum" and refers to a method of cooking in vacuum-sealed plastic pouches at low temperatures for long periods of time. I have written extensively about this cooking method in an earlier post including a recipe for Tamago Onsen - sous-vide duck eggs, served with silken tofu and ponzu dressing which you can read here.

We touched on sous-vide cooking at Cordon Bleu, but it wasn't until I acquired a Sous-Vide Supreme water bath that I managed to practice sous-vide(ing) at home. This piece of kit couldn't be simpler to use and it is reasonably priced at around £450 in John Lewis for the water bath and vacuum sealer. 

I found that sous-vide cooking gives the liver a creamier texture and greater concentration of flavour than simply boiling it in water. So, I can definitely say that the sous-vide technique produced better results for this dish than the more traditional or conventional cooking methods. The other practical advantage for using the sous-vide technique for this recipe is that the liver can be cooked and stored away well before serving as it is protected by the vacuum pouch.

I served Sous-Vide Monkfish Liver at my Japanese Supper Club as one of the starters during the summer of 2012 and had great feedback. This is a rather unusual but very rich and delicious dish and you don't need to go all the way to Japan to try it.

Sous-Vide Monkfish Liver with Grated Radish & Ponzu Dressing

Ingredients:

1kg monkfish liver
50ml sake
2 tbsp sea salt
1 medium-sized white radish (mooli)

Ponzu Dressing:
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp mirin
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp dashi powder
(Alternatively, ready-made ponzu dressing can be purchased from any Japanese food shop)

Optional:
Shichimi - Japanese Seven Spices
Black sesame seeds - for decoration
Radish or baby cress - for decoration

Equipment Required:
Sous-vide Supreme water bath
Sous-vide Vacuum Sealer
Vacuum pouches
Cling film

Method:

1. Remove the outer veins from the monkfish liver, rinse under running water, drain. Place the liver in a container, mix the sake and sea salt, cover and marinate overnight in the fridge.

2. Fill the Sous-Vide Supreme with water, set it to 65C. It will take about 10-15mins for the Sous-Vide Supreme to reach this temperature.

3. In the meantime, prepare the ballotines - remove the liver from sake and salt marinade, and pat it dry. Place two 60cm sheets of cling film one on top of the other over a clean work surface, pressing them down so that all air between the sheets is eliminated. Place the liver over the cling film (closer to you), and roll it tight (away from you) to make a cylindrical shape. Tie one end of the cling film cylinder, squeeze out any air from it through the other side, and roll it again to tighten it before tying the other end. The ballotine should be about one and half inches thick. Depending on the size of the livers, you should be able to make one or two ballotines.

4. Place the monkfish ballotines into a medium sized vacuum pouch. Using the Sous-Vide Supreme vacuum sealer (following the manufacturer's intructions), seal the pouch.

5. Place the sealed vacuum pouch in the Sous-Vide Supreme water bath when the temperature has reached 65C. Ensure that the pouch is completely submerged, sous-vide the monkfish liver for 3 hours and 15 minutes.

6. Prepare the ponzu dressing - mix all ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate until needed.

7. In a large bowl, add some ice cubes and water. Once the cooking time is up, remove the vacuumed pouch from the Sous-Vide Supreme water bath and refresh it in the iced water to bring the temperature of the liver down rapidly. Refrigerate it until needed, the monkfish is served at room temperature (remember to take them out of the fridge at least one hour before serving).

8. Just before serving, peel and grate the white radish, squeezing out the excess water. Set aside.

9. Remove the liver ballotines from the vacuum pouch, very carefully remove the cling film layers from the liver, and pat it dry. Cut in 1.5 cm thick slices.

10. To serve, place one slice of monkfish liver in a small bowl or plate, top it with grated radish, one or two teaspoons of ponzu dressing, and a sprinkle of shichimi pepper, black sesame seeds and baby cress if using. Serve.

Tonjiru Soup – Hearty Japanese Miso Soup with Pork Belly and Root Vegetables

Tonjiru - A Hearty Japanese Soup

This is a delicious Japanese soup and a favourite at our home. It can be made in 30 minutes and is great as a starter or as an accompaniment to an informal Japanese meal.

It is much more interesting than a simple miso soup, and is robust and wholesome. This is one of my favourite soups.

Ingredients:

• 300g thinly sliced pork belly (same used for sukiyaki or Korean hot pots) *
• 1 large carrot cut into bite size pieces (can be substituted with pumpkin or sweet potato)
• 3-inch piece of daikon (Japanese white radish) cut into bite size pieces
• 5 cups of dashi stock (240ml per cup or 1.2 litres in total) **
• 2-3 tbsp brown miso paste ***
• 2 tbsp finely sliced spring onions
• 100g of fermented Sake Lees (Sake Kasu) – sold frozen in Japanese food shops ****

Method:

1. Cut the pork belly into 1 cm-wide slices.

2. Prepare the dashi – if using hon-dashi stock granules, dissolve 2-5 tsps in the 1.2 litres of boiling water in a medium pan (big enough to accommodate all other ingredients!).

3. Add the daikon pieces (Japanese white radish) to the dashi stock and cook for about 15 minutes in a medium-low heat. Add the carrot and pork belly slices to the pan, and cook for a further 10 minutes. Remove the scum (if any) from the surface from time to time.

4. Melt the frozen fermented sake (sake kasu), and brown miso into the pan and mix well until dissolved. Check for seasoning.

5. Pour into individual Japanese soup bowls and sprinkle chopped spring onions on top before serving.

6. Enjoy!

Notes:

* The thinly sliced pork belly can be found in most Japanese or Korean supermarkets (Japan Centre, Arigato in Brewer Street, Fuji Foods, Atariya). They come already sliced, frozen in polystyrene trays, and cost around £2.50 for 300g.

** I find that “Hon-Dashi” in sachets works just as well as the predominant flavours in this soup are of miso and pork belly, and the delicacy of homemade stock would be lost here. I also find that a combination of 20% kombu dashi (made from kelp) and 80% katsuo dashi (made from bonito flakes) will result in a more flavoursome stock. If in doubt, use katsuo dashi sachets which are widely known and are found in all Japanese food shops.

*** Different types of miso paste (red, brown or white) and even different brands will have different levels of salt. I recommend melting a couple of tablespoons into the soup, and check for saltiness. If you are doubling the quantity of soup, doubling the amount of miso paste might make the soup a litte salty, so use it sparingly and add more only if required.

**** Sake Lees (Sake Kasu) can be found in most Japanese food shops’ freezer cabinets. It adds a delicious flavour as well as richness and creaminess to the soup, so I would highly recommend using it. Most recipes for Tonjiru will not call for this ingredient, but once you try it, you will be hooked!

** Japanese Recipe** Soba Noodles with Japanese Pesto (Kawari Soba)

Soba Noodles with Japanese Pesto - Kawari Soba

This recipe might shock some of the purists amongst you, but luckily I could hardly describe myself as one, so I had a go at this unusual recipe and was delighted with the results.

It reflects my own ethnic and culinary heritage - Japanese and Italian cooking in one simple dish. To enjoy this recipe you will need to love Japanese perilla, most commonly known as "shiso". It looks similar to the Vietnamese variety but with a stronger flavour and characteristic aroma.

I make Italian pesto at home in large quantities as it freezes incredibly well, is significantly cheaper than buying fresh from the local deli, and tastes far superior to its jar/supermarket equivalent. This was the first time I dry-fried the pine kernels which gave this pesto variation a rather toasty flavour.

Ingredients:

• 400g of Soba noodles (buckwheat)
• 30 green shiso leaves (can be purchased at Atariya, Fuji Foods, or Japan Centre)
• 100g of rocket leaves
• 40g pine kernels (roasted)
• 1 garlic clove crushed
• 100ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons brown miso paste
• Black sesame seeds for garnishing (optional)

Method:

1. Making the pesto: reserve a few shiso and rocket leaves for garnish. Tear the remaining leaves into pieces and blend them with all other ingredients (apart from the Soba noodles!) in a food processor until smooth. Transfer to an air tight container until required.

2. Cooking the noodles: in a large pan, boil a large quantity of salted water, and cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet (normally around 5 mins only). Drain in a colander and rinse with freshly boiled water to remove the extra starchiness of the soba noodles.

3. Toss the noodles in the Japanese pesto and garnish with the reserved shiso and rocket leaves, and black sesame seeds if using. Serve immediately.

4. Enjoy!

This is a delicious dish that will take you only a few minutes to prepare, and is ideal as a midweek treat or as a starter for an informal Japanese meal. This recipe will serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main.

Note: Soba noodles, normally light brown, can also be purchased as "Cha-Soba" which are flavoured with green tea powder (matcha) and are green in colour.

Grilled Quails with Rose Petals and Bitter Chocolate

Grilled Quails with Rose Petals and Bitter Chocolate

I love this dish and have served it numerous times at home. It works well as a starter for a Middle Eastern dinner or as part of a meze or tapas. Most of the work can be done a day in advance, and last minute preparation should not take more than a few minutes. It looks stunning, and your friends will be highly impressed. The heady scent of roses marries beautifully with the sweetness of the quail meat, cinnamon and bitter chocolate. A real winner! 

Ingredients - (Serves 4)

• 4 quails
• Pistachio nuts, very roughly chopped (Optional – to decorate)
• Shavings of bitter chocolate (Optional – to decorate)
• Fresh rose petals, preferably red (Optional – to decorate) 

        Marinade

• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon bitter chocolate powder 
• 3 tablespoon rosewater
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Sea salt and black pepper (to taste)

        Rose Petal Sauce

• 6 tablespoon rose petal jam (from Turkish Grocers or substituted by 125gr apricot Jam diluted with 3 tbsp rose water)
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed to a paste with salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Generous squeeze of lemon
• Sea salt and black pepper

Method

•        Prepare the marinade - mix all the ingredients for the marinade together and rub all over the quails. Place in a dish and marinade for at least two hours or preferably overnight in the fridge.

2.     

•        Make the sauce – mix the rose petal jam or substitute, garlic and cinnamon together in a bowl. Add the olive oil and lemon juice and taste for seasoning. This can be done a day in advance.

•        Grilling the quails – before serving, place the quails under a very hot grill, breast side down, for 7 minutes. Turn them over and grill, breast side up, for a further 6 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink but is still juicy.

•        Serving – place a quail on a plate, spoon the rose petal sauce over and around the quail, scatter some roughly chopped pistachios, bitter chocolate shavings, and fresh rose petals over the top. Grind some black pepper over the plate and serve immediately.