I spent the week in Jerusalem

Well, not literally of course.  But I did cook 5 lovely dishes that came directly from, or were inspired by, the cookbook Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.  As I said in my post earlier this week, I had a kitchen to myself all week so I thought it was a great time to experiment with untried dishes.  And although everything wasn’t perfect, I loved every minute of it and learned some lovely new techniques and cooked with some new ingredients along the way.

On Monday I cooked Roasted Cauliflower and Hazelnut Salad.  Um, who knew you could roast cauliflower?  I fell pretty silly now that I’d never tried it before.  It was so yummy.  Definitely something I would try again!

 

On Tuesday I tried Mejadra which is one of the most “popular dishes throughout the Arab world.”  It’s known as the ultimate comfort food – and it really is!  Lots of carbs and spices means that it is really comforting on a cold day.  And who doesn’t love deep fried onions?  This does take quite an effort to cook but the recipe makes a huge quantity and it can be used for a few days as side dishes.  Again – I will definitely add this to my regular repertoire.

 

On Wednesday I tried to cook Swiss Chard fritters.  I failed.  The fritters stuck to the pan and wouldn’t cook properly.  But the next day I added Greek yoghurt and a couple of eggs to the left over mixture and baked it in the oven and it really was a taste sensation (served with the Mejadra).  It feels good that I am able to adapt recipes these days as I become more experienced in the kitchen.

 

I skipped the kitchen on Thursday, gearing myself up for a big finale on Friday.  I had invited my brother & sister-in-law and 3 other friends to what would be my first Albany dinner party.  Unfortunately none of the 3 friends ended up making it due to illness.  I must admit I was pretty devastated but I figured the show must go on and I continued with my plan.  I cooked some chicken meatballs (inspired by a recipe in the book) and an amazing baby spinach salad with dates & almonds.  It really was a delicious combo – even Ben said so (that is very high praise indeed)!

 

Below is the recipe for the chicken meatballs – it’s not an exact copy of the recipe in the book as I didn’t have all the ingredients.  But the method is definitely inspired by this amazing book – and if you don’t have it in your collection already I think you should treat yourself.  It really is wonderful.

Lemon Chicken Meatballs

500g chicken mince

Salt, pepper to taste

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of cumin

A shake of all spice

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

400ml chicken stock

Juice from 2 lemons

Olive Oil

Method: Mix mince, spices, eggs and breadcrumbs together and shape into meatballs.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Add olive oil to a fry pan and brown the meatballs.  Then add the chicken stock and lemon juice.  Bring to the boil and then simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.  Remove the lid and continue to simmer until all the liquid has evaporated.  Serve with salad and Greek Yoghurt if desired.