You dont really need a recipe on how to roast a sweet potato do you? For each person, get one sweet potato. Rinse the potatoes, making sure to scrub off all the dirt. Poke holes in the potatoes with the tines of a fork, and rub well with sea salt and olive oil. Place on a roasting tin, or cookie tray, and put in a hot oven (about 180 C) for about 35 – 45 minutes, or until a knife enters the potato like butter. For sweet potatoes (and if you can, source out the brightly orange fleshed Japanese organic sweet potato – we couldnt find it at the shops yesterday, but its a firm favourite) the trick is to serve with cold sweet butter, and soy sauce, and encourage everyone to mash away! The juxtaposition of salty soy, creamy butter, and fleshy sweet potato is indescribably wonderful. A party in your mouth!
Roasted Sweet Potato
27 JunWorld Cup Salad + Sesame Soy Honey Ginger Dressing
27 JunSo we are having a feast while watching the England – Chermany game.
We knew there was going to be a lot of emotion, and tension, so decided to make lots of delicious comfort food. Salad, with the bessssst salad dressing ever, roasted sweet potato and butter and soy, and angel hair pasta with mushrooms and chili. Lots of posts tonight!
The salad is composed of:
- 300 grams yellow and red cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 large packet rocket
- 1 small head lettuce
- 1 avocado
- 1 ear of corn
- Macadamia nuts
- 4 – 5 small onions in vinegar (or 1/2 small white onion)
- Edible flowers
Rinse tomatoes and cut in half. Tear salad into bite sized pieces and rinse well. Peel and chop avocado. Slice corn off the cob (tis wonderful raw). Toss in a handful of macadamia nuts. Slice vinegared onions in half, or finely dice half a small onion. Ensure edible flowers are clean, and add. Toss together, making sure that some of the flowers are face up on top.
Make your salad dressing. This is the best dressing there is, and easy to make, but quantities depend on you. I will give you a rough estimate:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 -4 tbsp suchi seasoning or sushi wine vinegar
- 3- 5 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 -3 tbsp Japanese mayonaise
- 3 cloves of garlic, grated
- Thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 4 – 6 tbsp soy sauce
Mix together well, and taste and adjust to your liking.
I adore this sauce. I use it as a dipping sauce for vegetarian chicken pieces or sausages. Its great on any salad – from mushroom salad to potato to a wonderful mixed salad as above. You could even use it in a sandwich if you like. You could add some peanut butter for extra protein if you need it. Or some seaweed seasoning. Or toasted sesame seeds. Use your own sense of taste, and what you like, and adapt it for your own pleasure.
Green Pasta for MZ+BSA
27 JunWhile visiting M a few months ago, I was able to cook in her wonderful kitchen (using knives that a friend of BSA had hand made!) and enjoy all the bounty and amazing-ness that was Whole Foods! I could so live in that place!
One of my favourite concoctions was this green pasta. BSA seemed to like it enough that he went for thirds (or was that fourths?). Either way, it is made with the freshest and greenest veg you can find. Feel free to adjust, though these go well together. The mushroom adds a warm muskiness that holds everything else together. This dish bursts with energy and vibrancy, and its so delicious. Simple, and not creamy either, which is satisfying without being overwhelming.
You could serve this with all sorts: couscous, rice, even a toasted brioche, but angel hair pasta, to me, has the delicacy that this dish needs.
Feeds 4 hungry people
- Approximately 1/4 cup olive oil
- 5-7 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 250 g mushrooms
- 2 cups baby spinach, thinly sliced into ribbons
- 2 cups artichoke hearts
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup white wine (or alternatively, veg stock and lemon juice, if you dont want alcohol)
- 1 cup broccolini (or other type broccoli) roughly chopped
- Few leaves fresh basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup or so parmesan and more to serve
- Angel hair pasta
Start with about half the olive oil, or enough to thickly coat the bottom of a large non stick pan. You should have a green gold puddle. Add more olive oil as needed while cooking. Turn heat on low.
As oil heats, throw in all the thinly sliced garlic. It will infuse the oil, and add depth to the flavour of the finished pasta. Watch as garlic gets soft but dont allow it to brown.
Meanwhile peel and slice the mushrooms, and add to pan, putting heat up to medium low. Stir well and encourage the juices of the mushrooms to let go.
Prepare spinach by taking leaves, rolling them into little cigar shapes, and cutting into ribbons. Add to pan and saute to wilt.
Roughly chop artichoke hearts, and add to the pan. Stir all ingredients together, to introduce them to one another and immediately add wine (or veg stock/lemon juice). Allow to braise for a few minutes, and check for flavour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Note: I usually add white pepper to this dish so as not to whack all the delicate flavours over the head with ground black pepper.
Roughly chop broccolini, and add it to the steaming pan. Turn off heat after a few minutes. Use a light hand with this recipe and work quickly. You want your ingredients to cook, but you dont want them to boil and leach all their flavour and freshness. Remember that the heat will continue cooking the vegetables for quite a while after you take the pan off the fire.
Tear a few leaves of fresh basil in half, or crush them between your fingers to release their amazing scent and oils. Add to the pan and mix all together.
Cook angel hair pasta, reserving 1/2 mug of cooking liquid. Drain pasta. Mix vegetables and pasta together by adding pasta to the vegetables rather than vice versa. Use tongs and mix well. Add a little of the pasta cooking liquid if you think its too dry. You might want to add some lemon juice or another splash of wine. Grate parmesan lightly over and mix well.
You could use many different vegetables for this beautifully delicate dish. Asparagus comes to mind, as do peas, rocket, french beans.
Spinach + Blue Cheese Bread Pudding (Unplanned)
25 Jun
AngelKitten + N came over tonight to watch the Brasilians and the Portuguese play a very boring final match of their group stage, and I had promised them beans on toast! One of my favourite easy dishes that you dont really have to think about. I thought of jazzing it up with a poached egg on top. Going all out! Well, when I checked my cupboard, all those cans sitting so certainly in the cupboard were soup – no beans! Oh no! What to do?! From this moment of panic, delicious dishes are born. I did a quick once over of what I had in the fridge and freezer, and decided to make a savoury bread pudding. I had eggs, milk, cream, blue cheese, onions, garlic, old good bread, and a packet of flash frozen spinach. It took about 10 minutes to assemble, 30 minutes to bake, and it was REALLY good. Much better then the second half that we watched!
This dish can serve about 6 greedy or 8 polite people. I baked it in a cake tin, so you could cut it like a quiche (or cake!) and it was perfection.
- 1/2 cup half and half (or 1/4 cup milk + 1/4 cup cream, which is what I used)
- 5 eggs
- 12 – 16 slices days old bread
- Blue Cheese (I used that Irish classic Cashel Blue – rich, creamy and sublter than most blues)
- Packet of frozen spinach
- Tiny bit of butter + small glugg of olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1 white onion, finely diced
- Oregano
- Salt + pepper
- Cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 180C.
In a shallow bowl or container, beat half and half with eggs, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Toast your bread, if you can. I didnt and it made a very unctuous bread pudding, but if you like the deeper flavours of toasted bread, and if you have the time (I was trying to get it done quick quick), then by all means toast away!
Make some blue cheese sandwiches: divide your bread in half, and lay one set on your working surface. Finely slice the blue cheese (I tried to get the creamier bits as I didnt want to be overwhelmed with the blue flavour, but do as you like best) and layer sparingly over one set of bread. Cover with second set, and trim off the crusts. Poke fine holes in the sandwiches with the tip of your knife, and lay them in the cream and egg mixture. Set aside to soak up.
Defrost your spinach. I dont believe in microwave ovens, so I dont have one, and obviously, if you can get fresh spinach, this would be best, but hey, I was working on instinct here! I used a large frying pan, and about 1/2 cup of water, and slowly defrosted over medium heat. When the spinach is fully defrosted, drain, saving the water. It will be spinach-y and delicious.
Use a little bit of butter and olive oil in the same pan, and over low heat slowly soften the onions and garlic. Season with oregano and salt and pepper. Once the onions and garlic are glossy, add the spinach, just to heat through.
Butter or spray olive oil in a large cake tin. Using your hands, take the eggy sandwiches, and tear about half of them into smaller chunks, lining the bottom of the tin. Layer about half of the spinach mixture on top, and repeat, ending with spinach. Pour about 1/4 cup of the spinach water into the remainder of the egg and half and half mixture, and pour all over the top of your bread pudding. Grate a bit of cheddar cheese (or other browning/melting cheese like parmesan) over the top, and pop in the oven for about half an hour. The bread pudding should puff up and get brown and golden on top.
Serve immediately, though Ezril tells me its delicious cold too!
Enjoy!
South African Cheese Bread
25 Jun
The cheese bread is also called picnic bread in South Africa, and its so so so tasty. It’s a batter bread, and can be made up in a few minutes without much effort. South Africans take this on long car journeys or on picnics because the bread itself is good enough to eat without any filling or stuffing or even butter. Its fantastic out of the oven, and even better the next day toasted. Its usually made with uncooked chopped bacon, for flavour and fat, so I added different vegetables, spices and fats to replace that flavour and richness loss.
This is the ultimate journeymans bread. One slice is sustaining, nourishing, loving and satisfying. It has almost a puddingy quality to it – thick spoon bread or almost popover bread quality. When I was adapting this for vegetarian consumption the big stumbling block was how to replace the about 1 pound of bacon, which adds fat, and a smokey taste. I have substituted the bacon with additional butter, the full complement of buttermilk, and smoked paprika and roasted peppers. I think this tastes awesome – and you don’t have to be sad about eating Babe!
- 3 – 4 cups flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder (not soda)
- 1 cup chopped spring onion
- 4 cups coarsely grated cheddar cheese
- 8 large eggs, beaten
- 2 teaspoons seasoning salt
- fresh coarse ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon chili sauce
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1/2 cup melted butter, cooled
- 2 cups buttermilk
- Optional: About ½ cup chopped roasted red peppers
Preheat your oven to 170 C. Grease 2 bread tins very well.
Prepare your melted butter. In a separate bowl, beat your eggs, and mix in the salt, pepper, paprika, chili sauce and mustard.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, onion and cheese loosely with a fork, and then lightly combine the egg mixture and melted butter with the flour mix. You should have a pretty stiff dough. Don’t overmix, or you will have a very heavy loaf, but try and make sure everyone is acquainted.
Add the buttermilk one cup at a time, and mix well. This should look like scone dough. Taste for spice, salt, heat. Adjust accordingly.
Divide mixture equally between the bread tins.
Bake about 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until a skewer comes out clean.
Turn out and cool on a rack.
Delicious warm, amazing the next day when the flavours have melded, and freezes like a dream. Stunning toasted.
If this version is too spongey for you, add about 1 cup more flour for a more cakey version.
Photo copyright U-en Ng
Paul’s Black Forest Birthday Cake
24 JunSince I posted the best cookie recipe ever, I thought I would stick to that sweet theme today, and post my dear friend, Paul’s birthday cake. Paul liberated me as a cook many years ago when I presented him with his first Black Forest Birthday Cake. I was shy because the cake was a bit wobbly, and listed to the side. When I told him this, he laughed and said to me that that was the perfection in my cakes – he could tell they were home made and created with plenty of love and sayang BECAUSE they were a little imperfect, and they were full of my energy and my love. I realised that people taste and see and feel and smell the love that you put into food, and it doesnt have to be visually perfect for it to be satisfyingly lovingly perfect. He made me a braver and more confident cook, and when he was here for his birthday, I couldnt resist making him another Black Forest Cake – this one even MORE wobbly than the last!
This cake is a bit of a major undertaking, BUT its easy peasy if you make it in stages. I made the alcoholic version, but you could easily substitute cherry juice in place of cherry brandy, and have a delicious non-alcoholic cake as well. Make the cherry filling, and cherry sauce the day before. You can bake the cake up to two days ahead as well. The whipped cream should be prepared on the day of serving, though if you really need to, you can make it up to a day ahead, given that its stabilized with agar agar.
Cherry filling + Cherry sauce
- About 5 – 6 cups cherries, pitted (I used fresh frozen because we had none in the shops)
- 1 bottle cherry brandy (or 1 bottle cherry juice or other dark berry juice)
- Sugar (to taste)
- Water
- Vanilla
- Cinnamon
In a large bowl, drain and defrost the cherries. Pour off any juice into a measuring cup. You should have about 2 cups. If you don’t, make it up with water (or cherry brandy!).
Pour the juice into a small saucepan, add about 3 tablespoons of sugar and about 1 cup of cherry brandy. Boil until syrupy. Cool and refrigerate.
Meanwhile, put the cherries in a large saucepan and add:
- 1 – 2 cups cherry brandy
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- Juice of 1 lemon
Boil until cherries release their juice, and the entire beautiful heap becomes soft and jammy. Cool. Pour about 1/2 cup of brandy over and refrigerate.
Chocolate sauce
- 3 bars of extra dark, bittersweet chocolate,
- 1/2 cup cream
- 3 tbsp butter
Break the bars into small chunks, and put all in a small saucepan, over very very low heat. Stir until melted.
Keep aside until ready to assemble cake
Chocolate buttermilk cake
Prepare 3 baking pans, lining the bottom with parchment paper, and buttering bottoms and sides. Preheat oven to 170 C
Beat together:
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cup sugar
until fluffy, creamy and light yellow.
Beat in
- 3 eggs
- 2 tbsp vanilla
- About 1/2 cup of melted chocolate (which you have put aside)
To this mix, beat in
- 3 cups flour mixed with 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt and 1 cup cocoa powder
alternately with
- 2 cups buttermilk
Taste. If its not chocolately enough for you, add up to 1/2 c cocoa or melted chocolate.
Divide equally between 3 cake tins, and bake for approximately 10 – 15 minutes each tin, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Cool, in the tin and if you are not using the same day, refrigerate, wrapped tightly in grease proof paper.
Whipped cream
Beat together
- 4 – 5 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup icing sugar
- 2 tbsp vanilla
As the mixture just reaches stiffness, add
- 1 tsp agar agar to every cup of cream
Whip until very stiff peaks hold. The agar agar acts as a vegetarian gelatin – it ensures the whipped cream holds its stiffness and does not leak or become watery. It can stay this way for hours and hours and there is no added taste or influence from the agar agar.
Assembly
Turn 1 cake onto serving platter, and with a fork, poke holes in the cake … everywhere! Brush the reduced cherry (brandy) sauce on to cake, and if you like sprinkled with a little more neat cherry brandy.
Cover with a thin layer of chocolate sauce, then spread the cake with a layer of whipped cream. Heap cherries on top, and sprinkle with crumbled chocolate (I use Flakes).
Repeat for remaining layers of cake, finishing with whipped cream along top and sides, sprinkles of chocolate and maraschino cherries if you like.
Refrigerate for at least two hours (and up to 12) to let the cake set well before serving.
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies (EVER)
24 Jun
I wanted to bake some cookies at M’s house, but I was worried that if I used the heavy equipment needed for a good cookie dough (electric mixer for example to cream the butter), I would wake the baby! So I looked online and found this recipe by Cook’s Illustrated magazine, which runs the brilliant tv show America’s Best Kitchens. They are truly amazing cooks, and combine artistry with a certain technical chemical mastery.
Anyway. I adapted these cookies a little bit (as all cooks will) but kept with their basic formula. This is a no mixer cookie, and makes the softest, most pliable, “lemak” dough I have ever used. And it takes like 15 minutes to put together.
And seriously? Amongst the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted. I have made them probably about 4 – 5 times with AngelKitten and Sawa during this World Cup, and people are obsessed by them. They get cravings, and beg us for just a few from our secret stash. We have shared them with friends and family, and just keep getting asked for more. I was thinking of making other things – a berry crumble or the most phenomenal carrot cake in the whole wide world – but for ease of making and for pleasure given, these just cannot be beaten. Hot from the oven they are … well, orgasmic is a word I would use. Enjoy!
Just a few notes:
1. Depending on the “rise” please adjust your baking soda. First batch I used about a teaspoon, and they were a tad thicker than second batch where I used about 1/2 teaspoon. Depends on your preference really.
2. Use best quality chocolate (NOT cooking chocolate, and not chips if you can avoid it)… Get good chocolate, and chop it up. ALWAYS makes a cookie taste better.
The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie via Cooks Illustrated
- 1 3/4 all purpose unbleached flour
- 1/2 – 1 tsp baking soda
- 14 tablespoons butter, divided into 10 tablespoons + 4 tablespoons (I used salted)
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, well packed
- 1 tsp table salt
- 2 – 4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 cups chocolate chunks – when I first made these I used Callebut white + milk cut off a block – now I use Valhrona buttons smashed up, a mix of dark (70%), milk (65%) and white.
Measure the flour in a measuring jug, add the baking soda (1/2 tsp for preference) and set aside.
Over high heat, in a large non stick skillet, melt 10 tablespoons of butter. Once melted, keep on heat, swirling constantly, until the butter has browned well, and is toasty and nutty. You want it browned and caramel-y and dark and gleaming, but not burnt. You will know from the smell, but be careful because it goes brown very quickly. The darker it gets (without burning) the more caramel notes you will have in your cookie – so be brave, but dont let it go over to the burnt and bitter side! Transfer the butter to a heatproof bowl (or even a large saucepan or pot!). Add the remaining 4 tsp butter (it will foam up) and using a wooden spoon, mix in until melted.
Add sugar, salt and vanilla and whisk until incorporated. Add egg and egg yolk, and whisk again.
This is VERY IMPORTANT
Let mixture stand for about 3 – 5 minutes, and then whisk again for about 30 seconds.
Continue to do this (letting mixture stand, and then briefly whisking) 3 times in total. You will see a remarkable difference in the mixture from when you started, to the final whisking. It will have set up, thickened, become almost stiff liquid caramel in consistency. Amazing.
The resting is key, so please do not think you can skip the above.
Using a spatula or wooden spoon, mix in the flour until just combined. Let rest for a minute or so, and then mix in the chocolate chunks. You will find you have the softest, silkiest cookie dough you have ever handled. Let rest for a few minutes while you heat up the oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie tin with parchment or baking paper.
You should be able to get 8 cookies (of 1 tablespoon balls each) onto the cookie tin. If you prefer larger cookies, go right ahead but reduce the number of cookies on the tin! They spread! This should make approx 32 smaller cookies or 16 larger.
Bake for 7 – 9 minutes, or until just browned on the edges. Take out of the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes (they will set up) before transferring to baking sheet.
Try and break at least one so you have some cook’s rights before theyre all devoured!
Roasted Peppers and Garlic
24 Jun
Two of my favourite things together – a marriage made in heaven! Roasted peppers are so sexy somehow. Slippery and sweet, tangy and juicy. The garlic adds a hint of muskiness and that scentsational aroma is mouthwatering. I often serve these as a starter – but you could add them to sandwiches, salads, soups, pasta. They are a wonderful standby to have in the fridge. A jar of these can take you to wonderful culinary heights! I made them for a dinner the other week, and they were lapped up by the hungry hoards. They are satisfying, easy to make (fun too if you like playing with fire), and their taste is much more complex and deep then the rather minimal effort expended.- 4 – 6 red peppers
- 1 or 2 green peppers
- Paper bag
- Tongs
- Fire source
- Cloves of garlic
- Good olive oil (Extra Virgin if you have it)
- A dash of balsamico if you have it
- Fresh oregano or rosemary or thyme
- Sea salt
Make sure you have access to a paper bag.
Basically you want to take the peppers, and char them over a heat source (I usually do this on the stove top) until they are completely blackened and burnt.
Use the tongs to rotate the peppers over the flame source. BE CAREFUL. They will pop and fizz and spit. Keep watch over them at all times.
When they are completely blackened, pop them in the paper bag, and twist the opening to ensure a good seal. When I made this recipe, I used a paper shopping bag and just folded over the top a couple of times. The peppers will steam in the paper bags and soften. After about 20 – 30 minutes, the peppers will be ready for the next step.
Meanwhile, heat your oven to approximately 180 C.
Put your garlic cloves in a small baking tray, and sprinkle liberally with olive oil and sea salt. Pop them in the oven and roast until caramelized, about 15 – 30 minutes depending on your oven.
Once the peppers are lukewarm, take them out from the paper bag, one at a time. Peel the peppers. The blackened skin should come straight off, but if you have problems, use a little strip of paper towel to rub off any pesky bits.
You should have some intensely deeply coloured smokey peppers ready for anything you want to throw at them!
Once your peppers have been peeled, core them, throw away the seeds, and cut away the stringy inner bits, and slice them in thin strips.
Put the sliced peppers in a bowl, and slick over with as much olive oil as your preference dictates. They will go all shiny and blood red or emerald green. A few drops of aged balsamico wont hurt either. Add a couple of teaspoons of fresh or a shake of dry herbs over this mixture.
Once the garlic has been roasted to your satisfaction (about 15 minutes or so – it will start to smell like roasted garlic) and is golden and soft, let it cool, slice it and add to the bowl. Don’t waste the olive oil either! Its been imbued with soft golden garlic scent and tastes – add this to your bowl of deliciousness too!
This keeps brilliantly in the fridge and is a magical addition to salads, sandwiches and pasta.
If youre serving as is, make sure you bring the mixture to room temperature before serving. The juice at the bottom of the bowl is phenomenal.
Photo copyright U-en Ng
Asparagus Pesto
23 JunAstonishing, divine, food of the Goddesses. Bright green and tasting like spring. You can eat this right out of the bowl (my sister, M’s preferred consumption method), or spoon it over toast rounds for bruschetta, in a sandwich, or over pasta or couscous. Its so extremely good, it needs no accessories. This is one of my favourite meals because who knew that asparagus could be made into pesto – and who knew that this taste combination existed and was soooooooo goood?!
You will need (for about 3 – 4 cups):
- 1 1/2 pounds (about 600 – 700 gms) asparagus
- 1 cup pine nuts
- 5 – 7 cloves of garlic
- 1 cup grated parmesan
- 1/2 cup (or more) extra virgin olive oil
- juice of 1 lemon
- Salt
First prepare your asparagus. Ensure that the tough woody bits have been snapped off – the asparagus will do the work for you if you just hold it and snap it near the bottom end. It will naturally break where the tough bit is – discard this. Chop the asparagus very roughly – 2 – 3 sections per asparagus. In a large pot of boiling, lightly salted water, blanch the asparagus till bright green. They need to be cooked, but not soft. Probably about 5 minutes or less. Just before you drain the asparagus, put a coffee mug in the boiling water, and remove a mugful, and keep aside. Drain, and set aside.
Meanwhile, in a shallow frying pan, toast the pine nuts (no oil or anything added) until golden and slightly browned. Use a spatula and keep stirring the nuts. Keep a watch – these go from light golden to toasted to burnt in a blink of an eye and you cant really save them when they burn. Set aside to cool.
Put all the asparagus and garlic into your food processor, and pulsing gently, start the machine. Add about half the olive oil in a steady stream. Add all the pine nuts, and pulse again, adding the rest of the olive oil. Add the parmesan and lemon and pulse again. If at any point the mixture gets too thick, add a little of the water you kept from the asparagus. Taste and adjust seasoning. You might need more oil or salt, or even parmesan.
I usually keep aside a few asparagus tips and serve this combined with angel hair pasta, with the tips for prettiness. Its delicious. And very good for you!!!
Hummus and Pita Chips
22 JunSo easy to make, its sinful. And an incredible edible shot of protein for any meal. Best be careful though, people cannot stop eating this. You will be asked to make it again and again.
Hummus
- 4 cups chickpeas (3 x 400 g cans or you can use fresh if you really want to – I do not see any appreciable difference between canned and fresh for this menu)
- ½ cup – 1 cup water (use the water the chickpeas came in)
- ½ cup tahini (sesame) paste
- ¼ – ½ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼ – ½ cup (or more) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 5 – 7 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- Fresh parsley (optional)
This is so bloody easy its difficult to call it a recipe. Its important though that you try and use best quality ingredients – if canned, make sure the chickpeas are organic. If youre using fresh, stick the chickpeas in a pot of water overnight, and they will soften sufficiently so that when you boil them, it will be quick and easy.
Pita Chips
Really simple to make, and so so so more-ish. One of my favourite things to make – and much better for you than any store bought chip because there are no additives of stabilizers or any of that crap.
- 10 pita pockets (try and find local baked ones)
- Olive oil
- Sea salt
- Bowl + brush
- Scissors
Preheat oven to about 180 C
Using your scissors, cut the pita into eigths – big triangles – though if you prefer a modern art version, by all means cut them up randomly! If the pita bread is a pocket bread, you will need to split it as you cut it.
Pread into one layer over a baking pan. You will have to do this in batches so you might want to use 2 pans to allow one to go into the oven as the other gets prepped.
In a bowl, mix together extra virgin olive oil and sea salt, mixing well with your brush. The sea salt wont get completely absorbed by the oil, but you want it mixed well. (Note: you could add garlic, or parmesan if you want to get fancy, but honestly, I love the pure simple taste of olive oil and sea salt and pita).
Brush oil mixture over the chips gently.
Bake in the oven for a max of ten minutes. Keep watch as they burn quickly. They will be golden, crisp and delicious.
These keep for up to a week in an airtight container, but I have never gotten that far – they just get eaten!
All photos copyright U-en Ng
delectable 