Category Archives: a Change of Appetite

Shawarma Chicken with Warm Chickpea Purée and Sumac Onions

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We seem to be eating rather a lot of chicken lately!

This dish is from A Change of Appetite by Diana Henry. I finally bought my own copy having borrowed my Mother-in-Laws one last year.

In some respects it isn’t dissimilar to the Jamie Oliver dish I made from 15 minute meals. It just has a little more care and attention. They both end up pan frying chicken at a high heat very quickly.

I mostly ignore the treatment that chicken requires when cooking. If it says boneless chicken thighs I tend to just leave the skin on and leave the bone in – speed over appearance – but for a change I decided to out my Global knives to good use and bone and skin the chicken. It’s pretty easy with the right tools so I will put in the effort from now on.

The prepped chicken is marinated in garlic, lemon juice, cumin, turmeric and mixed spice for several hours.  The purée is made from cooked onion, garlic, cumin and mixed spice- to which you add your chickpeas and blend until smooth with some tahini, lemon juice and olive oil.

For once I found my Nutribullet to be a little irritating when pureeing. It isn’t very good at blitzing a lot of something – especially when it is thick. It is also incredibly difficult to get out of the container when you are done. I think a stick blender would have been better; I may even take a punt on something a bit more upmarket like a Vitamix or a Thermomix.

The sumac onions are simply some crisped up  red onions with sumac sprinkled on top. I crisped mine up on a bed of ice – but it suggests just using cold water.

When you’re ready to easy get your pan really hot and pan fry the chicken – a couple of minutes on each side – and serve with the chickpea puree and the onions.

This dish is very nice. The warm chickpea purée isn’t far off being a hummus and goes really well with the spices that marinade the chicken.

I served mine with pitta bread but I think it was largely unnecessary. We ate quite late and it was a struggle to finish it.  I also added a mint, radish and lettuce salad and a blob of yoghurt just to use up some salad I had in the fridge.

It’s film club tonight – and we are watching Ex-Machina. I made extra so we have an enviable snack for later.

I’ll certainly made this again – especially for the puree. It’s amazing.

Diana Henry – a Change of Appetite

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Cooking for a week from one book doesn’t necessarily mean the book is any good. On paper this book shouldn’t have been any good because it was given to me as a cast off.

What I tend to do is go from cover to cover and write down everything I think I’d practically like to make in a week.

I only sieved through pages 1 – 180 and picked the following recipes from ‘a Change of Appetite’:

  • Feta and Orange Salad with Honeyed Almonds
  • Greek Yoghurt and Apricot Ice Cream
  • Asparagus Veneto Style
  • Artichoke and Ricotta Salad with Honeyed Preserved Lemon Dressing
  • Middle Eastern Leeks with Yoghurt, Dill and Sumac
  • Spring Barley Couscous with Harissa and Buttermilk Sauce
  • Shaved Vegetables with Lemon and Olive Oil
  • Middle Eastern Yoghurt Bread
  • Grapefruit and Mint Sorbet
  • Nectarine, Tomato and Basil Salad with Torn Mozzarella
  • Goats Cheese and Cherry Salad with Almonds and Basil Gremolata
  • Turkish Spoon Salad with Haydari
  • Raspberries with Basil and Buttermilk Sherbert
  • Roast Tomatoes and Lentils with Dukkah Crumbed Eggs
  • Celeriac, Radicchio, Fennel and Apple Salad with Hazelnuts
  • Carrot, Cabbage and Apple Salad with Caraway
  • Roast Pumpkin and Jerusalem Artichokes with Agresto
  • Cavolo Nero and Bulgar Pilaf with Glazed Figs
  • Watercress and Carrot Salad
  • Kisir
  • Indian Spiced Spinach and Mushrooms with Black Lentils and Paneer
  • Pliaf of Mixed Grains, Sweet Potato and Fennel with Avocado Cream

I only stopped because there was definitely enough to make in one week. I’ll go through the rest of the book another time.

After shortlisting everything I want to make we then decide what we actually want the following week applying the logic that we need 4 evening dishes and 5 lunchtime dishes and maybe a few extra. We then try and order all the ingredients on Ocado.

There are number of recipes on the list above that I haven’t made yet – but I will.

I’d say this book has a very good selection of recipes for all types of cook – and that most of the recipes are pretty easy to make. You certainly won’t be slaving in the kitchen for hours. Nothing I made in this book took me more than an hour. Half the things I made were just throw it together in a bowl and eat straight away. Perfect for work where you don’t usually have much more than a microwave.

In summary, I’ll be making recipes from this book regularly. It has plenty of no meat, low-carb recipes and most of the ingredients are readily available.

Turkish Spoon Salad with Haydari

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What’s a Turkish Spoon Salad.

Well it’s a lot of fine chopping I can tell you.

Tomatoes, Romano Peppers, Red Chilli, Shallots and Cucumbers. All chopped and mixed with Harissa, olive oil and white wine vinegar.

After throwing in lots of mint and parsley this really does make a really fresh and tasty salad.

It was it bit spicy for my fiancé but I liked it that way.

The Haydari isn’t dissimilar to Labneh. It’s a kind of goats cheese you make with Greek yoghurt and lemon juice which you strain in muslin for 24 hours. Haydari is accented with dill, green chilli and sumac.

This is a very nice salad if you have time to make it and remember to get the Haydari on the day before.

Another keeper from Diana Henry

Right now to get ready for a night of Rock n Roll dancing!

Nectarine, Tomato and Basil Salad with Torn Mozzarella

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I chose to make this for lunch today because the weather in the UK couldn’t make it’s mind up. Hints of sun – but too cold to be summery.

20140321-130026.jpgThis salad is very summery. Smells of summer and tastes wonderful.

You needs ripe nectarines and tomatoes or it will just taste unpleasant. I got mine from Natoora.

If you can cut fruit you can make this.

The balsamic and olive oil dressing really brings it to life.

While there are ripe nectarines out there I’ll be making this. Definitely a keeper.

Diana Henry’s book is proving very useful this week.

Cavolo Nero and Bulgar Pilaf with Glazed Figs

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Cavolo Nero and Bulgar Pilaf with Glazed Figs

This is a nice hearty dish.

It takes somewhat more effort than most dishes I embark on midweek – but it is worth the effort.

After sauteing some Fennel and Onion and Garlic you add Bulgar Wheat and stock.

While that’s on the go you glaze some figs in honey and balsamic.

And while that’s on the go you blanch/boil some trimmed Cavolo Nero.

If you get your timings right it all comes together after about 30 mins – and then you mix it all up and coat in some squeezed orange.

Cavolo Nero is a wonderful vegetable and really makes this dish.

We found the leftovers tasted even better the next day.

Another lovely dish from Diana Henry’s – a Change of Appetite

Middle Eastern Leeks with Yoghurt, Dill and Sumac

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My future mother in law bought ‘a Change of Appetite’ by Diana Henry and decided it wasn’t for her.

I took the book off her hands – and made this:

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Basically you steam some leeks, make a yoghurt sauce (which also contains Dijon mustard and garlic) and dust it with Sumac.

Personally I’d halve the garlic and the mustard. The leeks get a little lost otherwise.

Definitely a keeper