Bye for a bit...

There are times when blogs have to be put aside, when real life takes over..and this is one of those times.
My mother-in-law in Cyprus is seriously ill and as such we have decided to go and visit her for what could turn out to be the last time.
Hopefully we will be back with happy memories and not just sad ones,
so I leave you with a few photos of Leoni's birthday cake which I made at the weekend..
chocolate cake, covered with chocolate buttercream and lovingly decorated with ferrero rocher chocolates, maltesers, gold glitter and 'Artisan Du Chocolat' gold 'South Sea pearls'.

See you all soon!

Ooops! Nadia Sawalha's kibbe..not a success...

Israeli goodies

My friend Fran, who lives in Israel, has been kind enough to send me a box of foodie goodies, which I'm really excited about - spices, which are either unobtainable, or exorbitantly priced, over here - za'atar, baharat and hawaij.
Vanilla pudding mix, which is used in a few of  Carine Goren's recipes,  is not really available here in the UK, unless I order online, or buy the American 'Jello' brand in the little box, from places with fancy food halls such as Selfridges or House of Fraser.
Fran also included some cute little disposable paper baking cases, some for cupcakes and some larger ones, suitable for making the chocolate pear puddings in Carine's book. As soon as I can get my hot little hands on some tiny pears, I'll be making these.

I had some kind of exuberant vision of making kibbe, a suitably Middle-Eastern dish, to kind of celebrate the arrival of my box of goodies, and as a virtual way of saying thank you to Fran for being so kind, but things didn't work out quite as I'd planned.......

The kibbe are in the bin.

They were overwhelmingly greasy, crumbly and smelt heavily of lamb, which I hasten to add, I usually like the smell of.
My husband took one bite, pulled a face, which looked like he'd just stepped on, or tasted something very unpleasant, put his fork and plate down and refused to eat any more.

Kibbe are supposed to be a dish of layered bulgar wheat mixed with lamb mince and pounded (or processed) to a paste, with added spices, layered with a filling of, again, lamb mince, fried with chopped onions, pine nuts and spices, covered with lots of butter, fried in lots of butter and baked until golden brown.

Baked kibbe

Crumbly kibbe

They sound delicious...I don't really know where I went wrong....
I should have realised when I was adding butter and more butter, with fatty lamb mince.

Well, as they say, you live and learn.
I don't think I'll be in a hurry to make these again.

From Nadia Sawalha's book 'Stuffed vine leaves saved my life'.

Marks out of ten?                1.

Would I make them again?             No, unless I found a very different recipe on personal recommendation!

Would I do anything differently?         Can't really answer my own question, as I'm not making them again.


Have a look at this old 2007 post - Coco, the burlesque wonder cake.

Two dishy Cypriots...

.....Ha, ha....made you look, made you stare, made the barber cut your hair...

Or rather, two Cypriot dishes.

It's a beautiful Spring day today, sunny with a light breeze, the sun is streaming in through the open window, perfect for clearing away those Wintery cobwebs.
I've told you before I know how overly excited I get when I see Cypriot potatoes at the supermarket.

Not that I'm biased or anything you understand.

but they are, just perfect for so many things- fry them, boil them, roast them.
Waxy, sturdy little spuds they are, capable of being cooked in liquid, without collapsing hysterically in a mushy mess (albeit an appetizing one!)

And what better way to honour these jewels of the Mediterranean, than a traditional Cypriot dish?

Tava is traditionally cooked in a clay pot, with a tight fitting lid, which is where it's name originated.
Lamb, potatoes, onions and tomatoes are cooked for hours and hours until the meat is mouth-wateringly falling off the bone, the potatoes are meltingly tender and imbued with the cinnamony, meaty, tomatoey juices and the onions will have become sticky, caramelised and sweet as will the fat of the lamb, think crispy and crunchy.

Just gorgeous.

Tava:


Serves 4 hungry Greeks!

about 8-10 small lamb chops
about 8 small Cyprus potatoes
2 onions, halved, then sliced
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (or fresh sliced tomatoes if it's summertime and you can lay your hands on beautiful ones)
1 tsp-1 tbsp ground cinnamon (depending on how cinnamony you like your food, I use 1 tbsp)
1 tsp ground cumin (Entirely optional, many households use it in tava, but mine don't)
salt and pepper
a little vegetable oil to drizzle over to help with the cooking process.
A small glassful of water or white wine.

Method:
Peel and slice the potatoes in half lengthways, place in an ovenproof dish along with the chops and the rest of the ingredients.
Cover, either with a lid or foil.
Bake for 3 hours at 170 deg. C.  (Gas mark 3, or 150 deg. C, if you have a fan oven, as I do)
You will probably need to uncover it for the last 15-20 mins and maybe turn the oven up too, to make sure everything becomes dark and caramelised.

The whole kitchen smells homely and warm, like it's just been transported from Cyprus in some kind of Dr. Who/Tardis kind of way and the sun colludes in the illusion, fooling me for a split second.

Can I see the blue sky and hear the waves lapping at my feet?

No.

Ah, well.

I'm here in my kitchen in Great Barr.

About as far away as one can get. Sigh.

Anyway, we've started as we mean to go on. What better cake to make today, than my Mum's Cypriot semolina cake?

Still warm, syrupy, fragrant and fresh from the oven.