Spinach, Potato and Feta Pie

If feta makes everything betta, then adding filo makes it a dream come true 😂

Over the years of my blogging (1995-2021), there were a number of recipes that were stolen dozens if not hundreds of times. The Dal Makhani recipe given to me by a chef in Bangalore was the most used by others, and surprisingly, this recipe for Potato, Spinach and Feta Pie was a favourite too. There were exact reproductions, and in some places small alterations were made. Even high profile publications seem not to mind using both photos and content and claiming it as their own. It was so common.

I first posted the recipe for this pie in 1998 in the blog that in those days was a hand coded newsletter-style monthly publication without images, where I kept the details of followers in a spreadsheet and emailed them when it was updated. Later I updated to wordpress.

So this truly is a retro recipe. But the pie is still as terrific today as it was then.

You can see I am no master craftswoman with filo pastry tho.

#FromTheKitchen #FromTheArchives #Food #Pie #Vegetarian

Minestra di Pasta e Fagioli Borlotti - Italian Borlotti Bean and Pasta Soup

The son of a friend once had a neighbourhood restaurant in Prospect called Minestra. It was great! The menu changed daily, depending on their produce and the things the people in the area brought in. It was a favourite place to meet my friend, of course, but also a great place to sit and while away the time, or take work to do when I was sick of sitting at my desk.

What is a Minestra? Minestra predates zuppa (another type of Italian soup) by a few centuries. Derived from the Latin ministrare, meaning to administer, the word reflects how minestra was served from a large bowl or pot by the figurehead in the household. Minestra was traditionally the principal – and often the only – dish served in a meal.

Today it is a rather umbrella term referring to a first course of vegetables, legumes, pasta or rice cooked in a stock. Minestrone is one of many minestra soups. Regional variations abound but a minestrone always includes a vegetable that will thicken the soup, such as fresh or dried beans, potatoes or pumpkin. It must also include pasta or rice.

This soup is a type of Minestrone (Minestrone di Fagioli or Minestrone di Pasta e Fagioli), one that does not include a large variety of vegetables. You will find similar soups under many different names as your browse the internet.

#ItalianFood #Food #FromTheArchives #FromTheKitchen #Vegetarian #Soup #Minestra

Bengali Pomelo Salad | Batabi Lebu Makha

Pomelo in Bengali is called Batabi Lebu, and it is often misinterpreted as Grapefruit in English. It is a pity because Pomelo is quite different, not as sour as grapefruit, and a terrific fruit for salads.

This dish is so stunning made from pink pomelo. It is a common Bengali use for Pomelo – eating it with chilli, sugar and Indian rock salt (black salt, kala namak, which is strongly aromatic and actually pink in colour). It is the sort of recipe that could also be made with green mango, for example, or other fruits and vegetables, even grapefruit. Interestingly, it is also good with the more mild Jicama (Yam Bean tuber).

Pomelo is a common fruit in Bengal, and comes into its season after the monsoons. It is a winter ritual to eat the citrusy fruit after lunch while soaking in any sun. There is a pink fleshed variety and a yellow fleshed variety. It has a range of different names across India.

#food #IndianFood #Pomelo #BengaliFood #FromTheKitchen #FromTheArchives #Vegetarian

Feta makes everything betta.

Feta must be the most useful of cheeses, the saltiness of the cheese adding spark to pizzas and salads, turning dips into treasured spreads, and baking into a gorgeous stuffing or filling or centrepiece.

❤️ #Feta

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Hawaiian Chilli Water

Oh my, the year I first made this it became my favourite drizzling sauce for Winter – over soups, vegetables, into dals, on tofu and paneer, on rice, in sandwiches and sauces, with lentils and bean dishes — anything! I even mixed it into amazing dressings.

It is a condiment or hot sauce that is very popular with Hawaiians and has a range of variations on the common base of chillies, garlic, vinegar, salt and water.

As well as a condiment, it is also used as a drink to sip, and as a sauce. Many Hawaiian homes keep Chilli Pepper Water on their table, and guest will bring a bottle of their own home made version to leave with the host.

Why does it work? We know that an acid or sour flavour – vinegar, lemon juice, bitters, tamarind etc – enlivens any dish. Chilli adds interest and heat. Salt brings out flavour. Garlic adds bite and deeper flavours. If you add bay leaf or soy sauce they provide grounded earthy flavours (umami). All of this in one bottle of sauce that is composed mostly of water!

Here's a recipe (there are lots online) https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-recipes/hot-sauces/hawaiian-chili-pepper-water/ but note that you can add all sorts of things to vary the flavours and work with the seasons. I have added, at different times, turmeric, spring onions, herbs, black peppercorns, bay leaf, umaboshi, pinch or two of sugar, kaffir lime leaf and cumquat peel.

Each time you make it the flavour profile can change depending on what you have available at the time. In this way, it will also change with the seasons.

Right now I am making a fermented version which will be ready in about a week for drizzling this winter.

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I do love a good dipping sauce. Think – steamed vegetables, fried vegetables, dumplings, tofu, noodles, spring rolls, summer rolls, sizzling rice squares. The perfect sauce will lift a dish to new heights.

There are many varieties of dipping sauce, and the Japanese or Chinese style ones have their respective core set of ingredients. For Chinese it tends to be soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, Chinese vinegar perhaps, and some ginger and spring onions. Perhaps some chilli. This dipping sauce is another variation on that theme. So very very good.

A dipping sauce is perfect with these vegetable dumplings that I get from the Asian grocery in the freezer section – I put them in a flat pan with a little water and a little oil, and cover the pan. As the water simmers, the dumplings defrost and steam, and when the water evaporates they crisp on the bottom. Flip them over if you wish for a nice crispy top. They are also delicious steamed or even very gently microwaved.

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How most excellent is pesto and its cousin pistou swirled into vegetable soups! We do it in our 13 Treasure Happiness Soup, so called because it brings a sense of joy and happiness to anyone who eats it. More correctly it is a Provencale Vegetable Soup.

This soup, Minestrone alla Genovese aka Genoese Minestrone with Pesto (pic), is one of the Italian ones that combines pasta and dried beans, a classic soup pairing, with vegetables. The pasta used can be Vermicelli or Maltagliati – the irregular shapes of pasta designed to go into soups. A hand made pesto crowns the soup and is swirled through the soup before eating – a process that adds to the joy of hot soup on a cold day.

#FromTheArchives #Food #FromTheKitchen #ItalianFood #Soup #Vegetarian