A taste of the Middle East

I am guessing that a lot of you have been watching Nigel Slater's Middle East and along with me are hoping that there is a book in the writing.
Here at Netherton HQ, we are very fond of Claudia Rosen's A New Book of Middle Eastern Food - an interesting title, as our copy was published in 1986.  But the recipes are timeless and classic and it was intriguing to compare her recipes with those being created in the homes that Nigel visited.  

This is not authentic, it is just a delicious combination of ingredients, inspired by the tastes of the Middle East, which I hope you will enjoy as much as we did.
We ate this with slices of bread, drizzled with Bennett and Dunn rapeseed oil, sprinkled with home made za'atar and then baked until crisp on our griddle plate in a hot oven.
It would be equally good with a flatbread and of course, whilst it makes a great vegetarian main dish, it would also be good with lamb chops!

150g butter beans, soaked overnight, simmered until soft in fresh water.
100g green beans, chopped
2 tblsp rapeseed or olive oil
1 red onions, sliced
2 fat cloves of garlic, sliced
1 aubergine, cut into ½" cubes
2 tsp salt
½ tin chopped tomatoes
1 cinnamon stick
Juice of half a lemon
1 tblsp chopped mint

Heat the oil over a medium heat in a Prospector pan and add the onion, garlic and aubergine.
Cover with a lid and cook slowly until the whole lot is soft.  This should take around 20 minutes.
Add the beans, tomatoes, cinnamon and salt, pop the lid back on and cook for 30 minutes.  
Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and mint.
Either serve immediately or allow to cool to room temperature. 

Serves 2

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2018 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk 

Apricot cake

A scrumptious, scented apricot cake, which makes a great dessert.
It's reassuringly simple to make, but the inclusion of the rosemary and lemon lifts it out of the ordinary and the Mascarpone gives it a luscious moistness, lending itself to dessert status. 
Of course, you could just eat it with a cup of tea, I think Earl Grey would be particularly complimentary.
However you choose to indulge, I am sure you will enjoy this.

150g soft dried apricots
50ml dry sherry
2 strips of thinly pared lemon zest
1 sprig of rosemary

Put everything into a small pan and simmer gently until all the liquid has been absorbed by the apricots.
Discard the rosemary and lemon zest and set the apricots aside to cool.

120g butter
120g sugar
70g Mascarpone
70g ground almonds
40g self raising flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
Handful of flaked almonds.

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC
Grease and flour an 8½" cake tin.
Chop the cooled apricots.  Beat the butter, Mascarpone and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the eggs and vanilla and continue beating thoroughly.
Stir in the flour, ground almonds and chopped apricots.
Spoon into the prepared cake tin and spread evenly.  Scatter the flaked almonds evenly over the top of the cake.
Place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then turn out of the tin and serve with more Mascarpone or better still, some clotted cream.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2018 ©
www.netherton-foundry.co.uk