First lunch with friends out of lockdown

I didn’t give too much attention to etiquette which I should have done as Orange still has active cases. A leisurely lunch with shared platters was what I longed for, with sips of wine and lots of laughter. But you could serve up individual plates each with morsels and be more COVID safe.

Starters

Carrot Dip (Havuc) With Pita Crisps

Serve with Bloodwood Schubert

Shane Delia of Maha Melbourne cooked a dip with friends on late night TV . It is a simple carrot and yoghurt dip which he said was delicious and I wholeheartedly agree.

Ingredients

4 carrots peeled and grated

1 clove of garlic finely chopped or 1t toum

1T caraway seeds (not keen on caraway, I substituted toasted whole cumin seeds)

100 ml of olive oil

1.5 cup thick Greek yoghurt

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Sautee the grated carrots, cumin and a clove of garlic in a pan in a slick of

olive oil until cooked. When this mixture has cooled in a bowl, fold through

the yoghurt. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with dried pita crisps (which keep for ages in an airtight jar )

Shortcuts This dip is simple enough. Serve with fresh pita bread

Entrée

Babaganoush

If you haven’t made it by now just google how to. I do put the eggplants directly onto a gas flame and burn the skin. When they’re done I sweat them which makes it easier to remove the blackened skin. The BBG is then nice and smoky. You can can also drain the eggplant more than shop-bought brands so it has a thicker and creamier texture.

Not too many wines can handle eggplant but our Schubert and Rose can

Shortcuts

Buy it. My new favourite bought hummus and babaganoush are Pilpel (thank Joanne) and our local business Fresh Fodder a close second.

Main

Middle Eastern Flavoured Lamb Rissole

Rissoles were one of our family’s favourites. We add some spice here for a new take on them.

Serve with Bloodwood Cabernet Franc or Schubert

Ingredients

• 1 kilo of lamb mince

• 12 black olives deseeded and chopped into 4

• 1 heaped T ras el hanout

• 1 heaped T ground cumin

• 1 t sumac

• 1 cup of wilted silverbeet chopped finely (we have plenty growing in the garden)

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (or leftover bread soaked in milk, then squeezed out)

• 1 onion finely chopped (and sauteed in olive oil until translucent then cooled)

• A few good grinds of pepper

  (Reserve the salt - and more pepper - until you are just about to fry them.)

Method

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly in a bowl. For the first time ever I have made my rissoles uniform size by filling the lamb mixture into a ½ cup sized measuring cup and prepared the patties the night before, placing the 10 of them on a lined plate and covered with glad wrap.

Before cooking them, take the plate out of the fridge about an hour before cooking so as they get closer to room temperature. Now I have taken advice from 2 TV chefs. Bobby Flay, an American Masterchef, advised putting a thumbprint in the middle of the patty so the middle isn’t thicker than the edges. Salt the outside before placing them on the pan or bbq to aid caramelization.

Also reference is made to Adam Liaw an Australian Masterchef Winner and who offered that to avoid your food being sauteed sticking to the pan, use more oil than you usually would as you can always pour it off afterwards. I didn’t flip them too quickly either and it worked. This time I cooked the 10 all at the same time in 2 pans on medium heat on the stove until they were just done in the middle. Place the burgers on an oven proof serving dish in the oven on a low temperature to not dry out too much.

Shortcuts

Delete the onions, or use sliced spring onions instead, use baby spinach wilted with hot water being poured over it, then dried/or lots of finely chopped parsley/coriander .

Salad

Roast grape tomatoes and chickpea salad

This salad is made all the more yummy with sumac and pomegranate molasses in the dressing

Serve with Bloodwood Schubert

Ingredients

• 2 packets of grape tomatoes

• 1 tin chickpeas (drained washed and seriously dried)

• 1 red capsicum (deseed, cut and place under the grill until the skin is blackened. Sweat in a plastic bag and throw away the skin)

• Caramelised onions. (I roast mine in the oven rather than stir them on the top of the stove.)

• Some greens (I used more silverbeet. Strip out the stalk and roll the cleaned leaves tightly together, bruising them and cut thinly)

• Toasted pine nuts optional

• Olive oil

• Ground cumin, sumac

Salad Dressing

• Pomegranate vinegar/ lemon juice (1 part)

• Salt and pepper

• Olive oil (4 parts)

• Pomegranate molasses

• Sumac

Tomatoes are to be washed, dried and tossed in a slick of olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast at 150 degrees Celcius until they are collapsed and cooked with some caramelisation. Do the same for the chickpeas but roast them separately. They can be sprinkled with cumin as well as salt and pepper. They turn out crunchy!

Assemble on a serving plate and toss through sufficient dressing.

Shortcuts

Just use roast tomatoes, the tin of chickpeas (roasted or not - your choice) and some parsley and /or coriander with the dressing. I do have a tendency to add too much.

Beetroot Relish

How could I forget it - but I did! Email me at rhonda.bloodwood@gmail.com if you want the recipe.

Dessert

Persian Pavlova

I have used a recipe many years ago with finely chopped dates, figs, walnuts and chocolate folded through beaten egg whites and baked. Local cook Helve also used a similar recipe and we both served it with lashings of cream. I loved coffee cream on this one.

But as we were having Middle Eastern flavours in our lunch, I googled the following recipe from Kepos and Co (the Sydney restaurant where I have eaten the best hummus I’ve ever tried.) The cake includes halva which is divine.

Ingredients see the recipe of Michael Rantissi and Kristy Frawley from Falafel for Breakfast

https://www.delicious.com.au/recipes/persian-pavlova/d4b6dd95-1945-43f4-a500-0d0ebd6ab52b

Shortcuts: I substituted a few ingredients -dark for white chocolate, dried local figs (thanks to our builder, Phil) reconstituted in brandy and walnuts rather than all almonds. Don’t forget the lashings of cream flavoured with rosewater..

Garnish. No rose petals in the garden at the moment so I sprinkled the pav with chopped pistachios, pomegranate seeds, and sprinkles of lavender.