Wild Garlic, Gooseberries and Me: A chef’s stories and recipes from the land. Denis Cotter
oil in a pan and fry the red onion for 1 minute over a medium heat. Add the pine nuts and capers and cook for 1 minute more. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Put the cooked asparagus in a serving dish and scatter over the onion mixture.
Warm Couscous Salad with Watercress, Avocado and Citrus-marinated Feta
This salad can be served as a simple lunch, as part of a buffet, barbecue or picnic, and it even makes a nice starter, in which case the recipe will make 6–8 portions.
For the feta, whisk together the olive oil, lemon, orange and lime juices and all the zest. Pour over the feta in a small dish, turn to coat the cheese, cover and leave to marinate for at least 2 hours.
Put the couscous in a bowl with a large pinch of salt and stir in 280ml (9 1/2fl oz) warm water. Leave for 10 minutes, then fluff up the couscous with a fork.
Heat the olive oil in a large flat pan or wok and cook the spring onions, garlic, spices and chilli for a minute, then add the couscous and stir for a minute or two to warm it through. Remove from the heat and stir in the herbs, cherry tomatoes, watercress and avocado.
Serve the salad with some of the feta and its marinade scattered over and around each portion. Finish with a squeeze of lime juice.
| Serves 4 as a main dish, 6-8 as a starter |
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| 300g(10 1/2oz) couscous |
| salt |
| 1 tbsp olive oil |
| 4 spring onions, thinly sliced |
| 2 garlic cloves, sliced |
| 1 tsp cumin seeds |
| 1 tsp fennel seeds |
| 1 fresh mild red chilli, halved,seeded and thinly sliced |
| 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves |
| 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves |
| 100g (3 1/2oz) cherry tomatoes, halved |
| 115g (4oz) watercress, chopped |
| 1 large avocado, peeled and diced |
| FOR THE CITRUS-MARINATED FETA |
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| 100ml(3 1/2fl oz)oliveoil |
| finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon |
| 1 tbsp orange juice |
| finely grated zest of 1 orange |
| finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime |
| 200g(7oz) feta cheese,cut into 2cm(3/4 in) dice |
Black Kale and Aubergine Spring Rolls with Ginger and Tamarind Dipping Sauce
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Remove the stalks from the kale and discard them. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and drop in the kale. When the water comes back to the boil, remove the kale, drain and cool it in a bowl of cold water, then squeeze out all the water. Dry the kale fully with kitchen paper or a tea-towel so that the spring rolls do not become soggy, then chop into thin slivers about 3cm (1 1/4 in) long.
Toss the aubergine in olive oil and arrange in a single layer in an oven dish. Cover loosely with baking parchment and roast in the oven for 15 minutes, checking and tossing occasionally to ensure the pieces are fully cooked and lightly coloured. Mix the tomato purée, soy sauce and sugar together and stir them quickly into the cooked aubergine.
While the aubergine is cooking, make the tamarind sauce. Put the tamarind and water in a small saucepan, bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Press the liquid through a sieve and return it to the pan with the rest of the ingredients. Simmer again for a further 10 minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened. Sieve again to remove the ginger and chilli, and leave the sauce to cool.
| Serves 4FOR THE SPRING ROLIS |
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| 200g (7oz) black kale (cavolo nero) |
| 400g (14oz) aubergine, finely diced |
| olive oil |
| 1 tsp tomato purée |
| 2 tsp soy sauce |
| 1 pinch caster sugar |
| 4 spring onions, thinly sliced |
| 1 fresh red chilli, halved, seeded |
| and thinly sliced |
| 1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground |
| 4 cloves, ground |
| 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg |
| 8 spring roll pastry sheets |
| vegetable oil, for frying |
| FOR THE TAMARIND SAUCE |
|---|
| 3 tbsp tamarind pulp |
| 300ml (10fl oz) water |
| 3 tbsp caster sugar |
| 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar |
| 3cm (1 1/4 in) piece fresh root ginger, chopped |
| 1 whole dried bird’s eye chilli |
In a mixing bowl, combine the kale, aubergine, spring onions, chilli and spices to make the spring roll filling. Lay a sheet of spring roll pastry on a worktop with one corner facing you. A quarter of the way up, put one and a half tablespoons of filling in a line (not to the edge) and brush the edges of the pastry with water. Fold the bottom corner over the filling and roll the spring roll to just beyond the halfway point, keeping it as tight and even as possible. Fold in the sides and continue rolling. Repeat with the rest of the pastry sheets and filling.
In a wide frying pan, heat 1cm (1/2 in) vegetable oil to a medium temperature, about 160°C/325°F. Carefully slide in some of the spring rolls, making sure you don’t crowd the pan. Cook for a few minutes on each side until the spring rolls are crisp and coloured. You can also cook them in a deep-fryer but make sure the temperature is not too high or they may burst. Remove the spring rolls and place them on kitchen paper to drain off any excess oil.
Serve the spring rolls with the tamarind sauce as a dip.
Asparagus, Spinach and Durrus Cheese Egg Rolls with Balsamic Beetroot Sauce
I love this earthy, sweet and sharp beetroot sauce (or syrup as it might properly be called) with the flavours in the egg rolls. You can make the sauce well in advance and it keeps for days.
It isn’t always easy to tell if it has reduced enough in the pan, so if it isn’t nicely syrupy when cooled, you can simply put it back in a pan and reduce it some more. The sauce can be very pretty on the plate or it can make a terrible mess, as beetroot always can, so it is best to put it on in a nice pattern from one of those squeezy bottles with a thin nozzle.
The rolls are also lovely with a tomato salsa, possibly with capers and/or avocado too.
| Serves 4FOR THE BALSAMIC BEETROOT SAUCE |
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