mediterranean food – My Whisk and I

Bocconcini Pasta Salad

August 17, 2023August 2, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

500g fussily pasta, cooked and cooled
350g cocktail tomatoes, halved
60ml chopped parsley
60ml chopped basil
300g bocconcini cheese balls, halved
1 red onion, finely chopped
Dressing:
125g basil pesto
60ml olive oil
45ml red wine vinegar
15ml granulated mustard

Add the cooled pasta, tomatoes, parsley, basil, bocconcini and red onion to a large bowl and toss through.
For the dressing:
Blitz together the basil pesto, olive oil, red wine vinegar and mustard.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss again.
Season with salt and pepper to serve.

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Beef Kebabs / Shish Kabob

July 23, 2023June 26, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

12 skewers
2kg beef, cut into 2cm cubes
60ml soy sauce
125ml teriyaki sauce
15ml steak seasoning
250ml red wine
1 green bell pepper, cut into 2cm x 2cm squares
1 red bell pepper, cut into 2cm x 2cm squares
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 2cm x 2cm squares
1 red onion, cut into 2cm x 2cm squares`

Sauce:
250ml greek yoghurt
80ml parsley, finely chopped
60ml mint leaves, finely chopped
2,5ml salt
15ml lemon juice

Add the beef cubes to a mixing bowl and pour over the soy sauce, teriyaki, steak seasoning and red wine.
Toss the beef with your hands and ensure that it is covered with the marinating ingredients.
Set aside for 1 hour or longer.
Thread the beef, bell pepper and onion on to a skewer – you should have 12 kebabs.

For the sauce:
Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix through.

Grill the kebabs on an open fire – 3 minutes per side x 4, until beautifully charred.
Serve the kebabs with the yoghurt sauce.

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Turkish Egg Brunch

July 22, 2023June 26, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

This is my take on the spicy Turkish Eggs – spicy but with a zippy herby sauce to balance the heat. The ingredients/sauces are enough to feed one person.

Red Sauce:
60g butter, cubed
10ml finely chopped red chilli
1,2ml ground cumin

Green Sauce:
125ml measuring cup, tightly packed with parsley
1 clove of garlic, minced
one quarter of a red onion, finely chopped
a pinch of salt
30ml olive oil
20ml red wine vinegar

3 eggs
cocktail tomatoes
baby spinach leaves
radish, sliced
cucumber, finely diced

For the Red Sauce:
Add the butter to a pan set over medium-high heat and allow it to melt.
Swirl the butter in the pan for 2 minutes while it bubbles away.
Pour it into a small heatproof bowl and add the chilli and cumin.
Stir through and leave to develop the flavours.

For the Green Sauce:
Chop the parsley very fine and add it to a small bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir through.
Set aside to develop the flavours for about 15 minutes.

Fry the eggs sunny side up.
Arrange the tomato, spinach, radish and cucumber around the egg.
Drizzle the red and green sauce over the plate and serve immediately.

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Falafel

July 21, 2023June 26, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, finely chopped
a big handful of parsley, chopped
a big handful of coriander leaves, chopped
5ml ground coriander
5ml ground cumin
2,5ml salt
45ml flour
vegetable oil for frying

Add all of the ingredients, except the vegetable oil, to a mixing bowl and blitz together with a stick blender.
Lift the blender often and stir the mixture around – you want everything mixed together but not too fine.
Wet your hands and scoop up 15ml of the mixture. Roll into a ball and place on a tray.
Keep going until you have rolled all of the mixture into balls.
Pour enough oil to come 7cm up the side of a saucepan and allow to heat up.
Fry a few of the falafel balls at a time until beautifully golden and crisp on the outside.
Serve with a dipping sauce as a starter or fill a pita bread with falafel, salad and tzatziki sauce.

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Raspberry Cups

July 19, 2023June 26, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

12 shortbread biscuits
250ml cream
5ml rose water
12 squares of Turkish delight, chopped into small pieces
1 punnet fresh raspberries
a small bunch of mint leaves, finely chopped
icing sugar

Line up 6 small glasses.
Crush the shortbread biscuits roughly and place in a bowl.
Pour the cream in to a mixing bowl and add the rose water.
Whisk until medium-stiff peaks.
Spoon some of the biscuit into the glasses and add 2 spoonful of cream.
Top with a few raspberries and scatter some of the chopped Turkish delight and mint leaves over.
Repeat the layers once more.
Sift the icing sugar over the cups to serve.

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Pomegranate Mille-Feuille

July 18, 2023May 23, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

1 x 375g puff pastry
45ml pomegranate seeds + extra to scatter over
125ml + 30ml icing sugar, sifted
250ml whipping cream
110g mascarpone
10ml rosewater

Preheat your oven to 200℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour and unroll the pastry.
Cut into 16 rectangles, place on the baking sheet and prick the surface with a fork.
Lay another sheet of baking paper over the pastry and place another baking tray on top.
Bake for 35 minutes.
Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack.
Add the pomegranate seeds to a small bowl and muddle it with the back of a wooden spoon. Pour through a small sieve and reserve the juice.
Add the 125ml icing sugar to the pomegranate juice and mix to a thick paste. If you need more liquid, add a few drops of water.
Spoon the paste over 5 of the pastry rectangles and set aside.
Add the cream to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk to soft peaks.
Add the mascarpone, rosewater and 30ml icing sugar and whisk to stiff peaks.
Place 5 pastry rectangles on a serving platter.
Spread half the mascarpone mixture onto the pastry, place another piece of pastry on top and add the rest of the mascarpone on top.
Now place the pastry with the icing sugar on top of each mille-feuille and scatter over some pomegranate seeds.

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Cauliflower and Grain Salad

July 14, 2023June 26, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

500g cooked grains (choose from or combine barley, quinoa, brown rice)
100g raisins
1 cauliflower head, cut into small florets
10ml ground coriander
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2,5ml chilli flakes
55ml + 75ml olive oil
5ml salt
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
30g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
30g pomegranate seeds
15ml finely grated lemon zest
30ml lemon juice
a small handful of mint leaves
a small handful of parsley

Preheat your oven to 200℃.
Add the raisins to a small bowl and pour 60ml boiling water over it. Set aside.
Add the cauliflower, coriander, garlic, chilli flakes, 55ml olive oil and salt to a mixing bowl and toss together to coat the cauliflower florets.
Tip the florets into a roasting tray and spread it out in a single layer.
Pour 60ml hot water into the now empty mixing bowl, swirl it around to collect any left-behind spices and then pour it around (NOT ON TOP!) the cauliflower.
Cover the tray with aluminium foil and roast for 10 minutes.
Remove the tray from the oven and leave to cool.
Place a pan on medium-high heat, add about 30ml oil and fry the red onion for about 15 minutes, until starting to caramelise.
Add the cooled cauliflower, onion, pistachios, pomegranate, lemon zest, lemon juice, raisins and cooked grains to a mixing bowl.
Drizzle 45ml olive oil over and season with salt. Mix through.
Mix the mint and parsley together on a chopping board and chop roughly.
Add the herbs to the rest of the salad, mix through and serve.

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Turkish Flatbread/Bazlama

July 2, 2023May 7, 2023by Karen Claassen1 Comment

Bazlama is known as village bread in Turkey and is a super tender flatbread, very similar to naan. This bread can be cooked in a pan or on an open fire.

12,2ml instant yeast
15ml sugar
310ml warm water
190ml Greek yoghurt
30ml olive oil
10ml salt
4 x 250ml + 125ml flour + extra
60ml parsley, finely chopped

Add the yeast and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.
Pour in the water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes, until frothy.
Now add the yoghurt, olive oil and salt and whisk together by hand.
Add the flour and parsley and turn the mixer on a low speed until the dough comes together.
If it is VERY wet you can add another 60ml of flour.
Knead the dough in the machine on a medium speed for 5 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a work surface and divide into 10 equal pieces.
Dust with flour, cover with a tea towel and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
Roll each dough portion to a 15cm diameter circle.
Brush the tops with olive oil.
Place a pan on medium-low heat and allow it to warm up.
Slice the first flatbread, oiled side down, into the pan and brush the top with olive oil.
Cook the bread for 1minute 40 seconds and flip it over. Cook for another 1 minute 40 seconds.
The bread should have bubbles after cooking for the first 1 minute and about 20 seconds. If your bread does not look like the photograph below, turn the heat up a notch.
Repeat with the other breads.
Keep the cooked flatbreads wrapped in a tea towel until you are ready to serve them.

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Green Bacon Salad

February 16, 2023February 15, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

250g smoked bacon
125ml yoghurt
125ml mayonnaise
a squeeze of lemon juice
45ml olive oil
80ml milk
100g + 100g feta cheese
3 cos lettuce (or other crunchy lettuce)
125g sugar snaps
250ml frozen peas, thawed
1 avocado pear, sliced

Dice the bacon and cook until done and slightly crispy on the edges. Set aside to cool.
Add the yoghurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, olive oil, milk and 100g of feta cheese to a blender and blitz on high speed until smooth. Set aside.
Arrange the lettuce on a serving plate.
Scatter over the sugar snaps, peas, avocado pear and bacon.
Spoon/drizzle the dressing over the salad.
Crumb the remaining 100g feta on top, add a few grindings of black pepper and serve.

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Panzanella (Italian Bread Salad)

February 25, 2022by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

This is without doubt my favourite salad! If you are a fan of tomato, this is a must-try.

4 x 2cm thick slices of sourdough bread
6-8 fresh, ripe tomatoes at room temperature
half a cucumber
1 small red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
125ml olive oil
60ml balsamic vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
a bunch of fresh basil leaves

Preheat your oven to 190℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Cut the sourdough slices into cubes of 1,5 – 2cm.
Spread the bread cubes on the prepared baking sheet and liberally drizzle with olive oil and season with salt.
Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until the bread is golden and crisp.
Remove from the baking sheet and set aside to cool.

Dressing:
Chop 3-4 tomatoes into very small pieces. The chopping is best done in a shallow bowl so that you preserve all of the tomato’s juice.
Add the tomato and the juice to a small mixing bowl.
Chop the onion as finely as you can, mince the garlic and add to the tomato.
Now add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice.
Mix these ingredients together and seasonal with salt and pepper. Make adjustments according to your liking.

Slice the remaining 3-4 tomatoes into chunks and place in a large mixing bowl.
Cut the cucumber into chunks and add that as well.
Pour the dressing over the tomato and cucumber and mix through.
Scatter the croutons and basil on top of the salad and mix through.
Transfer to a serving platter.