friederike's Reviews
9 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 9Sort by: Title 
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Jerusalem
By Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi
Ebury Press - 2012
A very nice, versatile dish. We served this as a starter, together with Beetroot with Yoghurt, followed by a Fruity Lamb Tagine as a main - worked perfectly. The only issue was that there was just a bit too much garlic - though we had used two small cloves instead of a larger one.
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Very nice comfort food. Unfortunately the chicken wasn't done by the time indicated; we've made the same experience with a chicken paella, so I guess it's probably down to something in our kitchen. Also, I didn't measure the salt but thought I had added plenty, yet the dish tasted strangely flat - I guess it wasn't enough salt after all.
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Chunky Courgette and Tomato Salad : page 84
Very delicious, but not something you would chose for its looks. In that sense, it was quite similar to Zahlouk, a Aubergine and Tomato Salad that is more of a veggie mush than a salad.
Served with Puréed Beetroot with Yoghurt and Za'atar as a starter, Lamb Meatballs with Barberries, Yoghurt and Herbs and plain white rice as a main, and Poached Pears in White Wine and Cardamom as dessert.
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Clementine and Almond Syrup Cake : page 294
As usual with Ottolenghi, a very reliable recipe that turned out a really nice cake. I used 2 oranges instead of 4 clementines and had forgotten to measure the syrup before adding the syrup, so I just made a very rough estimate, and it could have been a tiny bit more. I'm also wondering if you could also use this cake as a foundation for an upside-down cake - cut oranges (or clementines) in slices and add a little syrup before you cover with batter and bake? Might work. In any case, I served it with mascarpone and some leftover syrup, and I wish I had added a little orange blossom water to the mascarpone.
Worlds better than the curdled Lavender, Orange and Almond Cake I made the day before.
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Very delicious, but it made the impression it was published in the wrong cookbook - I wouldn't have batted an eyelid if you had told me that it was in The Scandinavian Cookbook. It was very delicious, slightly sweet and with a lot of spices, and because the meatballs were braised, they were very juicy. It was very much comfort food.
The downside to the Scandinavian flavouring was that it didn't go that well with the side dish, Chunky Courgette and Tomato Salad. Also, I didn't really notice it was lamb - next time I would definitely use beef or pork mince meat as it's a lot cheaper.
Served with Puréed Beetroot with Yoghurt and Za'atar as a starter, Chunky Courgette and Tomato Salad and plain white rice as a side, and Poached Pears in White Wine and Cardamom as dessert.
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Poached Pears in White Wine and Cardamom : page 267
Very delicious, but we didn't really taste a lot except for that cardamom and perhaps some wine. It wasn't really a problem, it's not like it made the dish unenjoyable, it's just that we wondered that we didn't even catch a hint of pear. It might have been the pears themselves, unfortunately they weren't very ripe and sweet (where do you ever get ripe pears nowadays?). Although I liked it a lot, next time I'll probably check the Poached Quinces with Rose Water Syrup to see how I can get a better balance.
The serving suggestion was with crème fraîche - I'd probably use vanilla ice cream next time.
Served with Puréed Beetroot with Yoghurt and Za'atar as a starter, Lamb Meatballs with Barberries, Yoghurt and Herbs as a main and Chunky Courgette and Tomato Salad and plain white rice as a side.
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Puréed Beetroot with Yoghurt and Za'atar : page 53
Very delicious, and extremely easy to prepare, especially if you take a shortcut like I did and use pre-cooked and -peeled beetroot. The only thing I would mention about this dish is that I served it on it's own, and I think it works a lot better if it's one of several dishes - as part of a mezze platter, for example.
Served with Lamb Meatballs with Barberries, Yoghurt and Herbs as a main dish, Chunky Courgette and Tomato Salad and plain white rice as a side, and Poached Pears in White Wine and Cardamom as dessert.
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Roasted Cauliflower and Hazelnut Salad : page 62
I really enjoyed this salad; DH did not. His main criticism was that it was everything and nothing; it had too many different ingredients added and he ended up not tasting the cauliflower (I did). I understand what he means - the salad wasn't as crisp and simple in taste, the way other Ottolenghi dishes may be - the Chargrilled Cauliflower with Tomato, Dill and Capers is a good example.
And yet, I enjoyed the combination of the nutty flavours of roasted cauliflower with allspice and hazelnuts, with the fresh accent of pomegranate and celery. And it's a beautiful dish!
Edited after receiving feedback:
DH reconsidered. He thinks there should have been more cauliflower, but more importantly: the cauliflower was just this bit too soft. Make the chunks larger, cook them less, set the oven temperature higher but bake a few minutes less, so that they end up being crisp and nicely charred (or just prepare them in a grill pan, my own two cent).
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Roasted Chicken with Clementine and Arak : page 179
Bitterness seems to be our fate this week. At least this time, it was only slightly bitter.
The chicken was very nice and smelled heavenly, but the sauce was bitter; we think it was due to the clementines. Which is a pity; there seems to be little you could do about this, at least little we would know. The clementines themselves were kind of standard supermarket fare, not sweet, not bitter, rather dry.
It also has a strong anisy flavour, both from the fennel and the arak/ouzo. We substituted the latter with cognac (my husband: 'because it rhymes with arak!'), and so there was some anise, but not too much either (I don't like anise - if you do, then disregard this comment).
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