The Zucchini and the Great Unknown Marrow Soup

'Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, 

Not Hindu,Buddhist, Sufi or Zen, 

Not Any religion.

Or cultural System. I am not

From the East or the West, 

Not out of the Ocean or up from the Ground...

I belong to the Beloved'

Rumi

You see, most people can just walk into Tesco, or shop online (mine used to be Abel and Cole) at the large variety of different vegetables available, choose carefully which ones they want or like, remember those recommendations from friends. Even Tesco express would do. It doesn't have to be large. A corner shop even? They would almost always have some form of fresh ginger or seasonal vegetable that you can choose. 

I guess the interesting thing about living in a village, rather than London. And in the middle of the Mediterranean instead of the British Isles, (where I live is considered occupied territory, only recognised officially by two countries (one is Pakistan, and the other holds an almost identical flag) thus resulting in branded products not being sold here... or anything of any real quality) is that somehow I manage to get a large proportion (considering) of my fruit and veg from the street. I don't mean a bustling market with delicious smells and you get the picture.... I mean, lying on the road, fallen off a truck. 

I have to say I find this delightful - some of my most delicious recipes (See Plum Compote) have resulted from this. Others a stroke of luck (yesterday I got 10 apples this way, oh, and a lemon also...)...I will be baking more Apple Cake (or crumble) very soon! 

Obviously, there are other ways that vegetables make their way into my fridge.. This is mainly through some form of donation from the wonderful neighbours I have. And yes, I do talk to them! and know their names... well the English Speaking ones anyway :/ Huge bags of vegetables waiting for me. Some might be a little squashed. Some perfect. Some needed some immediate de-insecting, and some I find a little hard to cook. Namely what the British neighbours I have been spending time with, have referred to as 'the non- specific marrow' and what is known to me as the great unknown.... (Its accompanied with a form of screwed up face indicating that they also have come to the same dilemma as me and have no clue how to make this vegetable tasty or delicious, therefore just resulting in a waste of time)... however, we cant waste!

Unfortunately, Non-specific Marrow does not sound exciting at all! (now rebranded the Great Unknown for my own sake) I was much more pleased when another neighbour called it a squash, only to open it up and find the seeds were part of the vegetable (Like zucchini). Anyway... My most major disappointment was the fact that neither Jamie Oliver (at some point I will just call him Jamie, this second name thing is a little ridiculous ;p) neither BBC Good Food (who apparently as of yesterday consider this side of occupied territory 'the Middle East' and wont let me into the UK site thus barring from all of those recipes!), nor Sheikh Google could provide me with a recipe that had 5 stars and the work 'MARROW' next to it. Just doesn't work. 

Anyway, my search continued and I found this recipe (yes, I know the photos on the website are really bad!). I decided to completely ignore the use of Squash, and replace it with the Great Unknown Marrow... and here's the wonderful thing. It tasted so good, I had to call my dervish of a husband and let him know how delicious it was... (it doesn't happen often!). I have decided it is much like the story of the milk and the yogurt... all they have to do is sit in a pot together and somehow magic happens!

 To be honest I was a little bowled over by how easy, quick and delicious this soup is. A Definite Five Stars. No doubt. You have to try it! 

Yum All the way!

Housewife Tips!

- I thought 3 cups of cream was RIDICULOUS... the aim of eating vegetables is not to gain weight.. its to have something delicious. So I have reduced this to 1 1/2 cups of milk fresh from the cows (that's where I get my other stuff from ;)

- Of course, I am sure that squash would be completely delicious in this recipe (so go ahead), and I can only say how jealous I am (anyone that has access to online shopping, corner shops and squash). However, Non-Specific Marrow now has a purpose, and a delicious soup to go with it! 

- I dont know the difference between shallots and onions, so I combined them..

- I decided to cut the zucchini and non-specific marrow into 1-2cm squares rather than rounds.. rounds just looked a bit tacky for me. This also increases the cup sizes (how do you fit a cube in a cup?) So... instead of 1 1/2 cups, I used 2.

- Roasting these vegetables first is an amazing way of increasing the flavour (I roasted them for 30 minutes, already cubed with whole garlic)

- Serve with homemade yogurt, lebne, or parmesan cheese and some delicious warm bread <3

The Zucchini and the Great Unknown Marrow Soup

Ingredients 

1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 medium zucchini, cubed about 2 cups
1 non-specific marrow about 2 cups (or squash)
3 cups rich chicken broth (preferably homemade)
1 1/2 cups full fat fresh milk
2 teaspoons minced fresh basil
2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano (I used dry)
salt & freshly ground black pepper

If roasting: Extra Olive oil

Directions:

If roasting start here:

1. Preheat the Oven to gas mark 7
2. Cut Onion, Marrow and Zucchini into 2cm cubed pieces, place in a baking tray with whole pieces of garlic (still with the skin on) and drizzle 3-4 tbsp olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
3.  Cover with tin foil.  
4. Place vegetables in preheated oven and roast for 30 minutes
5. When finished put the baking tray to one side and use the roast vegetables as they appear in the following directions.

From oven roasted (or raw) to soup-tastic:

1. Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat.
2. Add onion and sliced garlic and cook until onion is translucent,stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes if not roasted.
3. Add flour and stir 3 minutes
4. Add zucchini and non-specific Marrow and cook until softened, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in stock, milk, basil and oregano.
6. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes (this will only need 5 or 10 minutes if the vegetables were already roasted).
7. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
8. Devour!

Serve it with 

Love!

A Basket Full of Focaccia Delights!

'There is a basket of fresh bread on your head,

yet you go door to door asking for crust

Knock on the inner door, no other.'

Rumi

Possibly originating from the ancient Greeks (which may be why this is divine), and devoured across the Mediterranean as well as Argentina (which is almost Europe really!) This focaccia bread is the first, and now my favourite of all the breads; super easy, super delicious, and extremely moreish! 

I completely recommend it to anyone trying something new... 

Jamie's Focaccia

I have to admit... I have a whole list of recipe's just waiting for the right time to be completed. As it turns out I am quite the workaholic in the kitchen, so, the list includes Gnocchi, My First Ever Jerk Chicken, Simple and Delicious Zucchini Soup, the Amazing Pizza's amongst others.... But last night amongst the candle light dinner we shared with some good friends, Focaccia bread not only dazzled the guests, but their tastebuds too ;)

You see, that despite making a delicious bread every couple of days, I wanted to make something special for our guests... I have to thank Jamie Oliver for this recipe. I have to be honest, there was no way I thought that my bread would turn out as delicious and sumptuous as his one. This is his photo (Left). I have this here to provide a comparison!

My Focaccia

I served this as a starter... (what I thought was a starter then it turned out to be one big delicious medly) a small piece of each part on everyone's plates... scattered on the table was baked hummus (I have updates some of the photos on this blog so you can see how it rises!), lebne and fresh yogurt, homemade beetroot Salad (simple boiled beetroot with Lemon and Salt) and cucumbers... Fresh from the oven Potato Wedges and finally once there was was a little room on people's plates, we passed round Jerk Chicken... A winner all over! (I cant forget my unburnt apple cake.. yes.. I mean.. unburnt. Update of how not to burn your cake is now available!)

This bread was devoured and gave the dinner the extra little punch of flavour it needed to blend the vast array of dips, sauces, salads, sides and mains together. Yum!

Crumbs! Tips!

The Missing Ingredients

I knew I wasn't going to have goats cheese at hand or any other fancy cheese (apart from Parmesan of course... I could perhaps die an early death without parmesan in the kitchen... the dervish would never understand!)... So... instead I replaced the cheeses with local handmade Halloumi (cut into rectangles and poked into the dough), and homemade thick Lebne yogurt that had been hanging for two days instead of one (creamed and blobbed on), and had a delicious pungent blue cheese esk taste and smell... Yum! 

I also had no access to any cherry tomatoes... so I just used regular tomatoes.. I should say though, these are fully in season at the moment, and so were full of delicious taste.. which you may not get if you buy regular tomatoes from say ASDA or Tesco... you would have to go for 'Finest'. I would recommend only getting what's local and in Season... God's way of saying 'Its good for you!'

Also, because I just couldn't be bothered to walk to the top of the hill (to be fair it would have been 40 minutes there and back...) I used dry rosemary instead of fresh sprigs...

Jamie says, this serves 10.... well. I am not so sure! Out of the 24 squares I cut this into... only 5 were left, and there were 5 people at the table! The 5 that are left are my little present to myself and I will be having them with some lentil soup this evening! I would say this Serves 5 People comfortably, 6 at a stretch also.. When you have guests... it is well worth making this bread as a complete replacement for normal bread... (double or triple the quantity if necessary if you have a large party of people) It takes less rising time, a tiny little bit more actual hands on cooking, but its so delicious it makes it all worth it!

- Don't get scared by the long list of ingredients... most are readily available in any kitchen!

- I do not have semolina flour and have used normal plan flour instead - as I do with my normal bread and this is still delicious

- I shaved the parmesan rather than grated it, and this created a wonderful later of it all over the cheesy side! Yum 

- This is a great recipe for experimenting with toppings... especially the three cheeses... go on! You know you want to!

- To kill two birds with one stone, I doubled the flour recipe, and used one half for the focaccia, and the other half to make regular white bread (I simply followed the direction notes on rising and baking for regular white bread... using this recipe for the dough)...

Happy Cooking!

Focaccia Delights!

Ingredients:

For the dough

500g strong white bread flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 tbsp Sea Salt, 

1 Sachet of Dried Yeast

1/2 tbsp Caster Sugar

300ml Lukewarm Water

3 tbsp Olive Oil

For the Balsamic Onion Topping

2 tbsp Olive Oil, 

2 Red Onions finely Slices, 

Thyme (I used dry, if there is fresh, then great)

6 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

For the Basil and Tomato Topping

1 Bunch of Fresh Basil

1 large handful of ripe cherry tomatoes halved or 3-4 ripe tomatoes sliced

Sea Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Olive Oil

White Wine Vinegar (I used apple)

2 Cloves of Garlic Peeled and Sliced (crushed)

For the three-cheese and rosemary topping

40g Halloumi Cheese cut into rectangular rods

40g Thick Lebne 

30g Parmesan shaved into thin slices

Fresh or dry Rosemary

Sea Salt

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large bowl or on an Italian board. 
2. Make a well in the centre, then add the oil and water, and mix well. If the dough seems a little stiff, add 1-2 tbsp water, mix well.
3. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for around 5 minutes 
4. Once the dough is satin-smooth, place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Leave to rise for 30 minutes until doubled in size.
   
5. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7 and prepare the toppings
6. For the balsamic onion topping, fry the sliced onions and thyme leaves in 2 tbsp of olice oil over a low heat for about 5 minutes, add the balsamic vinegar, reduce for a minute or two, then leave to cool.
7.  For the basil and tomato topping, roughly chop the basil leaves and put them in a bowl with the sliced tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, a little olive oil and apple or white wine vinegar, add the garlic and mix together (by hand is fine, I also squeezed the tomatoes a little to get the juices out
8.  As soon as the dough has risen, pound it, then place it on a baking tray (I put grease proof paper on mine) and spread it out to cover the tray (my tray was around 12x8 inches.. a little larger, or a little sma
   ller is also fine for this quantity). Push down roughly on top of the dough and prod your fingers in it creating little dips and wells. 
9. Divide the onion and the tomato topping over two thirds of the focaccia. On the last third, poke the halloumi into the dough, smear on some delicious tangy lebne, and sprinkle on a generous amount of parmesan (or three cheeses of your choice!) Add the rosemary and season with salt and pepper
10. Leave the dough to rise for a further 20 minutes
11. Bake the focaccia for 20 minutes until Golden on top and soft in the middle (It also ends up being crispy underneath if the tray is lined with Olive Oil... mine always is!
12. Devour!! (or cut into 24 even slices ready for your guests when they arrive!)

Serve it with Love!

My Burning Sweet Heart Apple Cake

I don't regret how much I love

And I avoid those who repent their passion

Hundreds of Sweethearts!

I am the love and the one

lovers long for. Blue, and a cure 

for blues, sky in a small cage

Badly hurt but flying

Everybody's Scandalous Flaw is mine

Rumi

This is not the story of the perfect apple cake, nor the easiest method. There has been hard labour put into this, and yet for some reason, my beloved, my cake, always ends up burning. Some times, love is like that!

(Please refer to the end of this blog for the update and adaptations that have made this painstaking work a perfection ;)

Some might say it's these ovens. 

So. I ask. Could you try and make this cake with your sweet heart and let me know what I might be doing wrong?

It is true. There are no regrets and no repenting here. Every cake I have tried and repeated has been devoured deliciously so much so that my last guests asked me to blog about its deliciousness and provide a recipe. 

So, this recipe is a mix between Mary Berry's recipe (more on the cooking side to try and avoid black ornamental features on my cake....) and this recipe for a German apple cake.. both of who proclaim to be the best

Well. This one burns. Thats all I am saying! It is delicious though!

Hearty Tips!

I added raisins, they just sank to the bottom then burnt.. However, if you soak them first, this did not happen, and they are quite delicious!

I added Hazelnuts to one recipe... absolutely delicious and I would 100% recommend a crunch with the sweet apple

Served with Love, this recipe was delicious, moist, and moreish... I simply cut off the burnt bits... but there are other ways... for example, waiting till the cake has cooled down and then taking a small sieve and scraping the burnt bit off... works a treat if you have the patience and the cake is for an important occasion!

Now its your turn!

Update

29.09.14 There has been an update to this recipe... I finally found the crux of the problem and have been able to successfully make an apple cake without the burnt bits (This is kind of epic, I am, afterall, defying Cypriot Ovens!) It was, as it turns out too simple to work out straight away... 

Simply instead of 4 apples, put 2. 

 I cooked it for 55 minutes and it was perfect.. no burn marks!

4 Apples may work in a conventional Electric, Fancy Pancy oven. But not in my tiny, gas oven made in Cyprus. Don't get me wrong, I love this country. 

My Burning Sweet Heart Apple Cake

Ingredients

1 Cup Sunflower Oil

2 Cups Sugar

2 Eggs

1/2 tsp Salt

2 Cups Flour

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Almond Essence (if you can find it)

2 tsp Cinnamon 

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

2 Large Apples peeled, cored and cubed

Directions

1. Heat oven to 160 Celsius or Gas Mark 3

2. Mix Oil and Sugar

3 Add eggs and all other ingredients as they appear on the ingredients list and whisk together

4. Add the apples and fold in to the mixture with a wooden spoon

5. Prepare a 9'' tin (maybe 6'' works better) with grease proof paper

6. Put mixture into baking tin, and then into the oven

7. Bake for 55 mins remembering to check if the mixture is cooked in the middle with a fork or other sharpish thin implement!

Remember to serve it with love!

Perfect Homemade Yogurt - The Transformation: Milk, Yogurt, Lebne and the Thousand Perfect Moons

I

You

He 

She

We....

In the garden of Mystic

Lovers, These

Are not

True 

Distinctions

Rumi

One day, the Milk bumped into the Yogurt. He said My Friend! How did you end up so creamy and delicious? How is it that in the West they enjoy you with honey and jams and in the East with cucumber and garlic? Something changed in you. We used to be so similar. We used to be the same. The Milk looked almost sad.   As if he longed for a part of himself.

The Yogurt looked puzzled at the milk. Finding it hard to recall how, this transformation happened. You see, it was so quick. Almost over night (10 hours to be exact...). The Milk could feel himself slowly heating up as the Yogurt tried to remember. Then just before the Milk started burning... The yogurt started retracing it's steps, and showed the milk how it was stirred up, and the milk moved with it.. almost as if they were dancing... like dervishes whooshing round contraclockwise... humming some beautiful names... 

Mingling in the bottom of the pot together, they started reminiscing about the good old days. The Milk found the yogurt to have so much knowledge and had many cultures! And they both remembered how when they were both Milk, they used to upset everyone's tummies, but people enjoyed it anyway, even against their good judgement! It was warm, with a biscuit before bed, or with some dates in the morning, or with cocoa powder, or cereal... 

Before the night drew in and the cold came, the Yogurt and the Milk wrapped themselves up nice and warm, with two big blankets and rested in each others arms like lovers. The Milk did not know what was happening, but he could feel something changing within himself. A love was opening. With all that he had danced, and talked and essentially, loved, he knew there was no way he could be the same again.

As dawn arrived and cockerel's called out to the new day, and blessed the universe with with song, Milk and Yogurt arose finding that they were now one. There was no distinction. No separation. They were joined together, everything the yogurt had taught the Milk, the Knowledge, the Cultures, the Dancing, had now become part of the Milk... Finally understanding that everything the yoghurt had was inside him, and had been all along. The Milk understood his sadness, the longing, the separation, and finally he could let it go. Happiness became him.  


And then they heard a poet reciting:

'No one knows what makes the soul wake up so happy!

Maybe a dawn breeze has blown the veil from the face of God. 

A thousand new Moons appear. 

Roses open laughing.

Hearts become perfect Rubies...'

It was Rumi. Of course it was Rumi! Milk had reached his first Stage of Perfection :) It was easy and it was with love and dancing. But where were these Moons that Rumi spoke of? Something opened in his heart, and made him want to learn more....

Creamy Tips!

 My adaptations to the recipe as I find it the easiest way to remember that; we don't always have everything at hand, everything can be done slightly differently, and there are some things, that just can never be left out

- There are different stages to this - all very easy, and they all make slightly different forms of yogurt

- Yogurt Making is very easy Alhamdullilah... even easier than most of the recipe's that you will find anywhere online. Again, I am in the middle of nowhere.. so something to check the temperature of the Milk or a thermometer or 'Candy Blah blah' stick thing.. yeah. I don't have one of those and I was forced to use my senses to make this yogurt perfect and delicious.. So I went on memory, and some small bits of advice from different sources...

- When you heat up the milk, it needs to get to just above body temperature (between 43-45°C) so, instead of using a thermometer, I stick my finger in the pot, it will be warm but not burning, not so hot that I can't keep my finger in, (don't force your finger to burn because you think you are brave!) the maximum that I or you should feel is a tiny pinching. If it is too hot, the heat will kill the live cultures the yogurt wont work, if it is not warm enough, the Live Cultures won't be stimulated enough to blend together and start reacting with the milk...

- I usually end up heating the Milk a tiny bit too warm and then waiting 10 minutes for it to cool down to the perfect temperature.

- All you need is Live Yogurt or Yogurt with Live Cultures, Milk, a pan (not aluminium) a whisk and two blankets.

- You have to buy yogurt with Live Cultures in it for this to work, I also heavily recommend the freshest most delicious, most organic milk (and yogurt) you can find, Tetrapak Milk will not turn out as delicious and may even Kill your live Cultures! Not Cool! Anything that has been overly refined, well that, in my view is just taking away the goodness....

- You make yogurt with yogurt... so that means that after making this yogurt, you can just use a couple of tablespoons or more to make the next batch of yogurt.. you get out what you put in!

- This recipe can be used for very large quantities so don't be shy if you have loads of Milk!

- You need a cheese cloth to Make the Lebne, Perfect Moons, and Greek Yogurt.. White Turban Material is Perfect! 

- When the Whey separated from the yogurt, you can use the Whey for many things. you can drink it straight it is very nutritious, though not so delicious! Some have used to it to soften meat and as a base for Marinade, you can also use it as a base for Ayran (just add 2 tbsp of yogurt, salt and mint to it!) just ask google! (I may do another post on all the things you can Whey! lol)

- You can speed up the process from yogurt to greek yogurt by slightly squeezing the cheesecloth with the yogurt in it (if you have guests and are in a rush for example), although I have found that sometimes if you squeeze too hard, yogurt comes out and there is waste instead.

- Making yogurt is very satisfying, and since I have been making it, I have been eating more and more of it! I even found some interesting facemasks and hair conditioners using it! (another post!)

- Want it savoury? for the Creamy Lebne, or Lebne Balls aka the perfect moons, why dont you try a selection of these spices and herbs? thyme,  basil,  oregano, fennel, corriander, carraway, chile flakes, dried onion, chives, smoke paprika and garlic. 

- I also bought 2kg's of yogurt once, just to make the lebne yogurt balls because I couldn't get my hands on any fresh milk... so yes, greek yogurt, lebne and the Perfect Moons can all be made out store bought yogurt...

First Transformation - Milk to Yogurt

Ingredients:
2 Litres of Milk
4 Tablespoons of Yogurt with Live Cultures

Directions:
1. Slowly heat up the milk in a pan. Very slowly.
2. Check that the milk has reached 43-45°C with your finger or a thermometer or Candy Blah Blah and take off the fire
3. Put 4 tbsp of Yogurt in a bowl, and add 100ml of the warm Milk to the bowl and mix together
4. Add the Yogurt and Milk Mix back into the Milk Pot, and stir gently until fully mixed
5. Cover the Milk and Yogurt Mix with a lid and then wrap in two blankets to insulate. The mixture should not get cold.
6. Leave the pot somewhere where it will not be disturbed or moved. 
7. After resting for 10 hours, voile! you have Homemade Yogurt!

Second Transformation  - Yogurt to Greek Yogurt

Ingredients: Home Made Yogurt

Directions: 

1. Take your homemade yogurt, and put it in a cheese cloth or square piece of Turban 

2. Lay the cheesecloth on a strainer, which is resting on another pot to collect the Whey

3. Spoon the yogurt into the cheese cloth (If you want to be fancy you can also hang the yogurt at this stage but it is unnecessary)

4. Leave for 30 minutes to 1 hour

5. Take the yogurt out of the cheesecloth and serve!

Third Transformation  - Greek Yogurt to Lebne 

Directions:

Just as with Greek Yogurt, to make Lebne, and the Thousand Perfect Moons, the Yogurt needs to strain. For Lebne:

1. Strain the yogurt for 12-24 hours days in the fridge, 

2.  Take the yogurt out of the cheese cloth and serve

3. Garnish with your selection of herbs and spices

Final Transformation  - Lebne to the Thousand Perfect Moons

For the Thousand Perfect Moons (Lebne Yogurt Balls):

1. Strain the yogurt for 3 days in the fridge until the yogurt is very thick

2. Prepare a bowl for the moons, half fill it with olive Oil, and spice of your choice,  

3. Take a large pinch of yogurt and roll it in your hands into a ball and place it into the prepared Bowl

4. Serve the Perfect Moon Yogurt balls as an appetizer, a side to any savoury dish, or as part of another dish... the Magical Melting Chickpea Tagine for example!

Remember to Always Serve with Love!