Tasting The Middle East
With Tang and Glenisk
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| Carrot, Parsnip, and brilliant Beetroot! All ready for roasting. |
Back in the 90s, on a holiday in the South West of France, we came across a brilliant traiteur but he wouldn't let us have the harissa for his couscous until he was sure we understood it was “très fort” and he got his embarrassed teenage son out-front to reinforce the point with his school English. Very strong or not, there was no bother getting it last Saturday or indeed any day in Cork. Just call into Mr Bells (as we did on return from that holiday) and pick up a tube of the spice.
We needed it for a recipe in Taste the Middle East, a recipe booklet produced by Glenisk Yogurt and the Tang Restaurant in Dawson Street, Dublin. We picked out two of the recipes as the basis for a Saturday night dinner: the Baba Ganoush and a Roasted Vegetable Salad with Spicy Yogurt dressing. The Harissa was required for both. You can access the cookbook, including recipe details and method, online here.
As most of you know Baba Ganoush is based on aubergine and the less usual ingredients are curry powder, the harissa and hazelnut oil (we used Ballyhoura mushroom oil). And the secret ingredient was some Glenisk Organic Greek Style Natural Yogurt which, added to the mixture when cool, gave it a creamy texture. No flatbreads handy but we spread it on toasted Arbutus Sourdough from Bradley’s and, with a bowl of salad, it was perfect. Probably the hardest part was all the maths, cutting down the ingredient quantity from 6-8 to just two!
So on to the main course. The vegetables to be roasted were carrots, parsnips and one of the last beetroots from the garden. Coriander seeds (blitzed) and cumin seeds were added before roasting. The spicy yogurt dressing consisted of the same yogurt as previously, harissa paste, lemon and sea salt. And, to make it a main dish, we added chicken breasts (with bone and skin) from the Chicken Inn.
Again, it all worked out very well indeed. Without the chicken, it is a lovely salad for these winter days and the dressing can also be used as a dip. The booklet may be slim but it is packed with recipes, close to twenty in all. Our next target will be the Moussaka.
A couple of possible desserts are included but we gave the cook a break and bought a selection of Turkish Delight from The Sultan in McCurtain Street. Could also had purchased some of his baklava.
Tang opened earlier this year in Dublin and has been very successful indeed. They combined with Glenisk last Friday for a fund-raiser for Syria. Owner Stephen Dwyer says they are regularly asked for recipes (by head chef Jess Gavin). And this book contains some of the favourites and features the Glenisk range of yogurts. Enjoy! We did and we will!
Other recipes in the book:
Shakshuka & Tzatziki;
New Potato Salad;
Tang Raw Slaw;
Roasted butternut squash spread/dip;
Roasted sweet potato & Labneh salad;
Beetroot and Labneh Salad with black olive and lemon chicken;
Spanakopita;
Middle Eastern Chicken wrap;
Smashed Abocado;
Moussaka;
Frittata;
Blueberry Citrus Muffin;
Peanut Butter Brownie;
Yogurt Panna Cotta;
Buckwheat Pancakes;
and Berry Cheesecake.
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| Some of the ingredients, including beetroot from the garden and wine from Morocco. |
