Author: Emma Hawkins
Falafels

Falafels

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It’s time for these lil’ chickpea balls of happiness to enter the meze-sphere. These are made with chickpeas, cumin and lots of other lovely stuff, which all come together to make some very tasty kinda non-meat meatballs. These can be a little dry on their own, so they’re best served with something juicy like the roasted aubergine dish I posted yesterday, or some delicious homemade hummus!

Recipe

Makes 8

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
  • 1 Shallot
  • 1 Garlic clove
  • 250g Chickpeas
  • ½ tsp Ground cumin
  • 1 tsp Mixed herbs
  • Zest of 1 Lemon
  • 1 Small chilli
  • Salt and Pepper to season
  • 1 Medium egg
  • 1 tbsp Olive oil

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200˚C.
  2. Put the vegetable oil into a small pan and put over a medium heat. Finely chop the shallot and then add this to the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes until starting to caramelise. Add the garlic and fry for another couple of minutes before taking off the heat.
  3. Drain the chickpeas into a sieve and then rinse and dry them. Tip the chickpeas into a bowl and add the onion and garlic. Mash the mixture so the chickpeas are all broken down and then add the cumin, herbs, lemon zest, and chilli. Mix together and then season with salt and pepper.
  4. Add the egg to the mix and then stir to make a sort of dough. Divide the mixture into 10 small balls. Place these onto a lined baking tray and then leave in the fridge to chill for half an hour.
  5. When ready take the falafels out of the fridge, drizzle with the olive oil and then put into the oven to bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.
  6. Transfer to a serving dish and serve warm with lots of hummus and salad!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Aromatic Aubergine Bake

Aromatic Aubergine Bake

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First meze dish up is this delicious aubergine bake! This one, like most of the others, will taste amazing as a dish on it’s own, but also works fantastically in this meze banquet. The aubergine is gently spiced with something called rasel hanout, a middle eastern spice blend that works incredibly with earthy vegetables like aubergine, and will also work really well with courgette, squash and tomatoes. This dish will be a warming, nourishing taste to the banquet, which will balance well with the other lighter, sharper dishes.

Recipe

Makes 1 Mezze dish

Time: 10 minutes, plus cooking time

Ingredients

  • 1 Aubergine
  • 1 tbsp Olive oil
  • 1 Red pepper
  • 1 tsp Rasel Hanout
  • 4 Vine tomatoes
  • Salt and Pepper to season
  • 50g Feta
  • 25g Pomegranate seeds
  • A handful of Parsley to garnish (optional)

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C.
  2. Chop the aubergine into small chunks. Heat the oil in a pan and then add the aubergine. Brown it on all sides and then add the peppers and the rasel hanout. Stir to coat everything in the spice and then leave to soften for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, and then take off the heat. Season with a little salt and pepper and then tip the mix into an oven-proof serving dish.
  3. Arrange the tomatoes around the dish and then put the whole thing in the oven to bake for 10 minutes.
  4. Once out of the oven sprinkle over the feta, pomegranate, and parsley and serve warm!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
The Odyssey: Greek Mezes

The Odyssey: Greek Mezes

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So, to continue with book-themed month, this week is going to be a meze-a-day inspired by the Odyssey! I read this book back in June as a bit of research for a piece of playwriting I’m doing, and I enjoyed it way more than I expected. I think books like the Odyssey and the Iliad have become stereotyped as boring, old Greek things that only scholars or nerds read. Well you may be right there, as I am a bit of a nerd, but it’s a much easier read than you’d think, and whilst I wouldn’t call it a page turner it does have an exciting and interesting plot line.

So, back into the land of food. I couldn’t think of a particularly interesting way of re-imagining the plot line of the Odyssey into a single dish (those who’ve read it will sympathise) so I decided to do more of a banquet-style thing. In the book there’s a lot of talk of hospitality and food, and a lot of big food celebrations whenever someone new came over to someone’s house (which was pretty much all the time). There’s also a lot of travelling, and the book looks at the whole of Greece, (or the islands that make up Greece if you want to be picky about when the Greek Islands became ‘Greece’), so I thought a selection of Greek mezes (or tapas) would be appropriate celebration of all this.

This is going to be the intro page to the banquet, but over the next week I’ll post a recipe a day of each of the individual mezes, so by the end of the week you’ll have 7 meze dishes you can mix and match! I’ll also post the links to each of these on this mother-post page so you can find all the recipes here.

First one up is this delicious, warm aubergine bake!

Aromatic Aubergine Bake

Next one up is this dish of delicious falafels…

Falafels

Homemade Hummus

Pita Bread

Tabbouleh

Greek Salad

Lamb Koftas with a Mint Yoghurt Dip

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
The 5 Best Cookbooks On The Market!

The 5 Best Cookbooks On The Market!

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If you’ve been following my social media then you’ll know that August is going to be a book-themed month here on Cocoa and Thyme. That means that all my recipes will be inspired by various books that I’ve been recommended to read by you guys! So as an intro to my month of book themed recipes I thought I’d do a little book review to branch out of the world of recipe writing and into reviewing. Here’s a speedy tour of my current 5 favourite cookbooks that I’d recommend to anyone looking for one at the moment. These cover all kinds of genres, layouts and themes, so there’s something for everyone, from a fellow foodie to a chilled out home cook…

Gather – by Gill  Meller

I first came across this beautiful book in the shop at Blenheim palace whilst on an art trip (as you do).  I remember flicking through the pages and instantly falling in love with it because of the gorgeous images and layout. Rather than being split into chapters like the classic starters, main course, dessert, and so on, ‘gather’ is split up by locations. Each chapter starts with a stunning photograph of a garden, moorland, woodland, harbour etc, and is followed by a mouth watering array of recipes using ingredients from those environments. Whilst it’s all just photos and words, this book really makes you feel like you’re on a boat, bobbing across the ocean about to catch a lobster, or foraging in the woods for chestnuts!

The quality of the recipes is also great for any budding chef, as each one is really interesting and accomplished! I wouldn’t say that it’s the best book for beginners as the recipes, whilst not all technically challenging, could appear a bit daunting. That said, this is perfect for anyone who loves trying new things, is a landscape lover like me, or who is looking for some recipes that are a bit different to the stuff you’ll find online or in your standard cookbook.

 

Comfort – by John Whaite

This next one was given to me by my sister for my birthday this year, and I’m obsessed with it! All the recipes and photos make you drool as you flick through the pages, with delicious, nostalgic treats tumbling out of the pages. A great feature is that there’s a good range of original and classic, easy and more challenging dishes in here, so it’s perfect for all types of cooks who love a bit of home comfort. There’s also a good mixture of sweet and savoury dishes in this one, which I think is really nice as a lot of books focus primarily on one or the other. The only criticism I can give here is that this is not something you should buy for someone on a diet! The catch phrase on the front cover ‘food to south the soul’ is definitely accurate, but it won’t slim your waistline!

 

Sweet – by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh 

Third one on the list is this incredible Bible of sweet treats! What I really love about this one is that it’s jam packed with all the kinds of things you’d expect a book like this to have – ie biscuits, cakes, sweets and so on, but all of the recipes are really original and not like anything I’ve come across before. This makes it a really valuable inspiration book as much as a recipe book, as you won’t just be seeing the same old Victoria jam sponge, or chocolate chip cookies, but instead your eyes will be opened to all kinds of flavour combos and other things you could be making.

Like with ‘gather’ up above, this one probably isn’t the best one to go for if you’re a complete beginner (looking for step by step guidance as to how to crack an egg and so on) as it doesn’t cover the basics/classics that much. But anyone else from basic to expert will have a blast with this book!

Scandikitchen: Fika and Hygge – by Bronte Aurell

This one may appear humble and homey at first sight, but is an absolute must-have for anyone who has an interest in foreign baking/cooking. This collection of Scandinavian bakes are all really interesting, unusual and, most importantly, delicious! The book is also full of beautiful photographs, both of the food and of the Author’s home, which  gives it a really lovely homey feel and makes you want to go home and start baking with your family. I’ve also come across loads of new bakes in here that I’d never even heard of before. That amazing sticky kladdaka chocolate cake I made at Christmas was inspired by a white chocolate version I saw in here!

So if you’re looking for a little bundle of comfort which will make you want to hop over to Scandinavia just so you can eat some of these treats wrapped up in front of the fire with a good cup of coffee, this is the one for you!

 

Naples and the Amalfi Coast – by The Silver Spoon

So the final book on my top 5 is this beauty on the cuisine of the Amalfi coast in Italy. My Mum and I visited Sorrento, a little town in this region, a couple of years ago, and so when I saw this book full of recipes inspired by the area I had to get it! Unlike all the other books on this list, this one has a lot of food writing in it, and by that I mean pages of descriptive writing about the cuisine of the area. This makes it perfect for anyone with an interest in Italian cuisine, or the area in general, who wants to learn lots about the local produce and dishes. The book also contains lots of recipes, which is great because you can read all about Sorrento lemons (for example) and then there’ll be a delicious classical Amalfi recipe for you to try which uses lemons!

The Silver Spoon Kitchen, author of the book, has also written other books like this based on Tuscany, Puglia and so on. Whilst I haven’t read these books myself, if they’re anything like this one and you’re interested in cuisine from that region they’re worth buying!

Thanks for reading! This was my first review so let me know if you like this kind of thing and if you want to see more of it. Also please drop a comment and let me know what you think about these books – have you read any of them yourself? Would you recommend any others?

Emma x
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies  

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies  

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Something that I really love about making biscuits, and in particular cookies, is how quick and simple it is to make them. The three basic ingredients in any biscuit is flour, butter and sugar, and anyone who bakes regularly will probably have these in their home at all times, so these are something that can be rustled up at a moments notice without the need for a shop first. I also love how easy it is to make them. Whop everything in a bowl, mix it together, portion it out and bake them. Then, no decoration, filling, or embellishment required, they can be devoured in minutes, warm pools of chocolate oozing out of them!

Peanut and chocolate is one of the ultimate flavour marriages out there, and in these it works sublimely. The little saltiness from the nuts compliments and brings out the richness of the chocolate, and the nutty flavour makes the basic cookie dough a little more interesting than your classic plain stuff. Recently there’s been a food craze of different nut butters  (like peanut butter but made out of cashews or almonds etc) so you could also try experimenting with other nut-choco combos. Especially if you’re not a fan of peanuts, there might be another nutty substitute that you’d prefer. These will also freeze really well, so if you want you can make the dough, pop it into a freezer-proof container and leave it in the freezer for months until you need it (and that way a fresh, warm cookie is always only minutes away!)

Recipe

Makes 10

Time: 15 minutes, plus cooking time

Ingredients

  • 110g Unsalted butter
  • 75g Caster sugar
  • 100g Light brown sugar
  • 1 Large egg
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract
  • 130g Peanut butter
  • 200g Plain flour
  • 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/2 tsp Baking powder
  • 75g Milk chocolate

Method

  1. Begin by putting the butter and sugars into a bowl and beating them with a wooden spoon until pale and fluffy.
  2. Add the eggs to the mixture and stir until combined. Then add the vanilla and the peanut butter and beat again until incorporated.
  3. Add the flour, bicarb and baking powder to the mixture and mix until a smooth dough forms.
  4. Chop the chocolate into rough chunks and then stir it into the dough.
  5. Split the dough into 16 pieces and then roll each portion into a ball. Place the balls on two trays lined with baking paper. Take a fork and press down on each of the balls in a criss-cross pattern to slightly flatten and decorate them. Chill the biscuits in the freezer for 15 minutes.
  6. Preheat to 180˚C. When ready bake the biscuits for 10-15 minutes until golden and starting to crisp around the edges. Leave to cool slightly and then enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x