Thinking of spring

This week's effort may have been the best tagine ever.  This was my first beef tagine.  Soften one finely sliced red onion, 3 crushed cloves of garlic and a small piece of grated ginger.  When they begin to colour, add one red chilli finely chopped, 2 tsp coriander seeds crushed and 2 sticks of cinnamon.  Add 3-4 lightly cooked beetroots, peeled & quartered.  Saute the beetroot for a minute or so then pour in enough boiling water to nearly cover.  Put the tagine in the oven (put it in at 100 & bring the temperature up to 180).  After about an hour  & 1/2, add an orange peeled & segmented, a tbsp runny honey, 1 tbsp orange flower water & seasoning.  Cover & cook a further 15 minutes.  To serve, sprinkle over lightly roasted pistachios & chopped parsley.  I served it with couscous.
Sunday was Phoebe's last dinner at home before heading back to university & she asked for home made burgers.  I went for a lamb variation.  I make a delicious mix of lamb mince with bulgar wheat, garlic, dried mint & oregano (dried has a more intense flavour) & lemon zest - I think I've told you before.  Sometimes I make them into big patties, sometimes little meatballs to serve on skewers.  On this occasion I made medium sized patties to serve in pitta bread with hummus & a mix of  salad items.  This makes a great change from burgers.  We had the leftovers in our salad lunches.
On Tuesday I made a broccoli & blue cheese salad with the last of the broccoli from the garden.  It was so wonderful I may have to make it again this week with shop bought broccoli.  I urge you to try this.  Apart from broccoli & blue cheese which you have to use - otherwise I'd have to rename the dish - you can put in what ever you have in the fridge.  For the base I used crispy cos and baby spinach.  These days with a composed salad I dress each component as I compose it.  I made a lemony, mustardy vinaigrette & tossed the lettuce with the dressing in a bowl before adding to the salad dish. Cut the broccoli into tiny florets & blanch 1-2 minutes then toss in the dressing bowl & add to the lettuce.  I had some French bread left over from the weekend so I made tiny crispy garlic croutons.  At the market on Sunday I bought some speck from Little Wolf.  If you live in Wellington you should try this.  Sometimes his wife brings delicious Hungarian baking to the market. I put the rind (plus a parmesan rind I found in the freezer) in my pumpkin soup on Monday.  Finely dice the speck, fry & drain well.  I used Roquefort from the French cheese stall at the market and it was the perfect crumbly consistency.  I added halved cherry tomatoes, toasted almonds & micro greens.
Wednesday we had a delicious chicken & couscous meal.  Use 2 boneless chicken thighs, skin on, per person & tie them up with string to reatin their shape while cooking.  Brown on all sides in a pan then set aside.  Add a thinly sliced onion, 1/2  tsp ground corainder & 1/4 tsp each ground turmeric & ginger, 1 crushed garlic clove & a bayleaf.  Soften, adding a sprinkling of water to the pan if the spices start to catch.  Add 1/2 tin drained chickpeas, a handful of green olives & 1 cup chicken stock.  Season, then sit the chicken thighs on top, cover & simmer about 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.  Remove the pan from the heat & transfer the thighs to a plate to rest - keep them warm.  Stir 3/4 cup couscous to the pan, cover & leave 10 minutes, then fluff up with a fork.  Add lemon zest & chopped parsley.  We had the left over couscous in our lunch salads.