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	<title>Food Stories &#187; Cheese</title>
	<atom:link href="http://helengraves.co.uk/category/cheese/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://helengraves.co.uk</link>
	<description>Food and drink from Peckham</description>
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		<item>
		<title>Sandwich à la Khan&#8217;s Bargain Ltd.</title>
		<link>http://helengraves.co.uk/2012/03/sandwich-a-la-khans-bargain-ltd/</link>
		<comments>http://helengraves.co.uk/2012/03/sandwich-a-la-khans-bargain-ltd/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:32:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bread]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cheese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food From The Rye]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peckham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sandwiches]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aleppo paste]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flat bread]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food shop Peckham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fried aubergine sandwich]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[halloumi and aubergine sandwich]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[halloumi and pepper sandwich]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Khan's Bargain Ltd]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Khan's Bargain Ltd. Peckham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Khans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peckham sandwich]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peckham sandwich recipe]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://helengraves.co.uk/?p=8062</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Many of you will know about my love for Khan&#8217;s Bargain Ltd. It&#8217;s one of the best shops in Peckham; so good in fact that I felt moved to write a whole post about it. Recently, a reader left a comment on that post saying that Mr. Khan has sadly passed away. I went down [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Sandwich a la Khan's Bargain Ltd." src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7182/6846469818_6a04bdef66.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></p>
<p>Many of you will know about my love for Khan&#8217;s Bargain Ltd. It&#8217;s one of the best shops in Peckham; so good in fact that I felt moved to write <a href="http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/04/food-from-the-rye-khans-bargain-ltd/" target="_blank">a whole post</a> about it. Recently, a reader left a comment on that post saying that Mr. Khan has sadly passed away. I went down myself to verify this and sure enough, there was a sign behind the counter. The man who gave his name to such an endearingly chaotic shop is no longer with us.</p>
<p>I considered ways to pay tribute to Mr. K and his Emporium of Random and it seemed fitting to create a sandwich à la Khan&#8217;s because there have been oh so many over the past few years. I&#8217;ve stuffed them with various bits of cheese or vegetables depending on my mood; creamy <a href="http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/07/labneh-with-chilli-and-anchovy-comfort-snack-du-jour/" target="_blank">labneh</a> with slender crisp slices of baby cucumber perhaps, a slick of <a href="http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/09/muhammara/" target="_blank">muhammara</a> or a dollop of <a href="http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/09/new-baba-ganoush-recipe/" target="_blank">baba ganoush</a>. Always a big handful of fresh herbs.</p>
<p>The sesame speckled flat breads they sell are incredible, so soft and moist. I split one and layered it with aleppo pepper paste (a spicy blend made almost entirely from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_pepper" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_pepper?referer=');">aleppo pepper</a> and chillies), silky fried aubergine slices, pan scorched halloumi and plenty of coriander. It was a cracking sandwich; base chilli heat, juicy aubergines and salty cheese is a winning combo. Some of the best Khan&#8217;s ingredients all together. I didn&#8217;t know Mr. Khan personally, but I know his shop inside out; it&#8217;s one of the reasons I fell head over heels for Peckham 5 years ago and it&#8217;s one of the reasons I continue to relish shopping here. Rest in peace, Mr. Khan, your customers remain loyal and your shop, the most charming ramshackle arrangement of groceries, home wares and plastic animals on Rye Lane.</p>
<p><strong>Sandwich à la Khan&#8217;s Bargain Ltd. (makes 2)</strong></p>
<p>2 round soft flat breads<br />
Aleppo paste (if you can&#8217;t get this, use another spicy paste, such as harissa or make a paste with red peppers, chilli and oil)<br />
1 packet halloumi cheese<br />
1 large aubergine, sliced into 2cm sliced<br />
Very finely sliced red onion<br />
Plain flour<br />
Oil, for frying<br />
A handful of fresh coriander leaves</p>
<p>Heat some oil to a depth of about 1cm in a heavy based frying pan. Spread some flour out on a plate and dust each aubergine slice in it, then drop into the hot oil. You will need to do this in batches so as not to crowd the pan. Keep the cooked aubergine slices on a plate covered with kitchen paper in a low oven while you finish cooking the rest. When all the aubergines are cooked, keep them all in the oven while you fry the halloumi.</p>
<p>To fry the halloumi, slice it thickly then drop into a dry pan until golden on both sides.</p>
<p>Warm the flatbreads briefly, then split them in half and spread with pepper paste. Layer on the halloumi, aubergines, onion and fresh coriander. Serve immediately.</p>
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		<slash:comments>27</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Meatball Subs</title>
		<link>http://helengraves.co.uk/2012/02/meatball-subs/</link>
		<comments>http://helengraves.co.uk/2012/02/meatball-subs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:03:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cheese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Meat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sandwiches]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[American meatball sub recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[American sandwiches]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[authentic meatball sub recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[classic american sandwiches]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[greatest American sandwiches]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grinder roll recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hoagie roll recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marinara sauce recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meatball grinder recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meatball hoagie recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meatball marinara sub recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meatball sub recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meatballs in marinara sauce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sub roll recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ultimate meatball sub recipe]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://helengraves.co.uk/?p=7871</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The other day I caught the episode of Friends with Joey&#8217;s sandwich &#8211; the one where a car backfires but Joey, Ross and Chandler think it&#8217;s a gunshot and Joey appears to dive across Ross in order to protect him from the bullet. Chandler is consumed with jealousy and hurt that Joey didn&#8217;t try to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Meatball Sub " src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7058/6903233791_b59a886727.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="317" /></p>
<p>The other day I caught the episode of Friends <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsJtbZA1veo" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsJtbZA1veo&amp;referer=');">with Joey&#8217;s sandwich</a> &#8211; the one where a car backfires but Joey, Ross and Chandler think it&#8217;s a gunshot and Joey appears to dive across Ross in order to protect him from the bullet. Chandler is consumed with jealousy and hurt that Joey didn&#8217;t try to save him over Ross, but it later transpires that he was in fact diving to protect his precious meatball sub.</p>
<p>The very thought of this fictional sandwich gave me the mother of all cravings. Meatballs? Good. Marinara sauce? Good. Cheese? Gooood. I immediately started planning Project Meatball Sub.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Meatballs in marinara sauce " src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7206/6903208479_3cf5e20c07.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></p>
<p>I became a little obsessed with creating a &#8216;proper&#8217; marinara and found that the Italians, unsurprisingly, have very strong opinions about what should and shouldn&#8217;t go in. I knew that I wanted a rich and unctuous sauce that was slightly sweet, but the latter requirement is the source of much controversy. Some say sweetness should only be achieved by using the most perfectly ripe tomatoes, which, frankly, would pretty much rule out ever making one in this country, even in the height of summer. Tinned tomatoes were the obvious substitute but short of spending £3 on a really good quality can (or two), I was tempted to add sugar. This, it turns out, is not acceptable. Some argue that one should only ever add a cube of potato to absorb excess acidity, while others champion the sweetness of celery. Me, I cheated and used a good pinch of plain old sugar. Sorry (lies, lies).</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Meatball sub " src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7065/6903218359_88fc3f1a68.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></p>
<p>For the meatballs I used a mixture of half beef and half pork because I think it gives the best flavour. Breadcrumbs soaked in milk kept them nice and light, crucially important if I was to stand any chance of making a dent in such a hefty &#8216;wich. For the cheese, I chose Gruyère, as it&#8217;s a great melter and has a good strong, nutty flavour; I really wanted to taste the cheese in this sandwich. To counteract all that fatty richness, a topping of charred, bittersweet green pepper. Usually I can&#8217;t stand green peppers but their bite works really well here &#8211; in fact I would say they&#8217;re essential.</p>
<p>This is probably one of the unhealthiest sandwiches I&#8217;ve ever made, and that&#8217;s really saying something. It&#8217;s also the reason it tastes so damn good, let&#8217;s face it. Hubba. Pick me up at the corner of meatball and cheeseville and take me to heaven on the sub sub express.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Meatball sub" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7037/6903226569_e09e5bb4e8.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="322" /></p>
<p><strong>Meatball Subs (makes 4) (the meatballs and sauce would also be fantastic with spaghetti)</strong></p>
<p><strong>For the meatballs</strong></p>
<p>250g minced pork<br />
250g minced beef<br />
1 thick slice white bread, crusts removed<br />
A few tablespoons milk<br />
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley<br />
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan<br />
1 small onion, very finely chopped<br />
Flour, for dusting<br />
Oil, for frying</p>
<p>Put the bread in a small bowl and cover with the milk, allowing it to soak in, then mash to a paste with a fork. Mix the paste with all the other ingredients. Make small meatballs with the mixture, then set aside to refrigerate for half an hour at least.</p>
<p>When ready to cook, cover a plate with flour, then roll each meatball around in it. Fry the meatballs in oil until brown all over, then set aside to drain on kitchen paper. They don&#8217;t need to be cooked fully as they will be simmered in the sauce later.</p>
<p><strong>For the sauce</strong></p>
<p>2 tins chopped tomatoes<br />
A splash of red wine<br />
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped<br />
A good pinch of chilli flakes<br />
A pinch of sugar<br />
1 bay leaf, torn<br />
A splash of water or stock<br />
1 small bunch fresh basil, shredded</p>
<p>Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a pan and gently fry the garlic and chilli flakes until the garlic just begins to colour. Add the wine and let it bubble up for a minute or so. Add the tomatoes, sugar, bay leaf, water/stock and some salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then add the meatballs. Let the mixture simmer for about 30-40 minutes, or until the sauce is rich and thick. Add the fresh basil.</p>
<p><strong>For the roast veg</strong></p>
<p>1 green pepper<br />
1 regular onion</p>
<p>Slice the veg into wedges, place in a roasting tin, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil. Mix well. Cook at 200C until soft and charred in places (about 30 mins).</p>
<p><strong>For the subs</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://helengraves.co.uk/2012/02/shrimp-po-boys/" target="_blank">Recipe here</a>. You could of course buy some ready-made.</p>
<p><strong>To assemble the subs</strong></p>
<p>You will need Gruyere cheese or another cheese which melts well, to top the subs.</p>
<p>Slice the subs, then scoop out some of the crumb from the bottom half so you can fit the meatballs in more easily. Lightly toast the bottom half of each sub. Top with some of the meatballs, then some of the cheese and place back under the grill so that the cheese melts. Toast the top half of each bun also. Top each sub with roast pepper and onions, then the top half of the sub.</p>
<p>Make sure you do some serious exercise the next day.</p>
<p>ENJOY!</p>
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		<slash:comments>48</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Figs, Feta and Hazelnuts with Pomegranate Molasses</title>
		<link>http://helengraves.co.uk/2011/09/figs-feta-and-hazelnuts-with-pomegranate-molasses/</link>
		<comments>http://helengraves.co.uk/2011/09/figs-feta-and-hazelnuts-with-pomegranate-molasses/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Sep 2011 07:07:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cheese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fruit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gluten-free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Healthy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Salads]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://helengraves.co.uk/?p=6958</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I saw this recipe by Stevie Parle in The Telegraph back in July and fell in love with the idea of combining figs, hazelnuts and pomegranate molasses. It&#8217;s just beautiful, in case you haven&#8217;t tried it. I&#8217;ve ramped up the sweet/sharp thing already going on with the pom syrup and figs by adding a little [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Fig, feta and hazelnut salad with pom molasses" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6171/6169655629_6d08a2955a.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="383" /></p>
<p>I saw <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/8637280/Fig-hazelnut-and-pomegranate-molasses-salad-recipe.html" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/8637280/Fig-hazelnut-and-pomegranate-molasses-salad-recipe.html?referer=');">this recipe</a> by Stevie Parle in The Telegraph back in July and fell in love with the idea of combining figs, hazelnuts and pomegranate molasses. It&#8217;s just beautiful, in case you haven&#8217;t tried it. I&#8217;ve ramped up the sweet/sharp thing already going on with the pom syrup and figs by adding a little feta and some pomegranate seeds, for fleshy pops of juice. I also did away with the edible flowers because, unsurprisingly, they&#8217;re not that easy to find at 7pm on a Wednesday evening.</p>
<p>This took a few minutes to assemble and although it&#8217;s not filling enough on its own as a main meal, it is one of the most perfectly delicious ways to begin; a total triumph in the contrasts department.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter" title="Fig" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6157/6169660717_d96f2f5a1f.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></p>
<p><strong>Figs, Feta and Hazelnuts with Pomegranate Molasses</strong> (serves 1) (adapted from Stevie Parle&#8217;s recipe for The Telegraph)</p>
<p>3 ripe figs<br />
1/2 a pomegranate<br />
A little feta<br />
Small handful blanched hazelnuts<br />
A few leaves of lambs lettuce<br />
1 scant teaspoon pomegranate molasses<br />
1 tablespoon light olive oil</p>
<p>Mix the pom molasses and oil together in a small bowl. Arrange the lambs lettuce on a plate. Halve the figs and add them also. Break the hazelnuts slightly in a pestle and mortar and scatter over the figs, along with the feta. Hold the pomegranate half over a bowl and bash the skin with a wooden spoon until all the seeds fall out (remove any white bits that fall in). Sprinkle a few seeds over the salad and eat the rest. Spoon over the dressing. Serve.</p>
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		<slash:comments>16</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Cheddar cheese and onion tart</title>
		<link>http://helengraves.co.uk/2011/02/cheddar-cheese-and-onion-tart/</link>
		<comments>http://helengraves.co.uk/2011/02/cheddar-cheese-and-onion-tart/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Feb 2011 19:32:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cheese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foraging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lunchbox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Main Dishes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pastry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Picnic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tarts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vegetables]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[3 onion tart recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cheddar cheese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cheddar cheese tart recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cheese and onion quiche recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cheese and onion tart recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[picnic recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[red onion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spring onion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[white onion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://helengraves.co.uk/?p=5592</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I pride myself on being able to make dinner out of what looks like nothing. I get into this zone where I think I&#8217;m in some kind of Ready Steady Cook-style competition and get all excited about how I can make a 3 course dinner out of an old bag of nuts and an egg. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5125/5254582625_7f0f98e63f.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm6.static.flickr.com/5125/5254582625_7f0f98e63f.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="cheese n onion tart" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5125/5254582625_7f0f98e63f.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p>I pride myself on being able to make dinner out of what looks like nothing. I get into this zone where I think I&#8217;m in some kind of Ready Steady Cook-style competition and get all excited about how I can make a 3 course dinner out of an old bag of nuts and an egg. I didn&#8217;t make a 3 course dinner, I just made a tart, but still.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s good for using up any odds and ends of cheese, this tart. Chuck &#8216;em all in there. I used the fading remains of a block of cheddar plus 3 types of onion: red, white and spring. The pastry was shop-bought, knocking around in the freezer. It was rich, filling and mmmm cheesy. Not bad for a bit of fridge foraging.</p>
<p><strong>Cheddar cheese and onion tart</strong></p>
<p>150g cheddar cheese, crumbled<br />
2 large red onions, sliced into thin half moons<br />
2 medium white onions, sliced into thin half moons<br />
4 spring onions, finely chopped (white and green parts)<br />
1 clove garlic, crushed<br />
1 sprig rosemary (or thyme), leaves removed and finely chopped<br />
2 eggs<br />
100ml double cream<br />
250g shortcrust pastry<br />
Salt and white (or black) pepper</p>
<p>This recipe fills a 24cm tart dish.</p>
<p>Begin by caramelising the onions. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable or groundnut oil in a heavy based frying pan and add the red and white onions. Once they are sizzling, turn the heat down as low as possible and let them cook gently for about an hour, stirring every so often, until very soft and caramelised.</p>
<p>Preheat the oven to 190C/fan  170C/gas 5. Roll out the pastry to fit  the dish and carefully lay it in, covering the base and sides. You want the pastry to overhang the sides by a couple of centimetres, as it will shrink during cooking. Make sure to  patch up any holes. Fill the pastry base with baking beans (or dried beans or rice) and cook for ten  minutes before removing from the oven and setting aside.</p>
<p>Mix the cheese with the spring onions, rosemary, eggs, cream and caramelised onions when ready.  Season with salt and white pepper. Pour the filling onto the tart base and spread evenly. Bake for  25-30 minutes until golden brown.</p>
<p>Serve warm or cold with a sharp green salad.</p>
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		<slash:comments>22</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Baked feta</title>
		<link>http://helengraves.co.uk/2011/02/baked-feta/</link>
		<comments>http://helengraves.co.uk/2011/02/baked-feta/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Feb 2011 21:21:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cheese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bab ganoush]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baked cheese recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baked feta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baked feta recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[feta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mezze]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rosemary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tabbouleh]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://helengraves.co.uk/?p=5546</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m not going to bang on about this but I just want to encourage you to try baking feta, if you haven&#8217;t already. You&#8217;ll get some lovely chewy burnished edge bits and the warm centre stays firm, yet acquires an endearing wobble. I&#8217;d suggest eating it with some good flatbread and perhaps some olives. And [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5218/5422525249_8accf74791.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm6.static.flickr.com/5218/5422525249_8accf74791.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Baked feta" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5218/5422525249_8accf74791.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p>I&#8217;m not going to bang on about this but I just want to encourage you to try baking feta, if you haven&#8217;t already. You&#8217;ll get some lovely chewy burnished edge bits and the warm centre stays firm, yet acquires an endearing wobble. I&#8217;d suggest eating it with some good flatbread and perhaps some olives. And maybe <a href="http://helengraves.co.uk/2009/09/lamb-koftas-with-muhammara-and-tabbouleh/" target="_blank">tabbouleh</a>. And <a href="http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/09/new-baba-ganoush-recipe/" target="_blank">perhaps baba ganoush</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Baked feta</strong></p>
<p>Get yourself a block of feta and put it in a small roasting tin. Add some robust herbs of your choice (I used thyme) and drizzle with olive oil. Add some pepper. Stick it in the oven at about 200C for 15 minutes. It should be golden at the edges and wobbly in the middle.</p>
<p><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/5423136600_8e9ce8dc5e.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/5423136600_8e9ce8dc5e.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Baked feta" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/5423136600_8e9ce8dc5e.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Egg yolk ravioli</title>
		<link>http://helengraves.co.uk/2011/01/egg-yolk-ravioli/</link>
		<comments>http://helengraves.co.uk/2011/01/egg-yolk-ravioli/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:35:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cheese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eggs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Main Dishes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pasta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vegetables]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egg ravioli recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[egg yolk ravioli recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lemon zest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pink peppercorns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[purple basil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ravioli recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spinach and ricotta ravioli recipe]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://helengraves.co.uk/?p=5393</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yeah, quite chuffed with these. I thought it sounded near impossible to slip an egg yolk into the centre of a ravioli and cook it without it either busting out into the water or completely over-cooking and to be honest the latter worried me more; the idea of hard-boiled yolk encased in pasta is just [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5205/5381258686_12b4400eda.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm6.static.flickr.com/5205/5381258686_12b4400eda.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Egg yolk ravioli" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5205/5381258686_12b4400eda.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="376" /></a></p>
<p>Yeah, quite chuffed with these. I thought it sounded near impossible to slip an egg yolk into the centre of a ravioli and cook it without it either busting out into the water or completely over-cooking and to be honest the latter worried me more; the idea of hard-boiled yolk encased in pasta is just really, really grim.</p>
<p>Anyway they are actually quite easy. You have to make your own pasta of course, so it depends how you feel about that and you really will need a machine because the pasta needs to be as thin as you can possibly get it. That would be a long hard slog with a rolling pin and I ain&#8217;t no Nonna. It&#8217;s easy when you make pasta at home to be fooled into thinking you have it thin enough when you don&#8217;t, which is exactly what happened to me the first time I made these. They cooked perfectly, but the pasta was just <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/foodstories/5369022295/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.flickr.com/photos/foodstories/5369022295/?referer=');">too fat and gluey</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5242/5369024387_754c4ef1aa.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm6.static.flickr.com/5242/5369024387_754c4ef1aa.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Egg yolk ravioli " src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5242/5369024387_754c4ef1aa.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="346" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5208/5380643697_cb9463dbcd.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm6.static.flickr.com/5208/5380643697_cb9463dbcd.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Egg yolk ravioli " src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5208/5380643697_cb9463dbcd.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p>The next time I pushed right through to the heady heights of setting number 9 on the machine and was rewarded with papery pasta sheets. I made a spinach and ricotta mixture which doubled up as a stand to keep the yolk in place (an idea I tea-leafed from <a href="http://www.deliciousdays.com/archives/2007/05/24/an-extra-dose-of-sunshine-egg-ravioli/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.deliciousdays.com/archives/2007/05/24/an-extra-dose-of-sunshine-egg-ravioli/?referer=');">Nicky</a> who used a ricotta and herb mix and took some incredibly good pictures). It&#8217;s important to have a large pan so you don&#8217;t overcrowd it with ravioli and to have the water at an enthusiastic simmer rather than a boil (to avoid eggy bursts). A mere 2-3 minutes will cook the pasta through (remember it&#8217;s very thin, and fresh) and the yolk will remain gooey and ooze out onto the plate creating a rich sauce.</p>
<p>I bathed them simply with melted butter, crushed pink peppercorns, lemon zest and some of the purple basil that my mum grew and I have somehow managed to keep alive. I love how they look all pretty and delicate but are actually packing the punches with pasta, egg and butter. They&#8217;re deceptively light in the eating too, dangerously so in fact. You&#8217;ll only want one or two per person but there&#8217;s no need to worry about not being full; it would be a crime not to mop up all those golden buttery juices with a slice or two of good bread.</p>
<p><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5288/5381283768_5eed320423.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm6.static.flickr.com/5288/5381283768_5eed320423.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Egg yolk ravioli" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5288/5381283768_5eed320423.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="351" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Egg yolk ravioli (serves 4)</strong></p>
<p>200g 00 flour (strong white flour)<br />
2 eggs<br />
A pinch of salt</p>
<p>For the filling</p>
<p>8 small eggs<br />
200g spinach leaves<br />
100g ricotta<br />
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan<br />
Black pepper</p>
<p>Sift the flour into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it. Add the salt. Bring the pasta mix together until you have a rough dough. Knead it on a lightly floured surface until smooth and silky. Wrap in clingfilm and leave to rest for half an hour.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, wash the spinach and without drying it put it straight into a small saucepan on a low heat and put a lid on. Steam until wilted down. Drain, then when it is cool enough to handle, squeeze as much water from it as possible and chop finely. Add to a bowl with the ricotta and Parmesan. Add some black pepper. Taste and add some salt if you like.</p>
<p>Roll out the pasta to the thinnest setting using a pasta machine. Cut into 16 large squares on a well floured surface (you want to leave enough room to cut around the ravioli easily without the stuffing coming out of the sides). In the middle of every other square, put a blob of ricotta mixture, then make a dimple in the centre large enough to hold an egg yolk. Make sure the sides are high enough so that the yolk won&#8217;t spill over. Crack an egg over a bowl into your hands so that you are left holding the yolk and the white drains into the bowl through your fingers. Carefully slip each yolk into the middle of the ricotta mixture.</p>
<p>Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and then reduce it to a simmer. Brush some of the leftover egg whites around the edges of each ravioli and place another pasta square on top. Seal the ravioli carefully easing out any air bubbles towards the edges. Use a glass or teacup to cut each ravioli into a circular shape.</p>
<p>Use a fish slice to pick up each ravioli and place gently into the water. Cook for 2 minutes until the pasta is just cooked and the yolk still runny. Serve with melted butter mixed with crushed pink peppercorns and chopped lemon zest. Garnish with basil.</p>
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		<slash:comments>33</slash:comments>
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		<title>Ottolenghi&#8217;s stuffed onions</title>
		<link>http://helengraves.co.uk/2011/01/ottolenghis-stuffed-onions/</link>
		<comments>http://helengraves.co.uk/2011/01/ottolenghis-stuffed-onions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:47:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cheese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vegetables]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[feta cheese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plenty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stuffed onions recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yotam Ottolenghi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://helengraves.co.uk/?p=5264</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The second Ottolenghi book (Plenty), is just as beautiful as the first. All the recipes are veggie, which fits perfectly with my wishy washy intentions to eat hardly any meat in January. Apart from when I eat out, which is quite a lot. I ate chicken just last night for example and very delicious it [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/5320303182_ef410889c7.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/5320303182_ef410889c7.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Stuffed onions" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/5320303182_ef410889c7.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p>The second Ottolenghi book (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plenty-Yotam-Ottolenghi/dp/0091933684/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1294248480&amp;sr=1-2" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.amazon.co.uk/Plenty-Yotam-Ottolenghi/dp/0091933684/ref=sr_1_2?s=books_amp_ie=UTF8_amp_qid=1294248480_amp_sr=1-2&amp;referer=');">Plenty</a>), is just as beautiful as the first. All the recipes are veggie, which fits perfectly with my wishy washy intentions to eat hardly any meat in January. Apart from when I eat out, which is quite a lot. I ate chicken just last night for example and very delicious it was too.</p>
<p>Anyway, these stuffed onions are pretty amazing. Poached onion layers are filled with feta, herbs, spring onions and breadcrumbs. The latter provide substance and are gooey and swollen with flavour from the cooking stock. We ate some of them on their own with a salad then immediately ate the rest from the baking dish with our hands. The most unexpectedly rich and comforting dish I&#8217;ve eaten in a very long time.</p>
<p><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5008/5320309514_e585387a7c.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm6.static.flickr.com/5008/5320309514_e585387a7c.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Stuffed onions " src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5008/5320309514_e585387a7c.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Ottolenghi&#8217;s Stuffed Onions </strong>(in theory, they could serve 4 but there&#8217;s no chance to be honest. Serves 2). I&#8217;ve also made his <a href="http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/05/ottolenghis-black-pepper-tofu/" target="_blank">black pepper tofu </a>from the same book.</p>
<p>500ml veg stock<br />
350ml white wine<br />
4 large onions<br />
3 small tomatoes<br />
120g white breadcrumbs<br />
90g feta, crumbled<br />
80g parsley leaves, finely chopped<br />
3 tablespoons olive oil<br />
3 spring onions, finely chopped<br />
3/4 teaspoon salt<br />
Black pepper</p>
<p>Butter, for greasing the dish</p>
<p>Preheat the oven to 180C and grease a baking dish with butter.</p>
<p>Combine the wine and stock in a saucepan and bring to the boil. While this is happening, trim the top and bottom from the onions, cut them lengthways in half and remove the skin. Carefully remove most of the insides to leave 3 or 4 outer layers of onion. Carefully separate these. Turn the stock to a simmer and put the onion layers in it, a few at a time. Cook them for 3-4 minutes or until just tender then set aside. Keep the stock.</p>
<p>To make the stuffing, grate the tomatoes into a bowl using a coarse cheese grater. Most of the skin will be left behind in your hands and you can discard it. Add the feta, breadcrumbs, parsley, olive oil, spring onions, salt and some pepper. Mix well.</p>
<p>Fill each onion layer generously and roll into a &#8216;fat cigar shape&#8217;. Place fold side down in the dish. Pour over about 75ml of the stock. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until they are brown and charred in places and bubbling underneath. You can add more stock if they look like they&#8217;re drying up during cooking. Serve warm.</p>
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		</item>
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		<title>The Big Peckham Lunch</title>
		<link>http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/07/the-big-peckham-lunch/</link>
		<comments>http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/07/the-big-peckham-lunch/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:07:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cakes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cheese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Drinks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food From The Rye]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lovely Food Producing People]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Big Lunch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Adnams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Billington's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bompas and Parr]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clarence Court eggs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crabbie's ginger beer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Green and Blacks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Green and Blue Wines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kitchenaid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paganum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peckham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peckham Food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peckham Rye]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[persepolis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pimm's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Red Stripe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rekorderlig cider]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rhodda's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Riverford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russian Standard vodka]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Super Jam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Meatwagon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Ship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Victoria Peckham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tio Pepe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Young's]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://helengraves.co.uk/?p=3916</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We did it! Yesterday afternoon the people of Rye Apartments came together along with a bunch of my mates for a good old nosh up in the car park. Today I feel totally exhausted but so happy that we managed to pull it off. I&#8217;ll be honest, there were moments during our 13 hour cook-off [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4809029290_1a81b2e000_z.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4809029290_1a81b2e000_z.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="The Big Lunch spread" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4809029290_1a81b2e000_z.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="502" /></a></p>
<p>We did it! Yesterday afternoon the people of Rye Apartments came together along with a bunch of my mates for a good old nosh up in the car park. Today I feel totally exhausted but so happy that we managed to pull it off. I&#8217;ll be honest, there were moments during our 13 hour cook-off the day before when I was apprehensive. What if there isn&#8217;t enough food? What if people don&#8217;t turn up? We started at 9am and before we knew it, we were slumped on cardboard boxes in the middle of my flat, dishevelled and slightly sweaty, trying to keep our eyes open to finish rolling vine leaves; it was 11pm. A long hard day and a huge amount of work.</p>
<p>It was important to do justice though, to the stellar ingredients that people donated and I must say a heartfelt thank you to all of them.</p>
<p>On the food front, <a href="http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/04/riverford-organic-farm/" target="_blank">Riverford Organics</a> donated fruit, vegetables and herbs; <a href="http://www.marylandfarm.co.uk/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.marylandfarm.co.uk/?referer=');">Barber&#8217;s</a> donated some of their delicious cheddar (which went into a cheese and onion tart, biscuits, scones and pretty much anything else) and Maryland Farmhouse butter. <a href="http://www.rachelsorganic.co.uk/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.rachelsorganic.co.uk/?referer=');">Rachel&#8217;s Organic</a> sent milk, yoghurt (a whole lot of yoghurt), crème fraiche and cream, and <a href="http://www.pongcheese.co.uk/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.pongcheese.co.uk/?referer=');">Pong Cheese</a> a selection of their cheeses including a Camembert, a goat&#8217;s cheese, a cheddar and a Bath Soft Cheese. They went into quiches and tarts.</p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/4808353417_596aa034e0.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/4808353417_596aa034e0.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Cheesy Frittata " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/4808353417_596aa034e0.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4808361531_c5297bbe99.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4808361531_c5297bbe99.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Goat cheese, red pepper and spinach quiche " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4808361531_c5297bbe99.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4809067724_85b5d8e8ba.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4809067724_85b5d8e8ba.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Cheese and caramelised onion tart " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4809067724_85b5d8e8ba.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.greenandblacks.com/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.greenandblacks.com/?referer=');">Green and Blacks</a> sent their organic chocolate for our super squidgy brownies and marbled chocolate meringues, and for the cake making, we had flour kindly donated by Kate Thal at <a href="http://www.greenandbluewines.com/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.greenandbluewines.com/?referer=');">Green and Blue Wines</a> and unrefined sugar from <a href="http://www.billingtons.co.uk/" target="_self" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.billingtons.co.uk/?referer=');">Billington&#8217;s</a>. The eggs were really special; old breed Burford Browns, Old Cotswold Legbar and duck eggs from <a href="http://www.clarencecourt.co.uk/" target="_self" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.clarencecourt.co.uk/?referer=');">Clarence Court</a>. The colour of the yolks was intensely amber. Sally Butcher from <a href="http://helengraves.co.uk/2008/09/persepolis/" target="_blank">Persepolis </a>stepped in on the nuts and honey side of things &#8211; we had coffee and walnut cake, sunflower seeded biscuits and cherry and ground almond cake, plus some stuffed vine leaves with raisins. In our cakes and on our scones we spread clotted cream from <a href="http://www.roddas.co.uk/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.roddas.co.uk/?referer=');">Rodda&#8217;s </a>and Fraser Doherty&#8217;s fruity <a href="http://www.superjam.co.uk/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.superjam.co.uk/?referer=');">Super Jam</a> and I must mention that they were speedily and expertly mixed by my new pride and joy, which <a href="http://www.superjam.co.uk/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.superjam.co.uk/?referer=');">Kitchenaid</a> sent to ease the burden on my puny arm muscles. She is the newest sparkliest shade of grape; I&#8217;ve named her Gilberta.</p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4809040306_fd2fefeebf.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4809040306_fd2fefeebf.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Strawberry and rose cake " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4809040306_fd2fefeebf.jpg" alt="" width="375" height="500" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4809135700_fbd7d2ca2c.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4809135700_fbd7d2ca2c.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Coffee and Walnut" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4809135700_fbd7d2ca2c.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4808422533_340e2d9d84.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4808422533_340e2d9d84.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Big Lunch table " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4808422533_340e2d9d84.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4809062606_1fd81e298b.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4809062606_1fd81e298b.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Cherry and almond cake " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4809062606_1fd81e298b.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.paganum.co.uk/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.paganum.co.uk/?referer=');">The ever brilliant Paganum</a> kindly donated 3 amazing topsides of Malhamdale Belted Galloway beef, which we used in roast beef and horseradish sandwiches, plus a Thai-style salad dressed with chilli, fish sauce, coriander and the like. Yianni of <a href="http://helengraves.co.uk/2009/08/bobcat-burger-at-the-meat-wagon/" target="_blank">Meatwagon</a> fame sorted me out with chicken drumsticks from his butcher and of course I had to jerk some, although I managed to rein myself in slightly and Tikka the rest for variety.</p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4809015018_3a221684be.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4809015018_3a221684be.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Tikka chicken" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4809015018_3a221684be.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4135/4808369817_4eba9510d4.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4135/4808369817_4eba9510d4.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Cherry and almond cake mix " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4135/4808369817_4eba9510d4.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4809065346_093b76c738.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4809065346_093b76c738.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Brownies" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4809065346_093b76c738.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4073/4808434629_94e3016cb7.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4073/4808434629_94e3016cb7.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Cucumber salad with poppy seeds " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4073/4808434629_94e3016cb7.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4809053480_ed51ce5f59.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4809053480_ed51ce5f59.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Roasted tomatoes with basil " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4809053480_ed51ce5f59.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p>On the drinks side of things, I was overwhelmed by the generosity of people who wanted to get involved. We had loose leaf tea from<a href="http://www.lahlootea.co.uk/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.lahlootea.co.uk/?referer=');"> Lahloo</a>, plus a lot of booze for those feeling fruity. <a href="http://www.russianstandardvodka.com/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.russianstandardvodka.com/?referer=');">Russian Standard Vodka</a> donated 3 bottles for vodka iced teas; <a href="http://www.theship.co.uk/home.php" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.theship.co.uk/home.php?referer=');">The Ship</a>, a brilliant pub in Wandsworth run by a great bunch of people sent over Pimm&#8217;s plus all the trimmings &#8211; very summery. On the beer and fizzy front we had Moritz and Rothaus beer from <a href="http://www.beermerchants.com/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.beermerchants.com/?referer=');">The Beer Merchants</a>, there was sweet, fruity cider from Sweden (<a href="http://twitter.com/rekorderlig" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/twitter.com/rekorderlig?referer=');">Rekorderlig</a>) plus<a href="http://www.youngs.co.uk/beer-londongold.asp" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.youngs.co.uk/beer-londongold.asp?referer=');"> Young&#8217;s London Gold,</a> <a href="http://adnams.co.uk/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/adnams.co.uk/?referer=');">Adnams bitter</a>, <a href="http://www.redstripe.net/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.redstripe.net/?referer=');">Red Stripe lager</a> and <a href="http://www.crabbiesgingerbeer.co.uk/login.php?redirect=/index.php" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.crabbiesgingerbeer.co.uk/login.php?redirect=/index.php&amp;referer=');">Crabbie&#8217;s alcoholic ginger beer </a>which everyone loved. It&#8217;s available in quite a few pubs around London now &#8211; I urge you to give it a try.</p>
<p>For those who avoid the bubbles, there was vino from my new local, <a href="http://feastonscrapsblog.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/the-victoria-inn-peckham-rye/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/feastonscrapsblog.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/the-victoria-inn-peckham-rye/?referer=');">The Victoria Inn</a>, the owner of which helped out in more ways than one throughout the whole event, even ferrying over another Kitchenaid in his car. His motto is &#8220;the pub is hub&#8221;. Bloody nice bloke. <a href="http://www.casillerodeldiablo.com/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.casillerodeldiablo.com/?referer=');">Casillero del Diablo</a> provided more wine and there was stonking chilled sherry from <a href="http://www.tiopepe.co.uk/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.tiopepe.co.uk/?referer=');">Tio Pepe</a>. I think we can agree that there was something for everyone!</p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4808415079_9763b468b6.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4808415079_9763b468b6.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="The groaning table " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4808415079_9763b468b6.jpg" alt="" width="375" height="500" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4809023912_6462483959.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4809023912_6462483959.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Galloway Beef" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4809023912_6462483959.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4808488359_357f3deb4d.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4808488359_357f3deb4d.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Bunting" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4808488359_357f3deb4d.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4809123986_94071a9239.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4809123986_94071a9239.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Revellers " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4809123986_94071a9239.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/4809150942_8abb304b22.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/4809150942_8abb304b22.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Partay" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/4809150942_8abb304b22.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/4808497205_a87525b04a.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/4808497205_a87525b04a.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Maggie's sign " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/4808497205_a87525b04a.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p>To round off the feast, some<a href="http://www.jellymongers.co.uk/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.jellymongers.co.uk/?referer=');"> Bompas and Parr</a> iris jellies with ambergris (that&#8217;s whale vomit to you and me) and candied orange from their Complete History of Food event. We wibbled them around and giggled. Hic! They were seriously boozy with Courvoisier. I love everything Bompas and Parr do and you should too.</p>
<p>And last, but by no means least, I&#8217;d like to say a really huge thank you to my mate<a href="http://lizzieeatslondon.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/lizzieeatslondon.blogspot.com/?referer=');"> Lizzie</a>. She worked like a dog during that 13 hour cook off and basically kept me going throughout. I could not have done it without her so thank you Mabs, for being a damn good friend. We make a brilliant team.</p>
<p>So that&#8217;s it! We used 40 eggs, 3kg flour, 4kg sugar, an absolute shedload of cheese and a whole bottle of washing up liquid (not in the cakes you understand). My friend Rachel made that amazing bunting from my dodgy old clothes which is, quite frankly, nothing short of a miracle. The only slight disappointment was that more of the neighbours didn&#8217;t turn up but hey, what can I do; we put on an amazing spread and all they had to do is walk outside &#8211; if that doesn&#8217;t encourage them then nothing will. The ones that did turn up were absolutely lovely though and I invited a load of my mates anyway so the whole thing went off Peckham stylee. Today is a bit of a come down but I&#8217;ll get over it; I&#8217;ve already started thinking about a new project to sink my teeth into.</p>
<p>Of course the whole idea was to raise money for Maggie&#8217;s and that we did. The donations are still trickling in and we&#8217;ve already reached the £200 mark so I think that makes the event a success. Thanks so much to everyone who donated money. You did good. I&#8217;ll leave you with a little vid of the cook-off and the lunch itself. Cheers!</p>
<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="480" height="385" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fxwIEZT_0z4&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="385" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fxwIEZT_0z4&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
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		<title>Labneh with chilli and anchovy: comfort snack du jour</title>
		<link>http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/07/labneh-with-chilli-and-anchovy-comfort-snack-du-jour/</link>
		<comments>http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/07/labneh-with-chilli-and-anchovy-comfort-snack-du-jour/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:40:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bread]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Breakfast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cheese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fish]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food From The Rye]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peckham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sauces, Condiments and Spreads]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anchovy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chilli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dahi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greek yoghurt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[healthy spread]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[labaneh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[labneh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[labneh recipe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle Eastern spread]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[parsley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[strained yoghurt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yoghurt]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://helengraves.co.uk/?p=3873</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Labneh is strained yoghurt. Now now, do bear with me, it&#8217;s delicious. You mix regular, full-fat Greek yoghurt with a scant half-teaspoon of salt then bung it in some muslin and hang it over a bowl overnight. Drip, drip, drip. In the morning all the whey has drained away and what remains is a creamy [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/4787782128_c8c808afdf.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/4787782128_c8c808afdf.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Labneh on toast " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/4787782128_c8c808afdf.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p>Labneh is strained yoghurt. Now now, do bear with me, it&#8217;s delicious. You mix regular, full-fat Greek yoghurt with a scant half-teaspoon of salt then bung it in some muslin and hang it over a bowl overnight. Drip, drip, drip. In the morning all the whey has drained away and what remains is a creamy thick &#8216;yoghurt-cheese&#8217;. It&#8217;s magic scooped up with warmed flat breads and sprinkled with za&#8217;atar, smeared in a kebab, or rolled into balls, covered with herbs and stored in olive oil.* I&#8217;ve taken to eating it plain on walnut toast first thing too; the contrast of hot toast and cool, tangy topping really floats my breakfast boat.</p>
<p>Popular in the Middle East and South Asia, it pops up in mezze, sandwiches, dips and even desserts. It&#8217;s basically a flavour whore and will take whatever it can get.</p>
<p>When it comes to comfort snacking, I tend to top it with my salty little friends the anchovies; briny, umami-packed miniatures. First it was the boiled egg with anchovy dippers, <a href="http://helengraves.co.uk/2009/12/comfort-snack-baked-egg-with-anchovy-soldiers/" target="_blank">then the baked eggs with the same</a>. Now I can&#8217;t get enough of them slivered and draped over the labneh, prickled with chilli and sprinkled with whatever herbs are lying around, or perhaps some papery shavings of red onion.</p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4787125893_61aa3494ca.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4787125893_61aa3494ca.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Yoghurt in muslin " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4787125893_61aa3494ca.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/4787131345_aca6cb9a7d.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/4787131345_aca6cb9a7d.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Yoghurt straining" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/4787131345_aca6cb9a7d.jpg" alt="" width="375" height="500" /></a></p>
<p>Despite labneh&#8217;s surprising richness, I like to reason with myself that it&#8217;s fairly healthy; not that the fat content of anything has ever held me back, as I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ve come to realise. A drizzle of olive oil is all that&#8217;s needed to counter the balance back towards gluttonsville though, so don&#8217;t worry about that.</p>
<p><strong>Labneh with chilli and anchovy</strong></p>
<p>500g good quality, full fat Greek yoghurt (I find Total is the best brand)<br />
Juice of 1/2 lemon<br />
1/2 teaspoon fine salt<br />
Anchovy fillets, sliced in half lengthways<br />
1 small mild red chilli, finely chopped<br />
A few leaves parsley (or other herbs), finely chopped<br />
Black pepper<br />
Good bread, toasted, to serve</p>
<p>Muslin and string to strain the yoghurt</p>
<p>Mix the yoghurt with the salt then line a bowl with the muslin and dollop the yoghurt in the middle. Gather up the muslin then tie the top with string and hang somewhere (preferably cool, although I&#8217;ve never had a problem in my kitchen), over a bowl, overnight. In the morning remove from the muslin, mix in the lemon juice and refrigerate until needed. It will last a few days.</p>
<p>Spread on hot toast and top with the anchovies, chilli and herbs. Some black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil won&#8217;t go amiss.</p>
<p>* I&#8217;ll dig out a jar and post a piccy and recipe up for you; it&#8217;s really beautiful.</p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4787142997_6826efeaf2.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4787142997_6826efeaf2.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Labneh with chilli and anchovy " src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4787142997_6826efeaf2.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
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		<title>Big Lunch Update #2 (FAIL)</title>
		<link>http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/07/big-lunch-update-2-fail/</link>
		<comments>http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/07/big-lunch-update-2-fail/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:15:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Barbecue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cheese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peckham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Snacks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vegetables]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Big Lunch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Big Lunch Peckham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crispy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[filo pastry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finger food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peckham Food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peckham Rye]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[samosas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snacks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spanakopita]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spinach and feta parcels]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://helengraves.co.uk/?p=3838</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m getting nervous now. I blinked two months ago and here I am with just two weeks left to organise a lunch for 40 of my neighbours. Most of us have never even met and yet we&#8217;ve been living as close as rats. I know things about them just from listening. The guy downstairs loves [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m getting nervous now. I blinked two months ago and here I am with just two weeks left to organise a lunch for 40 of my neighbours. Most of us have never even met and yet we&#8217;ve been living as close as rats. I know things about them just from listening. The guy downstairs loves to play boogie woogie on his piano, particularly on Sundays; I&#8217;ve spent many an afternoon cooking while he tinkles away in the background. I can&#8217;t wait to tell him that his playing has improved <em>a lot</em>. I want to ask the man upstairs if he has an indoor golf-putting machine, because we&#8217;ve spent the past two years trying to work out what that noise is and I really think we&#8217;ve nailed it this time. I&#8217;m looking forward to chatting more with the guy from No. 2, who has a brilliant dry sense of humour; he once asked me, completely deadpan, if I thought it was a weird idea to get everyone in the block to take a photo of themselves and stick it on a sheet so we know who is supposed to be here and who isn&#8217;t. Hilarious. I can&#8217;t wait to break bread with these people.</p>
<p>If I&#8217;m not stressed out of my mind that is. I was going to show you what I&#8217;ve been doing the past few days, including a little demo, if you could call it that, of how to make the feta and spinach spanakopita thingies you see below but seriously, I am cursed in the &#8216;vlogging&#8217; department. Somehow, between us, Chris and I managed to repeatedly fail to press the record button properly and I&#8217;ve wound up with four very short clips of footage which bear pretty much no relation to each other. I&#8217;ve stuck them together into one big fail. I do hope you didn&#8217;t expect any improvement in the quality of this video compared to the last one. You did? Oh.</p>
<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="480" height="385" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mTCCgyg6gjs&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1?rel=0" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="385" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mTCCgyg6gjs&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1?rel=0" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p>Yep. Sorry.</p>
<p>So here&#8217;s the recipe I was talking about. Warning: very addictive. It&#8217;s hard enough to stop yourself eating the filling while making them, let alone once you&#8217;ve crammed all that healthy spinach up against some cheese and wrapped it in pastry.</p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4743609564_e608d1fd90.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4743609564_e608d1fd90.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Feta spinach filo parcels" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4743609564_e608d1fd90.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4764570487_0897dc0c3d.jpg" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4764570487_0897dc0c3d.jpg?referer=');"><img class="aligncenter" title="Spinach and Feta Parcel" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4764570487_0897dc0c3d.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Mini Spanakopita</strong> (makes about 20) <strong><br />
</strong></p>
<p>1 pack filo pastry or 1 &#8216;samosa pad&#8217;, which you can buy in Asian grocers. They usually come frozen and are exactly the right width.<br />
Olive oil<br />
3 large bunches of spinach (see vid)<br />
1 pack feta cheese (200g)<br />
1 large onion, finely chopped<br />
Seeds for the edges (optional). I&#8217;ve used sesame seeds, poppy seeds or sometimes I add some onion seeds inside the parcels themselves.</p>
<p>Preheat your oven to 200C</p>
<p>Gently soften the onion in a little olive oil until translucent (sometimes I add a few onion seeds). Set aside in a bowl.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, trim any tough stalks from the spinach and wash in several changes of cold water. Plunge the spinach into boiling water for 3 minutes, then drain and refresh under cold water until it is cool. Pick up the spinach in your hands and squeeze as much water as possible out of it, then chop it roughly and add to the onion. Crumble the feta into the bowl too and season with black pepper. Taste the mixture &#8211; it may not need any salt because of the cheese.</p>
<p>Take either your filo or your samosa pad and lay on a flat surface. If you are using filo, trim the sheets lengthways into 3 then begin each samosa with 1 sheet, brush it with oil and lay another sheet on top, then brush again and add another. If you are using a samosa pad, the sheets are generally thick enough already and you will only need to brush once around the edges.</p>
<p>Take a tablespoon of the spinach feta mix and put it on one corner of the pastry, then carefully fold over into a triangle, pressing down the seams and brushing as you go. Keep folding over into triangles until there is no pastry left. Brush the outside with olive oil. You can now dip the edges into seeds if you wish. Just scatter them on a plate and dip the edges in.</p>
<p>Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.</p>
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