It’s an honour to welcome Masterchef finalist and author of beautiful new cookery book Fress, Emma Spitzer.
Fress is a celebration of contemporary Jewish cooking and features a fusion of Middle-Eastern and Eastern European flavours. Her melting pot of inspiration embraces Poland and Russia, Jewish recipes learned from her mother, travels in Israel, Egypt, Jordan and North Africa, as well as Algerian recipes shared by her mother-in-law. Emma describe it as Ashkenazi meets Sephardi.
After Masterchef, Emma has gone on to teach cookery classes, appear at food festivals cater for private events and has hosted sell-out supper clubs.
It really is a visual and literal feast!
Over to Emma for her recipe:
Pan-fried Cauliflower with Caramelized Red Onions, Toasted Israeli Couscous and Almonds
Cauliflower is having what you would call ‘a moment’, with many menus now offering it as a dish in its own right, elevating it from humble side vegetable to queen of the plate.
Its versatility makes it a great vegetable to experiment with, and that’s exactly what I was doing when this recipe came about. Fried, roasted, baked, mashed or blitzed into couscous, it’s like a flavour sponge, gracefully accepting whatever dressing you throw on it.
As a cook, I often think of flavour first, texture second and visual impact third. This dish is the perfect result of the three: the tenderness of the cauliflower with the earthy and slightly tangy flavour of the za’atar and barberries, against the soft couscous and crunchy almonds.
Enjoy this as a hearty lunch or supper. If you struggle to find barberries, you can replace them with dried cranberries, raisins or dried sour cherries.
Serves 6
Ingredients:
- 80ml olive oil
- 1 large red onion, thinly sliced into
- half-moons
- 2 tablespoons soft dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 large or 2 small cauliflowers, cut into
- large florets, any small leaves retained
- 150g toasted Israeli couscous (or
- substitute fregola if you can’t find it)
- 500ml hot chicken or vegetable stock
- 40g butter, cut into pieces
- 2–3 tablespoons Za’atar
- 1 tablespoon Lebanese 7-spice Mix
- 100g raw unblanched almonds
- 50g pine nuts, lightly toasted
- 2 large handfuls of dried barberries
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To garnish
- a generous sprinkling of pomegranate seeds
- a few oregano leaves
Method:
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and gently fry for 10–15 minutes with a pinch of salt until caramelized, stirring occasionally. Add the sugar and vinegar and cook for 5–10 minutes more until slightly sticky.
Meanwhile, blanch the cauliflower and its leaves in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 3–4 minutes. Drain and leave to steam dry in a colander.
Heat a tablespoon of the remaining oil in a saucepan over a medium heat, add the couscous and stir to coat. Fry for around 2–3 minutes, then cover with the hot stock and add a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for around 8–10 minutes. Drain off any liquid and set aside.
Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the cauliflower and fry, turning occasionally, for 10 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Drain off any oil from the pan and set the cauliflower aside.
Place the pan back on the heat and add the butter, za’atar and Lebanese spice mix. Stir until the butter has melted, then add the cauliflower back in and baste until it is well coated. Throw in the almonds, pine nuts and barberries and stir everything in the pan until it has all heated through.
Transfer the cauliflower mixture to a large bowl and mix through the couscous and the cooked red onion. Season with some sea salt and black
pepper, and garnish with the pomegranate seeds and oregano leaves.
The dish can be served hot or at room temperature.
Tip
The couscous and onion can be made up to 24 hours ahead and the cauliflower blanched in advance, so don’t worry about having to tackle all the elements at the same time.
Photographs by Clare Winfield.
You can buy Fress HERE and to be in for a chance to win 3x copies of the book enter Rafflecopter below:
Ends May 8th 2017.
No cash alternative.
UK only.
If the winners don’t respond within 7 days of the emails sent, new winners will be chosen.
Promoted on Prize finder, BritMums, Loquax, Super Lucky and Competition Database.
I’d like to give some new dishes a try. What is Za’atar?
cookbooks are my favourite read, I love learning new recipes and getting inspiration for new dishes
I would love to win this as i love learning and cooking new recipes for my family.
I love trying new recipes.
We as a family have been eating more vegetables in our diet so some inspiring recipes would help create some nice family meals
The recipes look nice.
love reading new recipe books for fresh ideas
i would like to try something new
I’m always on the look out for great recipes that come from traditional backgrounds with a strong history of how food should be prepared but have been taken in given a modern day spin…that way you get to enjoy and experience the best of both worlds.
Would love to win as love trying new recipes
Always looking for interesting food to try.
It looks such an interesting and informative read
Always looking for new recipes x
To taste some new and different recipes, thank you for the chance x
Looks nice for a friend
I would love to add these cookbooks to my collection x
I’d like to try some new recipes.
I love cookbooks, and this one looks amazing x
I would love a great new cookbook
i just love cookbooks!
to try new receipes
As a present for my daughter-in-law. She loves cookery books and has quite a collection
new recipes and I enjoy good food
LOVE cookery books, it is my thing! Great trying out new meals.
I do love trying new recipes xx
I love different recipe books and I don’t have one like this.
This sounds veryou interesting and I am getting more and more into veggie dishes!
This would be a great addition to my recipe books which I love
I’m always looking for new and exciting recipes, I also made it one of my new resolutions to try new things ! 🙂 xx
it appears to be a style of cooking I`ve never tried so it would interesting to follow some of the recipes
ive never really tried the food before and souns interesting
I love recipe boks as they give me inspiration and new ideas!
It’s a cuisine I’ve never tried before but it all sounds delicious so I’d like to try making it.