Month: March 2026

Turkish chicken and lentil stew/soup

This is a very comforting, delicious soup. The flavours are simple, but it does take quite a bit of preparation. There’s a lot of fine chopping, as well as making some bread dough and noodles. I cheated a little bit with the dough and the noodles but it was still great. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 250ml olive oil 
  • 100g bread dough (I made the dough for one loaf in the bread maker, pinched off 100g and then nade a loaf of bread with the rest)
  • 80g clarified butter or ghee
  • 80g carrot, finely diced
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 300g boned chicken thighs, diced (I actually just put in 6 whole chicken thighs with the bone in, and it was great, making sure each serving had one thigh in it)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp white pepper
  • 80g green lentils
  • 1 litre of water
  • 1 litre of chicken stock
  • 200g potatoes, finely diced
  • 80g egg noodles (I used linguini, but the original recipe states these should be home-made)
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 bunch fresh coriander

METHOD:

  • Make little flat dumplings with the bread dough. I made a long thin sausage, and then pinched off bits about the size of a small marble.
  • Fry the little balls of dough in hot olive oil for around 5 minutes each. Remove them to drain on paper towels or a tea towel. 
  • In a large saucepan, heat the butter over a medium heat. Fry the carrot, onion and garlic for around 3 minutes, then add the chicken, salt, white pepper and green lentils in that order, stirring them in as you go. Cook for another 5 minutes. 
  • Pour in 1 litre of hot water and bring to a simmer, and cover the pan. Cook for 20 minutes.
  • Add the 1 litre of chicken stock, bring to a simmer again, cover the pan, and cook for 10 minutes. 
  • Add the potatoes and cook for 10 minutes, still covered
  • Add the noodles, and cook with the lid off for around 7 minutes
  • Add the fried dough balls and cook for 3 more minutes. 
  • Remove from the heat, stir in the turmeric, and then serve garnished with chopped coriander. 

This is not quite a soup, not quite a stew, messy to eat, and very comforting. 

Beef meatballs with lemon and celeriac

I love celeriac, and was very sad when it was not available for a while. This is a deliciously tasty dish that I have been waiting to try, and now celeriac are back, I am busy hunting out the recipes. This one is from Ottolenghi’s book, ‘Simple’.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 450g beef mince
  • 1 onion, very finely chopped or grated (a food processer works well)
  • 120g plain breadcrumbs
  • 20g chopped parsley
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 3/4 tsp allspice
  • olive oil
  • 1 small or half a large celeriac, peeled, quartered and each quarter sliced into fans 1cm thick
  • 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 1/2 tsp lightly crushed fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
  • 500ml stock
  • 3 to 4 tbsp lemon juice
  • salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Put the mince, onions, egg, breadcrumbs, parsley and allspice in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, and kneed the mixture together and then form into meatballs, about the size of a pingpong ball, or slightly smaller. Each ball should weigh around 40g
  • Heat the oil in a large saute pan that has a lid. Once the oil is hot, add the meatballs and fry them off over five minutes, turning them so that they are browned all over. Transfer them onto a plate so the pan is free for the next step.
  • Turn the heat up and add the celeriac, the rest of the spices and the garlic, and fry for a couple of minutes.
  • Once the garlic starts to colour, add the meatballs, stock, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and bring to the boil. Adjust the seasoning to taste. 
  • Simmer with the lid on for around 30 minutes, then take the lid off and reduce the sauce for around 10 minutes. 
  • Once cooked, remove from the heat for around 10 minutes. This gives you time to sort out any accompaniments. 

I served this with rice, and with some Greek yoghurt that I had seasoned with salt, pepper and mint. I garnished the dish with more parsley. 

Lamb and squash tagine

There’s always room in my life for more tagine recipes. This was prompted by the arrival of a large squash. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp ras-el-hanout
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 600g diced lamb
  • 1 small butternut squash, peeled and diced
  • 200g soft dried apricots
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 500ml stock
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • coriander leaves, chopped
  • Salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Heat the oven to 200C. 
  • In a casserole dish, heat the oil and cook the onion for five minutes until it is softening. Add the garlic and the spices and cook for another minute or two, stirring so the mixture doesn’t catch. 
  • Add the lamb, squash and apricots to the dish, mix and pour over the tomatoes and stock. Season wtih salt and pepper, bring to a simmer, and then cover. Transfer to the oven. 
  • After one hour, take it out to check progress,and to give it a stir and to check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste. If it is a  bit too wet, take the lid off, and return to the oven for a further 30 minutes
  • Before serving, add the lemon zest and check the seasoning. 

Serve with rice and yoghurt, and a garnish of chopped coriander. 

Hot cabbage salad

This recipe came from a dear friend, who said it was Austrian. I’ve never had anything like it before or since, and I can’t find any reference to it anywhere. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/4 green cabbage
  • olive oil 
  • white wine vinegar (ratio = 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar)
  • chopped garlic
  • a little mustard
  • salt and pepper
  • Cumin seeds or Caraway seeds

METHOD:

  • Shred the cabbage and steam it for five minutes
  • While it is still hot, mix the dressing ingredients (everything else, according to your taste) and pour the dressing over the hot cabbage. 

Saute of carrots and potatoes

This is a classic French recipe, to be served with a stew or roast meat. I used tarragon because I didn’t have parsley, and it was delicious. I may try summer savory next time. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 150g carrots
  • 1 small onion or 2 shallots
  • 500g potatoes
  • chopped parsley OR a good pinch of dried tarragon
  • salt and pepper
  • around 50g butter

METHOD:

  • Cut the potatoes into 2cm cubes and the carrots into batons
  • Boil the carrots and the potatoes separately, so that they are about two thirds cooked – about 10 minutes for the potatoes. Drain them. 
  • Chop the shallots or onions, and mix with the carrots and potatoes. 
  • Put the butter in a frying pan and heat until it is foaming. Add the carrots, potatoes and onions, and keep turning them in the butter until they are all coated and beginning to crisp. Lower the heat then, and cook gently until the vegetables are tender. 
  • Stir in the herbs before serving.