Yes, you may have noticed I've got brunch on the brain of late. We've recently hosted our first two brunch supper clubs so there's been lots of testing out of breakfast delights. The main course at our brunches was sweet potato fritters with halloumi, avocado and tomato salsa, coriander creme fraiche and Marg's chilli jam. Sounds like far too many elements, but they work together well. You want to almost burn the fritters because the sweet potato caramelises. The flavours are fresh and lovely and the chilli jam cuts through beautifully.
When we first tested this dish, it was without the chilli jam, but we decided a kick of heat was needed. I thought immediately of a brilliant chilli jam a good family friend made many years ago. If it stuck in my head for 15 years, then it must be good. I emailed Mum and asked for our friend Marg's recipe. The recipe makes about 2 litres, which you can keep in sterilised jars for months. Alternatively just halve or quarter the recipe. The chilli jam scored loads of compliments at our supper clubs - thanks for the recipe Marg!
Sweet potato fritters
Serves 4. From Ottolenghi's "Plenty" book.
(you can make these ahead and freeze, then reheat in the oven just before serving)
1kg sweet potatoes
2tsp soy sauce
100g plain flour
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp caster sugar
3tbsp chopped spring onion
1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh red chilli
butter for frying
Roast the sweet potatoes whole in a moderate oven until they are soft. I often do this the day before. Once cool you can strip off the skin really easily.
Mix the sweet potato flesh with the remaining ingredients (except butter), until smooth. The mixture is kind of sticky, not runny.
To cook the fritters, melt butter in a frying pan on medium heat and cook the fritters in dollops of about 3 tablespoons of the batter. Fry for about 6 minutes each side. You want them to go really brown - don't worry if they burn a little, it will just add to the flavour.
Sit cooked fritters on paper towel. You can keep them warm in the oven whilst you finish the other fritters.
Coriander creme fraiche
100g creme fraiche (Greek yoghurt also works well)
2tbsp olive oil
1tbsp lemon juice
1tbsp coriander, chopped
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
salt and pepper
Mix all ingredients together and season to taste. You can make this the day before and keep refrigerated.
Tomato and avocado salsa
2 tomatoes
2 avocados
2tbsp coriander, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/2tbsp sumac
Dice tomatoes. Dice avocado and squeeze with lime to avoid it turning brown. Mix all ingredients and season. You want a nice tangy-ness from the sumac, so taste and add more if necessary.
I also add ground lemon myrtle leaf to mine, but this is not essential.
Marg's Chilli Jam
Makes about 2litres
2kg plum tomatoes
150ml olive oil
10 small red chillies, cut in half
20 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped/minced
50g fresh ginger, grated
2tbsp cumin seeds
2tbsp mustard seeds
1tbsp turmeric
50ml fish sauce
200ml red wine vinegar
200g brown sugar
salt and pepper
Place the tomatoes on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and roast in a moderate oven until the skins start to blister and burst. This took about 45 minutes for me.
Combine chillies, garlic, ginger, cumin, mustard seeds, turmeric, fish sauce, vinegar, brown sugar and olive oil in a food processor and blend to a puree (alternatively, put them all in a large saucepan and blitz with a wand blender/bar mix).
Transfer tomatoes and puree to a large saucepan and cook over a very low heat for 1.5-2 hours, stirring often, until the tomatoes have broken up and the sauce has a jam consistency.
Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper.
You can keep it in sterilised jars for several months. For immediate use, just keep in a tupper ware in the fridge.
Assembling the fritters
Whilst fritters are re-heating/keeping warm in the oven, fry some slices of halloumi.
On each plate place a generous spoonful of the salsa to one side. Next up a fritter, then a slice of halloumi, another fritter, the creme fraiche sauce and a dollop of chilli jam. It's ready! I provided more creme fraiche sauce and chilli jam on the table for people to help themselves. I also served with a side of bacon, but it's really not essential.
Luiz of the London Foodie has hit upon a brilliant idea - 1) invite a mix of Twitter friends, fellow foodies, and adoring followers of his excellent food blog to dinner (I think most guests fall into all 3 categories!), 2) decide upon a cuisine or cookbook to set the theme for the evening, 3) plan a beautiful menu of food, 4) ask each guest to cook one dish and bring a matching wine, 5) host a fabulous 12 course meal. Genius!
Previously Luiz and the charming Dr G have hosted an Ottolenghi supper, a night based on David Thompson's Thai book, Catalan cooking and many more cooking clubs. Most recently was May's Malaysian and Y and I were lucky enough to secure 2 spots. May (of blog Slow Food Kitchen) is Chinese-Malaysian and put together a delicious menu of dishes either traditionally cooked in Malaysian families or sold as street food in Malaysia.
When I was asked by Hubbub (my fave local business, delivering top quality produce from north London's independent food shops to the lucky residents of N1 and beyond) to contribute a pancake recipe for Shrove Tuesday, I knew it had to be a version of Bill Granger's infamous ricotta hotcakes.
Hubbub have just launched a new recipe section on their site and there's some gorgeous stuff on there. For Shrove Tuesday they'll be adding a selection of lovely pancake recipes, including this one.
Many years ago I made Bill's ricotta hotcakes and piled them high with berries and honeycomb butter for Christmas morning breaky. This time I played with the recipe a little and used some poached pears (see last week's post here for the pears poached in Prosecco recipe), honey butter and a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg. What better justification for getting out of bed on a Sunday morning than to devour light fluffy hotcakes whilst trying to keep discs of melting butter from sliding off the top?
Cinnamon and nutmeg ricotta hotcakes with poached pears and honey butter
(based closely on Bill Granger's recipe, found here)
serves 2-3 people
200g ricotta
90ml milk
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup self raising flour
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon (or a little more to taste)
1 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of salt
butter for cooking
2-3 poached pears, sliced (see recipe here. Alternatively use fresh pears or bake halved pears in the oven sprinkled with brown sugar and dotted with butter until tender.)
honey butter
125g lightly salted butter
2 tablespoons of honey
2 teaspoons cinnamon
To make the honey butter, leave the butter out to soften and then whip/whisk (although massaging with your hands is far more satisfying) together with the honey and cinnamon. Lay out a piece of cling film. Mould the butter into a log and roll up in the cling wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use. You can do this a day or two ahead if you trust yourself not to eat it with crumpets in the meantime.
For the hotcakes, mix the ricotta, egg yolks and milk together in a bowl.
Add flour, salt, icing sugar, spices and combine.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed. Add one dollop of egg whites to the ricotta mix, and once that is combined, fold through the remaining egg white.
Heat a frying pan over low-medium heat and add a generous dollop of butter. Meanwhile, have your sliced pears ready and cut some discs of the butter.
Dollop the hotcake batter into the frying pan (about 2 dessertspoons per hotcake). Cook for about 3 minutes each side - they will be lovely and golden. Before turning the hotcakes to cook the second side, make sure your eager diners are seated and waiting, salivating at the table, knives & forks at the ready.
Place a hotcake on each plate, lay the sliced pear on top, add another hotcake and balance a few discs of honey butter on top. If you can bear it, leave for about 30 seconds so the butter has a chance to melt atop the hot hotcake.
You'll soon discover that you don't need an excuse such as Shrove Tuesday to make these!
