Jostaberry (vegan) Surprise!

Ever heard of these before? Jostaberries? Apparently they are a cross between gooseberries and blackcurrants and have a slightly sweet taste with a tangy tartness. So what does one do when these pop in the veg box? Well, why not combine them with an another "never-used -before" ingredient and hope for the best? I've been meaning to try the Oatly Cuisine Cream for a while now and luckily this combination turned out to be exactly what I was craving for, a creamy, light, sweet and sour, fruity summer delight. The blanched almonds are not just for the decoration, their taste fits very well with the rest of the ensemble.

To make this, first cut off the stems of the jostaberries and wash thoroughly. Simmer in a pan with the muscovado sugar for about 10 minutes or till it gets to that "jam like" consistency. Then add the agave suryp and 200 ml of the oatly cream. Mix the other 50ml of the cream with the cornflour in a cup and stir well until it completely dissolves. Then add the diluted cornflour into the pan and stir well for a couple more minutes till the pudding thickness. Let it cool for a couple more minutes and then pour in the serving glasses. Decorate with halved blanched almonds (dead easy to make, have a look here for a quick and clearly explained method). When it reaches room temperature pop into the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Serves 2.


Ingredients:

200-250 g organic Jostaberries (stems removed)
2 tbsp muscovado sugar
2 tbsp organic agave syrup
1 tbsp cornflour
1 carton (250 ml) Oatly Cuisine organic cream
5-6 blanched almonds (halved)

Scrambled eggs with a cypriot touch

Scrambled eggs are just perfect for a lazy Sunday morning. Since we had this for brunch I needed to make it a bit more filling and with a couple of Cypriot delicacies in hand it turned out to be just that. One of the key Cypriot ingredients is halloumi, a soft cheese traditionally made with a mixture of goat's and sheep's milk (although sometime it also contains cow's milk) salt and mint. The second Cypriot delicacy is a smoked meat known as chiromeri (usually served as a cold meat meze) made of pork leg meat, wine and salt and is similar to any smoked, air-dried ham from Southern Europe. The characteristic of the Cypriot version is the strong wine flavour.

For the execution first sweat the spring onions with a bit of olive oil and then add the chopped halloumi and chiromeri. Season with the crushed pepper (but not with salt as both the halloumi and chiromeri are pretty salty). Then beat the eggs with the milk and add in the pan. Stir for 1-2 minutes and finally add the chopped tomatoes (in the last minute of cooking). The tomato is pretty essential here to counteract the saltiness of the meat and the cheese.

Enough for 2 (accompanied with a large slice of rustic bread).

Ingredients:

• 3 medium eggs
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1 medium tomato
• 5-6 spring onions
• 50 g chiromeri
• 100 g halloumi
• olive oil
• crushed pepper

Prawn salad with mustard-yogurt dip

Another super simple salad for the hot summer days. I like to dip the prawns in the yogurt-mustard mixture (instead of using it as a salad dressing) for the extra cooling effect with a kick.

For the salad toss the chopped tomato, lettuce, pepper and ready-to-eat prawns with some olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle some dried dill, and stir everything together.

To make the mustard-yogurt dip mix the plain yogurt with the mustard and dill. Either honey or agave syrup can be added for a bit of sweetness (I find the agave to be a better fit as it's a more neutral sweetener).

Serves 2.

Ingredients:

Prawn Salad
● 1 packet large king prawns (about 240 grams)
● 1 yellow pepper
● 1/2 lettuce head
● 1 medium tomato
● lemon
● olive oil
● dried dill

Mustard Yogurt Dip
● 1 tsp mustard
● 4 tbsp plain yogurt
● 2 tsp honey or agave syrup
● dried dill

Tomato-Courgette Galette

I've been following Deb Perelman's wonderful recipes for a while now and I love the idea of a savoury galette (she has many intriguing variations on her smitten kitchen site). With the abundance of courgettes in the veg-box and a recent smitten kitchen posted recipe (zucchini and ricotta galette), the following adaptation sprout out.

For the dough I used a standard pizza dough and had a helping hand from the breadmaker for the knitting process.

Roll out the dough in a circular shape add a couple of tablespoons of tomato pasatta, season and top with a handful of spring onions. Then add a round of courgettes slices, season and top with a second round of alternating tomato and and courgette slices. Top that with another handful of spring onions Finally sprinkle some hard cheese, drizzle a bit of olive oil, season with crushed pepper and fold the edges of the dough. Brush the dough with some olive oil and bake in a non-stick baking tray in 170° C for about 45'.

Serves 2-3.



Ingredients:

Dough:
● 300 g strong white flour
● 1/2 tsp yeast
● 1/2 tsp salt
● 1 tsp sugar
● 170 ml water


Filling:
● 1 large courgette
● 2 medium tomatoes
● 3-4 tbsp tomato passata
● 4 spring onion
● hard cheese
● salt and pepper