Skordalia

For those of you, like me, who have never heard of skordalia before here’s a little primer on it for you.

1. It’s Greek.
2. It’s sort of like mayonnaise, only really not.
3. It contains gluten.

Most people on reading about skordalia for the first time would probably say “oh yum, must try that next time I’m in the Med”. My mind works slightly differently and thought “Hmm, sneaky gluten hider, I’m glad I know what it is so I can avoid it”. This only applies to avoiding it in the outside world though, it doesn’t mean I can’t make it myself.

Describing skordalia like mayonnaise is a bit like describing a chicken as like a carrot. Yes, they probably have some of the same constituent parts, carbon, for example, and yes they are both food but there the similarities end. Skordalia is made by blending ingredients together and slowly adding oil to bring it together into an emulsion, but it lacks egg, and instead is based on walnuts, garlic, herbs and soggy bread. The result, bizarrely enough, is considerably tastier than mayonnaise, and the perfect foil for some rather bland, cold chicken. If you’re looking for an exotic way to turn cooked chicken and lettuce into dinner, this could well be it, plus the name makes it sound really fancy. Even though it isn’t.

Chicken salad with skordalia
Adapted from Mark Bittman

Ingredients
1 slice gluten-free bread (I used genius but homemade would of course be great)
3 tablespoons milk
2 large handfuls walnuts
1 large clove of garlic, peeled
1 large handful fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon ground paprika
4 tablespoons light olive oil
2 cooked chicken breasts, thighs or legs, shredded
Lettuce, pepper, cucumber or whatever else you fancy in your salad

Method
1. Tear the bread into chunks and place in a bowl with the milk while you prepare the rest of the sauce.

2. Put the walnuts, garlic, parsley, paprika and a good pinch of flaky sea salt into a blender or processor and chop for about 30 seconds, or until it forms a fine crumbly powder. Add the bread pieces and milk, blend again, then add the olive oil, a little at a time, until you have a mixture that resembles thick mayonnaise.

3. Tip the skordalia into a bowl and mix into the chicken with a fork. Serve with lettuce, pepper or rocket, something salady.

Serves 2.

Mollusc

Mollusc. Funny word. Like moist, it’s slightly onomatopoeic, and not in a good way. It hints at squishiness and damp, with lurking tendencies. Scallops are by far my favourite mollusc, and by that I mean they’re the only ones I like. Mussels are so-so. Oysters are just plain nasty (and let’s be honest, if an oyster’s not good when it’s just been plucked from the lagoon a kilometre away and is served with local wine, it’s never going to be good, though I concede that it was more an issue of texture than taste). And snails, well, I’ve never tried them but they certainly don’t look too appetising. Scallops though are meaty and thus move up from the category of mollusc, and by association small, slimy and blech, to real food. Alas, real food or not, they’re ruinously expensive, at least when you buy hand-dived ones from the market, (even when the lovely fishmonger gives you a discount because he only counted out 10 the first time, and throws in the final 2 for free) so I don’t eat them all that often. Thus when I do I feel they deserve special treatment, and a dish in which they can play the starring role. Scallops with chorizo are lovely, but chorizo being the star that it is, it’s always going to eclipse whatever it’s put with. Here the scallops’ slightly minerally, slightly ocean-breezey taste is able to come through a little more.

Coriander scallops with orange and ginger dressing
From Bon Appetit, March 2011

Ingredients
12 medium scallops
2 teaspoons ground coriander
100g baby greens (watercress, spinach, rocket, whatever you like really)
1 large orange, supremed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

Method
1. Prepare the scallops; wash them, pat dry and remove the roe (weird orange bit). Season them thoroughly on both sides with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with the ground coriander.

2. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large frying pan until it shimmers. Place the scallops in the pan, taking care not to crowd them (cook them in two batches if necessary). Cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side, depending on the size, so they are crisp and golden on the outside and just barely translucent in the very centre.

3. Meanwhile prepare the salad. Wash the greens and arrange on two plates. Supreme the orange, saving the peel to make orange rice with. Dot the orange pieces on top of the salad greens.

4. To make the dressing, whisk together the oil, vinegar, orange juice and chopped ginger with a little salt and pepper.

5. To serve, lay the scallops on the bed of greens. Pour the dressing over the top. Serve with orange-scented rice (rice cooked with orange peel).

Serves 2. I paired this with a nicely chilled sauvignon blanc which was a perfect match.

Cinnamon love

A couple of weeks ago I went out to an Italian restaurant. For most people this would be a fairly ordinary statement, but it’s generally not the favoured cuisine for coeliacs, it has to be said. However, a friend was in town and we needed a quick bite, and this place offered canteen-style food at reasonable prices. Canteen food à l’Italian consists mainly of amazing looking pizzas cut into large slices. Maybe 20 different types, round, square, thick crust, thin crust, meaty, veggie, all smelling divine. All off the menu for me. Fortunately for my stomach and my sanity there was also a large selection of salads to choose from. I plumped for a pumpkin salad, expecting it to be bland but fairly filling. To my surprise though, it wowed me. To the extent that I almost forgot, momentarily, about the amazing pizzas surrounding me. The pumpkin was coated in cinnamon and the taste combination was truly awesome. But the salad wasn’t sweet. Far from it, it was drizzled generously in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, with peppery rocket to balance the sweetness of the pumpkin, and creamy ricotta chunks to add protein. The result was so delicious I vowed to make it myself at home.

Such an opportunity presented itself last week in the form of a Halloween party and eight large pumpkins; cue plenty of pumpkin-heavy meals. But unlike some pumpkin recipes that seem to be generally heavy, or too spicy or sweet, this is a perfectly balanced salad. It was all cold in the restaurant but I decided to add a little warmth by throwing the pumpkin in with the other ingredients fresh from the oven. As a result the cheese started to melt ever so slightly and the greens wilted, but it somehow seemed more filling warm than cold. In terms of ease of throwing together this scores a 1 on whatever scale you’re using, and a big batch can be turned into a cold lunch the day after. What’s not to love?

Pumpkin and feta salad
I ditched the vinegar here as the feta is sour enough on its own. If you use ricotta or another soft cheese instead, maybe mozzarella, then add some balsamic vinegar to the dressing to pep it up a little.

Ingredients
400g raw pumpkin, peeled and chopped into 1-2″ cubes
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sliced almonds
200g feta, cubed
100g spinach, or other leafy green

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200 C.

2. On a baking tray toss the pumpkin with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the cinnamon. Bake in the oven for half an hour or until the pumpkin is soft and slightly crispy round the edges.

3. Toast the almonds for a couple of minutes in a frying pan over a medium heat until starting to brown. Tip into a large bowl with the feta and green leaves. Season with salt and pepper and toss well.

4. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Add to the bowl with another tablespoon of olive oil and toss again and serve.

Serves 2. If you want to serve the salad cold leave the pumpkin to cool entirely before mixing with the cold ingredients.

Crispy chicken

Because it was sunny (it was). Because I fancied something crisp and fresh for dinner (I did). Because pomegranates were buy one, get one free (they were). That’s three sound reasons. I like pomegranates but find it odd you only eat their seeds (or arils as they are apparently called). A little fiddly to prepare, but well worth it, plus you can freeze the seeds so you always have them on hand for when you need to add a splash of purple or a dash of sweetness.

Crispy chicken and pomegranate salad

The key to this is to season the flour really well. If the chicken is well seasoned the salad doesn’t need dressing or any other additions, as the crispness of the lettuce and sweetness of the peppers and pomegranates match the chicken really well on their own.

Ingredients
2 baby gem lettuces
2 handfuls radishes, quartered
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper or handful of chopped capsicums
Seeds from 1 pomegranate
250g chicken breast, chopped into 2-3-inch pieces
3 tablespoons gf flour, mixed with salt and black pepper
1 egg, beaten with a tablespoon milk
Gluten-free breadcrumbs

Method
1. Prepare the salad; wash and loosely tear the lettuce leaves. Top and tail the radishes and quarter them. Seed the peppers and sliced into chunks. Mix with the lettuce and arrange on plates.

2. Chop the pomegranate in half and over a bowl of water roughly tear apart from fruit and pull out the seeds. The membrane floats while the seeds sink, so they will separate in the water. With a spoon, scoop the membrane off the surface of the water, then drain the bowl into a colander and shake to remove any excess water. Sprinkle the seeds over the salad.

3. Chop the chicken breast into medium-sized chunks. Roll each piece in the seasoned flour, then dip in the egg wash and finally roll in breadcrumbs, ensuring it is thoroughly covered in crumbs.

4. Once all the chicken pieces are be-crumbed, heat about an inch of vegetable oil in a wok or deep frying pan until it is starting to crackle and pop. Gently lower the chicken pieces into the wok, making sure they are not too crowded. Cook for 5 minutes on one side, until deeply golden, then gently turn them over with a large spoon. Cook for another 5 minutes on the other side. When the pieces are golden all over, remove the largest from the pan, and check that the juices from it run clear. Remove the rest of the chicken from the pan and drain on a plate covered in kitchen towel for a minute. Then arrange over the salad and serve.

Serves 2. This goes really well with a plate of super crispy french fry-style chips. To make your own gf breadcrumbs remove the crusts from a stale loaf of gf bread. Tear it into pieces and put in a blender for 30 seconds, until quite finely chopped. Arrange the breadcrumbs on a large baking sheet and put under a preheated grill for 5 minutes, turning after 3 minutes, and checking they don’t burn. Leave them to cool, then store in an airtight bag/container in the freezer.