Plenty: Green pancakes with lime butter

I have been waiting for the perfect time to make these for brunch. I bought the ingredients last week so that I could make them over the Midsummer long weekend. Unfortunately, I was struck down with a flu on the first day, and my cooking plans have been thwarted somewhat since. I did, however, make these green pancakes with lime butter as planned with substantial help from a friend. The trouble is, I've been sick all weekend with a flu and can't taste a thing! My co-chef/co-bruncher said they were tasty ('they taste like spinach') and that the lime butter was a taste explosion. The lime was actually all I could make out. What a waste. I'll have to make them again soon and try them properly myself. It's Ottolenghi though, so I'm sure they will be delicious! This is what they looked like. I bought red chillies instead of green ones by accident, otherwise they should be entirely green pancakes.

 

Soba noodles with aubergine and mango

This is one recipe I've been meaning to try for two months, but didn't get around to until now because I wanted to get fresh mango from Kallio on a mango day, that is, Thursday, when the imported mangos are delivered fresh into the shops. I was finally passing through the area on a Thursday, got my juicy mango and made soba noodles with aubergine and mango for dinner. Despite the alluring list of ingredients (including for example garlic, lime, chili, sesame oil, mango, basil, coriander) I didn't really know what expect. Ottolenghi writes that this recipe is his mother's "cook-to-impress fare". Now I understand. What you get from this are wonderfully aromatic and smooth-textured mouthfuls of freshness. As Ottolenghi himself writes, for lack of a better description, it's the "sweet sharpness of the dressing and the muskiness of mango that make it so pleasing". An instant favourite.

Plenty: Green couscous

I had a go at Ottolenghi's green couscous last week. I can only be boring and say yet again that Ottolenghi never disappoints. This was delicious. Simple as that. Healthy, hearty, green as a garden patch. I don't think this recipe featured in the Guardian, but you can find a version of it from Ottolenghi's September 15th 2011 blog entry.

Plenty: Leek fritters

I've been glancing longingly at the recipe for these Turkish-inspired leek fritters for a while. Leek pancakes - how could anyone say no? This takes a while to prepare, mainly because it entails chopping and frying a few things like leeks and shallots, plus there's a host of others things to measure out for the rest of the batter, like spices including cumin, coriander and cinnamon (!). I had a couple of unnecessary casualties too owing to my carelessness: I rubbed my eye with fingers after chopping chili (eyeball was on fire) and at some point i burned the tips of my thumbs (don't know when, but now they are a little sore and red). It was well worth all the physical pain though. These shot straight to at least my top 5 Ottolenghi recipes. The cinnamon in particular threw off the cumin, coriander and tumeric in a wonderful way. I don't think I'll make the sauce (greek yogurt, parsley, coriander, garlic, lemon juice) next time though. It was nice, but I think just a drizzle of lemon juice on top is a more refreshing way of enjoying these guys and their interesting flavours.