Mezze Made Easy with Olives Et Al

One of my favourite meals to serve is a series of smaller dishes - I so much prefer sharing my foods and really enjoy the whole social side to it as well. Whether you call it Tapas, Mezze or even picky bits I always like to try out new dishes, along with a few favourites too! I always think when sharing food of an old Friends episode, where one of the characters Joey is on a date and the guest steals a chip and Joey is bereft and mutters the immortal line 'Joey doesn't share!' Fortunately none of us are of that thinking and the more sharing the better! Its also a great way of trying out new dishes on a small scale, that way if something doesn't work at least its only a small portion!

The following dishes all got made, using a mixture of what we had in the cupboards and using a few key items the nice people at Olives Et Al gave to me. I've always enjoyed their products - that was until the local farm shop changed management and I couldn't get their olives anymore, however it was very handy to be also given a jar of their Smoky Chipotle Chilli olives - I really do prefer getting olives marinaded in lovely oils – not only you get delicious flavoursome olives but then you have a double bonus in the form of also lovely oil leftover to be used in other treats! One of my most simplest forms is to make flavoured toasted breads. English muffins work well, baguette or ciabatta slices also are great too! To be honest if its made of flour and isn’t cake its worth a shot! Simply brush with the oil and grill!

First up is a really nice, light dish that can be made inexpensively - I used Smoked Salmon trimmings which worked out at about 70p, a small avocado and the lovely Mojo dressing to bring it all together. As Avocado's discololour fairly fast, make sure you mix this dish quickly - it will keep for about an hour without browning. I love this Mojo dressing so much - despite it saying Pink Grapefuit, which really does not appeal this was surprisingly tasty, sligtly smokey and zingy - one of my favourite ones I have tried to date I think!

Mojo Avocado and Smoked Salmon Salad

70g smoked salmon trimmings

1 small ripe avocado, cut into ½ cm pieces

8 tsp Mojo dressing

Combine all the ingredients together lightly and allow to chill for 30 minutes before serving

Harissa Lamb kofte

250g lean lamb mince

½ tbsp Olives Et Al Harissa paste

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tbsp milk

Mix by hand everything together, then roll into small meatballs, about the size of a walnut and place in a shallow, greased baking dish and bake in a hot oven for 12-15 minutes or until cooked through. Dot with a little dab of harissa to garnish on serving

I have tried a few different Harissa's but liked the Olives et Al one as it was in liquid form and easy to combine with the lamb! Its very tasty but has a kick so do be warned! Beef or turkey mince would work well too here in lieu of lamb.

Chorizo Tomato Stew

This last dish was my own invention, and doesn't involve Olives Et Al in any form but it was so tasty I have to sneak it in! I love using chorizo when cooking as its so versatile, keeps well in the fridge and a little goes a long way and imparts so much delicious and spicy flavour! B is a huge fan of chorizo too so I know dinner will be a hit pretty much everytime I use it!

100g spicy chorizo, cut unto ¼ cm slices

½ red onion finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1x 400g tin plum tomatoes, good quality

In a dry frying pan cook the chorizo until its starting to colour and release its lovely amber oil, add the garlic for 30 seconds, then push to the outsides and add the vinegar, allow  it to burn off the alcohol then stir in the tomatoes. Use a wooden spatula to lightly break them up, season with s&p, turn down the heat and cover, cook for about 40 minutes until the sauce has reduced, stirring occasionally. Season to taste if needed.

Its a lovely dish, rich tomatoey and full of flavour, it also is very good if you stir through some sliced cooked new potatoes for an alternative dinner!

Here is a round-up photo - there is also a very nice roasted vegetable bulgar salad I will post later!

I hope my dishes give you a little inspiration for your next dinner! Do let me know if you try them!

Many thanks to Tedi and Olives Et Al for my samples.

Sweet Potato falafel with Chorizo Bulgur salad

Now, those who know me on twitter know I had some issues when making these and I apologise if my language went colourful at any point..... Cooked, mashed sweet potato is a blinking nightmare to roll – its best just to use two spoons and hope for the best. However by some miracle these actually came out pretty good and were very tasty. Once I had gotten over my anger and washed my hands of their orange hue I rather enjoyed them both hot for dinner and cold in my lunchbox the following day. The bulgur salad was so tasty, my dad likes to pick me up random ingredients and this was a fine grade of Bulgur, more the size of couscous and it had a very good mouth-feel. Combined with the spicy chorizo and sweet smoky peppers it made a for a very tasty dinner both hot and cold as leftovers.

To bring you up to date with making these falafel, I have history with steamers. A few years back when they became the in thing I purchased one on sale.. and I really hated it! In theory I should of loved it, I love vegetables so much but I could never tell the accurate time on the water display and had to use separate dishes to serve at the table after of course dripping all over my feet or the counter-top’s, creating more mess.. eventually we parted ways and I have not given it a second thought about one since then… 

...roll on a few years later and obviously technology has moved on and a very nice pr lady called Dianne, representing ‘Steama’ asked if I wanted to test it out… I eat fairly healthily but do admit I er fry a lot of veg I.e. courgettes in butter and other nice things, however my health has given me a bit of a tough ride this year and I am keen to mend my naughty ways and try and explore some healthier options so decided to at least give it a try… Steaming the sweet potatoes couldn't of been easier, chopped, chucked in the tray, water bath filled, timer set and 25 minutes lately perfectly steamed sweet potatoes! The machine is rather nifty having both an extra lid and base to fit on the steamer so you can cook extra I.e. for a latter meal and just clip the base and lid on so it doubles up as tupperware! I have used it plenty of times since and its simple to use and produces great results!

For the falafel I loosely based my recipe on a bbc one, which to be honest I looked at after mixing everything and then not being able to work out why I couldn’t roll it and added a little more flour before deciding spoons were the way forward!

450g unpeeled sweet potato, diced into 1 inch chunks

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground coriander

s&p

85g gram flour

Oven – hot. About 200o.

Start by steaming the potatoes for about 25 minutes, or until tender. 

In the Steama tray

Allow the cooked sweet potato to cool for about 5-10 minutes before mashing. I used my old favourite Masha toy. Stir through the spices and gram flour to form a smooth mixture.

Line and grease a large baking sheet, spoon the mixture onto the tray into golf ball sized lumps. Bake for 15 minutes, turn over and bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until the outer is set and firm to touch. Meanwhile make the bulgur salad.

Chorizo Bulgur Salad

 300g fine Bulgur Wheat

1 yellow pepper, into 1cm dice

½ red onion, finely sliced

115g cooking chorizo, into 1cm dice

1 chopped tomato

1 tbsp cooking oil

2tsp Harrisa powder

Place the bulgur in a heat proof bowl, cover with 325g boiling water (I weighed it hence not being in ML) and cover tightly, allow to steam for about 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and pepper over a moderate heat for 3 minutes, add the chorizo and tomato and fry for a further 4-5 minutes or until everything is nicely browned, combine with the prepared bulgur.

Serve the cooked falafel on a mound of the bulgur salad. A good dollop of yoghurt mint dip is very welcome here!

 Many thanks to Steama for my new steamer toy!