Broad Bean & Dill Pilaf

I've been on a bit of a dill kick recently. Now and again I'll make a dish with a certain herb, and suddenly I'll be adding it to everything I make.

Coriander has always been a favourite of mine. Whilst some people claim it tastes like soap, to me it reminds me of heady, spicy curries, fresh stir fries, hot and sour soups. When I was a child I didn't like parsley much; it tasted too iron-rich for me, like the metallic taste of blood when you suck a finger you've sliced open accidentally. And yet at any opportunity, I'll now throw it into salads, pastas and salsas.

I never thought the same would happen with dill. It tastes a little too much like aniseed for my liking, like too many sambuccas I've downed and yes, sometimes retched. But last Christmas, I couldn't get enough of the dill-cured gravadlax we had made. So, when I saw some on offer, I snapped it up with not a whole lot of thought gone into what I wanted to use it for. Firstly, these scallops worked incredibly well with it. Then, when mixed with smoked mackerel and yoghurt as I'd seen on Helen's blog.

Thumbing through some cookery books, I came across this broad bean and dill pilaf from Moro, by Sam & Sam Clark. It sounded perfect for the salmon fillet I had left to eat. I made a couple of alterations, and it made for a great accompaniment to the fish. It was simple, quick to make and there was no faffing around. The perfect weekend lunch.

Broad Bean & Dill Pilaf

Serves 2

200gr rice (I used Jasmine, but they specify basmati)

A large handful of dill

3 shallots

A large pinch of ground allspice

2 cloves garlic

2 handfuls of broad beans, double podded (I used frozen)

A small handful of flat-leaf parsley

Half a lime

3 tbsp Greek yoghurt

20gr butter

A large pinch of salt

In a frying pan, add the butter and heat until foaming. Slice the shallots and add to the pan, frying slowly until softened and golden. Add the two cloves of garlic, minced finely and then add the pinch of ground allspice and the salt. Add washed rice and stir it into the pan, ensuring you coat all the grains in the butter.

At this point, I added this mixture to a rice cooker and added enough chicken stock so that it came up to the first joint of my index finger when the tip of the finger is touching the surface of the rice. I believe you can also add water to the pan, but to be honest; I'm nothing without a rice cooker.

Add the 3/4 of the finely chopped dill and parsley, and flick the rice cooker on to cook. When it has switched to warm, I stirred in the broad beans and left it to steam for 20 minutes. To serve, scatter the leftover herbs over the rice, add the lime juice, and dollop the Greek yoghurt on top. Serve with salmon, oiled and grilled until the skin is crispy.

Moro Cooking - Aubergine & Red Pepper Salad

I have a terrible habit of buying cookery books, pouring over them hungrily, and then leaving on the shelf, never to be cooked from. I decided that this should change, so I tackled a recipe from the Moro cookbook.

I've never been to the restaurant, nor have I tried Moorish food but this recipe was very straight-forward. It also used one of my favourite vegetables: the aubergine. Given the current rising food costs and my seemingly-perpetual poorness, I've been shopping at Lewisham market recently. It really is a god-send; I picked up half a kilo of baby plum tomatoes for 58p, 3 aubergines for £1.20 and three peppers for £1. This was almost half the price of nearby Sainsburys.

So anyway, the recipe.

Aubergine & Red Pepper Salad

Serves 4 as a side

3 aubergines
3 red peppers (I used 2 red and one yellow)
1 garlic clove, crushed
A squeeze of lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
200gr low fat yoghurt
Caramelised butter, about 30gr
A few sprigs of fresh coriander
Salt and pepper

Prick the aubergines and peppers and roast in the oven until the aubergines have collapsed. The aubergines take about 45 mins and the peppers about 25 mins, on gas mark 7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Peel the skin from the peppers and the aubergines. Chop the aubergine flesh roughly and spread out on a plate. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper and toss. Deskin the peppers and chop into slices. Drape this over the aubergine. Spoon the yoghurt on one side of the dish.

To make caramelised butter, heat some unsalted butter in a pan. Continue to heat it, swirling it around the pan occasionally, until the sediment in the pan becomes brown, but doesn't burn. Pour this over the dish. Serve with flatbreads.

This was a really delicious introduction to Moorish food. I think that amount of yoghurt was a touch too much, so I might reduce it by half next time. I think a bit of minced lamb with parsley, added to this dish, would make a great meal.