yotam dinner

Made another Yotam Ottolenghi dish this evening. It's actually from his and Sami Tamimi's book called Jerusalem. It's an inspiring, vibrant book that gives you a lot of detail about each dish as well as about the ingredients, who claims the recipe as their own, and loads about the city's history and people. I love it.

This recipe is chermoula aubergines with bulgur and yoghurt. You slice the aubergines in two lengthways, score the flesh and add your chermoula (olive oil, paprika, cumin, coriander, chopped preserved lemon slices, garlic, salt...I think that's it). Then you bake the aubergines for about 40 mins in a medium to hot oven. Meanwhile, you can make the bulgur topping. Cook your bulgur grains and once al dente, drain and add some sultanas (that have soaked in warm water for 10 mins). Add olive oil, lemon juice, toasted almond flakes, coriander, mint, green olives, spring onions and salt. Once the aubergines are ready, put a half on each plate, top with the bulgur mixture, and spoon some Greek yoghurt over the top. Delicious!

Before all this good food, Pierre and I went back to the river today to try and catch a fish or two. Still nothing! We did have great weather though - and a picnic - so we were happy sitting with our rods in hand, even if we came home empty-handed!