Chocotorta: an Argentine afternoon snack

Chocotorta is a simple, no-bake cake made with a few easy to find (in Argentina) ingredients, and is often eaten for Merienda - a light meal around 5pm to keep you going until dinner. I was first introduced to this delicious concoction by a young man in Patagonia called Juan Manuel - he was 9 years old at the time and as he's just turned 14 this is probably a really uncool thing to remind him of.

Apparently, this dish was invented as a promotion by the manufacturers of Chocolinas, a new range of chocolate biscuits, as recently as 1980. However, it's so embedded in the Argentine culinary repertoire it feels like it's been around forever, and I was surprised not to find it in Grandma's cookbook. Quite simply, it involves dipping chocolate biscuits in liquid and layering with a mix of dulce de leche and cream cheese. I mean, a 9 year old could do it... (he's actually a very good cook!)

The biscuit dipping liquid was originally milk or chocolate milk, but a common variation I like uses coffee; you could also add a shot of kahlua to spice things up a bit. If you're not in Argentina, Chocolinas are available in Spanish supermarkets like Garcia's in Notting Hill, or you can use Oreos instead (you didn't hear that from me). And if you can't find dulce de leche, boil a can of condensed milk to make a rich caramel sauce.

Ingredients 

280g cream cheese

280g dulce de leche 

2 packets of chocolinas

1 cup fresh, cooled black coffee (I made espresso but instant would be fine)

1 shot of kahlua (optional. I added it)

Method

 1. Thoroughly whip together the cream cheese and dulce de leche.

2. Mix the kahlua (if using) into the coffee, then soak the chocolinas one by one for 10-20 seconds so they're softened but not falling apart (note for Brits: if you're a tea dunker, you'll nail this bit). Line up along the bottom of a rectangular dish.

3. When you have a complete layer of biscuits, add a third of the cream cheese mix and spread over the biscuits.

4. Repeat the layers twice more, finishing with a layer of cream cheese mix

5. Dust the top with some grated chocolate or crumbled biscuits and chill for a couple of hours to firm up.

Best served with a sweet tooth and a hot beverage - maybe some mate for a true Argentinian experience.

Mushroom pate: for the picnic hamper

Today was the first really hot day in London this year, bringing to mind lazy afternoons picnicking on ripe cheese, crusty bread and dense, foil-wrapped pate. Unfortunately, we attempted this al fresco dining idea last week when it was still damp and wet in the city, so we put a picnic rug over the table instead...

Making pate is also an excuse to use my newly acquired Le Creuset terrine, a beautiful volcanic orange oblong dish that has been generating crockery envy on Instagram. I've made a classic pork terrine for the next edition of Barbican Life magazine, so this is a delicious vegetarian pate, equally transportable and almost as dense.

It's another recipe from Anna Thomas's 1978 cookbook, The Vegetarian Epicure: Book Two. The owner of this book is a fellow Barbican resident, who has marked both mushroom pate recipes "E" for excellent. I have recreated the second version which contains walnuts for a crunchy texture and dried mushrooms to bump up the earthy taste. For the fresh mushroom content, I used a combination of half standard white mushrooms and half portabellini mushrooms which have a stronger, more meaty taste. 

This is definitely a recipe you can play about with, using different mushrooms, cheese, fresh herbs and liquor to create something new each time.

Ingredients

500g mixed fresh mushrooms

25g dried porcini mushrooms 

6-8 shallots

2 sticks of celery

100g walnuts

200g feta cheese

5 tbsp mixed fresh herbs, eg parsley, oregano, rosemary

2 slices of bread blitzed to breadcrumbs

1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 eggs

3 tbsp Madeira

Method

1. Soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water for 20 minutes then chop finely. Peel and mince the shallots; sautée in a little olive oil until soft. Chop the fresh mushrooms, walnuts, celery and feta into small chunks and finely chop the fresh herbs.

2. Combine the chopped ingredients in a large bowl (larger than the bowl I used below) then beat and add the eggs and all the remaining ingredients. Season generously and mix well.

3. Grease and line your terrine or loaf tin with baking paper, and add the mushroom mixture, patting down firmly. Cover loosely and bake at 180C for 90 minutes, until the pate is dark brown and starting to come away from the sides of the dish. 

4. When it's cool enough to handle, turn out of the dish and chill for several hours before serving.

The verdict from the picnic tasting panel was that is was "very mushroomy", which is insight you'll get (literally) nowhere else. A worthy addition to any picnic.

Crockpot Chicken fiesta: a summery chicken, pepper and olive casserole

If, like me, you relegate the slow cooker to the back of the cupboard as soon as daffodils start sprouting, this light and summery stew will have you digging it back out again. The convenience of slow cooking is obviously just as valuable in spring as it is in winter, and one can't be expected to survive on salads from April to September...

Adapted from Crockery Pot Cooking (1978) with some suggestions from a recent Good Food magazine recipe, this colourful chicken and pepper casserole is fresh and spicy, with at least three portions of your five-a-day (and I'm not even counting the wine). The final taste (and spice) will depend a lot on the chorizo you use as there are no other added herbs or flavours, so choose carefully. Also, be wary of adding extra salt: the olives and stock will be quite salty already, so I didn't add any salt until the cooking had finished.

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

100g chorizo, sliced

4 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed

1/2 onion, chopped

2 peppers, chopped into chunks

1 handful stuffed olives (I used ones in brine)

1 glass dry white wine

200ml chicken stock (from a good quality cube or fresh/homemade)

1 tbsp tomato purée

Method

If your slow cooker has a removable crock that you can use on the hob, start the dish off in that as described below. If not, use a frying pan to brown the chorizo, chicken and onion on the hob, then add them to the slow cooker along with any juices from the pan.

1. Heat the crock on the hob and dry fry the chorizo until it's starting to crisp; it will release plenty of spicy oil. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. Fry the chicken in the chorizo oil until starting to brown, then add the onion and cook for 2 or 3 minutes more.

3. Put the crock into the slow cooker and add back the chorizo and all the remaining ingredients, making sure the liquid just covers the contents. Cook on low for 6 hours.

The end result is a light and vibrant stew; the chicken falls off the bone into the spicy broth, and is delicious mopped up with rice or crusty bread.

Three vegetarian dips to avert the hummus crisis

In recreating recipes from 60s and 70s cookbooks, there has been a distinct lack of vegetarian dishes. In fact, one of the few vegetarian meals I have made for the blog was from the Argentinian Grandma's book - the hazelnut and ricotta ravioli - as pasta is often meat-free, as is Argentinian pizza (I know, weird!).

One of the main reasons for the lack of veggie dishes is the scarcity of recipes: vegetarianism didn't begin to become popular until the 70s. One of the first cookbooks to target this growing movement was The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas, published in 1972 while Anna was still at film school in California. It sold over a million copies. I have this, and her second book published in 1978 (pictured below), on generous loan from a Barbican resident, in an attempt to redress the veggie balance!

These beautifully illustrated books focus on making delicious meals and dinner party entertaining without using meat substitutes, and letting good quality vegetables speak for themselves. As a start (there'll be more, I promise), I've adapted three dips adapted from the second book, which has more exotic recipes inspired by Anna's travels in the mid-70s.

I have a mini food processor which works perfectly for blitzing dips, but a blender or Nutribullet-type thing should work just as well. They all taste great with some toasted pitta bread for dipping.

BABA GANOUJ

Described as a salad of eggplant and sesame paste that Anna discovered on "the long, hot summer days in Cairo".

Ingredients 

1 aubergine 

1 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic

1 tsp tahini

Half a lemon

Method

1. Either prick the aubergine several times and roast in a hot oven until tender (about 30 minutes) or cut in half and griddle for about 10 minutes. Leave to cool.

2. When the aubergine is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and add to a food processor or blender with the crushed garlic, tahini and good squeeze of lemon juice. Blitz briefly to combine.

BROAD BEAN HUMMUS

A different take on the usual hummus, using broad beans instead of chickpeas. 

Ingredients

250g frozen broad beans

1 clove garlic

1 tsp tahini

Half a lemon

1/2 tsp ground cumin (optional)

Method

1. Cook the beans in boiling water for 3-4 minutes until tender. Drain.

2. Blitz the cooked beans with the remaining ingredients until well combined. Season with salt and pepper and a little water if the consistency is too thick and blitz again.

ARTICHOKE CHEESE

This is a light and tangy dip, delicious with some chilli flakes sprinkled on top.

Ingredients

280g artichokes in oil

180g cream cheese

40g Parmesan

Half a lemon

Method

Tip all the ingredients into the food processor and blitz until smooth. Add some freshly ground black pepper to serve.

Have fun dipping!

The grand Greek finale: a sticky sweet baklava

Nothing is more appropriate to complete a Greek feast than another dish with at least one 'k' in its name: baklava.

According to Joyce M. Stubbs, author of The Home Book of Greek Cookery, baklava is best made a day or two ahead to give the syrup time tostadas into all the layers and make it super sticky. I thought pistachios were the nut of choice, but the recipe in this book contains walnuts (see also the lamb - moussaka misunderstanding). While walnuts are popular, pistachios are apparently considered the "grandest" (and are still the most expensive of nuts), so I went with a mix of both - always trying to please everyone.

I expected these to be tricky to make, as the displays on stalls at farmers' markets look so delicate. They weren't - the most difficult bit was chopping the nuts. One slight addition I might make if I were to do these again (I'm doing them again) would be a drop or two of rose water in the syrup to balance the sweetness.

Here's the money shot:

More foodporn available on Instagram (@fourhobsinarow)

Ingredients

(Makes 8-10 servings)

100g unsalted butter
100g sugar
100ml hot water
150g pistachios and/or walnuts, chopped
3 sheets ready made filo pastry
Ground cinnamon

For the syrup:
100g sugar
100ml honey
100ml water
Juice from half a lemon

Method

1. To make the filling, melt half the butter with the sugar and hot water then add the chopped nuts. Melt the rest of the butter in a separate pan for brushing pastry layers.

 2. Line a baking tin with 4 layers of filo pastry, cut to size (I used a 26cm x 20cm dish), brushing each layer liberally with melted butter

3. Add a layer of nut filling, sprinkle with cinnamon, and cover with 2 more sheets of buttered pastry. Repeat until all the filling is used up (I made four layers).

4. Finish with another four sheets of buttered pastry and brush the top with butter. Score into diamonds with a sharp knife and bake at 180C for 15 minutes until golden and crisp.

  5. While the baklava is baking, make the syrup by boiling the sugar with the honey, water and lemon juice 

6. While the baklava is still hot, slowly pour over syrup, letting it seep into the layers - you probably won't need all of it but keep any leftovers to serve cold. Leave at room temperature overnight. 

Serve with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and a drizzle of leftover syrup (not the fake rose petals / actually inedible geraniums used in the money shot...) - a perfect ending to a delicious culinary adventure.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, completes this Greek tragedy, with a total absence of leftovers and some rather sticky pans to wash up. I hope your guests enjoy it as much as ours did!

Greek tragedy act two: a meaty moussaka

As Felicity Cloake points out in her Perfect Moussaka article, this is one of those dishes that simultaneously manages to taste of sunshine and boast warming qualities sufficient to see you through a spring shower. Or arctic blast in our case. At the risk of inviting outrage, to me a moussaka is basically a greek lasagne, with aubergine instead of pasta. Which makes it a health food, right?

I used the same recipe book for the whole Greek feast menu / tragedy: The Home Book of Greek Cookery. For the moussaka, Joyce uses minced veal whereas I had always associated the dish with lamb. I'm relieved to report that Felicity thought the same, and although apparently veal is the more traditional ingredient (and my local Waitrose had minced veal but not minced lamb so I had to go to M&S #middleclasscommentoftheday) I stuck with lamb as I prefer the flavour with the cinnamon and nutmeg spices. And it's what Felicity did and she's much better at this than me...

The wobbly white sauce that tops the moussaka is a classic béchamel enriched with egg and flavoured with some parmesan and a bit more nutmeg. For some reason, my sauce went a bit lumpy, but it doesn't matter for the final dish. You could also use ricotta if you can't be doing with making the sauce from scratch.

The whole dish does take some time to prepare, perfect for a miserable afternoon, but can be made ahead and baked while your guests are devouring feta parcels and / recounting ouzo stories...

Ingredients
(Serves 4 - 6)

3 aubergines

1 onion, finely chopped
500g minced lamb
1 glass red wine
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes or passata
1 tsp ground cinnamon
A grating of nutmeg
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

For the béchamel sauce:

50g butter

50g plain flour

500ml milk
2 eggs
1 tbsp grated parmesan
A grating of nutmeg

Method

1. Slice the aubergines, sprinkle liberally with salt and drain in a colander for at least half an hour - this removes the bitterness from the vegetable.

2. While the aubergines are draining, make the béchamel sauce. Melt the butter then add the flour and cook for one minute. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly, and continue to heat gently and stir until the sauce thickens. Add a grating of nutmeg and the cheese and keep warm.

3. To make the sauce, sauté the onion in olive oil until soft then add the mince and brown. Add the red wine and, when that's sizzled away, add the chopped tomatoes or passata, the herbs and spices. Taste and season, then cook on a low heat for about 20 minutes. Add in a couple of spoonfuls of the béchamel sauce and turn off the heat.

 4. Rinse the aubergine slices, pat dry on kitchen towel the griddle in batches using a little olive oil.

5. Assemble the moussaka by starting with a layer of aubergine then a layer of mince and a sprinkle of parmesan. I had 20 slices of aubergine so I used 5 slices in 4 layers. Finish with an aubergine layer.

 6. Add the beaten eggs to the warm béchamel sauce, mix thoroughly then add the sauce to the top of the moussaka. Sprinkle with parmesan, and breadcrumbs if you like a crunchy topping, then bake at 180C for 30-40 minutes until golden brown on top.

Serve with simple green beans or a lightly dressed salad. And don't expect to have any leftovers... 

Room for dessert? The final part (clue: also has a 'k' in its name) coming soon...

A Greek tragedy in three parts: #1 feta parcels or tiropitakia

*Spoiler alert* The only tragedy in this three parter is that there weren't any leftovers; in fact, each course was even better than the last, so keep your eyes peeled for dessert! If you follow me on Instagram, you'll have seen a sneak preview with one of my best ever food stylist-worthy shots, petals and all.

The Greek theme was an attempt to ignore this week's arctic blast by indulging in a feast to remind us of hot sunshine, summer holidays and maybe a sip of ouzo... It was also inspired by another donation from a local Barbican resident: The Home Book of Greek Cookery first published in 1963. This rather funky paperback edition was printed in 1976: 

Greek food is ideal for entertaining and many of the recipes in the book are for 8-10 people; we invited two. Everything on the menu can be made ahead, except for these little cheese parcels, or tiropitakia, which take minutes to prepare and are best eaten hot from the oven. So once these are done, you can sit back, relax and enjoy the ouzo stories (everybody has an ouzo story...).

Ingredients 

(Makes 8 parcels)

125g feta cheese

1 egg

1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 sheets ready made filo pastry

A large knob of butter, melted 

Method

1. Mash together the cheese, egg, herbs and pepper until well mixed

2. Cut the pastry sheets into four pieces: in half lengthways then in half widthways. Add a heaped teaspoon of filling to the top of a strip, about 2cm from the edge, then fold over the top left corner to meet the right edge forming a triangle (see pics below). Keep folding over, brushing the edge with melted butter to seal in the filling, until you reach the end of the sheet. Repeat for the remaining pastry and filling to make 8 parcels. 

3. Brush the parcels with melted butter and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 180C for 15 minutes until crisp and golden.

Serve warm from the oven with some Greek yoghurt pepped up with some lemon juice and more fresh herbs, alongside some stuffed vine leaves, olives and other Greek paraphernalia.

To vary the filling, you can mix spinach and spring onions with the feta (spanakopitakia) or make a meat filled version with minced lamb, passata and onion (kreatopitakia).

Tune in next time for the second act: a cheesy baked moussaka.