Ukrainean cauliflower fritters

Cut or break1/2 cauliflower into small florets, keeping any small leaves, too. Blanch the cauliflower and its leaves in a pan of boiling, salted water: take out the leaves after about two minutes and the florets after four. Refresh both in cold water, then drain well and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Put four tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat – it should cover the base of the pan, so add a little more, if need be.

Meanwhile, make the batter. In a bowl, whisk 1 egg with 100ml milk, then add 60g buckwheat (or normal) flour, whisk until smooth and season well; if you’re using buckwheat flour, make the batter only just before you are ready to fry, because it turns gloopier by the minute.

Drop four pieces of cauliflower into the batter at a time, making sure they are all thickly coated. When the oil is really hot, bring the bowl over to the pan (otherwise everything will get messy) and carefully drop the batter-coated cauliflower into the pan – depending on the size of your pan, you should be able to fry between four and eight fritters at a time. After a couple of minutes, turn them over and fry on the other side until the fritters are golden all over, then lift out with a slotted spoon, drain on kitchen paper and keep warm in a medium oven while you repeat with the remaining cauliflower and batter. (In between batches, you might need to drain and wipe out the pan with kitchen paper and add more oil.)

For the dip: mix 100g mayonnaise in a small bowl with 1 peeled and grated clove of garlic and a handful of finely chopped dill and serve with the hot cauliflower. 

(Recipe by Olia Hercules)

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Gunnard Hongkong

Dissolve 60g salt in 1 l boiling water. Cool for at least 2 hrs, then add 2 small skinned gunnards (rode poon) and pickle for 20 mins.

In the meantime mix 5g grated ginger, 1/2 tbsp fish sauce, 4 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp sugar, 4 tbsp water. Bring to the boil to dissolve the sugar.

Then steam the fish for 7 mins.

Serve as shown with spring onion and coriander leaves

(A recipe by Blendbrothers)

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Sea bass crudo

Bring 1 l water to the boil with 60g salt. Cool for at leat 2 hrs. Then add 200g sea bass and pickle during 10 mins

Mix 5tbsp olive oil, the juice of 1/2 lime, the zest of 1/2 lime, a pinch of sea salt and 1tsp Togarashi.

Slice the fish very thinly. Serve with samphire.

A Blendbrothers recipe

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Butternut squash with currants, olives and ricotta

Put two tablespoons of the oil in a medium saute pan on a medium-high heat, then add 1 peeled and finely chopped red onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for four minutes, until softened but not browned. Add 1,5 tsp tomato paste, 4 peeled and crushed garlic cloves and a teaspoon and a half of maple syrup, and cook, stirring, for another 30 seconds, until fragrant. 

Stir in 350g cubes (1-1,5 cm) butternut squash, a half-teaspoon of salt and a generous grind of pepper, then turn down the heat to medium and fry, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes, until the squash is soft but still holding its shape.

Meanwhile, put 2tbsp sherry vinegar in a small saucepan on a medium-high heat. Once it’s bubbling, take off the heat, stir in 25g dried currants and set aside to plump up.

When the squash is ready, stir in the vinegar and currant mixture, 70g pitted and halved olives, a teaspoon of maple syrup and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, and cook gently for three minutes more. Set aside to cool slightly – give it at least 15 minutes – then stir in 1 tbsp oregano leaves and 2 tbsp shredded basil leaves.

In a small bowl, combine 120g ricotta, an eighth of a teaspoon of salt and a generous grind of pepper. Divide the ricotta mix between two plates, then top with the warm squash mixture and 25g well toasted pine nuts. 

Drizzle over a final tablespoon of oil and serve warm or at room temperature, with focaccia to tear, scoop and eat alongside.

(Here Ottolenghi's original recipe, and 2 more)

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Spaghetti and (not) meatballs with fried oregano

Heat the oven to 240°C (220°C fan). First, make the sauce. Put a 400g tin plum tomatoes, a teaspoon of Aleppo chilli (pul biber), 1 tbsp oil, 1/2 tbsp tomato paste, 1,5 tsp caster sugar, 2 peeled and crushed cloves of garlic, 200ml water, half a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper in a medium 20cm x 14cm oven dish and bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring once halfway, until reduced by about half.

To make the 'meatballs', put 1,5 tbsp oil in a large frying pan on a medium-high heat. 

Add 1/2 peeled and finely chopped onion, 1 peeled and finely chopped (in the foodprocessor) carrot, the leaves of 2 sprigs of thyme and 1/2 tbsp oregano leaves, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until the onion has softened and lightly coloured. Add 2 peeled and crushed cloves of garlic, 150g chestnut mushrooms (coarsely chopped in the foodprocessor) and 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, cook, stirring occasionally, for another 10 minutes, until nicely browned, then take off the heat and leave to cool


Once the mushroom mix is cool, stir in 1 tbsp toasted and roughly chopped pine nuts, 35g cooked brown rice, roughly blitzed in the foodprocessor, 1/2 teaspoon of Aleppo chilli, 15g grated  parmesan, 1 egg, 30g Panko breadcrumbs and 15g finely chopped parsley, and mix well to combine. 

Divide the mix into 6 parts, roll these into balls, making sure they’re tightly compacted. Wipe out the pan, then put it back on a medium-high heat with two tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, fry the meatballs, turning them gently, for seven to eight minutes, until evenly coloured all over. 

Carefully transfer the balls to the tomato sauce dish, turn them gently with a spoon to coat, then return the dish to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes, to heat the meatballs through.

Meanwhile, make the crisp oregano. Put 2 tbsp olive oil in a small frying pan on a medium-high heat and, once hot, add 1,5 tbsp oregano leaves and fry, stirring constantly, for two minutes, until they start to darken and turn translucent. Take off the heat and pour through a sieve set over a small bowl.

Cook 120g spaghetti in plenty of salted boiling water for about seven minutes, or according to package directions, then drain, reserving three tablespoons of the cooking water.

Carefully lift the meatballs from the sauce and transfer them to a plate. 

Stir the spaghetti and reserved cooking water into the tomato sauce until nicely coated, then divide between two shallow bowls, top with 3 meatballs each and then with the crisp oregano and its oil. 

Sprinkle with extra parmesan, and serve.

(Here Ottolenghi's original recipe and 2 more)

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Tartare of sea trout and bulgur

Wash and drain 25g bulgur, then soak in 75 ml cold water and 1/2 tsp sea salt during 30 mins.Then drain and dry.

Slice 200g sea trout (or salmon) into 5mm cubes.

Finely slice a shallot and 1/2 red chili.

Toast 1/4 tsp ground cumin, 1/3 tsp ground coriander and 1/3 tsp piment

Mix the fish, the bulgur, the shallot, the chili and the spices.

Season with black peper and 1 tsp salt. Cover and keep cool in the fresh, not longer than 1 hr.

In the meantime make a salsa from 30g hacked black olives, the finely sliced peel (discard the rest) of 1/2 preserved lemon, 5g hacked parsley and 1,5 tbsp olive oil

Use a mandoline to make very thin chips from a peeled Jerusalem artichoke and deep fry in archaide oil, drain on kitchen paper and add a bit of salt

Serve a shown, with some lemon oil 

(Here the original recipe in Flemish)

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Pita bruschetta, avocado, radish and coriander

Slice the bottom from a garlic bulb, pack in alufoil and roast in a hot (190°C) oven during 40 mins. Press each clove to remove the sweet pulp and mix with 4 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp sea salt and 1/2 tsp pul biber (the Turkish pepper)

Cut the meat of 3 avocado's, add 1 heaped tbsp of hacked coriander and the garlic dressing

Halve 2 pita's lengthwise, brush the rough sides with oil and roast for about 2 mins under a very hot grill till nicely brown and crispy, but be alert not to burn them.

Serve as shown with thinly sliced radishes

(Another Jigal Krant recipe)

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King oyster mushroom, miso, liquorice

Slice 2 king oyster mushrooms lengthwise and make a crisscross pattern with a sharp knife. 

Rub in 1 tsp white miso and brush allover with olive oil, then bake them for 10 mins in a hot (180°C) oven

Use a kitchen burner to blacken the tops, grate some liquorice root (zoethout) over them, a little bit of salt and some isot biber (the Turkish black pepper)

Serve as shown with sea aster (lamsoren) to create a small landscape

(A Jigal Krant recipe)

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