Caponata

a mozaic mezze with aubergine pulling everything together

With its sweet and sour “agrodolce” sauce cloaking a medley of olive-oil-fried aubergine, assorted veg and piquant olives and capers, Caponata is a halfway house between English chutney and Turkish “Zeytinyağlı Sebze”; olive oil poached vegetable mezzes.

I like to use it as a vehicle for late Autumn scavengings of markets and lucky gifts from friends with gardens and no two batches are ever the same! I like to think Sicily, its homeland, approves of this opportunistic make-do approach.

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Roast Plum Compote

Easy roast plums with rosemary and cinnamon which bottle beautifully

This is a very simple way to relish end-of-summer plums and capture that dusky, rich flavour for darker days. Roasting seems to do something to concentrate the flavour as well as rendering the flesh creamy-smooth and the skins pleasantly chewy. I add rosemary and cinnamon, sometimes lemon or orange rind. Plums do vary in their tartness so the sugar quantity here is a guide. You can eat them all as simple roasted fruit or go on and bottle them – I generally eat some and bottle some!

Eat them cold or warmed a little with yoghurt, creme fraiche or good old custard. Make breakfast bowls with museli or serve them with syrniki – sweet cheese pancakes. Use as instant crumble, cobbler and pie filling – this compote really is super versatile and easy to use.

For bottling them you do need to create enough syrup (and allow for ahem…sampling!) I add some sugar and a little water to create a light syrup that is so heavenly I find myself drinking it “cough-medicine” style by itself! Roasting = lazy; I roast on a low heat slowly and gently and check occasionally in between doing other things.

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Turkish “tarhana” soup

The home-made tarhana adds a specific satisfying ever-so-slightly tangy taste and a pleasing gloopiness. Some say it is reminiscent of Heinz tomato and oxtail tinned soup! Wherever you hale from, it certainly delivers a bowl of hearty goodness and comfort.

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