Fen Celery with Walnuts and Avocado

1 bunch of fresh Fen celery, thinly sliced
3 spring onions, very thinly sliced
2oz chopped walnuts
2 large ripe avocado, peeled and sliced length ways
Lemon juice
Soured Cream or Cottage Cheese to serve
Fresh herbs to garnish

Mix the celery, spring onions and walnuts on a serving plate. Place the avocado slices in a decorative pattern on top. Sprinkle with a little lemon juice. 

Place a good dollop of the soured cream of cottage cheese in the centre.

Garnish with your favourite fresh herbs and serve.

Marzipan

I have friends who don't like marzipan that will eat this! Perhaps because the natural taste of almonds is more mellow than the intense flavour of almond essence. Naturally, if you do want the strong marzipan taste, then a few drops of essence will go along way :-)

Ingredients

4oz ground almonds

3oz icing sugar

3oz sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp lemon juice

Method

Mix together the sifted icing sugar, ground almonds, sugar and lemon.

Add enough beaten egg to make a stiff paste. Add almond essence if you require a stronger taste. If you are using it to make sweets its also fun to add a few drops of colour.

Warm Avocado and Soft Cheese - Quick Snack

This is a great quick lunch snack for two people. Slightly unusual, but well worth a go if you're tired of having cold lumps of avocado in a salad!

 Ingredients

2 Avocados
Juice of 1 Lemon
5 ounces (125g) Cream (Curd) Cheese
5 Celery Sticks, chopped quite finely
6 dried Apricots, chopped
A small amount of ground rock salt and black pepper to taste
2 ounces (50g) White Cheshire or Stilton Cheese (any good crumbling cheese will do)


Method

Slice avocados in half lengthwise and remove the stone. Carefully remove the flesh, ensuring you don't break the skins. Rub the inside of the skins with lemon juice.

Mix the avocado flesh with cream cheese, celery and apricots. Season to taste. Place back in the skins. Sprinkle with crumbled pieces of your chosen cheese

Place under a medium-high grill and cook until the cheese has melted and starting to brown on the top.

Serve hot and on a bed of salad to finish the look!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. Whilst all the cheese involved doesn't make this a diet food, its a wonderful yummy treat for when you've been good and don't want to give in to chocolate!!

Recipe: Imam bayildi (Fainting Imam) * Sweetly Spiced Aubergine *

There are many recipes out there for this dish and this is as it should be because its a fabulous meal! But none of the other variations I've tried have been as good as this one - the first and best one I ever came across. I can't remember where I first found it - I've had it since I took cookery class at school. Being vegetarian I always caused my tutor some problems - not 'fitting in' with the rest of the class. That, however, was my blessing as I was allowed to browse the recipe books having a go at anything I liked! Although I never much liked aubergines (egg plants to my American friends) I was intrigued by the story of this one. The legend that the Imam fainted with delight when it was brought before him. In fact there are many variations of the legend, but whatever the truth it doesn't change the fact that this dish IS worth a mild swoon at the very least!
Ingredients


6 tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 Onions, very finely chopped
4 small Aubergines/Egg Plants - cut into lengthwise halves
Juice of half a Lemon
4 tinned Plum Tomatoes, finely chopped
2 ounces Sultanas
2 teaspoons Ground Mixed Spice
2 teaspoons Sugar
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed or very finely chopped
2 Bay Leaves
Parsley to Garnish

Method

Gently cook the onion in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until soft and just coloured.

While keeping an eye on that, carefully scoop out most of the flesh from the aubergines. Leave enough flesh in the shell to ensure that you don't accidentally break the skin. The mixture will be served in these, so think about the condition of the fruit while you are scooping! Cut the flesh into small pieces and sprinkle with lemon juice.

Brush inside the aubergine shells with olive oil, arrange in a baking tin and cook in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees centigrade.

Add the chopped aubergine to the onions with the tomatoes, saultanas, mixed spice, sugar, garlic and bay leaves. Cook (covered) over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it has the consistency of chutney.

It is at this point you realise where the legend may have come from! The smell while it is simmering is divine!

Remove the shells from the oven when cooked and fill with the mixture. Garnish with the parsley. Traditionally this dish is to be served cold, but I enjoy it just as much - if not more - while still warm.

This dish is so very easy to make, but the great bit is that it smells and looks so much more complicated! Happy cooking!