September 1, 2007: Fennel, Pumpkin Together With Eggplant Tagine

Fitz Curry Cafe, concentrating on the rice in addition to sauce in addition to trying non to await equally good longingly at the pappadums in addition to naan. Soulfood's French toast was enjoyed with to a greater extent than gusto on Saturday, though I laid the stinging acidic pineapple to the side of my plate in addition to happily tolerated a combat of jaw soreness afterwards. For dinner I was great to larn dorsum into the kitchen in addition to exercise something a combat gentler, but also something with substance.

So I pulled out this recipe for a Middle Eastern tagine, taken from a 2006 re-create of the Weekend Australian magazine in addition to written past times Nadine Abensur. We made it ane time before, inwards Brisbane, to attempt out our friend Camielle's exotic novel tagine. In the absence of a tagine, this recipe is simply a easily created with a large saucepan or casserole dish but the number isn't nearly equally pretty equally the magazine photograph. There, discernible chunks of caramelised eggplant in addition to pumpkin nestle amongst each other, decorated past times a fresh sprinkle of parsley. Ours is to a greater extent than of a homogeneous mush, but I intend I know why - I skimped on the oil. The veges sure enough didn't caramelise inwards the recommended fourth dimension in addition to when I gave them longer inwards the oven, they simply released a lot of H2O in addition to turned to the aforementioned mush. Tasty mush, sure, but naught similar that aspirational pic side past times side to the recipe. H5N1 corollary to that incident was that I didn't require nearly equally much stock equally suggested, but the leftovers proved an ideal liquid for hydrating around couscous. So I suppose I'm suggesting that you lot attempt the total amount of crude in addition to the master baking time, but that's a lot of oil, people. We soundless had issues with crude separating from the residual of the vege sauce inwards the saucepan.

Despite these deviations from the planned meal, the pulpy number was perfect for my ain purposes. My dessert, however, proved far to a greater extent than deviant! I pulled out around other once-successful recipe, for mandarine in addition to maple syrup pudding, in addition to adventurously tucked it into half dozen picayune ramekins instead of the recommended (and previously successful) large pudding basin. I lowered my picayune darlings into their H2O bath, in addition to alone in addition to hence noticed that nosotros were out of foil. Ah, well, who needs foil anyway? These babies were going inwards hatless. The number was batter overflow into the water, cooked in addition to too-brown tops, in addition to completely uncooked underlayers. I gauge that's why existent cooks lead maintain been using dull methods such equally H2O baths in addition to foil tops all these years! H5N1 lesson inwards baking humility for me.

Fennel, pumpkin in addition to eggplant tagine
(by Nadine Abensur in addition to published inwards the Weekend Australian Magazine of Jan 28-29, 2006)

1.2 kg pumpkin, cutting into bite-size chunks
3 minor fennel bulbs, cutting into eighths
2 medium eggplants, cutting into bite-size chunks
160 mL olive oil
a dash of Tabasco sauce
8 shallots, sliced into 5cm pieces
8 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon saffron, diluted in
700 mL hot vegetable stock
2 tablespoons dry soil cumin
2 tablespoons sugariness paprika
1/2 long carmine chilli, finely chopped
salt in addition to pepper
small handfuls of parsley in addition to coriander

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Put the pumpkin, fennel in addition to eggplant inwards a roasting dish in addition to coat them inwards around of the olive oil. Season with the Tabasco sauce, tabular array salt in addition to pepper in addition to roast for well-nigh xx minutes until good caramelised. (As I explained above, I baked mine for to a greater extent than similar 40-50 minutes - the veges were equally good mushy in addition to non caramelised properly. More crude powerfulness help!)

Heat the residual of the crude inwards a large saucepan in addition to chocolate-brown the shallots, cooking in addition to stirring occasionally for well-nigh 10 minutes. Add the garlic in addition to a combat of stock to foreclose them from burning. Keep stirring, adding the spices in addition to chilli in addition to forming a paste. Add the stock a combat at a fourth dimension to exercise a thick sauce (I used alone well-nigh 300 mL of it here).

If you lot lead maintain a tagine, transfer the sauce into it at this time; otherwise you lot tin brand exercise with your largest saucepan. With the sauce on depression heat, gently transfer inwards the fennel, pumpkin in addition to eggplant in addition to hence add together around other loving cup of stock. Cover in addition to laid for 10-15 minutes, adding to a greater extent than stock if the mixture becomes equally good dry. Season to sense of savour in addition to sprinkle over the parsley in addition to coriander simply earlier serving.