The second attempt at something new came from Sumayya (aka Pukka Paki). She and Monica had made some semolina halva and compote, again I was fascinated. My first, and last, experience of halva was of it in its cake form back in 2003. At the time I was lodging with a vegan who occasionally binged on chicken and chocolate, yep she really was a "vegan"! I wasn't sure of it at the time so that's where my experimentation ended. Over the years my tastes have developed and when I saw this breakfast-version I decided to give it a go. The recipe can be found on Sumayya's blog (link above) and is incredibly easy and ridiculously delicious. I love cardamom probably more in sweet dishes than savoury ones so this was ideal for me. I upped the cardamom and vanilla a little and went on the lower end of the sugar scale. There is still plenty of last years rhubarb in my freezer so that made a perfect compote with some fresh ginger and star anise. Sprinkled with ground almonds this is an utterly delightful breakfast.
That was yesterday. As I was out for lunch there was no experimentation with my home cooking but I had a bean chilli with rice and tortilla chips. I was glad of the warming spices on such a cold day.
Todays breakfast was a revisit to the delights of barley. If you're going to bother cooking this grain at all it's best to do more than you need - that length of cooking time needs to be worth it! Thankfully it's great for a myriad of uses such as salads, risotto, stuffed vegetables and now breakfast! This mornings delight:
barley
yoghurt
blueberries
chopped walnuts
Roast dinner with my parents followed later (7 vegetables along with roasted potatoes and a butternut squash & nut roast courtesy of mum). I must be full of vitamins!
Thank u so much - glad you enjoyed it and keep adding new things to it! semolina is so versatile!
ReplyDeleteLooks beautiful! As does your breakfast barley (one of my personal favourites). I need to get on the rhubarb bandwagon - I don't use it enough!
ReplyDeleteBTW, made the Green Seasons Yellow Pea Dal today after you mentioned the chickpeas - delicious.
Butternut squash for me this week - let's see if our cooking mojo aligns yet again. ;)
There was a huge glut of rhubarb last year - we were so lucky. A colleague brought his excess into work and I made a LOT of jam and chutney. I'm surprised I've not used up all of my stocks making crumbles to be honest. So pleased I can see the beginnings of new growth out in my fruit patch!
ReplyDeleteThe pic of the yellow pea dahl was lovely. Keep promising to make my boyf some dahl for his freezer so I'd better actually do it :-)