WALNUT, OLIVE, CHEESE AND POTOTO CIABATTA BREAD

Last week, when it was my baking day, i thought of making ciabatta bread with different flavours in them. I usually bake at least 3-4 to freeze for future use. So I made one loaf with mashed potatoes in, the other with chopped walnuts ( my favorite ), the third Butch was with black olives and the forth one with grated cheese. I used the no knead method that I love and found it so easy to do. Just make four batches of the master recipe of ciabatta bread then mix handful of walnuts, olives, cheese and boiled grated potato in each batch.

MASTER RECIPE FOR CIABATTA BREAD by chef of foodwishes.

• 3 1/2 cup white flour
• 1/2 cup wholemeal flour
• 1/4 tsp yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups of lukwarm water
• chopped walnuts, cooked and grated potatoes,
• chopped black olives, grated cheese.

1) Mix flour, yeast, salt with the water, mix to make a sticky dough. Add the walnuts.Cover with cling film or foil and set aside for 16-18 hours. ( Make 3 more batches of the dough using measurements above to use for olives, potato and cheese ciabatta bread.)

2) After 18 hours punch down the dough with a spatula to take the air out.

3) Lay a cling film on the work top. Sprinkle flour on the cling film, scrape the dough on the cling film and make it long, flat dough with your hand.

4) Grease baking sheet with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal generously.

5) Flip the dough over in the baking tray. Sprinkle some flour on top. Cover with floured tea towel and let it rest for 2 hours.

6) Preheat the oven to 220 c, 200Fan setting. Cook 2 ciabatta together on the same shelf for 35-45 minutes. Cool on wire rack before cutting for serving.

POTATO SALAD ( PATATES SALATASI )

YOU NEED

• 2 medium potatoes  per person
• 2-3 tbsp of finely chopped leeks or spring onion
• Handful of chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Pinch of chili flakes ( optional )
• salt and pepper to taste
• 15- 20 black olives

 Wash and boil the potatoes in their skins. Drain the water and let the potatoes  cool for 15 minutes.  When they are warm enough to handle, peel and dice them into small squares.

Add chopped spring onion, parsley, oil, chili pepper, salt and pepper. Mix well and decorate with black olives. Serve warm.

COUSCOUS SALAD WITH SHRIMPS AND OLIVES

INGREDIENTS

• 50 g shrimps
• 2 tsp butter
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 stalk of celery, diced
• 3 tbsp cooked couscous
• 2 tbsp cooked white beans
• Half an avocado, sliced
• 10 black olives
• 1 tbsp red or yellow pepper, diced
• 2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
• dash of lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste.

Method

Stir fry the shrimps in butter for 2-3 minutes together with the garlic. Set aside. Prepare rest of the salad ingredients in a bowl by mixing, couscous, beans,olives, avocado, pepper, celery and mint. Add the shrimps to the salad and mix it all together. Add lemon juice and salt and black pepper just before serving. Serves 1.

WARM POTATO SALAD WITH AVOCADO & MOZZARELLA

INGREDIENTS

• 2 medium potatoes, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt to taste.
• 1 spring onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh pepper, chopped
• 1tsp oil.
• Half an avocado, mashed
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 75g, 1 small ball of mozzarella, sliced
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 10-15 black olives
• Sprinkle of ground black pepper.

METHOD

Heat a non stick pan and fry the diced potatoes with the oil and salt. Lower the heat to medium and cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes until they turn golden and crispy. Transfer them on a serving plate. Chop spring onion and the pepper. Add to the frying pan and saute for 5 minutes with 1 tsp olive oil. Remove from the pan and tip into the serving plate over the potatoes.

Scoop out the avocado and mash with some lemon juice. Slice the cheese.

To make the salad

Add cheese, avocado, olives to the potato and pepper mixture in the serving plate. Scatter over the parsley, then toss all the ingredients together. Add more lemon juice, salt and black pepper just before serving to adjust the seasoning. Serves 2

VEGETARIAN TOAD IN THE HOLE

This can be eaten for brunch or afternoon tea. Add your own vegetables and herbs to suit your taste.

INGREDIENTS

• 150 g plain flour
• 2 eggs
• 260 ml mixture of milk and water
• salt, pepper

Make the batter, set aside.

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 small aubergine,chopped
• 1 courgette, chopped
• 100 g mushrooms, sliced
• 50 g parsley, chopped
• salt,pepper to taste
• 3 tbsp black olives.

METHOD

First make the batter by sifting the flour into a bowl. Add the eggs and incorporate with milk, water, salt ,pepper and flour. Whisk it well with a hand held whisk or electric blender. Set aside.

Mix all the chopped vegetables in a non stick pan with olive oil and lightly brown on a high heat for 3- 5 minutes. Then add the olives, salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the vegetables mixture into a greased baking tray, heat in the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes until the tray is hot and ready for the batter. Then add the batter over the vegetables and cook on 220C, 425F, gas mark 7 for 30 minutes or until it rises and becomes crisp. Cook on the highest shelf. Serves 6-8.

Use half of ingredients to serve 4.

FRESH TOMATOES WITH EGG ( Menemen )

This is great as a vegetarian meal or served as a side dish. It is a very popular summer dish in Turkey when fresh tomatoes are plentiful. Some people even serve it for breakfast when cooked without the onions. Serves 2

YOU NEED

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 shallot or small red onion, chopped
• 300-350 g beef tomatoes, diced
• 1 small pepper, - 50 g, chopped
• 1 chilli pepper ( optional )
• 150 ml water
• Salt and coarse ground black pepper
• 2 eggs
• handful of fresh parsley, chopped

METHOD

First cook the onion in oil until it is just going brown. Add tomatoes, pepper, chili, parsley, water, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low heat for 7 minutes. Add the eggs and mix gently, cook for further 2 minutes. Add more parsley and black pepper just before serving.

COOK'S NOTE

If the tomatoes have not much colour, add 1 tsp of tomato paste just before adding water.

This dish is also nice if you add some black olives to it just before serving.

DANDELION SALAD WITH OLIVES AND GOAT'S CHEESE

DANDELION: This nutritious herb can be boiled or added to salads. it has more beta-carotene than carrots and more calcium and iron than spinach. You can use the flowers as garnish for the salad.

INGREDIENTS

• 200 g mix salad of dandelion and rocked
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 150 g cherry tomatoes
• 75 g peppers, diced
• 150 g goats cheese, crumbled
• 100 g black olives
• 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Some lemon juice,
• mixture of fresh parsley, dill and mint, chopped finely
• salt and black pepper

METHOD

Wash and prepare the salad, add tomatoes, onion, olives, peppers and mix well. Add oil, lemon juice, herbs, salt and pepper. Then cheese and the eggs just before serving. Decorate with olives and egg slices and serve with crusty bread. Serves 4-6

COOK'S NOTE: If you are not keen on dandelion, salad of your choice will be just fine.