WASHING UP


It's like piano practice: you just gotta do it!

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OTTOLENGHI'S YOGHURT SAUCE

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This is one of those delicious, easy-to-make accompaniments that once tried you will want to make all the time. It is from one of my favourite recipe books, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook , which is full of interesting and unusual dishes based on the food served in the eponymous cafes in Notting Hill, Kensington and trendy Islington. I haven't actually eaten at an Ottolenghi cafe - yet - but I have walked past the cafe on Ledbury Road, W11 quite a few times. If you have heard of Ottolenghi, it's probably because of the giant meringues which they make and display in the window, great balls of sweetness piled up on elegant glass cake-stands. Yoram Ottolenghi, the owner, is Israeli and the food is most definitely inspired by the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, the kind of food which I love: full of spices, piquant flavours, and fresh herbs like coriander and dill. In the recipe book, this yoghurt sauce should accompany Chickpeas and Spinach with Honeyed Sweet Potato, a vegeta
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MONDAY SUPPER: NORTH AFRICAN LAMB WITH CHILLI, GINGER & CHICKPEAS

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This recipe for a warming, fragrant lamb stew, comes from Jamie Oliver's very first cookbook The Naked Chef . He looks incredibly young on the cover, but a quick check of the copyright page confirms that this book was published in 1999, when Jamie was but a lad, and had just burst onto the scene with his first tv series. I remember enjoying it very much: he was refreshingly laid back yet entirely enthusiastic about food and cooking and I loved the simplicity of his recipes. I still do, and regularly return them - because they work. And they are easy to make! I still have a lot of time for Jamie, though I got a bit tired of seeing his gurning face on the Sainsbury's adverts (he seems to have severed his relationship with the supermarket to concentrate on other projects), because I feel he truly believes in what he does, with passionate commitment. And his recipes remaining interesting, tasty and easy to construct. This lamb stew is redolent of a tagine where ingredients a
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BENEDICT BARS

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With a definite tinge of autumn in the air now, especially first thing in the morning (there was dew on the grass and mist in the air when I set off for work last Tuesday morning), and in the evening, my culinary thoughts start turning to homely, comforting recipes: cakes and cookies which go well with steaming cups of tea and a toes-up on the sofa. Benedict Bars originate from South Africa,wedges of shortbread with an almond and raspberry jam topping, but I first discovered them in Dorset, at a little artisan bakery called Long Crichel Bakery, which is hidden away down a lane with grass growing up the middle of it, in the village of Long Crichel, near Blandford Forum. You can buy bread and cakes from the bakery, or sample them at Long Crichel Tea Rooms in Wimborne. (for more information visit http://www.longcrichelbakery.co.uk/ ). There a many hidden foodie gems in Dorset - you just have to know where to look for them. Benedict Bars are reminiscent of Bakewell Tart in their combinati
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