Fruit Archives | National Dish

This is the best yogurt dip ever | Middle East and North Africa | National Dish Recipe

Wayne @NationalDish — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 00:19:04 +0000

The best yogurt dip ever – this really is easy – you could adapt it in many ways too – bowl of this and some flat breads, you’ll be well happy and so will your chums.

I was cooking up some Moroccan Lamb the other day and wanted the best yogurt dip ever to go with all the flatbread and spice action.

This isn’t from Morocco, but who cares, it’s amazing – I’d say it was Middle Eastern, leaning toward Israel.

It’s nutty with Pomegranate – so a crunchy mutha – the textures are really fun.

The best yogurt dip ever - here's how you make it

This thing is so quick and easy, don't feel that you need it to go with something, it would make a great appetiser or just whip it out when your buddies are round for drinks.

CourseDips and bits, Side Dish, Starter
CuisineMiddle Eastern

Servings6 People

Prep Time20 Minutes

Cook Time5 Minutes

Ingredients

1massive tub Greek yogurtget as much as you want to serve, it goes real fast, so be generous
1large handful almondskeep em whole, we're gonna toast them
1whole pomegranateremove the seeds (you can buy them pre-prepped if you want)
1good handful mintyou want fresh mint leave, chopped
half cucumberslice it length ways and with a teaspoon deseed it - then chop. Leave some as half moons on the side - see pic
1good pinch sea salt flakesonly Maldon will do
good quality rape seed oilyou can use good olive oil if you like, either way - ONLY USE THE GOOD STUFF

Instructions

Get a frying pan on a medium high heat and throw in all of the almonds. Keep em moving from time to time, you just want them to catch a little but not burn - defo some charring. Keep an eye on them whilst you do the rest.
Get a mixing bowl, you won't serve it in this, and put all the yogurt in with a good pinch of salt.
Prep your cucumber (chop it chunky and hold back a handful of half moons on the side), pomegranate and mint leaves. Check your almonds - don't burn them!
Get a mortar and pestle and smash up 1/2 of the almonds - rough, not fine - we want chunks. Add them to the remaining whole almonds and then add 2/3 of the lot to the yogurt along with the 2/3 of the mint and 2/3 of the chopped cucumber. That will leave you with 1/3 as a mix of whole and smashed almonds, 1/3 each of the mint and cucumber - will make sense at the end.
Now add 2/3 of the pomegranate and gently fold. The reason for this is that you want to keep the yogurt white and avoid turning it pink - you might be thinking, ooh - I'll make mine pink. Don't! You'll only get annoyed with yourself.
Now you should have a white, mixed-through dip. Now grab a nice looking bowl of a decent size and gently pour the mixture in to it - try not to make a mess if you want it to look good.
Take the remaining mint, almonds mix, pomegranate and cucumber and in any order you like, from a height, sprinkle it over the top - covering as much as possible. Follow that with a generous pinch of Sea Salt and then a generous drizzle of golden virgin Rape Seed oil.
Serve with flat breads of all kinds. Immense.
Thank you Israel

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Have an indoor fruit BBQ for the kids | National Dish Fun Recipe

Wayne @NationalDish — Wed, 17 Jan 2018 23:06:18 +0000

It’s a fruit frenzy when you make a fruit BBQ for the kids – they love it. All pictures copyright of nationaldish.co.uk

It’s getting cold, although you could be reading this when it’s warm, doesn’t matter, this recipe is well fun. The kids and their buddies will love you for this, plus it will get them eating more fruit. It’s really easy. By the way, you need to slice a watermelon so make sure you have a sharp knife – believe it or not, that’s dangerous – so don’t let the kids have it!

Have an indoor BBQ for the kids and get them to eat fruit at the same time | National Dish Fun Recipe

I have listed the fruit that I used, but you have probably worked it out by now, it can be anything that you can skewer...and the kids like. But, it's also an opportunity to try something new on them - they'll be distracted by having fun fun fun.

CourseDessert, Snack
CuisineBritish, English, Global

Servings6 Kids

Prep Time30 Minutes

Cook Time0 Minutes

Ingredients

1whole watermelonthe top will be sliced off and then ball out the flesh
1 orangecut it in half
1punnet blackberries
1punnet raspberries
1punnet strawberries
1punnet pineapple
1 mangoslice off the flash and cut in cubes
1 bananacut this up into small chunks
100grams chocolatethis will be melted for some dipping action (dark is best 70%)
30wooden skewersdo these count as an ingredient? Not sure, you'll need em though.
3 kiwipeel it or ball out with a spoon and...cut into chunks

Instructions

Grab your melon with a tea towel and with a sharp knife slice off the top - enough that there is plenty of red flesh exposed, but not too far down.
Hollow out the entire Watermelon, try not to mulch the flesh, turn as much of it as possible into chunks for them to eat. Once you're happy, just scrape out with a spoon, doesn't have to spotless, see the pics. This is your BBQ.
Take half of the orange and skewer on as a handle. Throw the blackberries into the hollowed watermelon - this is the charcoal.
Get your skewers to make the grill - get some scissors and cut them to size. There will be little hands flying all over the place so make sure none of the skewers protrudes from the melon.
Using a Bain Marie (saucepan on the heat with some water in the bottom and a glass heatproof bowl balancing atop it) slowly melt the chocolate. This will need to remain runny, I was fortunate to have a tealight heated fondant thingy.
Make a couple of fruit kebabs with a selection and place on the grill - so the kids get the gist. Make the other fruit available and some skewers, give them a quick safety briefing and then release them. Vultures!
Ruddy bloody fun and really healthy - two birds one stone!

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How do you make Plum Gin? | English Plum Gin | National Dish of England

Wayne @NationalDish — Sun, 07 Jan 2018 08:02:18 +0000

You can use any variety of Plum, I’m using Mirrabella and Victoria

The time of year is late August and my two Plum tree varieties – Mirebelle and Victoria are ready to harvest.

I could make Jam but that means eating bread and that ain’t gonna happen. So I’m making Gin!

How do you make Plum Gin? This recipe will have it ready for Christmas.

How do you make Plum Gin? | English Plum Gin | National Dish of England

This isn't really a recipe, it's a process - a little bit of work up front, especially around sterilising your Kilner Jar, give it a shake for a week and then leave it the hell alone for 3 months - simples...

CourseCocktail, Drinks
CuisineBritish, English
KeywordGin, Homemade, Plums

Servings1 litre

Prep Time30 minutes

Cook Time0

Passive Time3 months

Ingredients

1litre ginuse a mid range Gin that you can improve rather than budget stuff
1kg plumsany variety, I have two Mirrebelle and Victoria, both homegrown
250g caster sugardisolves better
Pinch cardamom pods
Pinch juniper berries

Instructions

Sterilise your Kilner Jar, wash your plums and measure out your ingredients.
Get a clean fork and stab your plums all over, this will release all the juices into the Gin. Any plums that look a little ropey throw away, we want to avoid excess nasty bacteria.
Now add all the ingredients to the jar and give it a shake and seal - place in a cool, dry and dark cupboard.
For the next week, shake on a daily basis to dissolve the sugar and then leave alone for at least 3 months. Should be perfect for Christmas. If you want to make more, just double all the ingredients.
After three months and you were good at sterilising you'll have some kick ass plum gin. Just look how much the colour changes and I promise you, this goes in to the flavour.
You'll need to filter the sediment out, I used a jar with a tap and ran it through clean muslin into a pan.
More sterilising, hopefully you had the sense to keep some old gin bottles, or any bottle, in anticipation of this day - make sure they are ultra clean. Fill em up and cap it off. You might want to sellotape the lids, as if they were bought from a shop - further fermentation could force the them off.
My homemade Plum Gin made great Christmas gifts - not all of it though...
Thank you England

Recipe Notes

I'm sorry, I know this looks like an old man having a wee - although, he's got issues if it's that colour, tastes good though. But, I filmed it so I might as well post it. If videos of gin filtering into a pan gets you going, sit back, grab some Kleenex and enjoy...

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How do you make homemade lemonade? | National Dish of England

Wayne @NationalDish — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 17:17:37 +0000

A British favourite – homemade lemonade, Mary Berry I am sure has made a fair bit of this.

I had to post this one as I made it with the kids, they wanted to sell it in our village for and raise money for our village panto that supports a local children’s charity – The James Hopkins Trust

It’s very easy, but…it does contain a fair amount of sugar AND you’ll wanna stick gin in it…so not super healthy, fun though.

How do you make lemonade?

You can't call this cooking, but it goes so well with gin, at least you'll be steaming. But, this recipe is for kids - lemonade only...

CourseCocktail, Drinks
CuisineBritish

Servings4 Litres

Prep Time15 minutes

Ingredients

15whole lemonyou'll be squeezing the juice
450grams caster sugarI know, I know - but it's the only way to stop your face from gurning
4litres sparkling waterbought mine in Lidl for 17p per bottle
2mugs boiling water
2handfuls of ice

Instructions

Get a bowl, your serving container (I used a homemade beer brewing barrel, a Kilner jar will do), chopping board and knife. Roll the lemons to soften them up and slice in half to squeeze.
Squeeze all the lemon juice into a bowl and throw the skins into your serving container. Either catch the pips or scoop em out with a perforated spoon.
Add to the bowl all of the sugar and stir. Then add all of the boiling water and stir.
When it's cool enough, give it a taste, if it makes your face look like a walnut, add some more sugar BUT REMEMBER THIS, you will be diluting it, so it needs to taste really really lemony.
Using a funnel, add the juice to your serving container and the awaiting lemon skins and let it sit like that until you need it - don't add the water or ice now, it'll just go flat.
When ready to serve, add all the ice and water and stir or even better, shake it, if you can. It's ready.
Thank you England - even though we can't actually grow lemons...

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