Last week a lovely friend came to stay for the night. For supper I prepared harissa grilled salmon, cumin roasted root vegetables (aubergines, purple carrots, sweet potatoes) and some freekeh (a nutty flavoured Middle Eastern grain). I also made, for the first time, some muhammara – a Syrian dip made from red peppers and walnuts. The main dish didn’t turn out quite as I’d envisaged. The purple veggies and dark green freekeh looked a bit murky and could have really done with some onions mixed in; Mr Arabella Cooks was not at all keen, although both he and the friend said the salmon was lovely. I had the leftover veggies and salmon the next day as a salad with some spinach and toasted seeds and it was absolutely heavenly. Much nicer than it had been as a hot dish the night before (sorry to my lovely friend). I’ll definitely make it again, but as a salad.

I also made some blackberry clafloutis for dessert (actually as I didn’t use cherries it can’t be called a clafloutis, but a flaugnarde) and had thought I’d blog about that. But that wasn’t as amazing as I’d hoped either and I carelessly blobbed some blackberry ice cream on top of it before I could take its photo so it looked a bit of a mess:

[Also if I’m really honest I think a traditional clafloutis is a bit too ‘eggy’ for me. I made a chocolate cherry clafloutis at New Year’s Eve which was gorgeous and I think I shall stick with that version in the future; recipe up soon]. It wasn’t my finest meal, but a pleasant evening was had nonetheless. The lovely friend swears the clafloutis and ice cream were delicious so at least she had something nice to eat. The standout element of the meal for me though, was the muhammara. It was yummy! Both the lovely friend and Mr Arabella Cooks agree. I can’t believe I’ve never come across it before but I’m going to make it all the time from now on. It is dead easy and has a really deep, tangy flavour which is quite addictive. I added some to the dressing I used on the main course and it really livened it up. Make it, I urge you. You’ll love it!

Recipe:

• 2 or 3 red peppers (I used a mixture of the long ones and bell but most recipes call for bell)
• 1 clove of garlic (unpeeled)
• 100g of toasted walnuts (you want them quite dark; dry fry them in a frying pan until they’re nearly black but not burnt. Try not to eat too many of them as they’re also delicious on their own and great added to salads)
• 2 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses
• 1/2 a teaspoon of smoked sweet paprika
• 1/4 of a teaspoon of smoked hot paprika (to be truly authentic you should use Aleppo chilli flakes but I didn’t have any and I didn’t want it to be too spicy hot anyway)
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 50g fresh breadcrumbs
• A squeeze of lemon juice (roughly a tablespoon)
• Salt (two separate teaspoons)
• Olive oil (extra virgin; roughly 3 or 4 tablespoons).

Method:

1. Grill the unpeeled clove of garlic and the three red peppers until black all over (roughly 15 mins). You could roast them in the oven but I’ve made it a few times now and definitely prefer the smokiness you get from grilling.
2. Put the garlic and peppers into a bowl and cover with clingfilm for at least 20 minutes.
3. When the time is up (and the veg is cool enough to touch) remove the stalk, skin and seeds from the peppers and peel the garlic clove.
4. Put the peppers, garlic, lemon juice, breadcrumbs, olive oil, cumin, paprika (both kinds), pomegranate molasses and walnuts into the small bowl of a food processor (or use a hand blender if you don’t have one) and blend to a thick paste.
5. Taste it and add the other teaspoon of salt if it needs it. Also add more molasses or olive oil as you like. You want it tangy. Less oil makes it good for dipping; more oil makes it a fab dressing. It works with pretty much anything you might want to dip into it (breadsticks, crisps, pitta bread) or eat it with – fish, meat, cheese, chips, salad..you could dress some new potatoes in it for a refreshingly different potato salad and it works very well too as a spread for a bruschetta. The potential is endless. And yummy! (Just don’t serve it cold from the fridge. It’s better at room temp. It also keeps well and the flavours intensify. Most recipes use a raw garlic clove. Feel free to add one if you are OK with raw garlic. Having made it both ways I prefer it with the grilled garlic only. It also can work without the breadcrumbs, if you need it to be gluten free).