Olive Magazine October 2020

October seems to suit Britain like no other month. As soon as temperatures dip, a return to our beloved comfort food in all its warming, rib-sticking glory makes us happy. How good do these recipes sound: melted cheese with roasted potatoes, and chocolate brownies shot through with the flavours of bay and blackberries (p10) – made for colder weather. Chicken is one of the great comfort foods of the world and our recipe collection for this issue includes some guaranteed new favourites: try Khadim Mbamba’s Senegalese chicken yassa studded with green olives and flecks of scotch bonnet chilli instead of a Sunday roast, Victoria Prever’s Jewish chicken soup, or Nepalese street-food favourite chicken choyela spiced with fenugreek and chilli, and wrapped in flatbread (p30). And then there’s butter, ordinary yet luxurious…

MEAT DELIVERY The Dorset Meat Company delivers produce from local, small-scale farms, including grass-fed, dry-aged beef from Dexter and Ruby Red cattle. £79.95/12 steaks, thedorsetmeatcompany.co.uk APRON Stay stylish in the kitchen with this 100% cotton Thornback & Peel pineapple apron. £20.50, giftedbostonspa.co.uk COFFEE Minor Figures’ ready-to-drink latte combines creamy organic oat milk with single-origin coffee for a dairy-free hit – serve over ice or use as a cocktail base. £4.90/1 litre, ocado.com RICE VINEGAR This rice vinegar is balanced with a little sugar and salt for a more rounded flavour – great for adding tang to a stir-fry or as a dipping sauce. £2.50/207ml, Tesco OLIVES These plump, buttery, green olives are brightened with lemon and thyme – serve with a glass of chilled manzanilla. £3.35/185g, Waitrose; ocado.com FRUIT/VEG DELIVERY Oddbox works with farmers to rescue surplus produce at risk of…

Quince with Málaga raisins and oloroso sherry 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES | SERVES 6 EASY | GF A quince cannot be hurried along as it cooks. If this happens, the fruit’s flesh will disintegrate, exploding almost, and you won’t get the perfect, yielding, ruby-hued interior that quinces, when cooked well, are capable of giving. Oloroso is my favourite sherry to cook with, full-bodied with notes of caramel and walnuts, also of too-dried prunes, figs and raisins. In this recipe, the sherry is simmered down along with a good handful of Málaga raisins, plumping in the liquid, turning fat once again like grapes. These are classic flavours for an autumnal dessert – serve with good vanilla ice cream to soften in the warm syrup. caster sugar 100grunny honey 5 tbsplemon 1, juiceddark oloroso sherry…

Tom’s sausages and beans 55 MINUTES | SERVES 2 | EASY Tom is a great friend of mine and an excellent cook. This dish of his is very simple and the secret is that the beans shouldn’t be in too much liquid by the end. smoked pancetta 75g, cut into small cubesgood-quality pork sausages 4duck fat, lard or sunflower oil 2 tsp (if needed)long shallots 125g, sliced into 2cm-wide roundscarrot 1, dicedcelery 1 stick, dicedgarlic 6 large cloves, crushedflageolet beans 400g tin, drained and rinsedchicken or vegetable stock 200ml, hotflat-leaf parsley a small handful, choppedenglish mustard to serve • Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and put a roasting tin in to heat up for 15 minutes. Once hot, add the pancetta and sausages and cook in the oven for 10 minutes, shaking…

Basic butter pastry dough 30 MINUTES + CHILLING | MAKES 1 BOTTOM CRUST | EASY I like making dough by hand because feeling the dough gives me valuable feedback—whether there are still any large chunks of fat that need to be broken down, for instance, or if the dough is getting too warm or sticky and I need to put it in the fridge for a few minutes. Whenever I teach this method, students start getting nervous as it seems like the flour and butter won’t cohere, but I tell them to resist the urge to add more water. Instead, compressing the dough swiftly and repeatedly forces it to stick together. For this reason, having faith in the method is just as important as using the right ingredients. caster sugar ½ tbspcold plain…

Khadim Mbamba is the owner and head chef of Little Baobab, a pop-up restaurant that celebrates Senegalese food and music at monthly gatherings in London. Follow him on Instagram @littlebaobabuk Chicken yassa 1 HOUR + MARINATING | SERVES 4 | EASY | LC GF Yassa is one of Senegal’s favourite dishes and one of the crowdpleasers at Little Baobab. It always reminds me of my childhood because if my mum wanted me to do something she would tell me she was going to make chicken yassa, and I would do whatever she wanted! Cooking it now reminds me of Senegal and of my mum and sisters. My tip is to always put a lot of love in when you’re cooking and it will show in the finished dish. The dish originated in the…