Share, a cookbook by Women for Women International

Women for Women International provide support and training for women whose lives have been impacted by war, working in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Southern Sudan and Rwanda. Through a one-year program, women who would otherwise be socially excluded are provided with job-specific skills, business training and education on their rights, enabling survivors of war to become strong leaders in their communities. 

Share (available through Oxfam) is a cookbook produced by Women for Women International. It features dishes from each of the countries it works in, along with recipes from chefs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Maggie Beer, humanitarians, including Emma Thompson, Christiane Amanpour, Sir Richard Branson, Dame Judi Dench, Annie Lennox, America Ferrera, and Livia Firth, and even Nobel Peace Prize laureates Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson Mandela. I bought a copy last week, and have started working my way through some of the recipes. I'm guilty of often using recipe books as an inspirational 'starting point' when I'm cooking: sometimes I purposely deviate from the script, experimenting with different ingredients and tastes, while other times I'm simply constrained by what's in the fridge and I have to adjust recipes accordingly. However I've found that with Share I'm keen to follow the recipes to the letter, particularly when trying the dishes from the Women for Women International countries.

The book is sectioned into 'well-being', 'nuture', 'community', and 'celebration', with recipes aimed at healthy dishes, meals for the family table, and recipes for sharing. The instructions are logical and easy to follow, an despite a heavy leaning towards international dishes, there aren't too many ingredients you'd need to hunt down in a specialist store. The spicy chicken casserole from Rwanda (pictured below) is a new favourite, and is likely to make its way onto the table several times this winter: it's a light and fresh dish with a nice kick to it.

I'll be adding occasional recipe book reviews to the blog - if you'd like to recommend a recipe book that you swear by, please do let me know.

#10: Pasta with roast asparagus, prosciutto and pesto

Things are a little busy in the 52 dishes household at the moment. I've been pulling a few long hours here and there, and as a result dinners have been a bit simpler and easier, aimed at getting me and my husband fed rather than something I linger over. Don't get me wrong, I'm nothing silly like an investment banker or a newborn mother, and I've still been able to make time most days for my daily dog-walk-on-the-beach, but things have been a just a little bit more hectic than I'd like.

This is just a slightly fancier version of pesto and pasta - which, let's be honest, is a student dish - making it perfect for a busy weekday night. We get fresh pasta and pesto from a local Italian grocery shop which also has the best deals on seasonal fruit and vegetables, so we typically throw in whatever is going cheap. However, this was my first time cooking asparagus: I've historically been a bit afraid of it, as I've had some tough and rubbery asparagus before and therefore assumed there was a bit of magic to getting it right. This recipe worked really well though, relying on some oil and white wine to keep it nice and tender (you could substitute lemon juice if your white wine is precious, which it probably should be).

Serves 2. 40 minutes preparation & cooking time.

 

400g pasta

1 onion

8-10 stems of asparagus
Half a cup of white wine

4 slices of proscuitto
4 tablespoons of basil pesto

Flaked parmesan to serve

1. Slice the onion and put in the oven (180-200C) in a small and shallow roasting dish doused in olive oil. Give the onions around 10 minutes to soften before adding the asparagus.
2. Chop the asparagus into 'bite size' chunks and add to the onion dish and pour on a large splash of white wine. Add black pepper and put back in the oven for around 15 minutes.
3. Bring a pan of water with salt and oil to the boil. Add the pasta and simmer for 20 minutes (or according to the cooking requirements of your choice of pasta).
4. Drain the pasta and stir in the pesto and sliced proscuitto.
5. Add the onion and asparagus and serve with flaked parmesan and black pepper.

This goes fantastic with Riesling. We drank Taylors Estate Riesling which is really crisp and citrusy - a great complement to the asparagus.

#9: Homemade mini tortillas with chicken and pico de gallo

The hardest thing about starting and blogging this 52 dishes challenge was always going to be honesty. In particular, honesty about failure. Having made the commitment to cook each week and write a post about it here tied me in to sharing even some of the dishes which went a little bit awry. On a good week I get in the kitchen more than once, giving me a bit of margin for error, while during busier periods I've got no leeway. This last week was one such week.

The weather is turning here in Perth. Autumn (or at least, what passes for autumn here) is around the corner, and before long I'll be able to bust out my casserole dish and eat out of that for the brief period that can loosely be described as 'winter' in Perth. The days are getting shorter, I have to wear a jumper on my trips to the beach, and we've put the duvet back on the bed. All this means one thing - I've got to make the most of light summer cooking while I still can.

That was the driving force behind these tortillas, or 'faux tortillas', since I'm being honest. I've never made tortillas before, and as a result I made the amateur mistake of thinking cornflour is an adequate substitute for masa harina . It's not. It wasn't a complete disaster; I supplemented the dough with plain flour until I could had something malleable and workable (cornflour plus water makes a great, and messy, game for a little child, it doesn't make tortillas). These were then grilled for around 1 -2 minutes on each side. They puffed out slightly (hello cornflour!)  but this made them sturdy enough to be eaten flat with food piled up on top. Messy finger food - perfect for a night in with someone who loves you even when you've got food down your front!

If you'd like to make tortillas, I recommend you follow this recipe from Gourmet Traveller, and learn from my mistakes. The chicken marinade, however, was pretty lovely, so I'll just share that instead.

I'm nothing if not honest.

2 Chicken thighs

1 lime

1-2 small red chillies 

1 tsp paprika

Black pepper

Dice the chicken, chop the chillies finely and add to chicken. Add the juice from the lime, paprika and pepper and leave to marinade for an hour or so.