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Online Cooking Class of Authentic Georgian Cuisine with Elena Riddle
Friday 18 December, 2020, 19:00 - 20:30
This will be the first class in a series of virtual cooking classes we are planning to deliver over the next year with the aim to cover the diversity and rich heritage of the national dishes represented by the members of the Russian speaking community.
Elena Riddle is a food blogger who was born and grew up in Batumi, Georgia. She currently lives in Letchworth and runs a masterclass ‘Lena Cooks You Eat’ on YouTube here. She is very passionate about the versatility and fusion of flavours in Georgian cuisine and will demonstrate how to make three different dishes with one main ingredient.
You will have an opportunity to chat, ask questions and simply enjoy cooking together during this event.
WHEN: Friday, 18 December, 19:00-20:30
WHERE: Zoom
LANGUAGE: English
TICKETS: Free
Please register in advance. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Elena Riddle will be cooking four delicious dishes: Penovani Khachapuri, which is the most important dish in Georgian culinary heritage, plus three dishes using aubergine – Aubergines with tomato sauce, Aubergines with mayonnaise sauce, and Aubergine rolls with walnut sauce.
Penovani Khachapuri
Ingredients:
Puff pastry x 2 rolls
For the cheese filling:
Halloumi x 1 pack
Feta x 1 /2 pack
Mozzarella x 1 pack
Eggs x 1-2
Milk x 4 tbs
Recipe
Put the oven on 200 degrees Celsius (or its equivalent for gas ovens)
Grate the cheeses (feta cheese could be crumbled), add one egg, mix well, and set aside.
Line the baking sheet (30 x 38cm) with parchment paper, unroll the puff pastry onto the parchment paper, make sure the pastry is right in the middle of the baking sheet.
Take the fork and stab the pastry sheet randomly to prevent excessive raising.
Put the cheese mixture on the pastry and distribute evenly leaving 2 cm from the edges.
Unroll the second roll of the puff pastry, stab with the fork again and cover the first roll with the cheese and crimp the edges together all the way around. Brush the top of the pastry with milk and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Aubergines in tomato sauce
Ingredients:
Aubergines x 2
Onions x 2 medium
Tinned chopped tomatoes x 1 tin
Garlic x 3 cloves
Fresh coriander x 1/2 bunch
Fresh basil x 1/2 bunch
Fresh parsley x 1/2 bunch
Salt and pepper, Olive or veg oil x 3 tbs.
Recipe
Peel the aubergines from four sides, cut them in half and then slice each half in quarters. Fry in a hot frying pan with a little oil. Apply a light dusting of salt and set aside.
Finely chop the onion and fry in the frying pan with 2 tablespoons of oil until golden. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes to the pan and fry for 5 minutes. Add 100ml of water to the pan and mix well, then add previously fried aubergines and allow to cook for further 5-7 minutes on medium heat until sauce is reduced a little. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add finely chopped coriander, parsley, and crushed garlic. Cook for another 2 minutes and remove from the heat.
Serve hot or cold.
Aubergines in mayonnaise sauce
Ingredients:
Aubergines x 2
Mayo x 5 tbs
Garlic x 4 cloves
Fresh coriander x 1/2 bunch
Salt, pepper olive or veg oil x 3 tbs.
Recipe
Peel the aubergines from four sides, cut them in half and then slice each half in quarters. Fry in the hot frying pan with a little oil. Apply a light dusting of salt and set aside.
Very finely chop the coriander and crush the garlic. Mix them together in the bowl or pestle and mortar, add some salt and mix well. Add the mix into the mayonnaise, add the grilled aubergines, mix well and place in the fridge to cool.
Aubergines in walnut sauce
Ingredients:
Aubergines x 2
Walnuts x 100 g
Garlic x 4 cloves
Fresh coriander x 5 sprigs
Ground coriander x 1 tbs
Ground fenugreek x 1 tbs
Ground turmeric x 1 tsp
Pomegranate seeds x 3 tbs
Salt, pepper, olive or veg oil x 3 tbs.
Recipe
This recipe will require the use of a food processor or old-fashioned meat mincer.
Peel the aubergines from four sides, and then slice them lengthways into thin slices. Fry in the hot frying pan with a little oil. Apply a light dusting of salt and set aside.
Make sure the food processor or meat mincer are totally clean and dry; blitz the walnuts to the powder, add the coriander leaves (separate them from the stalks), crushed garlic and blitz until the paste is formed.
Empty paste into the bowl and add the Korma curry mix. Mix well, add salt and pepper to taste. Add enough lukewarm boiled water to make the paste easy to spread.
Spread the paste over one side of the fried aubergine slice and roll each slice up.
Arrange the rolls on the plate and sprinkle with some pomegranate seeds.
Elena suggests preparing walnut paste in advance of the class to save time for the demonstration of other dishes.
To make the walnut paste, you will require a food processor or electric mincer. Separate coriander leaves from the stalks, peel the garlic and chop it or use the garlic crusher. Put the walnuts, garlic and coriander in the food processor, blend or mince it well, add dry spices, salt, pepper and set aside.
Please follow this link to watch a video of how to make the walnut paste and how to cut and fry the aubergines,
Regarding spices, Elena suggests using Mild Korma spice mix instead of the traditional khmeli-suneli.