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As well as condiments, legumes, rice and pasta, I always have dried fruit in my pantry. While they’re great to nibble on, mixed with toasted nuts and seeds for a moreish trail mix, at this time of year, when pickings are sparse, they bring a concentrated, jammy decadence to savoury and sweet things alike. Raisins, sultanas, currants and barberries add a sweet surprise to rice dishes, and to fillings for filo pies or spicy sausage rolls; apricots, prunes and figs bring a honeyed sweetness to roast meat, while sticky dates add a sublime fudginess to cakes.
Fruit and nut fish pilaf with green tahini sauce (pictured top)
This opulent fish pilaf, studded with nuts and dried fruit, makes a terrific centrepiece for any celebratory table. And perhaps the best thing about it is that it is all cooked in one pot.
Prep 15 min
Marinate 15 min
Cook 35 min
Serves 4
800g sustainably sourced firm white fish, such as hake, cod, haddock or pollack, cut into 5cm chunks
½ tsp turmeric
Juice of ½ lemon
Sea salt and black pepper
1 tbsp ghee
125g wheat vermicelli, broken into 2cm lengths
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
1 large pinch of saffron
1 cinnamon stick
4 green cardamom pods, bruised
50g pine nuts
50g flaked almonds
250g basmati rice, washed until the water runs clear, then drained
30g raisins, or sultanas or currants
For the tahini sauce
25g parsley
25g coriander
25g mint, leaves picked
100g thick Greek yoghurt
30g good-quality tahini
Grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon, plus extra cut into wedges, to serve
1 small garlic clove, peeled and finely grated
Put all the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor and blend smooth. Pour into a bowl and set aside.
Marinate the fish in the turmeric, lemon juice and a pinch of salt for 15 minutes.
Melt the ghee in a pan, then fry the vermicelli until it turns dark golden brown.
Add the garlic, spices, pine nuts and almonds, and fry, stirring, until the nuts are golden. Add the drained rice, season with salt and stir to coat in the ghee and spices. Toss the rice around lightly until it’s toasty and hot, then add the dried fruit and 500ml boiling water. Cover the pan, turn down the heat and simmer for a minute.
Add the marinated fish and cook for 10 minutes, or until the rice and fish are cooked through and the water has been absorbed. Pile on to a platter and serve with the tahini sauce and wedges of lemon.
Chicken, harissa and dried apricot traybake
Warm and aromatic Moroccan spices, sweet apricots, pistachios and chicken come together beautifully in this easy weeknight supper. Serve with couscous.
Prep 10 min
Cook 50 min
Serves 4
100g unsalted butter
4 tbsp harissa
1 preserved lemon, rind and flesh finely chopped
1 heaped tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp clear honey
Sea salt and black pepper
1kg skin-on and bone-in chicken thighs
1 large red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
1 garlic bulb, cloves separated
125g pitted green olives
90g dried apricots, soaked in 60ml boiling water
1 handful shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
1 handful flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and torn
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. In a small pan, heat the butter, harissa, preserved lemon and cinnamon until the butter melts, then take off the heat. Stir in the honey and season very generously with salt and black pepper.
Massage this paste all over the chicken, making sure to get it under the skin, too, then lay the thighs skin side up in a roasting tin. Dot the onion wedges aroundthe chicken, add the whole, unpeeled garlic cloves and roast for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, smash the olives with the bottom of a bowl. Take the chicken out of the oven and scatter the drained apricots (reserve their soaking liquid) and olives around it. Pour in the apricot soaking liquor, spooning the juices around and over the chicken, then roast for another 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
Served scattered with the pistachios and parsley.
Date and ginger cake with date frosting
Thanks to the rich dates, this headily spiced cake is so sticky and moist that you’ll find it hard to stop at just the one slice.
Prep 15 min
Soak 10 min
Cook 1 hr 45 min
Serves 16
1 ginger/chai teabag
125g medjool dates, pitted
150g unsalted butter
100g light brown soft sugar
150g black treacle
2 tsp ground ginger
2 eggs
2 large pieces stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped
250g self-raising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
For the frosting
20 medjool dates, pitted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp ginger syrup (from a jar of stem ginger)
A pinch of salt
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
30g unsalted butter, at room temperature
Crystallised ginger, finely chopped, to decorate (optional)
Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4, and grease and line a 20cm x 30cm oven tray with baking paper.
Pour 100ml boiling water over the tea, leave to infuse for a minute, then remove and discard the teabag. Add the dates to the hot water and leave to soak for 10 minutes.
Heat the butter, sugar, treacle and ground ginger in a large saucepan, stirring until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the chopped stem ginger, then sift in the flour and fold in until the mix is well combined and smooth.
Stir the vanilla extract into the dates, then blend to a puree. Stir in the bicarb, then pour into the flour bowl and mix to combine. Pour the batter into the lined tin, then bake for 45-50 minutes, or until risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove and leave the cake to cool completely in the tin, then carefully turn it out.
When you are ready to ice the cake, cover the dates with boiling water and leave to soak for 10 minutes. Drain and put in a food processor with 115ml room-temperature water, the vanilla, ginger syrup and a pinch of salt, and blend to a very smooth puree, scraping down the sides if necessary.
Add the cream cheese and butter, and blend again until smooth. Smother all over the top of the cake, ideally using a palette knife, then sprinkle with the chopped crystallised ginger, if you like.
The Guardian aims to publish recipes for sustainable fish. Check ratings in your region: UK; Australia; US.
