Saturday 15 November 2014

Three little pigs


For the last week or so, the wind outside has been blowing fiercely, bringing to mind the big, bad wolf from the 'Three Little Pigs'. "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in." Today, the wind is howling in defeat. No doubt it will try again. Rain has been swooping in every time the wind laid down to gather its strength. Cold pinpricks of icy water steadily falling down to soak everything, only relenting when the wind picks up again. Grey, ominous looking skies. Every morning for the past week. Temperatures are dropping lower every day and people are donning hats, gloves and warm, woollen scarves to complement their warm, woollen coats. Winter is fast approaching.

'The novelty of numb fingers', 'clothes that are more water than fabric', 'gale-force makeovers' and a 'wind that blows you backwards'. 'Umbrellas making their great escape', 'puddles that lie in wait under wobbly slabs, just waiting to pounce up your leg' and 'tidalwaves from errant cars'. A romantic description from Heinz (yes, the one from the soup advert). But the novelty wears off after about thirty seconds and it takes forever to get warm and dry. I could curse any driver for their lack of compassion; I swear some of them see the puddle and wait for unsuspecting pedestrians... And who doesn't hate it when you have to walk for the rest of the day with soaking wet feet because of the unnoticable puddle??? But still, looking out (all warm, cozy and comfortable) to the wind playing with the leaves, rain making beautiful patterns on the windows or perhaps even snow dancing on the wind; I have to admit, I love Winter.

Part of that is that I can, finally, bring out my favourite dishes without being made to feel that I am 'weird'. Even my husband is doubtful when, in scorching heat, I tell him that we are having beef-stew-and-dumplings for dinner. But right now I can safely bring out the bread-and-butter-puddings, casseroles, warming winter soups, 'wigwams' and the aforementioned stew-and-dumplings. Not to mention cinnamon hot chocolate, devil's coffee (or chocolate), mulled wine and hot cider...
My all-time favourite vegetable is now at its prime: Brussels Sprouts. Growing up, I didn't like sprouts. At all. Bitter. Weird looking. Horrible. I did, however, like (strike that and make it 'love') 'leprechaun-cabbage mash'. Now, if you do not know what leprechaun-cabbages are, here is a picture... Yes, my mother was cruel... I remember one Christmas where the entire family was sat around the dinner table. My mother had four rules when it came to food. 1) It is absolutely normal not to like one certain food, not liking two is acceptable (if not preferable), not liking three is being fussy. 2) You have to try everything at least once (every ten years, or so). 3) No dessert if you don't finish your plate of food. 4) You will eat your number of years in those vegetables you do not like (on top on rule #1) (for instance: 5 brussels sprouts at age 5, 10 brussels sprouts at age 10, and so on). Like I said, we were sat at the Christmas dinner table and part of our meal were sprouts. I cannot remember how old I was but, for ease, let's say I was thirteen. Therefore, I had thirteen sprouts on my plate. My dad, feeling sorry for me, decided to eat my sprouts. I felt so bad for him having to eat his own sprouts and now mine as well that I decided to help him and I (sneakily) ate the brussels sprouts that were on his plate (way more than thirteen...). They were actually not that bad but, from then on in, I could never get away from a full plate of sprouts again...

But, I never planned on writing about sprouts... That was meant for another day. Today is all about one of my favourite soups. It is just the thing I fancy when the weather turns as it has: warming, rich, comforting, luxurious in feel, cheap in making, easy as can be, and always a crowdpleaser. My advice is to double the quantity; you will come back for seconds and thirds.

Broccoli and Blue Cheese Soup
Ingredients:
  • 2 tablespoons of rapeseed or olive oil (or butter)
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 stick of celery, finely chopped
  • 1 leek, finely sliced (or 1 extra onion)
  • 1 medium potato (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 1 litre vegetable stock (homemade or low-salt version from the shop)
  • 1½-2 heads of broccoli (including the stem)
  • 140 grams of blue cheese (Stilton is traditional but any blue cheese works)
  • black pepper to taste
Method:
  1. Heat the oil or butter in a large saucepan and add the onions
  2. Cook on a medium heat until soft
    • add a splash of water if the onions start to catch
  3. Add the celery, leek, (potato), and the tablespoon of butter and stir until the butter is melted
  4. Cover with a lid and allow to cook for 5 minutes
  5. Remove the lid and pour in the stock and the stalk of the broccoli and cook for 10-15 minutes until all the vegetables are soft
  6. Add the rest of the broccoli and cook for a further 5 minutes
  7. Carefully transfer everything into a blender and blitz until smooth
    • place a folded tea towel on top of the blender (over the hole in the lid) before you start blending
    • you can use a stick blender instead but be careful
  8. Stir in the crumbled blue cheese and season to taste with black pepper
If you prefer to use seasonal vegetables, this recipe works equally well with cauliflower. In that case, use a white Stilton, brie or camembert and white pepper and make sure not to let your vegetables colour in the oil or butter. This way you will have a beautifully snow white soup.

If you want to 'dress' your bowl of soup, hold back a couple of small florets of the broccoli (or cauliflower) and a little of the cheese. Blanch the florets in seasoned, boiling water for about 1 minute and place on top of the soup with a little of the cheese.

Serve with warm, crusty rolls and butter or buttered toast.

Enjoy

Sunday 9 November 2014

King Creole

It has been a while since I last wrote a post. Life has been busy and writing suffered for it. That doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking and baking, we still need to eat after all, but proper inspiration had failed me and I reverted back to cooking the standard go-to recipes. Today, however, I got to talk with a dear friend who is thinking of moving to New Orleans. And that got the juices running. 

New Orleans: exotic, relaxed and frantic at the same time, artistic, good music and (even better) food. A place I would love to visit, to taste its diversities and to hear its history. When I think of the food in New Orleans, the first thing that jumps to mind is their gumbo. To you and me, this is a stew. The locals, however, would say that gumbo is a whole food group on it's own. Who am I to argue...

But New Orleans is more than gumbo. Think about Po-Boys, King Cakes (served from 6th January through to Mardi Gras Day), beignets (those soft, fluffy, deep-fat-fried balls [squares] of dough, served with mounts of powdered sugar) or Jambalaya. But my favourite has got to be:

Crawfish Étouffée


Ingredients:
  • 125 gram butter
  • 2 medium onions, diced
  • 1 stalk of celery, diced
  • 1 pepper (red, yellow or green), diced
  • 500 gram peeled crawfish tails or prawns
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 300 millilitre water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped spring onions
Method:
  1. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium to high heat
  2. Add the onions, celery and peppers and fry for 10 to 12 minutes until the vegetables are soft and the onions are turning a light golden colour
    • the holy trinity in all Creole cooking are onions, celery and peppers: much like onion, celery and carrot is in French cooking
  3. Add the crawfish tails (or prawns) and the bay leaves, reduce the heat to medium, and cook the crawfish until they start throwing off a little liquid
    • this will be about 10-12 minutes, but less if you are using prawns
  4. Dissolve the flour in the water and add to the crawfish
  5. Season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste
  6. Stir the mixture until it begins to thicken, about 4 minutes
  7. Add the parsley and spring onions and cook for another 2 minutes
  8. Remove the bay leaves and serve over cooked rice
This is not my longest post ever, I am still trying to catch my breath, but I do hope you will

Enjoy
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