Curried Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Soup

As the days grow cooler and shorter, it is time for warming soups once again. I made this really quick soup the other day because we had some sweet potatoes that needed eating. Coconut milk is something I usually have in the house, and ginger and garlic paste (easy to make, equal amounts mashed up) is also a staple for any curry lover; it would keep a week or two in theory but usually doesn’t last that long. This, served with pita bread or whole meal toast, is a meal for about three or an ample starter for 4 to 5 people.  

What you need

• 2 tblsp of neutral cooking oil (sunflower, rapeseed, maize; not pictured)
• 1 medium shallot or onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic and an equal amount of fresh ginger mashed or finely chopped
• 1 tbsp curry masala (Madras would be my preference)
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 4 medium sized sweet potato, cubed
• 2 small or 1 medium potato, cubed
• 500 ml coconut milk
• ca 500 ml veggie broth
  
• salt, pepper for further seasoning
• cayenne pepper to taste

What you do

1. Fry the shallot and the garlic/ginger mix without letting it colour.
2. Add the turmeric and the curry masala and stir until it turns brown.
   
3. Add the sweet potato cubes and coat in the mixture, then add the cubed potato.
4. Pour in a little veggie broth to dissolve the spice mixture that may have got stuck to the bottom of the pan.
5. Add the coconut milk and the rest of the veggie broth to cover the sweet potato.
6. Allow to cook until it is soft; this should not take much more than 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Liquidise the mixture and add more veggie broth if the soup is too thick.
   
8. Season to taste, then sprinkle a bit of cayenne pepper on top to add a dash of colour and a little bit of a sting in the tail.

Salmon on a Bed of Leeks

I usually do veggie food, but occasionally I go for a meal with a bit of fish, mainly salmon, because I am told it is a healthy option with Omega 3 fatty acids, amino acids and pretty OK on the vitamin front. So much for the apologies, because this is not only a quick and easy dish, it is also light and simply delicious, especially if served straight out of the oven.

Now I used to do this many years ago and recently, because we still had quite a bit of leek left in the garden (unharvested this keeps well over the winter), I decided to try it again. Here it is.

What you need (for two!)

• 300 g salmon (150 g slice per person) with or without skin
• 2-3  leeks without too much of the tough green bits at the top (they can be put in a soup), cut into fine slices
• 1 small onion finely sliced and mixed in with the leek
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, squeezed
• 100 ml good (!) white wine
• spice mix (Cajun or Oriental flavour) to taste
• salt or veggie broth dissolved in the wine
• olive oil
• a little freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice (not pictured)
• wild rice mix or long grain rice with saffron, cooked with a dash of dry sherry and veggie broth

What you do

1. Prepare the wild rice mix or long grain rice (sauté a few onions in olive oil, add the rice and stir till it is glassy, add the sherry and top up with water, about twice the volume of the rice).
2. Preheat the oven to 180°.
3. Line the bottom of an ovenproof dish with the leek and the onion, season with a bit of the spice mix.
4. Add the garlic and the wine.
5. Put in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes until the leek looks a little softened.
6. In the meantime drizzle a little olive oil on the top of the salmon, season with the spice mix and some salt (rock or sea) and squirt a little lemon or lime juice over the fillets.
   
7. Place on top of the leek and onion bed and put in the oven. Check after about 8 minutes: the fillets should look opaque and flake a little when squeezed with the back of a fork.

Serve immediately.  

Onion Soup (sort of traditional)

In the cold winter months, and we have had a fair bit of snow this winter, there is nothing quite like a warming soup. This is one of them and it is also great if you happen to have a cold because onions also when applied internally (not just in the form of a poultice) work wonders. The secret of this very simple recipe lies in the ingredients, really good onions and shallots, high-quality whole meal bread and a fine, ripe Gruyère cheese.

What you need

(this is for two people)

• 5-6 medium sized onions cut into fine slices
• 3+ cloves of garlic thinly sliced
• 50 g butter (not pictured) for sautéing
• 1 heaped tbsp flour
• 1 pinch of sugar
• salt and pepper
• 1 glass dry sherry (about 100 ml)
• salt and pepper
• 1 l vegetable broth (with Italian or Provence herbs)
• 100 gr grated mature Gruyère
• 2 lightly toasted slices wholemeal bread, rubbed with a clove garlic

What you do

1. In a frying pan melt the butter and sauté the onions and the garlic till they are starting to colour slightly.
2. Sprinkle the flour over it, add sugar, salt and pepper and keep stirring letting the whole take a very light brown colour.
3. Bring the vegetable broth to the boil.
4. When the onion are nicely coloured, add the sherry and stir, making sure deglaze, i.e. to dissolve whatever may stick a little to the bottom of the frying pan (add broth if necessary).
5. Add to the hot broth and leave to simmer for at least 10 minutes.
   
6. In the meantime, preheat the grill, then pour the soup into ovenproof bowls, float a toasted wholemeal slice on the top and sprinkle liberally with the grated Gruyère.
7. Put under the grill and allow the cheese to melt and develop a slight crust.
8. Serve with cheese and wine.

Chillied Cucumber Pickle

Our garden is producing at veritable flood of cucumbers. While trying to find some ways in which they can be used up, I remembered some tapas I had a few years ago in Barcelona. One of them was a kind of chilli pickle with slices of cucumber, which tasted delicious. Here is how I tried to recreate that dish.

What you need

• 3 to 4 cucumbers, peeled and cut into thin slices
• salt
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed
• freshly ground pepper
• one or two red chilies, without pips and cut into tiny pieces
• white wine vinegar
• sugar
• one sprig of tarragon, one sprig of peppermint, chopped finely

What you do

Arrange the slices of cucumber on a plate or a flat serving dish and sprinkle liberally with salt. Leave to stand for two hours.

In a sieve wash the salt off cucumbers and allow them to drain.

Grind fresh pepper over the cucumbers, add the chilies and the garlic and mix well.

Put in to a screw top jar and top up with white wine vinegar.

Add sugar until the sourness of the wine vinegar is neutralised.

Add the herbs, shake well and leave to stand overnight. The cucumbers are ready to eat the next day, the next week or the following month.

Crostini Toppings: Olive Paste and Smoked Trout with Pernod Topping

Summer is not always the time for cooking. I mostly enjoy an insalata Caprese (slices of tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and a balsamico/olive oil dressing, a perfect combination) or a Greek Salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, feta and olives with oregano or rigani if I can get it), and, mostly, what really goes well with a salad of this kind is fetunta (roasted slices of bread rubbed with garlic and douses with a generous shot of olive oil. And fetunta is just a small step away from crostini.

Last summer I provided a recipe for my sundried tomato topping (fam-food.blogspot.com/2011/07/sun-dried-tomato-paste.html). Here are two more:

What you need: Olive Paste

• 300 g olives (for instance 200 g black Calamata, 100 g green)
• 3-5 cloves of garlic
• 1 chilli, chopped (minus the seeds if you want it less spicy)
• a bit of olive oil

What you do

1. De-pip the olives, chop the garlic and the chilli.
2. Chop the mixture up in the blender, adding a bit of olive oil for smoothness.
3. If you add some anchovies before you put the mixture in the blender, you have a Provencal tapenade.
4. This costs considerably less than all commercially available olive pastes and you can do it exactly to the taste.

This paste is a jam jar with a lid can be kept in the fridge for some time.

What you need: Smoked Trout topping

• 2 smoked trout fillets
• 1 dl crème fraîche
• 4 tbsps Pernod (or pastis)
• 1 tsp (or less) dried chilli
• 1 tbsp soya sauce (mild)
• Cajun spice (see earlier postings)
• 1 sprig of tarragon chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, pressed
• ½ pepper, peeled and diced for decoration

What you do

1. Mash the trout fillets, mix with the crème fraîche, the pernod (you may not put all of it in just yet) and the soya sauce.
2. Season with chillies and Cajun spice.
3. Add the chopped tarragon and the garlic.
4. Blend until the mixture is quite smooth. If it is too spicy, add a bit more cream.
5. Season to taste and perfume with more Pernod if needed.
6. For colour sprinkle peppers over the top.

This topping, which has a lovely blend of aniseed and smoked fish, should be eaten relatively quickly.

Final remark

Both toppings taste great on roasted slices of bread with a bit of garlic rubbed on before the pastes are spread generously.