Cold Cucumber and Mint Soup

At the moment it is high summer and we have a bit of a glut of cucumbers, which we pick before they get very big. Still, we have plenty and the weather is rather hot. So here’s a super quick cold soup that takes care of the cucumber glut and the heat.

 

 

 

 

What you need

• about 800g of cucumber diced
• 200 ml natural (Greek) yoghurt
• 400 ml vegetable broth
• 1 small glass of white port (optional, but nice)
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• a sprig each of mint, tarragon and dill
• a small jalapeño pepper (not pictured)
• salt and pepper

What you do

1. Puré all the ingredients in a blender.
2. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (I said it was super quick.)
3. Put in the fridge for an hour.
4. Decorate with herbs and, if using, some very thin slices of Jalapeño peppers) and serve with fresh bread or crostini.

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.

Zingy Veggie Bolognese

This is a quick and very tasty veggie alternative to the usual mincemeat-based Bolognese which goes well with pasta as well as providing a good lasagne filling.

What you need

• 1 medium sized shallot or onion, finely chopped
• 2 + cloves of garlic, pressed
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1-2 tbsp Tandoori spice mix or paste
• 1 medium-sized parsnip, chopped brunoise size (very small like mince)
• 1 carrot chopped brunoise size
• 1 small fennel, chopped brunoise size
• 150 ml good red wine
• 1-2 veggie stock cubes
• 300-400 ml tomato passata
• salt and pepper

optionally

• a handful of mushrooms, chopped brunoise size
• 1 handful of walnuts, chopped brunoise size

What you do

1. When you put on the water for the pasta, sauté the onions and the garlic in the olive oil with the tandoori spices.
2. Add the vegetables brunoise and sauté a little longer.
3. Add the wine and the veggie stock cubes. Allow the wine to soak into the veggies.
4. Mix in passata and the stock cubes and leave to simmer until the pasta is ready.
5. If using, add the mushrooms and the walnuts about five minutes before serving and season to taste.
6. Place the pasta on a pre-warmed plate, sprinkle liberally with parmesan or pecorino romano, cover with a goodly portion of Bolognese. On the top, as is tradition, place a small knob of butter.

My Basic Tomato Sauce

At the moment we have a bit of a glut of tomatoes from plants that Caroline grew from seed. They are a relatively mealy kind and therefore better in a sauce than in a salad. This sauce can be (and is) made in bulk and can easily be frozen for later use. It works well on its own with a bit of freshly chopped basil added before serving or as a base for any other sauce using tomatoes (including a pizza topping!).

What you need

• 2 – 3 kilos of tomatoes, quartered or grated (helps to get rid of the tough skins)
• olive oil to cover the bottom of a heavy pan
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3+ cloves of garlic, pressed
• 1 tbsp tandoori masala or paste (bhalti masala/paste works well too)
• 1 tbsp “oriental” spice mix (see below)
• 2 cubes/2 tbps vegetable stock
• 150-200 ml white wine
• 1-2 tbsp honey
• sea salt to taste

What you do

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan and when it is hot, fry the onions, the garlic and the tandoori mix/paste.
2. Add the quartered or grated tomatoes and the white wine and simmer until the tomatoes disintegrate (at least 30 minutes, but the longer the better), stirring occasionally.
3. With a fork, pick out the floating tomato peels.
4. Add the honey and blend with a mixer; you may want to add the garlic now (or add more garlic now, if you want the flavour more pronounced.
5. Allow to cool make portions and freeze the sauce.
   

The oriental spice mix could contain such spices as coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, curcuma, cumin, fenugreek, mustard seed, chili, sea salt etc.; some of these are also found in a curry masala like tandoori. If you are not really into these kinds of flavours, leave the tandoori or the oriental spice mix out.

Risotto sort of "Caprese"

One of my favourite dishes is “insalata caprese”, this perfect mixture of flavours and textures that in my view is so typical of Italian cuisine. A few weeks ago, in summer, I was in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, where the cherry tomatoes were ripe and fresh off the bush, and I came across this dish, which I have tried to recreate. It combines elements of insalata caprese with a rich risotto.

A former neighbour of ours was Italian and she once made a risotto in a high-walled frying pan at 11:30 pm, as a midnight snack. I was amazed at how little time this took. In this recipe I have used one too, partly because it works well for the final cooking part…

What you need

• 350 g risotto rice (for example Arborio)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium-sized onion finely chopped
• 100 ml of good white wine
• vegetable broth
• 2+ cloves of garlic
• grated parmesan cheese to taste (not pictured)
• about 20 ripe cherry tomatoes (or thickly sliced marzano tomatoes as I had no cherries)
• 200 g buffalo mozzarella, finely sliced
• 2 good sprigs of basil cut into fine stripes
• a drizzle of dry sherry (optional)
• Cheese spice mix (optional)

What you do

1. Sauté the onions in olive oil, then add the rice and stir until it looks glassy. (Do not let it brown!)
2. Add the wine and stir, then slowly add the broth as and when needed. If you like a creamy risotto, stir as much as you can; if you prefer a more grainy one, stir as little as possible.
3. Just before the end of the cooking period (when the rice grains are not hard in the centre anymore), press in the garlic; this way it retains its pungency.
4. When the risotto is done, dent the surface and put a cherry tomato into each dent.
5. Distribute the mozzarella over the top and season with the cheese spice mix (if using).
6. Put under the grill until the mozzarella has melted or even browned ever so slightly.
7. Drizzle the sherry over the bits of rice that are still visible if it has dried out under the grill.
8. At the very last minute before serving, add the basil leaves.