broccoli and stilton soup

broccoli is a vegetable that grows easily in melbourne's winter

 just net the seedlings in autumn when the cabbage moth larvae are still active

or maintain a constant vigil

and two months later you'll be picking 

green bouquets

broccoli and stilton soup

tea with hazel

ingredients 

vegetable stock

2 onions cut medium

2 large carrots cut into medium rounds

2-3 celery stalks cut medium and celery leaves

3-4 parsley stalks including leaves

4 garlic cloves

1 tbs pepper corns

olive oil

filtered water

soup

1 medium onion cut into large dice

6-8 spring onions, including green, sliced

2 medium potatoes cut medium

1 celery stalk sliced

1 green chilli, seeds removed, sliced

2 litres vegetable stock

1/2 medium cauliflower, stalks removed and retained, and florets cut medium

1 large broccoli head, leaves retained, stalks removed and retained, and florets cut medium

olive oil

salt and pepper

50 gms stilton

extras per serve

1-2 tablespoons (tbs) lemon juice

2 tbs fresh sourdough breadcrumbs crisped in bacon fat (or olive oil for a vegetarian option)

1-2 tbs crumbled stilton

method

vegetable stock

~ saute onion, carrot, celery stalks and garlic in olive oil until the vegetables are transparent and browning on edges

~ cover with water and add parsley and pepper corns

~ bring to the boil, reduce to simmer, and cook for 45 minutes, and then strain

broccoli soup  

~ saute onion, spring onions, potato, celery and chilli in olive oil until vegetables are transparent and browning on edges

~ add cauliflower and broccoli stalks, broccoli leaves and stock and bring to the boil, lower heat to simmer ad cook until the vegetables are soft

~ add cauliflower florets, cook until al dente, and then add broccoli florets and cook until just soft

~ adjust seasoning

~ remove a few of the broccoli florets, roughly break them up and set aside, and puree the soup using a blender or stick blender
~ stir through stilton

to serve

~ divide broccoli florets between soup bowls, add soup, drizzle with lemon juice, and garnish with stilton and bread crumbs

polenta, corn flour, biodynamic wholemeal flour and organic white flour sourdough

soup and bread is one of my favourite meals

frugal friday

there's a wonderful independent grocer/green grocer not far from where i live..it's not one of those super sophisticated places where to shop there comfortably you need to get dressed in your finery, have a manicure and a blow dry..rather..it's more laid back..

i like shopping there for several reasons..for one thing it's a family run business and as such the shop has an intimate and friendly atmosphere..and they stock a great range of products some of which are not available in the conglomorates that are threatening to take over the country..for instance i can get trachana and pasta for pastichio there..and they're not caught in a time warp because they stock a variety of spelt and gluten free products..one thing i particularly like are the huge bins they have out the front of the shop which are laden with seasonal fruit and vegetables..most of it is not of conglomerate supermarket quality..but it is still good quality..for instance yesterday i bought new seasons apples and oranges..now..yes..some of the apples had the occasional branch mark, they weren't all uniform in size and some were misshapen but otherwise they were perfectly fine..same with the oranges..navels and valencias were mixed up together and some had too thick skin but they're easily avoided..they were $0.98 and $0.78 a kilo respectively..and i bought a 2 kilo bag of slightly brown skin bananas for $2..i ate one later..perfect..not soft at all..and even if one or two do go a bit soft before i can eat them all au naturale i'll just make smoothies with them..and they had lovely large fennel bulbs that i bought for a $1 each..they also had 5 kilo bags of potatoes for $2 but i didn't get one because i'd already bought a bag for the same price a few weeks earlier..ten kilo sacks of onions rarely cost more than $6 there so i always buy them this way and i rarely have any rot..i just keep them in a cool place and if any start to sprout i just use those in stock..

it never ceases to surprise me that anyone would choose to pay more at a conglomorate supermarket when this shop is only 100 metres away..i've done a rough and ready calculation and worked out that the fruit and vegetables i bought yesterday cost a third of what it would have cost me at the supermarket..and i wonder if some of the people shopping in the supermarket are also those who find that food prices are increasing..go figure!

roasted fennel and potato soup

tea with hazel

ingredients

1 large female* fennel bulb

6 -8 small potatoes**

3 medium onions** 

4-6 garlic cloves (i used homegrown)

2 teaspoons (tsp) fennel seeds*** 

1/2 tsp chilli flakes (i used my own homegrown, dried flakes)

2 litres stock**** (i used homemade)

salt and pepper

olive oil

extra chilli flakes or tabasco

method

~ remove stems from fennel bulb, retain fronds and cut bulb into thick slices

~ cut potato and onion into medium chunks

~ place fennel, potato, onion, garlic, fennel seeds, and chilli flakes in a large shallow baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper

~ bake at 180 deg c until the vegetables are starting to caramelise

~ remove vegetables to a saucepan along with the stock, bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until the vegetables are soft

~ puree the soup with a stick blender or in a blender

~ serve garnished with fennel fronds, a dusting of chilli and a drizzle of olive oil

notes

*       they're tastier..or so they tell me..

**     the potatoes and onions in the bags i'd purchased were small to medium in size

***   i used seeds collected in summer from plants that have naturalised in parts of the dandenongs

**** i retained the carcass and the vegetables from boiling an organic and free range chook for soup stock and i roasted and reboiled both to create a second but just as flavoursome stock

costing

not including electricity and gas costs this soup, which would be enough to feed about 6-8 people, cost about $1.30..add a loaf of homemade sourdough and you've got a very cheap and nutritious meal..

happy weekend one and all

comfort food

it hasn't been much fun here lately..first my daughter got sick so i made her a nurturing chicken soup and a cinnamon tea cake..it's her childhood favourite..she got better and went back to work and then i succumbed to the same virus..so i made a curried carrot soup for myself and some passionfruit cupcakes..today for the first time in more than a week i can say i'm on the mend..

passionfruit cupcakes

adapted from 'favourite cake recipes' family circle

makes 15

ingredients cupcakes

2 cups self raising flour sifted
3/4 cup castor sugar
125 gms softened butter
1 teaspoon (tsp) grated lemon zest
strained juice of 3 passionfruit
3/4 cup milk
pinch salt
2 eggs

ingredients icing

2 tablespoons double cream
pulp of 1 passionfruit
1 tsp lemon rind
pure icing sugar

method

~ place dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and add remaining cupcake ingredients and beat on low speed for one minute
~ increase speed and beat for a further 2 minutes
~ divide the batter between paper case lined patty tins and bake at 200 deg c for 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer
~ make a firm but spreadable icing by mixing enough icing sugar with the cream, lemon rind and passionfruit and ice the cupcakes when cool

adaption notes: in the original recipe the passionfruit pulp was not strained but i prefer the texture of the cake without the seeds and i opted for a cream rather than a butter based icing

curried carrot soup

ingredients

1 kg carrots peeled and cut into large pieces
1 large onion cut into large chunks
1 thumb size piece of ginger finely grated
pinch of chilli flakes
2 1/2 litres stock (i used homemade)
2 tablespoons (tbs) organic coconut butter
1 1/2 to 2 tbs curry powder
1 teaspoon (tsp) cumin
2 tsp murray river salt

to serve per bowl

1 tbs lime juice
1/2 tsp finely grated lime zest
1/2 tsp finely grated ginger
3-4 small sprigs of coriander flowers
1/4 cup basmati rice cooked by the absorption method with the addition of coconut butter
extra salt
pepper

method

~ heat coconut butter in a large saucepan, add onion and cook gently until transparent
~ add carrot, ginger, curry powder, cumin, chilli flakes and salt, stir for a couple of minutes, add stock, bring to the boil and then lower heat and cook covered until the carrots are soft
~ puree the soup and adjust seasoning
~ place rice in serving bowl and ladle over hot soup
~ garnish with lime zest and juice, ginger, coriander flowers and salt and pepper to taste


i hope you're well and that you've had a relaxing weekend! x

random things

from the last few days..

left to right:

op shop doily purchased for $1 to be used in patchwork

op shop purchased johnson brothers plate from a set of 6 bread and butter and 6 dinner plates bought for $8

flowers picked from along a railway line heralding spring

roast pumpkin and capsicum soup garnished with yoghurt, parsley, chilli flakes and marigold petals

young's double chocolate stout, chilli and mushroom beef stew (served with champ)

sourdough bread

lovage

last spring i bought a lovage plant, popped it into my herb garden, and then ignored it apart from watering it in the really hot weather..yesterday i picked some and tentatively added it to a soup and the resulting flavour provoked me to find out about this herb and write this post..

lovage is believed to have originated from south western asia and the mediterranean..it's an herbaceous perennial that grows hollow celery like stems to over six feet from a basal rosette of leaves..the flavour of the leaves is intriguing and i find it hard to describe but for me there are hints of celery and cardamon..

lovage (levisticum officinale) has a long history of having been used medicinally in medieval and roman times and in ancient greece, with, according to culpeper, the powdered root being used to treat gastric and intestinal problems and to promote diuresis and menses..the alternative name of 'lover's parsley' suggests that perhaps it was also purported to have aphrodisiac qualities..

the whole plant can be used for culinary purposes..the roots can be grated and eaten raw in a salad, cooked or grated and dried and used to make a tea..whole or ground seeds may be added to sweets, breads, cakes and biscuits, cordial, pickles and savoury dishes.. the finely chopped leaves can be added to a salad and the fibrous stems can also be eaten if they are first blanched or, like angelica, they can be candied ..

barley, lovage and lemon soup

tea with hazel

ingredients

3/4 cup pearl barley cleaned of grit and rinsed
1 large onion cut medium
2 cloves garlic cut fine
4 medium carrots cut medium
4 small potatoes cut medium
1 celery stalk (i used several small home grown stalks) cut fine
1 cup peas
2-3 cups mixed greens (i used stinging nettle, rocket, dandelion leaves, celery and lovage leaves and a few small yellow stalked rainbow chard leaves)
1 litre stock
water
pinch chilli flakes
salt and pepper to taste
lemon rind and juice

method

~ saute the onion, celery and garlic in a little olive oil until the onion is translucent
~ add the barley, chilli flakes, salt and pepper to taste and stock and water to cover well and boil for 30 minutes or until the barley is soft
~ add carrot and potato and when nearly done add the peas and the dandelion, celery, lovage and rainbow chard leaves and cook for a couple of minutes
~ just before serving add the stinging nettle and rocket leaves, stir, and turn off heat

to serve

garnish each bowl with the zest and juice of half a small lemon or to taste

sweet potato and quark bread

tea with hazel

ingredients

400 gms white bread flour
100 gms wholemeal flour
1 cup cooked sweet potato
1/3 cup quark (i used schulz organic quark from timboon)
unsalted potato water (from boiling potatoes)
2 teaspoons (tsp) honey (i used peppermint honey)
1 tsp yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons salt (i used crushed murray river salt)

method

 ~ mix flours, sweet potato, quark, honey and yeast with enough potato water to make a shaggy dough and autolyse for 30 minutes
~ add salt, mix briefly, rest 10 minutes and then mix again
~ remove the bowl from the mixer and cover with greased cling film and leave until doubled
~ remove the dough onto a lightly floured bench and knead lightly and rest 15 minutes
~ repeat the knead/rest cycle once more
~ shape the bread and leave to prove
~ score the dough and bake with steam at 250 deg c for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 200 deg c and cook for a further 25 minutes or until cooked

comments:

~after reading a bit more about lovage i've realised that i need to move my plant so that it has more growing space..

~ i bought a 500 gm packet of barley and 500 gms split green peas yesterday on special at the supermarket for $2..not each..both! ..i hadn't made soup with barley for years but it added such a lovely gloss (see the photo above) and richness to the soup that it's going to be having a renaissance in my kitchen..and not just in soup..i want to try using it in other ways too such as in salads or as a rice substitute..the addition of lemon was a welcome complement to the richness of the barley and the aromatic flavour of the lovage in the soup..without it the balance was just not right..

~ the bread was a bit of a surprise because at the same time as being moist it was also was very light..

food waste

as i wandered through the supermarket the other day i noticed a whole lot of people milling around some boxes of produce so i scurried over to see what all the excitement was about..i must have had a quizzical look on my face because without talking to me the supermarket employee pointed to the plastic bag holder..when i came back with my bag he nodded towards the boxes and told me for $3 i could fill my bag..i'm not good at bun fights so i hung back until the dust had settled accepting that i might miss out on the better produce..but it didn't turn out like that at all because i was easily able to fill my bag with quality produce such as new seasons apples and corella pears, lebanese cucumbers, a couple of heads of garlic (not the bleached imported variety), red capsicums, beetroot and organic bananas..admittedly there was a lot of poorer quality stuff in the boxes including rotting vegetation but my well honed urban foraging skills enabled me to find the better stuff among the dross..

i had a bit of a chat with the attendee while he was telling me to tie my bag securely (in case i stole a soft banana?) and as he put a bar code sticker on my bag..he told me that the same thing happens every day from 3-4 pm and that he has his regulars who come every day..i don't know that i will become a 'regular' because i buy my green groceries elsewhere but if i happen to be there at the right time i'll probably check out what's on offer again..

i checked out my bounty when i got home and the only thing wrong with the apples was the odd blemish but otherwise they were fresh and crisp..the other things weren't perfect either but there was nothing intrinsically wrong with any of it..there have been several stories in the media recently about the huge volume of food wasted annually around the world..among the doom and gloom there are good things happening though such as programs where producers, suppliers and restaurants donate food to charity..and i've seen a few television programs lately where, often for philosophical reasons, people engage in what's known as 'dumpster diving' where supermarket waste bins are raided for food..and the issue of household food waste is becoming a more salient issue in terms of media attention and educational programs..

i'm pretty sure the supermarkets' daily $3 'greens grab' is primarily motivated by money but i can see some positive aspects..the first is the economic benefit to the consumer and the second relates to waste reduction which results in reduced landfill, methane gas production and the associated effect on climate..and i get the sense that many of us, in reducing waste, respect ourselves more when we respect the hard won and precious life affirming commodity that's food..

a few articles addressing the issues i've mentioned

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/enterprisemelbourne/waste/Pages/OrganicsRecycling.aspx (food donation)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6933744.stm (eating and cooking food from supermarket
waste bins)
http://foodwise.com.au/food-waste/household-food-waste/waste-free-kitchen/ (household food waste)
https://www.oxfam.org.au/grow/2013/01/14/how-can-you-help-cut-down-on-food-waste/ (household food waste)

roast beetroot and taleggio soup

tea with hazel

ingredients soup

2 medium to large beetroot peeled and quartered*
2 small red capsicums cut into quarters*
1/4 small pumpkin peeled and cut into chunks
4 medium tomatoes cut large
1/2 large zucchini cut into chunks (i only used this because i was low in stock and i thought this watery vegetable would amp up the fluid volume of the soup without eclipsing the flavour i was after)
4-5 cloves garlic unpeeled*
1 litre stock
olive oil
2 teaspoons (tsp) salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp chilli flakes

ingredients to serve

1 tsp sumac per person
3-4 slices of taleggio per person
finely cut parsley and chives
extra salt and pepper

method

~ place the beetroot, capsicums, pumpkin, tomatoes, zucchini and garlic in a roasting tray and drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and chilli flakes
~ roast at 180 deg c until the vegetables are well browned and softening
~ once cooked remove the roasted vegetables to a saucepan, add stock, and cook until the vegetables are falling apart
~ puree the soup and pass it through a mouli

serving
~ reheat, adding water if it's too thick, and serve with slices of taleggio, chives, parsley and sumac

note * denotes 'green grab' produce

atta milk loaf

tea with hazel

ingredients

250 gms atta flour

250 gms white bread flour

approximately 250 mls full fat milk

1 tsp yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

method

~ mix flours and yeast with enough milk to make a shaggy dough and leave for 10-15 minutes to autolyse

~ add salt, mix briefly, rest for 10 minutes and mix briefly again

~ cover with clingfilm and place in the refrigerator overnight

~ remove the bowl from the refrigerator the next morning and leave for an hour or two 

~ turn the dough out of the bowl on to a well floured bench, stretch and fold a few times, and then rest for 20-30 minutes

~ repeat the stretch and fold and rest cycle once more

~ shape the dough into a round, sprinkle with semolina, place top side down in a muslin lined colander (or dough proofing basket) and leave until well risen

~ slash the loaf and cook with steam for 20 minutes at 220 deg c (break baking function) and then at 180 deg c for a further 20-25 minutes or until well browned

i think the milk gave the loaf a tighter crumb than i've become used to
 but happily it wasn't heavy and it went well with the soup

french onion soup

if you could see the 10 kg bag of onions sitting in the corner of my kitchen you wouldn't be surprised that i made french onion soup today..and the stars were aligned in my favour because i also had some rich meat stock, some amazing english cloth bound cheddar that i bought yesterday and a freshly made yeast/sourdough loaf of crispy crusted white bread..

all the stirring involved in making the soup was a relaxing and enjoyable way to spend part of a wintery sunday afternoon..

french onion soup

adapted from gourmet traveller

ingredients

2 kgs onions sliced

50 gms butter

2 tablespoons (tbs) olive oil

1 teaspoon (tsp) salt

1 litre rich meat stock (homemade)

 4 thyme sprigs

1 fresh bay leaf

3 parsley stalks

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup grated tasty cheese for each person

1 slice of bread cut in half for each person

method

~heat butter and oil, add onion and salt, cover, and cook over a moderate heat for 20 minutes or until soft

~remove lid and cook over a low to moderate heat for a further hour stirring every 10-15 minutes to prevent scorching

~add 125 mls stock and cook for 5 minutes or until the stock has evaporated

~repeat this process until a total of 500 mls of stock has been added

~tie the herbs with kitchen string and add to the soup along with the remaining 500 mls stock

~add seasoning to taste and cook over a low heat for a further 20 minutes

to serve

~heat oven to 200 deg c
~place soup into soup bowl and sprinkle with half of the cheese
~place bread on top and add remaining cheese
~place bowls on a baking tray and cook for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted
~serve immediately

keeping warm

after a few lovely dry sunny days the weather in melbourne has changed and it's been raining nearly all day today..it's so good to be inside with a roaring fire, a pot of soup on the stove and a loaf of bread baking in the oven..

roast pumpkin and beetroot soup

ingredients

approx 750 gms pumpkin peeled and cut into large dice

1 medium beetroot peeled and cut into quarters*

1 carrot peeled and cut large 

1 red capsicum deseeded and cut into large dice*

4-5 unpeeled garlic cloves* 

750 mls tomato puree**

2 litres stock**

1 rasher of bacon per person cut into small dice

approx 1/2 cup cooked risone pasta per person

olive oil

salt

pepper

creme fraiche (i used meander valley creme fraiche)

dried thyme*

chilli powder

method
~put pumpkin, beetroot, carrot and garlic cloves into a roasting pan
~drizzle with a little oil and season with salt and pepper
~roast at 190 deg c for 45 minutes or until the vegetables have browned a little on the edges
~put all vegetables into a saucepan with the tomato puree and stock and simmer until the vegetables are soft
~puree the vegetables using a stick blender, food processor or blender
~put the resulting puree through a sieve or mouli to remove all course material
~return to the heat and bring to the boil
~adjust seasoning
~cook bacon in a frying pan until it is crisp and drain on paper towel

to serve
~put risone in the bottom of a soup bowl and ladle over the hot soup
~spoon on about 1 tablespoon of creme fraiche
~add bacon and garnish with dried thyme leaves and chilli powder
~season with salt and pepper

notes
* homegrown produce
** homemade produce


i hope you are keeping warm or cool depending on where you are..x

frugal friday..

two styles of tomato soup from the one base

soup base

ingredients

250 gms pumpkin skinned, deseeded and cut into medium sized cubes

12 roma tomatoes cut in half

1 fresh red chilli cut in half and deseeded

4-6 garlic cloves left in their skins

2 tsp brown sugar (optional)

sea salt

freshly cracked black pepper 

olive oil

approximately 1.5 L fresh tomato juice* 

method

~place vegetables in a roasting tin and sprinkle tomatoes with sugar (if using)

~drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper

~bake at 190 deg c until the vegetables are well cooked

~sieve vegetables in a mouli to remove seeds and fibrous matter

~place puree in a saucepan and heat adding enough fresh tomato juice to achieve a desirable consistency-avoid overcooking at this stage in order to retain a fresh tomato flavour from the tomato juice

note:

* i bottled 8 more bottles of tomato puree yesterday and the juice was a by product of this process

tomato soup (1)

ingredients

approximately 1 L of hot tomato soup base

1/2 cup cooked rice per person..i used arborio

several sprigs of greek basil

parmesan cheese grated fine

chilli flakes

salt 

freshly cracked pepper

extra fresh tomato juice 

method

~place rice in the bottom of a soup bowl

~tear several basil leaves into the bowl

~pour over hot soup with extra tomato juice added if the soup is too thick

~sprinkle with chilli flakes and salt and pepper

~add parmesan and a small sprig of basil

serve with fresh bread or toast

tomato soup (1)

tomato soup (2)

ingredients

approximately 1 L tomato soup base

3 tbs trachana

several sprigs of greek basil

crumbled feta cheese

salt 

freshly cracked pepper

olive oil

method

~bring tomato soup base to the boil, add trachana, and cook for 5-10 minutes until the trachana is soft adding extra tomato juice if the soup is too thick

~tear several basil leaves into the bowl

~pour hot soup over the basil leaves

~add crumbled feta and salt and pepper

~drizzle with a little olive oil

serve with fresh bread or toast

tomato soup (2)

happy first autumn (spring for those in northern hemisphere) weekend..x

raw zucchini, tomato and trachana soup

this original 'tea with hazel' summery soup recipe is the third in a series of seven zucchini recipes i'm aiming to make in the next few weeks that i referred to a few posts ago..

raw* zucchini, tomato and trachana** soup 

ingredients

1 large onion cut into medium dice
4 garlic cloves cut fine
4 small homegrown celery stalks strings removed and cut small
1 red chill cut fine
1 green chilli cut fine
1 2cm slice of bacon cut into medium dice
3 L fresh tomato juice***
1/4 cup finely cut celery leaves
1 cup (for each person) of grated zucchini (seeds removed)
4 small potatoes cut into medium dice
extra 300 mls tomato juice
1/2 cup trachana
a few chives cut fine
grated aged (preferably 36 month old ) cheddar cheese formed into walnut sized balls (one for each person)
olive oil
salt to taste
pepper to taste

method (soup base)

pour a few tablespoons of olive oil into the base of a large saucepan and heat..add onion and celery and saute for a few minutes..add chilli and bacon and continue to saute until the onion is translucent and starting to brown on the edges..add garlic and potato and stir for a minute and then add the tomato juice..bring to boil..lower to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender..add celery leaves..stir and turn off the heat..

method (trachana) 

when the soup is nearly cooked bring the extra tomato juice to the boil in another saucepan..add trachana and cook stirring for 5 minutes..turn off heat and cover until the soup is ready..

to serve

in a large shallow soup bowl place a large serving spoon of the trachanas and a cup of grated zucchini..pour over soup making sure each bowl gets some potato and bacon..top with a ball of cheese..sprinkle with chives, drizzle with olive oil and lastly a grating of black pepper..

notes:
* i like using grated raw zucchini because it gives the soup a summery freshness..the zucchini is cooked enough with the heat of soup as it's poured into the bowl..and if i make a big pot of the base soup the zucchini doesn't end up being overcooked when the soup is reheated..

** trachanas is available commercially but some greek women still make it by hand..i made it once under the instruction of my landlady..it consisted of making a dough with flour, yoghurt and eggs which was rolled out thinly, covered, and left to dry inside on a sheet covered table..as it dried it was progressively crumbled and then once completely dry stored in calico bags..it's often served for breakfast where it is boiled in water and served with crumbled feta and a drizzle of olive oil..

i don't add it directly to the soup because it's easier to apportion when cooked separately and to avoid the problem as with the zucchini of overcooking it when reheating

***i bottled some more tomato puree this week and, because the tomatoes were very juicy and i wanted a thick puree, i drained the tomatoes in a colander after skinning and deseeding..this left me with several litres of a lovely fresh tomato juice some of which i used in this recipe to form the base of the soup..

text highlighted in green represents homegrown ingredients

i originally wanted to use fontina cheese in this recipe for it's melting softness but i think the 'bite' of the cheddar offered a more interesting contrast to the other flavours..

happy weekend everyone..x

fakes soupa

when my husband was doing his mandatory national service with the greek army he was posted in a small town called edessa in the north of greece and even though he had officer status he was paid only $100 a month..the only work available to me was in summer packing peaches in a dusty shed situated in the peach fields and even though most afternoons i tutored a friend i had made there in english it wasn't a paid job..as a consequence we had to live a very frugal life..

in terms of our accommodation we managed by renting a part of a house which had no running hot water in the kitchen or cooking facilities and no heating but it did have a hot water system in the outdoor bathroom so that we could shower..the hot water system was similar to the coppers our grandmothers used for washing except that the copper or water storage tank was enclosed in a brick structure with a small aperture at the bottom where the fire was lit to heat the water..for the two of us to shower in winter when the temperature dropped to minus 15 degrees c i would have to make sure the fire was going all day..

i said earlier there were no cooking facilities but that's not entirely accurate because there was a decrepit wood burning oven in the kitchen that i tried to get going after spending hours cleaning but to no avail..so i did what a lot of greek women do..i cooked on a three burner gas camp stove for certain meals and those that required an oven i took to the local baker who would cook the food for the equivalent of $0.20..sometimes in winter i would cook in a little wood fired oven that the woman from whom we rented would have going downstairs in her bedroom to heat her room..regardless of whether the food i cooked in that oven was savoury or sweet it always tasted better than any food cooked with gas or electricity..

lentil soup (fakes soupa) is a favourite with greeks and it can constitute a meal in itself with feta cheese or yoghurt and a cooked green salad so i started making it regularly because it was something i could make on my camp stove and because it was cheap and nutritious..the lentil soup i made back then was typically greek and i really enjoyed it but over time i have adapted the recipe without eclipsing its origins..the original recipe comes from a book i bought when i was living in greece and that is now falling apart with use.. 

one of my first cookbooks

and much loved! 

the basis of the recipe i now use is the same as the original but with a few tweaks here and there according to how i'm feeling on the day, and what i have on hand, so i don't follow a strict recipe per se which makes it a bit hard to write out but this is the one i made last night..

250 gms lentils (i prefer the small puy lentils)
1 onion cut into small dice
2-3 cloves of garlic cut fine
1 red chilli cut fine
2 tbs olive oil
750 mls tomato puree
1500 homemade chicken stock
1-2 bay leaves
3 tbs (or to taste) of cider vinegar
2 carrots cut into medium dice
2 medium sized potatoes cut into medium dice
a large handfull of rocket
salt
extra olive oil
grated mizithra

• check lentils for grit and stones and rinse well
• saute onion, garlic and chilli in oil until softened
• add lentils, stock and tomato and bring to boil, reduce to simmer, and then cook for 30 minutes
• add carrot, potato, bay leaves, vinegar and salt to taste and cook until the lentils and vegetables are soft
• add rocket and cook for a minute

put a couple of tablespoons of cooked brown rice in the bottom of a large shallow soup bowl, pour over soup and drizzle with extra olive oil and a dusting of mizithra cheese..

and serve with a big chunk of homemade sourdough bread..

frugal friday..

preserved pears

i bought four kilos of pears this week for $0.80 cents a kilo..i peeled them, cut them into medium dice and poached the dice for 2 minutes in a light sugar syrup with a vanilla bean, a couple of cloves, a small piece of cinnamon stick and an allspice..then i bottled them adding the poaching liquid and processed them in my fowler's preserver..

pear vinegar

inspired by 'old days old ways' recipe for fruit scrap vinegar i kept the pear peelings from the pears i bottled and added 1/4 cup of sugar dissolved in 1200 mls water to the peelings..i'm really looking forward to seeing what happens over the next few days..will i be having a lovely pear, walnut and rocket salad with my own pear vinegar this summer?..if it works i am going to celebrate with the purchase of some roquefort to go with that salad!

crabapple butter

on wednesday i made a little jar of crabapple jelly and i was left with the pulp after draining the liquor and today i was left with some pear poaching liquid..so i put the pulp through a sieve and added it to the poaching liquid and cooked it down into a crabapple butter..

tofu, vegetable and brown rice soup

this week i made a large pot of stock after roasting some bones and meat trimmings with a few aromatic vegetables..this was all then boiled gently with celery, parsley, a strip of lemon, a fresh chilli and salt and pepper..today i removed the fat and strained it through muslin and made a simple soup with onion, celery, carrot, more fresh chilli, home bottled tomato puree and half of the stock..at the last minute i added batons of organic tofu, that i had bought at half price last week, and celery leaves cut fine..i cooked brown rice separately and added a few spoons to the soup bowl before adding the soup (i do this with pasta and rice)..i then grated myzithra over the soup..

sultana cupcakes

i was left with an egg yolk and half an egg white after making the candied violets earlier this week so today i made half a dozen sultana cupcakes..the bit of missing egg white means they are not quite as perky as usual but i'm eating one as i write this and taste wise they are the same as usual.. 

an accidental tea rescue

i was given a packet of english breakfast tea by a dear friend for christmas and because i don't like to have lots of packets of similar teas on the go i poured the gifted tea into my very large tea canister to join a couple of packets of a similar blend..i didn't notice though that the tea i had added was flavoured with vanilla until the next day when i made a pot of tea..now i love vanilla but not vanilla flavoured tea and the vanilla had permeated all the tea in the canister..so for quite a while now that large quantity of tea has been languishing in the canister..i can't drink it and i can't throw it out..anyway this morning the only tea i had left was a packet of earl grey tea and the vanilla tea and i'm not a huge fan of earl grey either but i do like a little mixed with a less aromatic tea occasionally..but today if i wanted to have a cup of tea and i didn't want to mission to the shops at 6.30 am i had no choice..so i popped a bit of 'earl' in the pot and in a rash moment added an equal quantity of 'vanilla'.. to my great surprise the combination works well..especially with the sultana cupcakes..jane