Carrot and Coriander Soup

I found these bad boys down at the organic shop during a trip to (the packed and awful)  Dubai Mall yesterday and they just screamed carrot and coriander soup. Well, carrots don't scream and if they did it would probably be something along the lines of 'don't eat me' but you know what I mean. The flavour is out of this world and the consequent soup is made brilliant by the sheer 'pow' of organic ingredients.

So please don't try and make this with those little orange sticky things that Spinneys et al sell. Make this with unpeeled, organic carrots and oranges. You'll never look back.

Ingredients

• 800g organic carrots
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 medium (200g or so) potato, chopped
• 2 oranges, grated zest and juice
• 1.2 litres good, light stock
• 1/2 tsp salt
• A pinch of sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds

Wash the carrots with a stiff vegetable brush and chop 'em. Throw the chopped carrot in a pan along with the chopped onion, potato and olive oil. Sweat these over a medium heat for 10 minutes or so, giving the occasional stir. Add the pinch of sugar. Meanwhile toast the coriander seeds in a frying pan, you want them starting to brown and giving off that rich, slightly burned orangey coriander seed smell. Add the stock to the vegetables, remembering to congratulate yourself on using a light home-made vegetable stock or a mixture of 1/2 chicken stock and 1/2 water rather than being a lazy bum and spoiling everything by using that gross mixture of salt, msg and celery flavoids that commercial stock cubes are packed with.

Cook the vegetables for a further 10-15 minutes until they have softened, adding salt to taste at the end of cooking. Pitch in the orange juice, coriander seeds and the orange zest and stir these in, cooking for a further couple of minutes before removing from the heat and whizzing comprehensively using whatever whizzy solution you prefer.

Serve with crusty french bread, laced with cream or perhaps even a chopped coriander-leaf laced drizzle of olive oil. This soup is also stunning served cold with, may I suggest, a cheeky little quenelle of sour cream floating in it.

Crispy "Seaweed"

Alexander’s post below got me thinking about pak choy and a couple of things came to mind.

First of all we do have another pak choy recipe on the blog so check it out here .

Secondly the most common way the Chinese cook this vegetable is one of the most simplest, literally heat a wok over high heat, add 1 tbsp groundnut oil until smoking, throw in 3 chopped cloves of garlic and ½tsp sea salt, stir for 15secs, throw in roughly chopped pak choy, fry very quickly for 2 mins, tip out onto plate and serve.

Another recipe is for that old Chinese restaurant classic ‘Crispy Seaweed’, which isn’t seaweed at all but fried shredded pak choy. Thought I’d share.

You will need:

1kg pak choy
1 litre groundnut oil
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp granulated sugar
50g lightly toasted pine nuts

And then you need to:

Heat an oven to 120C/250F

Wash and dry the pak choy thoroughly.

Remove the green leaves from the white stalks. Roll the green leaves up tightly and then finely shred them into thin ribbons. You can use the white stalks in a stir fry vegetable recipe.

Spread them out on a dry baking tray and place in the oven for about 10 mins. Remove and leave to cool.

Heat a wok over high heat, add the oil and when hot deep fry the greens in 3 or 4 batches. It will only take them about 30 seconds to turn crispy (don’t let them brown), remove immediately and place on kitchen towel to drain.

Once all cooked place into large bowl, sprinkle the salt and sugar and give it a good toss. Add the pine nuts and serve.

Simple Potato Salad

I like to serve this basic potato salad when it is really pretty cold but its important to mix in the mayonnaise and the cream whilst the potatoes are still warm.

You will need:

4 medium sized potato
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp double cream
2 spring onions chopped fine
Small handful chopped fresh parsley
A few sprigs of fresh chives chopped
5 cornichons chopped fine
¼ tsp hot pimento
1 level tsp paprika
Salt and black pepper

And then you need to:

Peel and chop the potatoes into small chunks. I like mine really quite small but cut them how you want.

Place in cold salted water and bring to the boil, cook until quite tender.

In a large bowl combine all other ingredients

When the potatoes are cooked drain in a colander and throw them into the bowl with the creamy mixture. Give a good but gentle stir and mix well.

Breaded Mushrooms

With Dill Mayonnaise

These should really be deep fried, but this version cuts down on the fat attack while preserving the yumminess.

Ingredients

• 24 button mushrooms
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp flour

Coating

• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• ½ tsp powdered coriander
• 1 tsp powdered cumin
• 1 tsp powdered red chili
• ½ tsp madras curry powder
• 1 tsp salt

Dill Mayonnaise

• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp plain yoghurt
• 1 handful finely chopped fresh dill

Clean the mushrooms using a brush or paper towels. Remove the stalks. Mix the eggs and flour together and then, using a bamboo skewer, dip each mushroom first in the batter and then into the breadcrumbs, making sure they’re thoroughly covered.

Place each mushroom on a well-oiled baking tray and bake for 20 minutes at GM6/200C/400F, turning once about halfway through.

Smoked Potatoes

This is a quick side dish for barbecues, and it is really delicious and different. It cooks by itself, almost impossible to overcook and has always been a hit. I use a Cameron`s stovetop smoker, but it can be done in a wok, a saute pan or even a large aluminium  foil roasting pan. If you do use your favourite wok, line it with foil first.

You will need:

3 large roasting potatoes, cut into  1,5 cm slices (leave the skins on if they are clean)

5g hungarian paprika

5g freshly ground black pepper

5g kosher, or large- grained salt.

Smoking mixture - I use applewood chips, but you can use the following mixture

200g rice (any kind)

30g brown sugar,

30g tea leaves

To this you can add szechuan peppercorns, cumin, or whatever turns you on. You

only need about 220g in total of the mixture.

If not using a smoker, line the wok  or saute pan with foil. Place the smoking mixture or wood chips in the bottom, place the sliced potatoes on a rack in the pan or smoker, season with the next 3 ingredints and close the smoker cover, or cover the pan or wok with foil.    Make sure there is plenty of ventilation or do this outdoors. When smoke starts to curl around the outer edges of the pan, turn the heat to low. Leave on medium heat for 35-40 minutes, or until cooked. Check the seasoning  and that`s it.

Goes well with chicken, sausages, any  barbecued meat.

Dauphinoise Potatoes

Can’t believe that I haven’t posted this recipe before......what an omission! To cook something 'à la Dauphinoise' means to bake it in a slow oven with cream and garlic.


You will need

500g potatoes
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
100ml full-fat crème fraîche
100ml double cream
100ml fresh milk
2 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 onion, sliced into thin rings
100g grated gruyere
50g grated parmesan


And then you need to:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350F

Peel the potatoes and slice them wafer-thin, preferably using a mandolin and preferably without including the tips of your fingers. Put in large bowl, cover with cold water and leave to sit for about 10 minutes.

Put the milk, creme fraiche, double cream and bay leaves in a large saucepan and gently bring to the boil.

Drain the potatoes well and put into the saucepan with the heated milk/cream. Simmer gently for no more than five minutes.

Rub butter over the bottom of a baking dish, and then spread a thin layer of sliced onions. With a slotted spoon remove about half of the potatoes and layer them roughly in the baking dish.

Sprinkle half of the chopped garlic and half of the remaining onions over the potatoes. Cover with half of the gruyere cheese.

Season generously with salt and black pepper.

Then layer the rest of the potatoes on top. Try and make the top layer look neat and tidy with overlapping slices of potatoes.

When all the potatoes are in, sprinkle the rest of the garlic and onions on top and pour over the milky, creamy mixture from the saucepan. Remove the bay leaves. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese and the rest of the gruyere on top.

Season again.

Cover with foil and place in the oven.

After 50-60 minutes remove the foil and cook for a further 20 minutes.

Pak Choy with Chinese Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce

This is a great side dish and accompaniment to something like the Kung Po chicken. It takes about 2 minutes to cook as well so it is perfect.

You will need:

1 head of long pak choy
50g dried Chinese mushrooms (you can buy these in Spinneys)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp soaking liquid from mushrooms
Salt
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
Small knob of fresh ginger, finely chopped.


And then you need to:

Lay the whole head of pak choy lengthways on a chopping board. Chop off the root end so all the stalks separate and then slice them through every 3cm into chunks.

If you are using baby pak choy you will probably only need to make one or two slices.

Discard the root end.

Wash very well and spin dry.

Place the mushrooms in a deep bowl and cover with boiling water. Put a plate or lid over them and leave to soak for at least 30minutes. Preferably longer.

Once done, remove the mushrooms (reserve the liquid), squeeze dry and cut into largish pieces. Discard the central stem as that will still be very hard.

Heat a wok over medium high heat with 1 tbsp groundnut oil until smoking. Throw in the garlic and ginger immediately followed by the chopped pak choy. Sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt, and give it all a very good stir.

Add the mushrooms, the oyster sauce and the mushroom soaking liquid and stir fry for about 1 minute. Tip out straightaway onto a warmed serving platter.

Baked Mushrooms with Mustard Tarragon Butter

And here is another fabulously easy mushroom recipe. This is great to serve as a starter with chunks of good bread to mop up the herby garlicky sauces.


You will need:

8 large portobella mushrooms
125g soft butter
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
8 tarragon stems, pull the leaves off and chop
Juice of ½ lemon
EV Olive oil


And then you need to:

Preheat an oven to 200C/400F.

Mix the butter with the garlic, the mustard, the tarragon, the lemon juice and a little salt and pepper.

Wipe the mushrooms and then smear the butter mixture over them all. Drizzle with a little olive oil.

Put mushrooms into a roasting tin, cover with foil and place in the oven for 25 minutes. It really couldn’t be easier!

Melanzane alla Parmigiano

This makes a wonderful side dish to roast lamb and is incredibly easy to throw together. Both aubergine and lamb are still in season so get out and there and make the most of it.

If you want to jazz this up a little and make it a bit posh serve it individually by layering the aubergines, tomatoes etc in a ramekin dish. It’s the little touches you know.



You will need:

2 good sized aubergines
4 plum tomatoes
100ml basic tomato sauce
200g fresh mozzarella
50g fresh parmesan, grated
Small handful fresh basil shredded.
Seasoning


And then you need to:

Slice the aubergine into quite thin rounds and then dry fry them in a frying pan until browned on both sides.

Slice the tomatoes into rounds

Wipe the bottom of a medium-sized baking dish with olive oil and then layer the cooked aubergine on the bottom. Next layer the sliced tomatoes. Spoon over the tomato sauce, sprinkle over the basil.

Chop the fresh mozzarella into little pieces and sprinkle over the top and then sprinkle the grated parmesan.

If you are serving this individually in ramekins try and make two layers of each.

Cook in a medium hot oven (180C/370F) for about ten or fifteen minutes until cheese has melted and browned slightly.

Red Mung Dal

Mung dal is a naturally yellowy green colour, but this combines red spices and ingredients to give a distinctively rich coloured (and flavoured) dal. If you're looking for subtlety and delicate flavourings, give this a miss: it's a whammy of a dal but ideal for something as strong and rich as beef madras.

Ingredients

• 200g split mung dal
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp coriander
• ½ tsp red chilli powder
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 small red onion, halved
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 red chilli
• Oil

Rinse the dal and then place in a pan together with a litre of water and bring to a boil, skimming off any brown foam from the surface. Turn the heat to low and stir in the turmeric and the salt. Partly cover the pan (if you fully cover it you’ll be playing ‘wash the dal off the top of the cooker’ in no time) and let it cook away for 40 minutes or so, giving it the occasional stir. While that’s cooking, halve the onion: chop one half finely and slice the other half finely. In a small pan, fry the sliced onion in oil until it browns and crisps up. Reserve. In the same pan, heat a little more oil and then add the chopped onion, the chilli, the garlic and the spices. Cook these up for a couple of minutes and then stir into the dal. Heat through and stir until you’re happy you’ve got a nice, thick, rich dal and then serve with the browned onion to garnish.

Warm Aubergine and Pomegranate Salad

This is a great BBQ side-dish, or delicious served alongside a few slices of this season’s Spring lamb.

You will need:

6 local long thin aubergines, cut in half lengthways
1 red onion, cut into wedges
100ml EV olive oil
2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
Lemon zest/rind from 1 lemon
1 clove garlic chopped fine
2 teaspoons sumac
Good sized handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped fine
200g feta cheese, cut into small cubes
1 pomegranate
1 tsp balsamic vinegar

And then you need to:

Pre-heat an oven to 200C/400F.

In a small bowl combine half the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest and the sumac. Season.

Place the aubergine and onions on a roasting tray and pour over the olive oil mixture. Give it a good toss. Go on, get stuck in and get your hands dirty.

Roast for about 30 minutes, remove from oven and set to one side.

Cut the pomegranate in half across its equator. With one half squeeze as much juice out as you can over a large bowl. Pick out any bits of the white pith that might have fallen in. With the other half holding the cut side down over the same bowl start hitting the skin side with a wooden spoon. Soon all the little seeds will start falling out.

Pour into the pomegranate juice/seeds the remaining olive oil, the balsamic and any juices from the roasting tray.

Arrange the aubergine and onions on a large shallow dish, pour over the pomegranate mixture, sprinkle the feta and the chopped parsley all over and serve.

Grilled Vegetables with Saffron Aioli

This makes a great side dish for a BBQ, especially as all the vegetables can be cooked on the griddle.


You will need (serves 4 as a side dish):

200g fresh asparagus
1 red pepper
4 plum tomatoes
1 courgette

For the aioli:

3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp honey
Large pinch saffron threads
3 cloves garlic.
5 tbsp decent mayonnaise


First off make the aioli.

Blanch the garlic cloves with their skin on in boiling water for about 2 or 3 mins then pop them out of their skins and mash with a fork.

Put the vinegar, honey and saffron in a small pan and over a medium heat bring to a boil, stir and then remove. Leave to stand and cool.

Put the mayonnaise into a large bowl and mix in the mashed garlic. Add 1 tbsp at a time of the honey/saffron liquid. Give it a good mix and taste each time. You probably will not have to use all the liquid but add until you’ve reached a taste that you like; slightly sweet, a little bit sharp, garlicky, a bit runny and a wonderful golden colour.

Cut the courgette into three or four strips lengthways. Chop the red pepper into quarters, discarding the seeds and the pith. Chop the tomatoes in half.

Put all the vegetables, including the asparagus into a large bowl, toss with a little olive oil and with a big glass of wine in one hand take the bowl outside to the pre-heated BBQ.

Gently grill all the vegetables and then arrange on a flat platter. Drizzle them with about half of the aioli and put the rest in a bowl beside the dish. Serve.

Open Mushroom Ravioli

UPDATED 4th MAY 2008



This recipe is a complete invention but was inspired by something I had eaten at Bord Eau a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway, I have tried to figure out the various amounts etc that I used so I can present to you, gentle readers, my recipe!

Ingredients:

Selection of mushrooms (I used Portobello, shitake and mixed field mushrooms)
25g dried porcini mushrooms
4 sheets of fresh lasagne pasta
1 shallot, chopped roughly
1 small red onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
150ml white wine
1 tbsp marsala
300ml good chicken stock
100ml double cream
Fresh parsley, washed and chopped
Parmesan cheese


In a bowl pour 200ml or so of boiling water over the dried porcini mushrooms and leave to soak for about 30 minutes.

In a small saucepan add the wine and the chopped shallots and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and reduce the liquid by about half.

Using your hands scoop out the soaked porcini mushrooms and squeeze them dry. Using a very fine sieve, and being careful not to disturb the sediment, pour the soaking liquid into the saucepan with the reduced wine. Continue to reduce this liquid again by about half. Add the chicken stock and yet again boil it down until you are left with about 200ml of sauce. Strain through a fine sieve to remove the shallots (keep them), adjust seasoning, and set to one side.

Clean and then chop the mushrooms into smaller bite sized bits.

Whisk the double cream until it is quite stiff and will easily form soft peaks.

In a large saucepan heat a splash of olive oil over medium heat, throw in chopped onions, and the shallots from the sauce, and garlic and gently saute for about 5 minutes. Add all the mushrooms, 1 tbsp of marsala and a couple of tsp of chopped parsley and give them a quick blast for about 2 minutes or so. Tip into a baking dish and put into a hot oven (200C/400F) for about 8 minutes. The reason I did this was to intensify the flavours a little without letting the mushrooms ‘bleed’ too much.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, drop in the lasagne sheets and cook per instructions but for probably about 5 minutes. Drain and cut each sheet in half across the width so that you are left with two largish squares.

Heat the sauce again to a very gentle bubble and off the heat whisk in the whipped cream. You will need to be quite quick from now on in because the whipped cream creates a sort of foaming effect and so you want to get in on the plate and served before it stops!

Place one square of the pasta on a warmed good-sized shallow dish or plate, spoon a portion of the mushroom mixture in the middle of the square and then lay the other square of cooked pasta on top.

Pour a couple of spoons of the foaming sauce over the top, sprinkle with some chopped parsley and/or chives and some shavings of parmesan and serve straightaway. I happen to have a lovely little bottle of truffle oil that some friends very kindly brought me back from Croatia and I also sprinkled a little of this around each plate.

This dish looks fantastic, tastes very sophisticated and grown up and is actually quite easy to put together.

Yellow Potato Curry

Peeling the potatoes when they're still hot is finger-killing work - only a Sri Lankan housewife can do this without running around the kitchen and howling like Wile E. Coyote after a really daft attempt at the Road Runner. Believe me, I've tried it.

So run them under a slow cold tap while you're peeling them: it won't harm them at all but you'll retain the ability to play the piano.

Ingredients

• 5 medium potatoes
• 2 onions, sliced
• 1 green chilli, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• Handful curry leaves
• ½ teaspoon powdered turmeric
• 3-4 small pieces cassia
• 1 tsp crushed red chilis
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 tbs oil
• 225ml coconut milk

Boil the potatoes in their skins until softened but still firm-fleshed, probably around 20-30 minutes’ cooking time, depending on their size. Allow them to cool a little, then peel them and then cut them into chunks. Fry all of the other ingredients together in the oil for 3-4 minutes, stirring to combine and evenly cook. Add the potatoes and heat through, then add the coconut milk, allow to cook and combine for 5-10 minutes and then serve.

Dal Curry

Richer than yer average dal, as rich as a fresh Otter’s Liver Paté, this is an aromatic delight to accompany any curry: the coconut milk rounds it off very nicely, thank you!

Ingredients

• 300g red lentils (masoor dal), washed
• 1 inch pandan leaf
• 1 handful curry leaves
• ½ onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 green chilli, chopped
• 2 cm cassia
• ½ tsp dried turmeric
• ½ tsp red chilli powder
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp salt

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seed
• ½ small onion, sliced finely
• 225 ml coconut milk

Put all of the ingredients, barring the final four in the list, in a pan and bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring occasionally and adding more water if required. When the dal has softened (30 minutes or so), heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a small pan then add the mustard seed and the sliced onion: stir this to brown (but not burn) the onion. Stir the onion into the dal, then add the coconut milk. Heat over a low heat, stirring occasionally, then serve.

Pommes Frites

They say the Belgians make the very best pomme frites and this version here is based on the double frying technique that they generally employ.

Ingredients:

1 large potato per person
A neutral oil for deep frying


To make the frites peel and chop into thick or thin (as you prefer) chips/fries and put into large bowl filled with cold water. The Belgian way is for very thin frites and if you have a good mandolin it will probably have a setting on it to slice the potatoes very quickly.

In a deep wok or pot heat about 1 litre of oil (I usually use a neutral oil like sunflower, but groundnut would also be okay....it needs to have a high smoking point) to about 150C. On my cooker that is a medium heat. Make sure the oil is hot, drain the potatoes, dry on a clean dish cloth and add the potatoes to the oil. The oil will splutter and hiss quite vigorously at this stage so stand back.

Cook potatoes for about 5 mins, remove and drain.

Just as you are about ready to eat, heat the oil to 185C (medium-hot setting) and again when hot put the partly cooked frites back in again. Give them another 5 mins, (maybe less, keep an eye on them) remove, drain on kitchen paper, put in a dish and give them a really good grind of sea salt.

Serve immediately.

Roasted Plum Tomato Feuillete

This makes a wonderful starter, simple to do, pop it into the oven a little while after the guests arrive and away you go.

Ingredients, serves 4:

• 4 plum tomatoes
• EV Olive oil
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• Puff pastry, ready rolled if available.
• Fresh basil leaves (2 whole leaves per person and a similar number again)
• 250g mascarpone cheese

And then you need to:

Slice the tomatoes into two lengthways.

Top tip here: if you look at the stalk end of a plum tomato you will see that it has two small mounds and two small dips. If you slice the tomato down through the mounds it will open up all the lovely flesh and pips, if you slice down through the troughs it will open up showing only the whitish pith.

In a small dish place the tomatoes cut side up, sprinkle with a pinch of coarse sea salt, drizzle about 2 tbsp EV olive oil and the balsamic vinegar. Pop into oven heated to 160C/325F and leave for about 45 mins.

Finely chop half of the basil and stir it into the mascarpone. Taking two dessert spoons make the mascarpone into ‘quenelles’ (small rugby-ball shaped dumpling), one per person.

Roll out the pastry (better still use a ready rolled sheet!) until about the thickness of about 2 or 3mm and with a small bowl or pastry cutter cut out circles (one per person) about 10 cm in diameter. Place them on a lightly oiled baking tray and with a small sharp knife lightly score a line 1 cm in from the edge all the way around, forming a sort of border.

If you have some pastry left over and want to make ‘lids’ for the tarts then feel free but bake them on a separate baking tray.

Place two fresh basil leaves on each pastry circle, place two of the roasted tomatoes on top of the basil, making sure they are inside of the lightly scored line. Put the tray in the oven at 175C/350F for about 12-15 mins, keep an eye on them.

When the pastry has risen and has turned golden remove from the oven. Carefully remove the tarts from the tray and place on plates. Place 1 quenelle of mascarpone on top of each feuillete and serve immediately.

I normally serve this with a few dressed roquette or manche (lambs lettuce) leaves to give a bit of colour.

There are lots of alternatives you could play with. For example substitute mascarpone for goats cheese is excellent (though if you do this cook the goats cheese, put it on top of the tomato tart before putting them in the oven).

Also a little smear of pesto on the pastry before adding the roasted tomatoes is lovely.

Truffado

Elizabeth David discovered this dish in the Auvergne, although I have seen it prepared in Normandy, Poitiers and elsewhere. It is an impressive dish, for all its simplicity. You can use virtually any cheese for the topping, but I've found Raclette to be the best. An alternative is the creamy Chaumes or a brie.

This recipe serves two as a generous main course with cold meats and salad, and four if served as a side vegetable. Cut it into slices with a pizza wheel.

Ingredients

• 500g potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 50g butter
• 100g soft cheese, in 1cm cube
• A generous pinch of nutmeg

Melt the butter on a medium heat in a frying pan. Add the olive oil and then fry the garlic slivers gently for a minute or so. Add the sliced potato, sprinkle it with the nutmeg, cover and cook for 15 minutes over a low heat. At the end of this time, the potato should be a dark golden brown and crisp on the base: slide a spatula or two underneath the cake and flip it over, cover it again and cook for a further five minutes. Sprinkle the cheese strips over the top of the potato and cook for another two minutes until it has melted, slice it up using a pizza wheel or a knife, then serve immediately.