Eat, My Friend

Your branches are a pomegranate orchard

with all precious fruits, henna and roses

saffron and spikenard, cassia, cinnamon

with frankincense trees, myrrh and aloes

all perfect spices …

Eat, my friend, drink -

lover be drunk with love

(The Song of Songs)

It’s time again for the Daring Bakers challenge. This month’s challenge is brought to us by Karen of Baking Soda and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux. They also gave us a savoury option too – Tuilles from The French Laundry Cookbook (Thomas Keller).

I took the savoury option but did alter the recipe ever so slightly, since when did I not? Instead of scattering the tuille batter with sesame seeds I used pomegranate powder to dust them with. Pomegranate powder is a reddish brown powder, also called anardana, which is made from the dried seeds of pomegranates; it has a tangy almost tart taste.

The tuiles were incredibly easy to make, much easier than I anticipated when I saw the challenge first time round but I have to say as much as I love The French Laundry Cookbook (Thomas Keller) I was highly disappointed with the result of the tuiles, they were greasy and had a very poor mouth-feel when eaten plain, on serving with the accompaniment they were ever so slightly better but whether that was my lack of skill or a problem with the recipe I don’t know, I’ll be interested to know how other Daring Baker’s found them.  

We were allowed to either form the shape of the tuiles pre or post baking, I did it half way through baking – at the point in the recipe (see below) where you can mould the tuiles I cut them out using various shaped cookie cutters, which worked quite well I think.

So what was the accompaniment? Well it had to fulfil the following criteria of being light and I took this to mean healthy too: I chose a pomegranate soup (Ashe-e-Anar) from my lovely new book Middle Eastern Cookery (Arto Der Haroutunian).  

Middle Eastern Cookery (Arto Der Haroutunian) is a fabulous book which has been out of print for several years, rereleased last year and to quote The Oxford Times:

it is the seminal work from the Middle East. It was his belief that the rich culinary tradition of the Middle East is the main source for many of our Western cuisine. As it contains every possible recipe from the region, which are peppered with anecdotes on life, food, and Middle Eastern culture, this book will provide real foodies with a classic they can enjoy for years to come.

They certainly haven’t got it wrong in my opinion, despite the book containing absolutely no pictures the recipes are so vividly portrayed in words leaving the reader absolutely drooling at the images they conjure in their mind. If you haven’t seen a copy I recommend you get your hands on one fast.

The pomegranate soup seemed to fit the bill so well, light, healthy, refreshing and cleansing, what could be a better alternative? For once I left the recipe alone, with one minor addition, I scattered pomegranate seeds over the top of the soup, how could I resist? Pomegranate seeds are so pretty aren’t they, little juicy, red pearls of goodness. No wonder scholars debate if the pomegranate was the original forbidden fruit bitten into by Eve in the Garden of Eden; how could she deny herself the pleasure?

Pomegranates are not only seen in that poor light, in fact they are held in high esteem in both the Jewish and Christian religions, Exodus 28:33-34 directed that images of pomegranates be woven onto the hem of the me’il (“robe of the ephod”), a robe worn by the Hebrew High Priest. 1 Kings 7:13-22 describes pomegranates depicted on the capitals of the two pilars (Jachin and Boaz) which stood in front of the temple King Solomon built in Jerusalem. It is said that Solomon designed his coronet based on the pomegranate’s “crown” (calyx). Jewish tradition teaches that the pomegranate is a symbol for righteousness, because it is said to have 613 seeds which corresponds with the 613 mitzvot or commandments of the Torah. For this reason and others, many Jews eat pomegranates on Rosh Hashanah. However, the actual number of seeds varies with individual fruits. It is also a symbol of fruitfulness. The pomegranate is one of the few images which appear on ancient coins of Judea as a holy symbol, and today many Torah scrolls are stored while not in use with a pair of decorative hollow silver “pomegranates” (rimmonim) placed over the two upper scroll handles. Pomegranate is one of the Seven Species (Hebrew: שבעת המינים, Shiv’at Ha-Minim), the types of fruits and grains enumerated in the Hebrew Bible as being special products of the Land of Israel. For the same reasons, pomegranates are a motif found in Christian religious decoration. They are often woven into the fabric of vestments and liturgical hangings or wrought in metalwork. Pomegranates figure in many religious paintings by the likes of Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci, often in the hands of the Virgin Mary or the infant Jesus. The fruit, broken or bursting open, is a symbol of the fullness of his suffering and resurrection.

Who would have thought a fruit would have such history? I digress, so back to the soup.

Pomegranate soup is popular throughout the Caucasus and Northern Iran, it has recently become popular in Israel too due to immigration.

The soup is sweet but sour, warming and filling but light at the same time. It should be served hot but I’d be tempted, should the weather ever brighten up here, to serve it at room temperature on a warm, sunny evening.

The sweet-sour balance comes from the sharp pomegranate molasses and the warming sweetness of the cinnamon with the pomegranate seeds bursting like living garnets to add just the right splash of tartness to each spoonful. 

The inclusion of a small amount of long grain rice really makes the soup a meal in itself but it is customary in many areas in the Middle East to add some Kibbeh (meatballs) to the dish too. I partook in this tradition and included Dabgvadz Kufta (Fried Kibbeh Meatballs) too. However to keep them crunchy I served them in a separate bowl rather than dropped into the soup, allowing everyone to help themselves as they wanted them.

Crisp, fragrant, gently spiced bites of bulgur wheat and minced lamb, dotted with pomegranate seeds, seemed the perfect accompaniment

I am also entering the pomegranate photo (one of my best ever pics I feel) to the competition CLICK which is hosted by Jugalbandi, this months competition focuses on any foodie thing red.

The Recipes (slightly adapted):

Tuiles:

• 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons all purpose flour 
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar 
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool to the touch 
• 2 large egg whites, cold 
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate powder

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk the softened butter until it is completely smooth and mayonnaise-like in texture. Using a stiff spatula or spoon, beat the egg whites into the dry ingredients until completely incorporated and smooth. Whisk in the softened butter by thirds, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary and whisking until the batter is creamy and without any lumps. Transfer the batter to a smaller container, as it will be easier to work with.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
3. Make a 4-inch hollow circular stencil. Place Silpat on the counter (it is easier to work on the Silpat before it is put on the sheet pan). Place the stencil in one corner of the sheet and, holding the stencil flat against the Silpat, scoop some of the batter onto the back of an offset spatula and spread it in an even layer over the stencil. Then run the spatula over the entire stencil to remove any excess batter. After baking the first batch of tuiles, you will be able to judge the correct thickness. You may need a little more or less batter to adjust the thickness of the tuiles.
4. There should not be any holes in the batter. Lift the stencil and repeat the process to make as many rounds/hearts etc as you wish, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between the tuiles.
5. Place the Silpat on a heavy baking sheet and bake for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the batter is set and you see it rippling from the heat. The cornets may have browned in some areas, but they will not be evenly browned at this point.
6. Open the oven door and place the baking sheet on the door. This will help keep the tuiles warm as you roll them and prevent them from becoming too stiff . Cut into the desired shape and sprinkle with the pomegranate powder.
7. When all the tuiles are sprinkled, return them to the oven shelf, close the door, and bake for an additional 3 to 4 minutes to set the seams and color the cornets a golden brown. If the color is uneven, stand the cornets on end for a minute or so more, until the color is even. Remove the cornets from the oven and allow to cool just slightly, 30 seconds or so. 
8. Gently remove the tuiles from the tray and cool for several minutes on paper towels. Remove the Silpat from the baking sheet, wipe the excess butter from it, and allow it to cool down before spreading the next batch. Store the tuiles for up to 2 days (for maximum flavor) in an airtight container

Soup:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 4 spring onions finely sliced
• 75g long grain white rice, washed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
• 4 tablespoons fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 100g fresh spinach, wilted and roughly chopped
• 1.8 litres water (I used home made vegetable stock)
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
• 1 tablespoon dried mint
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Melt the butter in a deep saucepan and fry the spring onions until tender and turning golden brown.
2. Add the rice, salt, pepper, spinach and herbs and stir for a minute or two.
3. Add the stock and pomegranate molasses.
4. Simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the rice is cooked, serve.

Kibbeh:

• 175g fine burghal, washed
• 225g minced lamb
• 1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 egg

1. Mix all the ingredients together, kneading well to get a smooth dough like texture. (I used my Kitchen Aid dough hook).
2. Form into meatballs.
3. Fry in butter/ghee/oil until cooked through, golden and crisp (about 10 minutes).

Mystery Vegetable

When I got a big bag of the above strange looking tubers in my weekly vegetable box from Riverford Stockly  the immediate response from my mum was “What on Earth are they?” Luckily I recognised them but I guess lots of people wouldn’t, they’re not an overly common sight here. They are Jerusalem artichokes, a vegetable I’d never eaten until today.

The Jerusalem artichoke has no real link with Jerusalem, and isn’t related to other artichokes. It looks a bit like a knobbly pink-skinned ginger root and has a sweet, nutty flavour, reminiscent of water chestnuts. Jerusalem artichokes are native to North America. The French explorer Samuel de Champlain brought them to Europe after coming across them at Cape Cod in 1605. He described them as tasting like artichokes, and is likely to be responsible for this part of their name. The Jerusalem part is thought to be derived from girasole, the Italian for sunflower to which they are related. Another theory suggests the name is a corruption of Terneuzen, the Dutch city from where the root was introduced to England in 1616.

Jerusalem artichokes are very good for you, highly nutritious containing vitamin C, phosphorus, potassium and are a very good source of iron; they’re also good for the digestive system being very rich in inulin, a carbohydrate linked with good intestinal health due to its prebiotic (bacteria promoting) properties.

After gaining some thoughts and insight on what is best to do with the strange looking vegetable from my friends on a food forum I frequent I decided to go with a soup, after all the weather here is bitterly cold and frosty, just the kind of day you need a lovely warming cup of soup for lunch. The recipe came from Fresh Flavours from Israel by Jana Gur, a lovely book sent to me by the ever thoughtful Francesca. 

The soup certainly lived up to its name (Creamy Jerusalem Artichoke Soup) being thick, creamy (without being too rich) and silky smooth. It certainly has a distinct flavour, one I really don’t know how to explain, it’s strong and earthy, yet slightly sweet too. Other than being nutritious and highly delicious this soup is also blissfully simple to prepare.

Although not stated in the recipe I swirled in some finely chopped parsley before serving and used black pepper not white as I rather like the speckled appearance it gives the soup.

I hope more Jerusalem Artichokes are to be found in future vegetable boxes as the really are too good to miss out on.

The Recipe:

• 750g Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and diced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 leek, finely chopped
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• Salt and white pepper

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the leeks and garlic, sauté until softened and translucent.
2. Add the artichokes and sauté for a couple of minutes longer before adding the hot stock.
3. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the artichokes are tender and cooked through.
4. Puree the soup in a food processor and pass through a sieve into a clean pan, bring to the boil, add the cream and season (add herbs here too if using); serve.

On A Cold And Frosty Day

What more could you want to do on a cold autumnal day than potter around the kitchen making warming, seasonal delights? Sounds like a perfect start to the day for me, then I’d go out for a brisk walk with my Irish Setter before coming home to sample the goods, now nothing can beat that, can it?

Well I started with a pumpkin pie loaf cake, adapted from slightly from a recipe I found over on the great blog Elana’s Pantry. I changed the almond flour for half ground almonds and half rice flour, changed the agave syrup for half agave and half maple syrup and baked the mixture in a loaf tin instead, the cake still took around 45 minutes to bake though at the temperature stated.

The resulting loaf was so heavy to pick up I thought it would be incredibly dense and heavy to eat but surprisingly it wasn’t. It was however incredibly moist, well flavoured and had such an amazing texture, almost gritty but in a really good way. I think the maple syrup really helped bring out the nature of spices and pumpkin, something about a pumpkin pie loaf is so ‘American’ and it didn’t seem right to leave out the maple even though I know it comes from Canada  

The cake was drizzled with a lemon icing (just lemon juice mixed with icing sugar until the desired consistency is gained) which lent a pleasant tang to the finished cake.

I took the loaf into work and by the following day it had all been eaten, now that tells me one of two things – one the cake was a great success or two my work colleagues aren’t fussy; I hope it’s the first option

Next up is soup. Sweetcorn and red pepper soup adapted from a recipe on Riverford’s (the organic vegetable box et al supplier) website for chicken and sweetcorn soup; as you can imagine I simply swapped the chicken for a diced red pepper and for personal preference I blitzed the soup in a liquidiser because I prefer a smoother soup.

The soup was delicately spiced and so creamy, a real delight although a few more herbs wouldn’t have gone amiss, I still have a huge pot full left so maybe I’ll experiment for lunch tomorrow.
 
Hot soup and sandwiches, in this case tuna salad, has to be one of the best lazy meals going.

Savour The Moment

Yay it’s Daring Bakers time again! Not only was this month different because it’s the first savoury challenge I’ve completed as a Daring Baker but the challenge was also partly gluten free and vegan.  It had been hosted by Natalie from Gluten A Go Go, and co-host Shel, of Musings From the Fishbowl neither of which are (I confess) blogs I’ve looked at before but I don’t know how I managed to miss them as they’re excellent.

I was sure making something vegan and suitable for a gluten free diet wouldn’t be that difficult, especially with the challenge being simply crackers (Lavash to be precise) and dips. How hard could it really be? Very if I didn’t want to spend a fortune, which I certainly didn’t – I didn’t want to stock my pantry with ingredients I’d never use again. That coupled with my having a rotten chest infection at the moment put ultra creativity out the window, so please excuse the fact that the dips are a little unimaginative; in fact just excuse me if I’m making absolutely no sense at all, thank you

Lavash is common throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa although it goes by different names (obviously) and serves different purposes in different areas/with different foods, an example of this would be the Turkish Yufka which although very similar in the making to lavash is served warm while soft and supple, perfect for wrapping around meat or vegetables.

The lavash was so simple to make, in fact, I couldn’t believe how easy it was. I thought I was going to run into problems rolling out the dough, getting it thin enough I mean but it was easy.  I used strong bread flour containing gluten as I didn’t have very much gluten free flour left and I needed to save that for Murphy’s biscuits.  The dough was scattered with za’atar spice blend before being baked as I wanted to follow through with Middle Eastern character of the breads, and because I love za’atar it’s so fresh and vibrant without being too overpowering. The za’atar recipe comes from Arabic Bites, a fabulous blog run by Meedo & Zainab.

Raw Dough

Cooked Sheet of Lavash

I served the crackers with three dips – beetroot hummus, regular chickpea hummus and lemon tahina sauce. The hummus recipe came from here but to make it into beetroot hummus I simple boiled two beets until tender and blitzed them in the food processor until a rough/smooth texture was achieved before folding through a couple of tablespoons of the hummus mix and some fresh finely chopped coriander.  As for the tahina sauce well all that was blend one cup of tahina paste with 1/4 cup of water, 1/4 cup of lemon juice and one clove of grated garlic. 

Beetroot Hummus

Chickpea Hummus

Tahina Sauce

I also served them alongside a vegetarian (although not vegan) Moroccan soup, the recipe for which can be found here. I used some of the tahina sauce here too, but spiced it up with a teaspoon of harissa paste too and spooned on top of the soup before serving. They were perfect with both the dips and soup, being crisp and crunchy against the soft and creamy dips, whilst softening pleasantly under the heat of the soup.

I did scatter with soup almonds too which doesn’t meet the gluten free specifications of the challenge (or at least I don’t think they’re gluten free but then again I can’t read Hebrew) but this was done as an after thought and I suppose it doesn’t interfere with the lavash or dips.  They’re too good to miss out on though.

The Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend (If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
• agave syrup or sugar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup water, at room temperature
• Topping of your choice such as spice blends, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball.  You may not need the full 1/2 cup of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed. 
2. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough:  Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter.  Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed.  The dough should pass the windowpane test (see http://www.wikihow.com/Determine-if-Bre … ong-Enough for a discription of this) and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled.  Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Or for Gluten Free Cracker Dough:  The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), and slightly tacky. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).
4. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough:  Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter.  Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour.  Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches.  You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax.  At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down.  Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes.  When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes.  Line a sheet pan with baking parchment.  Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment.  If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors. Or For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Lay out two sheets of parchment paper.  Divide the cracker dough in half and then sandwich the dough between the two sheets of parchment.  Roll out the dough until it is a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches.  Slowly peel away the top layer of parchment paper.  Then set the bottom layer of parchment paper with the cracker dough on it onto a baking sheet. 
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf.  Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.)  Be careful with spices and salt – a little goes a long way. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough.  You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking.  If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first. 
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).
7. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.  You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

On My Soup Box

Soup is the ultimate comfort food isn’t it – soothing, warming and easy to eat. It’s also a great way to use up leftovers and excess food too. So when feeling under the weather (a horrid chest infection) and having some left over vegetables, what else can one do but make and eat vast quantities of soup? Guaranteed to make you feel more human in minutes.

The cooking of soup also allows me to get up on my soap box about a topic I feel ever so passionate about – ethical eating. All my fruit and vegetables (as I’ve mentioned before) come by way of an organic scheme and everything else (as far as is humanly possible) comes from local, sustainable sources, aiming for a low carbon footprint at all time. I won’t go on and on here, you most probably will glaze over halfway through reading anyway but please take the time to visit the Why Organic website, it is a most interesting and thought provoking site, and if you’re ethically inclined I’d advise reading Kate Lock’s Confessions of an Eco-Shopper too as she doesn’t just focus on food related items but everything you may encounter in day to day life; it is by the way also a very funny and well written book.

Getting back to the topic in hand, soup! This soup is a creamy mixed vegetable soup, utterly gorgeous but a wee bit calorific. You could simply omit the cream to turn it into a low calorie, healthy soup but I wouldn’t bother, the high nutrient content is a good enough justification for the added cream to me.

I chose to use ham stock for the soup as I was basing it around the idea of bacon & cabbage, the very traditional Irish dish, but in soup form and without all the fuss and washing up. The ham stock lends a resonate salty flavour to the soup, not overly salty mind, just a deep almost earthy note.

If you wanted a vegetarian alternative you could just use vegetable stock and if you omit the cream too, the soup is vegan.

The Recipe:

• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 leeks, sliced
• 3 carrots, diced
• 1 stick of celery, diced
• 4 white potatoes, diced
• 1 spring cabbage, sliced
• Handful of beetroot leaves
• 600ml ham (or vegetable stock)
• 200ml double cream
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1. Fry the onions and celery in a little oil until soft and translucent.
2. Add the other vegetables and herbs and coat in the oil before adding the boiling stock.
3. All to simmer for 40-50 minutes until all the vegetables are tender.
4. Blitz in a liquidiser in small batches, returning to a clean pan.
5. Reheat gently before serving, serve with plenty of crusty bread and extra double cream swirled over if wished.

Sunshine Food

During my early teenage years my family and I spent several holidays in the Sunshine State of Florida, mainly in the Florida Keys, yes we did Disney too but the Keys offered so much more for us – a chance to see the ‘real’ Florida, eat well and relax.  

One of my favourite foods to eat there, in fact I ate it as a starter most nights, was clam chowder. Back then I assumed this chowder was a typical Floridian food but as my food knowledge expanded I realised that the version I’d been eating for so long was in fact typical of New England.

I suppose really it doesn’t matter so much that I was unaware of the recipes beginnings as it created a great and long lasting love of the dish.  Many attempts have since been made at recreating this beauty at home but until last night they were totally unsuccessful and way off the mark.

Last night I hit the jackpot! Rich, creamy, warming but suitable for summer soup that had a similar flavour and texture to the one I’ve been dreaming of for all this time The secret? Well I reckon it was the Bay Seasoning I added. I’m probably way off the mark with how true that is, but hey it allows me to recreate the dish to my tastes so that’s no big problem at all.

I used a combination of clams and shrimps in the chowder, but omitted the standard inclusion of potatoes, a shame really as I think they’d have worked really well. The combination of seafood work really well, giving a little more flavour and texture to the dish.

I like a pretty much smooth soup so I blitzed all the base ingredients and cream before passing the liquified ingredients through a sieve and reheating. The seafood and a few sweet corn were added right at the end, needing only a couple of minutes cooking.

Traditionally clam chowder is served with saltine crackers but I chose to serve a more filling option – Nigella Lawson’s garlic hearth breads (a recipe for which can be found here). The original recipe is to be found in one of my favourite books, How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking (Nigella Lawson).

The bread worked perfectly with the soup. Not at all overpowering with the garlic, it just added a sweet caramel type flavour to the meal as it was used to mop up and dunk into the soup. I can’t rave enough about how great this bread is – light, fluffy bread that is perfect for serving with soups, stews, salads or just some cheese for a light lunch, but above all the recipe is so versatile and open to the addition of other flavourings.

Sunshine food at its best

The Recipe (Serves 2):

• 1 tablespoon garlic infused olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 350g sweet corn
• 4 rashers streaky bacon
• 300ml double cream
• 200ml milk
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 3 white pepper corns
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon bay seasoning
• 250g clams
• 100g shrimp
• 1 tablespoon fresh chives, roughly chopped.
• Freshly ground black pepper.

1. Heat the garlic oil in a large frying pan and add the onion.  Cook until softened and starting to tinge with colour.
2. Add 300g sweet corn and the flour and stir for about a minute.
3. Add the milk and cream gradually so as not to get lumps from the flour.
4. Add the peppercorns, bay seasoning and dried parsley, leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Remove the peppercorns and blitz the soup.  Pass through a sieve into a clean pan. At this point the soup can be left to cool and refrigerated until needed.
6. Gently heat the soup and dry fry the bacon rashers in a large preferably non stick frying pan until very crispy, chop into rough pieces.
7. When the soup is hot add the seafood and remaining 50g of sweet corn and continue to heat gently until the shrimps are pink and the corn tender (2-3 minutes). Remove from the heat
8. Stir half the bacon through, before serving.  Scatter the soup with the chopped chives, remaining bacon and black pepper.

Food To Support Our Rights

Inspired by Eva and Linda I decided to support the Colour Orange Campaign by discussing it here on my blog.  

The Colour Orange Campaign was initiated by Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot and aims to highlight the violations of the human rights in China on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Beijing August 2008. They are aiming to show disatisfaction about the current violations of rights in China by the use of orange – be it food, clothing, a camera case, anything really.  Athletes competing at the Olympic Games are apparently having to sign a waiver to prevent them discussing Chinas political situation, basically the removal of their right to free speech.

Amnesty International are also backing this campaign, more details can be found here. 

It does seem rather insignificant for me to sit here in the comfort of my own home, take photos of cooking, but, having had my attention drawn to this campaign through other blogs and having spoken with a number of people about it; that is the way these things work I guess and if it generates interest and informed discussion, then it is worthwhile. 

I decided to cook a bright orange soup, from another of my new books - Soup Kitchen (Annabel Buckingham, Thomasina Miers, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall), Roast Pumpkin Soup with Crispy Garlic.

The book is fabulous, full of soup recipes for every situation imaginable and for all seasons. The royalties from this book are given to charities for the homeless too which is a bonus. 

The soup was stunning. Velvety in texture with a rich creaminess.  I used butternut squash instead of pumpkin and it worked perfectly well  It’s a very sweet soup but the roasted garlic really cut through that well, giving a slightly spicy bitterness, a wonderful addition.  

Even my mum enjoyed the soup and she only eats in under duress, lol I have a real thing about how nutritious and comforting a bowl of soup can be and do ensure that we eat it around once a month at least.   

I’ll certainly be making this soup again and soon. 

The Recipe:

• 1 medium pumpkin or 2 small squashes
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for garnish
• 6 garlic cloves, lightly crushed, plus a few extra for garnish
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock (I used vegetable)

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6.
2. There’s no need to peel the pumpkin or squashes. Just cut them into rough chunks or thick slices and scrape away the seeds and surrounding soft fibres. Lay the slices in a large roasting tin and drizzle generously with olive oil.  Scatter the garlic cloves over and season with salt and pepper.
3. Put in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, turning once or twice if you like, so the pumpkin pieces are well roasted and nicely browned. Use a spoon to scrape the soft flesh of the roasted pumpkin pieces away from the skin. (I didn’t bother with this part).  Heat the stock in a pan.  Put some of the scraped flesh into a liquidiser, along with the flesh squeezed out of the roasted garlic cloves, and pour in enough hot stock to cover.  Liquidise in batches, until completely smooth, returning the soup to a clean pan. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning.  Add enough stock to get a thick and creamy consistency.
4. Heat the soup through without re-boiling it, and as you are doing so, fry a few thin slivers of garlic in a little oil.  Scatter these thin shards of crisp fried garlic over each bowl of hot soup as you serve it.  Finish, if you like, with a trickle of olive oil.
5. Serve alongside some Mediterranean crusty bread or Middle Eastern flatbreads.