Not My Aunty Mary’s Soup!

That was the comment hurled at me when I presented my youngest daughter with this soup.
Let me explain.
My Aunt (Mary) lives on the side of a windswept hill in the South Wales mining town of Abertillery. – simply, and diplomatically, not the most desirable of places – not the type of place where tomatoes grow outside – more likely to be raised with difficulty in a greenhouse (heating a must early on the season)
Ever a lady to place scorn on frivolities and waste, she makes an excellent soup from tinned tomatoes, carrots, onions stock cubes and a swirl of cream. We all love it.
Clearly my daughter loves it more than the offering above.
During winter time when the tomatoes overcrowding my kitchen are just a wistful memory, I will post up her recipe.
Today is more about the celebration prime, seasonal produce.
Who am I kidding?
It’s about using up these mountains of tomatoes before they slide past their best…………………….

INGREDIENTS
2 KILOS OF CHOPPED, ASSORTED TOMATOES.
2 LARGE CARROTS THINLY SLICED (I USE A MANDOLIN FOR THESE AND THE ONIONS)
4 MEDIUM ONIONS, THINLY SLICED.
100G BUTTER, UNSALTED
A SPLASH OF SUNFLOWER OIL – PREVENTS THE BUTTER FROM BURNING
600 ML OF WATER
100ML OF FRESH CREAM.
SALT TO TASTE

TO SERVE
A FEW SPINACH AND RICOTTA TORTELLINI (ABOUT 6 PER PERSON )
CHOPPED FRESH TOMATOES TO GARNISH – AS MANY VARIETIES AS YOU HAVE.
BREAD IF YOU THINK YOU CAN EAT IT.

METHOD.
1. Heat the butter and oil in a deep heavy based pan.
2. Add the onions and carrots, cover and fry gently for 15 minutes – stir regularly.
3. Add the tomatoes, stir and cover again for 10 minutes.
4. Remove lid, add the water and gently bring to the boil.
5. Cover the soup again and cook for 30 minutes on a gentle heat.
6. About 10 minutes before serving time, throw the tortellini into some boiling , salted water and cook until they rise up to the top of the pan. Drain and keep to one side
7. During the last 30 minutes, the assorted chopped tomatoes can be diced ready for the garnish.
8. When the mixture is ready, get another pan and sieve out the soup to remove the seeds and skins.
9. Just prior to serving, add the salt to taste and swirl in the cream – do not boil after this point.
10. To assemble the dish, put the tortellini in the bottom of a soup plate, slowly add the soup around them, and finally scatter over the garnish.
11. Serve and enjoy.
NOTE – I like to contrast hot and cold and soft/smooth and crunchy textures – it may not be to everyone’s taste to have cold diced tomatoes as a garnish for this soup – It is not mandatory, but at least try out the taste with a small amount of the soup – you won’t regret it. Promise.!

Confit of Tomato Soup.

Apologies for the odd sounding title, but it’s the best thing describes this soup.
I have seen recipes a plenty for roasted tomato soup, but the tomatoes in this were gently “poached” in a fruity olive oil before the other ingredients were added.
It is a big flavoured soup, so its not for the faint hearted.
Neither is an exact science – ingredients are approximate.
There are no chef touches to this – no de-seeding, skinning or sieving out of debris before serving:. What you see is what you get here – honest, rustic and good to eat.
As the family are not big on bread, I have suggested serving it with thin slivers of toasted Arab bread, and a mound of sticky, saffron rice.

One final thing before I finally get started here: A winter rendition of this dish would certainly require the addition of some sugar to soften the winter acidity of the tomatoes – here is is not needed.

INGREDIENTS
AN ASSORTMENT OF TOMATOES – CHOPPED ROUGHLY
100 ML OF GOOD, FRUITY OLIVE OIL (MORE IF NECESSARY)
6-8 CLOVES OF GARLIC, CRUSHED
A FEW GENEROUS SLOSHES OF BALSAMIC VINEGAR.
ONE RED CHILLI – MORE IF YOU ARE A HEAT JUNKIE – CHOPPED AND DE-SEEDED.
SALT TO TASTE.

TO SERVE
ARAB OR PITA BREAD, TOASTED AND SLICED THINLY
STICKY WHITE RICE, FLAVOURED WITH A PINCH OF SAFFRON

METHOD
1. Put a shallow, thick based pan on the heat to gently warm – I use a Spanish cazuela for this – it looks a bit like a two handled frying pan, with deeper than normal sides.
2. Add the olive oil to very warm slowly.
3. Add the garlic and swirl around in the pan with a spatula – Under no circumstances let it brown.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes – the oil should come about half way up the sides of them, and they should cover the pan in a single layer. Multi layers will not give the desired taste to this dish. Pour in more oil if needed.
5. Slowly let the tomatoes “poach” in the oil, with the gentlest of heat – some will lose their skins, others will break down – this is what should happen.
6. Let them cook for about 15-20 minutes, and then add the other ingredients, save the salt which should be added at the end to adjust the flavour.
7. Cover the pan and let the mixture bubble away for another 20-30 minutes, until the mixture is well broken down.
8. Remove the pan from the heat and liquidize with a hand blender.
9. The oil will amalgamate thoroughly with the tomatoes, so there will be no unsightly film on the top.
10. Serve, as suggested with toasted Arab or pita bread, and a mound of sticky white rice flavoured with a little saffron – If you have none, do not substitute with turmeric, as it is too bitter for this dish.

How Many Tomatoes Can a Haddock Grow?

I store them here

[caption id="attachment_76" align="alignright" width="128" caption="..........and I prep them there."][/caption]
There is no easy answer to this question I feel. Suffice to say like numerous other fellow foodies, I have them in abundance, and, try as I might, there are very few takers in these parts for gift baskets of the red orbs.
Save the odd photo shoot or two, they placidly wait to be prepared, until their owner (me) creates a selection of recipes to do them justice.
Happily, that time is now.
My favourite tomato “dish” is sliced thinly, and served with fresh bread, salted French butter and cheese (I admit to being a Cheddar aficionado),
Rest easy, I am not about to offer up a recipe for this simple creation.
I have decided on a duo of tomato soup recipes, which I will post as two different posts following this one.(too much reading otherwise)
Not very high up there for imagination or creativity, but tomato soup represents the ultimate comfort food for our family.
I recall eating this more often than not for my school packed lunch (with a Cheddar cheese sandwich),
It was my default food when pregnant (along with Liquorice Allsorts)
It was our supper last evening when we returned home from the Ile de Re, accompanied by cheese on toast (Cheddar) liberally spread with grainy mustard.
I had it for lunch today.
OK. I’ll stop now – you get the picture – I like tomato soup.

Strawberry and Rosewater Ice Cream.

Summer is leaving us slowly here…………..the horse chestnut in the garden is already shedding its huge leaves, and the days are getting gradually shorter.
In truth, the weather has disappointed this year.There have been long hot dreamy days, but they have been cruelly disrupted by heavy rains, strong winds and even the odd mild tornado.
Yes, I feel quite at home here – the weather is so British.
Strawberries and cream are the quintessential British dessert, and I have combined those evocative flavours of summer with one of my favourite ingredients – Rosewater.
I suppose , like Marmite, you either love it or hate it, and I fall into the former camp and use it with abandon in my cooking.
As an unashamed collector of kitchen gadgetry, I do own an ice cream maker (the one with the inbuild chiller unit).
However the recipe can be made using a domestic freezer, with a bit of patience.

INGREDIENTS.
500G HULLED STRAWBERRIES.
5TBS ROSEWATER
8OOML OF FRESH DOUBLE CREAM AND MILK COMBINED (AT A PROPORTION OF AT LEAST 50/50 – I WAS A LITTLE HEAVY HANDED WITH THE CREAM AND USED 600 ML)
150G VANILLA SUGAR
8 EGG YOLKS (I USED ORGANIC)
1TBSP OF CORNFLOUR.

METHOD.
1. Hull and cut up the strawberries into quarters. Lay on a plate and sprinkle with the rosewater.Leave to infuse for at least one hour at room temperature. Stir occasionally to amalgamate the rosewater thoroughly.
2. In the meantime prepare the custard. Add vanilla sugar, cornflour and egg yolks to a deep bowl. Beat until mixed well.
(I use cornflour to minimise the risk of splitting the custard – other methods include the use of a double boiler, or having a sink full of cold water nearby to plunge the mixture into in the event of disaster – Cornflour is the simplest way. Honestly.)
3. Slowly heat up the cream and milk in a saucepan until it is considering its ascent up the pan sides to come to a full boil. BEFORE this happens, take the pan off the heat and pour into the egg and sugar mixture. Beat the mixture hard.
4. In a clean saucepan, return the mixture to the heat and gently heat and stir (or beat) until the mixture thickens. Remember here that we are not looking to cut it into polenta like slabs – a gentle thickening to a pouring consistency is sufficient.
5. Cool the mixture down. Do this by way of some ice in a large bowl placed below the pan, but NEVER in the fridge – this will seriously affect the operating temperature and the other food stored there.
6. After the strawberries have macerated, purée them in a blender.
7. To make the ice cream either pour into the ice cream maker and set to churn and freeze, OR pour the mixture into a plastic lidded container and place in the freezer. In this case, the mixture will need to be broken up and mixed a few times during the freezing process in order to reduce the formation of ice crystals in the preparation.
8. Serve with a few additional strawberries, in cones or wafers or simply on its own. An ice cream maker has the added advantage of allowing you to serve it “semifreddo” – a soft creamy consistency that is a stage between the liquid mixture and the fully frozen result. (see picture in the red bowl)

Good Enough to Eat...............................

What’s in the Haddock Kitchen?

A girl cannot have too many baskets. Useful things. This one is guarding part of my onion and garlic crop from this summer. Properly dried and stored ( in a basket of course) they will last for many months. Little is wasted, Even the odd one that attempts to sprout can be rescued and used. A good larder staple.
Likewise, the much maligned dried bean takes pride of place in the Haddock kitchen.
My earlier post containing my musings on the rising cost of food included a photo of my dresser in the kitchen housing my supplies of grains cereals, pulses and the like.
Quite a fetching display some may say perhaps. For me it serves a more practical purpose. I can see what I have in stock – I don’t now habitually buy a packet of rice, pasta and flour every time I go to the shops.
How many times I did it before my epiphany over food purchasing I couldn’t even hazard a guess.
As my blog develops I aim to include recipes using my “dry store”, in an attempt to illustrate it as an invaluable resource in the kitchen. Like the onions, they have a good shelf life and do not have to join the weekly fridge clear out, that so often results in terrible waste.

Starter for Ten (Minutes)

I am impatient. I love to entertain, but never seem to have the motivation to give up a lot of time for the starter or dessert. It’s a flaw that one day I hope to rectify.
I tend to try and attain a degree of “special effects” in the vain hope that I will overshadow any short cut effort on my part so the guests won’t perceive any apathy over their long awaited invite to eat chez nous (I have a reputation to maintain at the end of the day). I am often forced to set fire to some nervous bananas as a last ditch attempt at impressing………..the lengths one must go to.
I am cleaning up my act. I am a staunch believer in a bit of forward planning these days, and this does now avert the odd charred tablecloth and hastily purchased cold cuts and the like to masquerade as a “rustic” starter.
Take last Saturday as an example.
Dips seem to exude a charm all of their own – the odd furtive excuse to lick your fingers and wipe your plate clean with a slice of bread. Communal eating at its best.
I prepared three dips.
YOGHURT AND CUCUMBER – Two small pots of yoghurt, thinly sliced and peeled cucumber and a generous dollop of mint sauce from a jar. Stir and serve.
HUMMUS – Take one tin of rinsed chick peas, add chopped garlic, tahini, olive oil, some water to thin and the juice of at least one lemon. Blitz in the proccessor and pour into a dish. Toast some pine nuts and scatter on top. Drizzle with your best olive oil and sprinkle with some paprika ( I like the Spanish pimenton picante).
SWEET TOMATO PUREE. -This is where a bit of advance cooking comes into its own. I use Claudia Roden’s recipe (Arabesque) and seal it in preserving jars for later use – If that sounds a bit daunting, it can be frozen or made two days in advance and kept in the fridge.
OLIVES – Open jar or packet and put into bowls (no instructions for this stage I feel)
BREAD (need I say slice it??)
This really is a ten minute starter and quite fool proof.
Try it, its so easy.

Supper – Using what is to hand………………………

Gathering up the ingredients from the larder and kitchen garden……………………………………………….

CRISPY AND STICKY CHICKEN THIGHS WITH SQUASHED NEW POTATOES AND TOMATOES.
SOURCE: Jamie at Home – Jamie Oliver.
You have to admit……………….he’s got the knack, old Jamie.
The banter, the skill, the visual delight and the pure theatre of his cooking.
Having watched his programme twice over, and naturally owning the book, I find this recipe a family favourite that is requested over and over.
As our house is “a renovation in progress” I am obliged at the moment to prepare food and serve it on the same kitchen table (restored billiard table, with slate insert – a top piece of kitchen kit), I have to limit my efforts when guests come to eat with us in the short term.
It takes a minimum of effort, and tastes wonderful.
My mother, a great cooking influence and admirer of my efforts dryly commented once that I never follow a recipe – guilty as charged. In my defence I would say that this is the art of a true cook – to develop and improve on a basic recipe to suit the needs of those who are going to eat it.
I am so new in the art of blogging that I am unsure as to copyright issues with reproducing the recipe and method on a blog, so for this post I will simply refer the readers ( husband and children at the moment) to the source of the recipe.
I will note down here my adaptations.
1. I didn’t bone out the thighs, I skinned them and fried them off whole. Life is too short.
2. I added the herbs (thyme and marjoram) in small sprigs to fish out at the end of the cooking
3. Timings – Jamie suggests a timing of 40 minutes – as the thighs were whole, I allowed 90 minutes on the same oven setting
4. I sloshed in the red wine vinegar (aged Vinaigre D’Orleans), just prior to a final stir before it went into the oven
5. I used a variety of tomatoes, skinned from the garden (as seen in my blog header)
6. I added garlic to the warming olive oil at the very start of the cooking, heated it gently without browning and put it to one side when frying off the chicken, and added it just before it went into the oven.
7. I did serve it with rocket, and didn’t dress it – the tomato/olive juices from the pan meld very well with it.
8. I additionally served a crusty French loaf for the obligatory mopping up required (Guests did daintily start mopping the juices on their own plates.This was quickly followed by a free for all on the cooking pan)
8. Even though I thought I was saving time by cooking the thighs whole, I did have to bone the cooked result for my daughter who “doesn’t do bones”……………..what can I say.?

FINISHED RESULT

Are You Having a Food Crisis?

It seems that everywhere we look today, there is talk of global food shortages and rising prices.
Like many others, I have been confronted with increases in food prices at the supermarket over the past months.
The reasons have been clearly spelled out for all of us – rising fuel costs, a massive increase in grain prices, a huge demand for an improved diet from countries like China and India, an urgent need to seriously invest in food production……..these are but a few of the reasons conveyed to us all.
So, what can we do?
Pay more and more?
Eat less?
Shop more wisely?
We will each of us come up with a strategy for dealing with our food budget.
Having considered the options, I do not really want to “give in and pay up” to the supermarket price hike.
I think, quite simply they have had it too good for too long.
The time has come to shop with more care and attention to detail.
I have adopted the folowing “good habits” when I shop now.
1. I take a list of what I need
2. I take a calculator
3.I take my reading glasses to read those ever so small shelf edge labels (Having done a quick once around our local supermarkets, they seem to be largely black writing on a dark grey background – not the easiest and clearest colours for reading!)
4. I set a budget of what I will spend for a weeks’shop.
5. I shop around.
6. I have set my price per kilo for a number of basic foods. ( I have set my meat budget a 8 euros a kilo)
It’s not really rocket science, and it’s getting back to basics, but quite honestly, it is so easy to get caught out.
I quote the following example:
I went to a hypermarket about 10 days ago and wanted to buy some “instant packet noodles” that my daughter seems to exist on.
I picked up a few different brands, and noticed that the price per kilo was around 7 euros 20 cents. Given that pasta is made of the same basic ingredients, I found this rather surprising as a kilo of pasta can be bought for less than 1 euro 50 cents.
After a bit of digging around, I was able to find a brand that I had used before costing around 2 euros 60 cents a kilo.
Not the sort of saving to start booking a Carribean holiday on, but that is just one example in a weekly shop.
Just think about the rollup on several items bought on a weekly basis……..it is then easy to see where the extra expense comes from.
I don’t intend to throw hard earned money away on the basics of eating, and will use this blog space to post some ideas and recipes that will help keep that unwanted expense in check.
Watch this space………………………………..

Store Cupboard Items in Haddock's Kitchen