Easy Does It!

Semplice Minestra Vegetale
Simple Vegetable Soup

 

It was cold in Frankfurt today. And wet. Not for the first time- and definitely not for the last... and it was obviously depressing indeed, as it should still be sunny and warm! Aaargh!

So, what is one to do on an evening when the day has been so? Well- if you have a family or a partner, or friends nearby, you con moan and complain about it along with them to give yourselves a little comfort. And if you don't? Well then you better make yourself some comforting food to make things feel better!

 

I love soups- they always make me feel happy and are a treat any time of the year. But obviously, for us Western folks, Winter IS the season! At least it is the time of year that I can indulge and not get my eyes rolled at! I can eat soup right in the middle of Summer- a hot bowl of Vietnamese Pho or some steaming, spicy ramen... what's not to love about those? But I digress... most people tend to only want this kind of traditional and down-to-earth soup when it gets cold. And oh boy has it gotten cold over here in Frankfurt!

 

 
To make my nice, big bowl of soup this evening, I used a half stalk of celery and a few leaves, a small carrot, about a 4" piece of leek, 3 little potatoes, 9-10 cherry tomatoes, a cupful of frozen peas, a good handful of vermicelli soup noodles and a little parsley and Parmesan.

 

Opening a can is easier for sure- and this did take 30-40 minutes to make... but that is still pretty speedy compared to most soups! And the main thing is- this is all natural, you know just what has gone into it and you TASTE what you have put into it! Pure, simple and really good!

 

Yes, you will need to do some chopping! Fine chopping! But... come on- chopping is fun! At least it is for me! And once you have chopped your veggies up nice and small you can have a rest and leave those couple of celery leaves as big as they are- haha!

 

Start off by frying the leek, carrot and celery together until the leek becomes transparent- this will be your flavor base for the soup. Throw in those 2 big celery leaves too as they are packed with flavor as well... and you will easily be able to fish them out later on.

 

Next, add the potatoes and fry those along with the other ingredients for 3-4 minutes until they begin to turn transparent and also to brown a little... then add the peas. Stir in the peas and as they thaw and add moisture to the pan, you can add the tomatoes, plenty of finely chopped parsley, salt and pepper and continue frying the ingredients together for a further 4-5 minutes. This will make sure that all of the flavors intensify nicely.

Cover with plenty of boiling water, reduce the heat till you have a rolling simmer and let the soup bubble away for 15 minutes.

 

After 15 minutes, add the noodles and stir until they are well blended, adjust the temperature until the soup comes back up to the boil and allow to simmer away for a further 10 minutes or so until everything is lovely and tender.

 

The starch in the potatoes and noodles will thicken the broth just enough and the flavors of all of those individual ingredients will be plenty to make this into a delicious, light and natural soup! Now- fish out those celery leaves and get ready to serve it up!

 

I added a sprinkle of Parmesan, plenty of pepper and a drizzle of raw olive oil... and I can tell you- that was a mighty fine soup, with all of those simple goodies in it!

 

Wouldn't you just love to taste a spoonful of that? Yeah... me too! I guess we will have to make this all over again! And then we can!

So-Long Summer Salad!

Insalata di Rucola, Fichi, Feta & Mandorle
Arugula, Fig, Feta Cheese & Almond Salad

 

Summer came and went without us even noticing it in Frankfurt, this year. I think that happened in the second week of June, or thereabouts... lasted 3 days in all I think. I would laugh if that joke were funny. But it isn't. It's accurate and it's pretty sad... haha!

Seriously, the Summer has been almost non-existant and it is only now as it draws to an end, that we are beginning to get the first of the good figs imported... it has been a poor Summer in the most part of Europe this year.

So I decided to make what will probably be one of my last salads before Autumn sets-in and to make it something a little bit special...

 

I decided to make a vibrant dressing using oregano and a little of the fresh figs themselves, to make a sweet and tart combination. Together with some honey, mustard and balsamic vinegar, it made a nice change to the usual vinaigrette I would tend to use for such salads- and I think you will enjoy the result as much as I did! It as rather good!!!

 

I think I can skip listing the ingredients again on this one- don't you?  ;-)

 

Just grab a piece of crusty bread and enjoy- this is such a delicious and satisfying salad that it is absolutely a meal in itself!

 

Slice up the figs and break up the feta cheese into small chunks... I find that it is much nicer to eat and prettier this way as opposed to being cut with a knife... but then, what do I know?

 

For the dressing for one large serving, I mashed up 4-5 slices of fig, simply using a fork, then added a teaspoon of oregano, a teaspoon of mustard, a teaspoon of honey, 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and 3-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. And seasoned with salt and pepper. I stirred these briskly together and found the mix to be too thick and so added just a dash of orange juice to thin it down a little- and to keep the flavors nice and fruity!

 

The way I assembled the salad was like this- I took a bowl, added a third of the dressing and then tossed the arugula in it, before setting it out on my serving dish.

I then did the same with the figs and a second third of the dressing and set them on top.

Obviously, the same again with the feta cheese, which I handles very gently... and which was the main reason to prepare the salad this way, as I didn't want it to disintegrate completely into crumbs... and of course, those slices of fig are just as delicate too.

 

With a finishing touch of some extra oregano and a scattering of toasted almonds, this wonderful, tasty salad composition was finished and ready to be served and enjoyed!

 

Farewell Summer- this year you really let us down and we had to make our own sunshine! But I think this kind of dish will brighten up anybody's day, whatever day, week, month or season of the year!

Undercover Figs

Fichi al Vapore & al Forno con "Meringa" Speziata
Steamed & Baked Figs with Spiced "Meringue" Topping

 

A little experiment here... which could have turned out a little bit better to be honest- but could also have been (and tasted!) a whole lot worse... Let me just say this- meringues are delicate and they will collapse if it is a humid or rainy day- as I found today! I have heard that on many occasions, but always thought people were exaggerating a bit... but now I know!

This was a simple dish to make- had I not taken a peak at how it was coming along- the meringue would not have shrunk-down either! Aaargh! It will be better next time- so when you try yours... be warned and be more patient than I! But the important thing is that the idea and the flavor were both still wonderful and so I was still pleased with the result and am happy to share!

 

Juicy and delicious, fresh figs are of course wonderful in themselves, but with a fluffy(ish) topping, flavored with lemon, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, they are nicer still!

 

The ingredients couldn't be simpler... 2 figs, 1 egg white, a little fresh vanilla, a little cinnamon, a little lemon zest... and a little luck! And awaaay we go!

 

The topping could possibly have been a little fluffier, but the flavor was, as I said, terrific- and my little experiment of giving the meringue a little steam-bath to speed up the cooking/baking time was ambitious in the first place! But I will tell you what I did all the same!

 

 
As usual- minimal prep-work... hurrah! Slice the figs open, leaving the bottom intact so that they stay together, grate the zest of half a lemon and scrape out the seeds of about 2" of vanilla pod... couldn't be simpler than that!

 

Whisk the egg white until stiff, then add the zest, about a half teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of sugar and that little bit of vanilla... don't worry- it is more than enough!

Continue whisking for 3-5 minutes until nice and firm and until any remaining sugar crystals are dissolved.

 

And when it is finished, the "meringue" mix will look like this- yellow from the zest and the cinnamon and full of speckles of vanilla... and of flavor of course!

 

I decided to use my rice-steamer, but a regular fold-out steam rack and a regular saucepan would be just fine too.

 

Spoon the meringue into the open figs and steam for 10 minutes WITHOUT being tempted to lift the lid... aaaargh!

 

After 10 minutes the figs will have begin to soften, have given off a lot of juice and the topping will be essentially cooked through- now to pass them into a hot oven, around 200°C for a further 10 minutes or so to become firmer on the outside and for the figs to become softer on the inside.

 

And so yes, 10 minutes later, they are ready to serve, with a generous sprinkle of powdered sugar and a rich aroma of fruit, sugar and spice in the air! Mmmmm!

 

 Very simple, but simply delicious! There's not much more to be said!

 

Oh- except that this is a very light, sweet dish! So that you don't have to feel guilty about eating both of them... or ME, to be precise! 

 

The Fasta Pasta!

Orecchiette con Ciliegini & Rucola
Orecchiette with Cherry Tomatoes & Arugula

 

One of the classic pasta dishes of Puglia, orecchiette, served simply with fresh cherry tomatoes, a little garlic and onion, some good olive oil and a little arugula... finished off with some shaved Parmesan cheese... basic, perfect and delicious with no fuss and no pretension... that's the beauty of Italian cooking!

 

A wonderful, light and speedy dish, put together in just the time it takes for your pasta to boil! You can't get much better than that!

 

For my single serving, I needed just a couple of handfuls of orecchiette, a good handful of arugula, just 7-8 cherry tomatoes, a shallot and around a half a clove of garlic. With a little good olive oil and just a touch of Parmesan- that was all it took to make a wonderful supper!

 

This is the perfect spur-of-the-moment dish or simply a great light lunch or supper. It's one of those standard dishes that everyone should know... and by the time you finish clicking through these pictures, you will too!

 

Simply halve the cherry tomatoes, snap the arugula in half too, finely slice the shallot and garlic and get your saucepan full of water boiling and some olive oil sizzling in your frying pan!

 

Whilst the orecchiette begin to boil, fry the garlic and shallot (or onion of course), until they begin to turn golden brown.

 

Add the cherry tomatoes, a little salt, sugar and plenty of freshly ground pepper and continue frying...

 

Once the orecchiette are a little short of being "al dente", spoon them into the frying pan with a little of the water and let everything continue cooking together- this will bring up all of the good flavor from the base of the pan and cook it into the pasta.

 

Add the arugula and another dash of olive oil, stir or toss together for 1-2 minutes until the arugula wilts and you are ready to serve! It's that easy!

 

Add plenty of freshly ground pepper and some shavings of Parmesan cheese and one of the speediest dinners in the South of Italy is served... right there in your dining room!

 

 All that needs to be added to that is a hearty "buon appetito!" Enjoy!

Make Room for the Mushrooms!

Funghi, Pomodori Secche, Olive, Cipolle & Capperi alla Mollica
Mushrooms, with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Olives, Onion and Capers in Crispy Bread Crumbs

 

Back home in Frankfurt, back in the kitchen and back to my old tricks, making something out of nothing- and something pretty wonderful at that!

Champignons, or "button mushrooms", are very common, widely used, eaten very often... and let's face it- pretty bland and boring! They often end up being mushy and soft and usually get soaked in cream or butter to make them more appealing... So I decided to add some other ingredients instead, doing something filled with Mediterranean flavors and make them crunchy, packed with flavor and delicious! I think even you good people out there might enjoy them too!

 

Filled with the tangy, sunny flavors of sun-dried tomatoes, olives and capers, these are almost a meal in themselves, but what they would work really well as would be an antipasti- different, vibrant and new!

 

The ingredients I used were 300g of mushrooms, 1 onion, 3-4 sun-dried tomatoes, 2 teaspoons of capers, 5-6 black olives, 1-2 cups of bread crumbs, a little Parmesan and some fresh parsley.

 

I love the way that this dish is initially crispy and flaky until you bite into it and that then the flavors of all of the individual ingredients come through so strongly- you have the best of both worlds... and a couple of other planets in this dish too!

 

 Very simple preparation is another great thing about making this! Simply slice the onion thinly, the sun-dried tomatoes too, grate about 1" worth of Parmesan, tear the olives in half to remove the stones... and finely chop the stalks of the parsley to add into the dish as they are packed with good flavor!

 

 Begin by frying the onion and the parsley stalks until the onion becomes translucent.

 

Then add the olives, capers, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms, season well with pepper, add just a little salt (as the olives, tomatoes, capers AND Parmesan are all quite salty in themselves) and fry with a little more olive oil for 3-4 minutes, until the mushrooms begin to turn brown.

 

 
Add enough water to cover the base of the pan, put on the lid and let the mushrooms steam away for 3-4 minutes, then remove the lid and continue stirring until the remaining water has evaporated away. By that time everything will be cooked through and ready to go!

 

Next, add a cupful of bread crumbs and a good pinch of the Parmesan- stir everything well and keep it moving until all of the ingredients get coated.

 

Add a second, generous scattering of bread crumbs and keep stirring... the moisture of the ingredients will make them stick and soon, they will begin to get toasted and golden brown... ready for eating and enjoying!

 

When they are finished, the mushrooms, as well as all of the other individual ingredients, will have a coat of golden crumbs that are crispy and delicious! They will have soaked up any of the juices or oil in the pan and be packed with flavor!

 

Serve them with plenty of coarsely chopped parsley and a little extra sprinkle of Parmesan for a little freshness- and there you have it! A much nicer mushroom antipasti than the same-old same-old and sure to please!

 

What are you waiting for? Pick up that fork and spoon and help yourselves! Or to be more accurate- get yourselves into the kitchen and have fun making your own! Buon appetito!