Broccoli-Edamame Soup

This recipe comes from Vegetarian Times. Through March 31, a 1-year (9 issue) subscription is only $7; well worth it; they always have delicious recipes with beautiful inspiring photos. I took this one:

Broccoli-Edamame Soup with Jumbo Goat Cheese Croutons
serves 8

VT says: "This creamy soup gets its extra richness and bright color from edamame".

I say: it was really surprisingly creamy! I didn't make the jumbo crouton and only used a teeny bit of nutmeg (I'm not a big fan but Jim likes it). Next time, I have to remember to peel the stems of the broccoli as they were very fibrous and I had to sieve the soup. That made it even smoother (and fancier).

2 tsp olive oil
2 cups chopped onion (about 4 small)
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (or 2 veggie broth cubes & 6 cups water)
3 cups frozen shelled edamame (= one 12 oz bag from Trader Joe's)
1 lb broccoli - stems & florets chopped (= one bunch from TJ's; peel stems first!)
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 ½-inch-thick slices from skinny whole grain baguette
4 oz. aged goat cheese, shaved (or soy cheese if you want to keep it vegan)

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and nutmeg, season with salt & pepper, if desired. Sauté 10 minutes. Stir in ½ cup broth, scraping bottom of pot to lift off any brown bits. Add remaining broth, edamame, broccoli, garlic. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, 20 minutes.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 350F. Arrange baguette slices on baking sheet, bake 6 minutes until crunchy on both sides. Remove from oven, arrange cheese over toasts. Return to oven and bake 6 minutes more, or until cheese has softened.

(When broccoli stems are soft:) Working in batches, transfer soup to blender and blend until creamy and smooth. Return soup to pot and warm over low heat. Ladle soup into 8 shallow soup bowls; float 1 cheese crouton in center of each bowl.

PER SERVING (1¼ CUP SOUP AND 1 CROUTON): 195 cal, 12g protein, 9g total fat (4g sat fat) 19g carb, 15mg chol, 174mg sodium, 5g fiber, 5g sugars

Salmon Coulibiac with lime pickle sauce

I thought I'd lost this recipe but found I'd very cleverly put a card of it in my recipe file. Now I'm posting it here so I don't lose it again...

Ingredients filling:
8-12 oz/225-330 gr poached salmon,
2 fat cloves garlic, crushed
2in/5 cm piece lemon grass = sereh
thumb-length piece root ginger [probably 1 Tbl ground]
2 Tbs stir-fry oil [I only ever use virgin olive oil for everything - simplifies matters]
1 x 300 gr Sainsbury's Chinese egg-fried rice*
1 Tbl soya sauce
2 dessert spoons chopped coriander
ground nut/vegetable oil [see above]
6 sheets filo pastry
sea salt and fresh milled pepper

Preheat oven to 230°C [strange number]!/450°F/Gas mk 8

Season salmon with S&P, chop into cubes; stir fry garlic, lemon grass, root ginger; add rice and soya sce.
Toss. Remove from heat, season, add coriander and salmon;

Lubricate [lubricate??] filo and line tin with alternate pieces.
Pile in the salmon/rice mixture; fold sheets over the top and bake in the oven for 12-15 min until the top is brown and crispy.

Meanwhile prepare sauce:

1 tub 200 ml crême fraiche [I always use fromage frais], coriander, 4 tsp Sharwood's lime pickle, lime juice, salt and pepper.
Lime pickle is very strong so add a little at a time to your liking. We love it!


*Ingredients Sains' Egg Fried Rice: rice, egg, peas, spring onions, sesame seed oil, ginger: cook rice, mix in spices and throw in a beaten egg or two to set in the warm rice)
Bon appétit!

Tante Ellen's Apple Strüdel

This recipe is so easy it's not true. I think the mistique around Apfelstrüdel comes from the pastry which is so difficult. We circumvent the problem using filo pastry!

We have come across two kinds of filo pastry: the right one, rectangular and a second one, squares. When you're in the middle of baking you don't run out to find other pastry; you use the stuff you have but overlap the ends and stick them together with melted butter.

Also, I have made this recipe using [frozen] Summer Fruits/Fruits of the Forest and left out the other ingredients, apart from sugar, of course. Dead easy. Here it is:

2 thinly sliced Bramley [cooking] apples [not kilos, as I did first, nor cups, but TWO - you will find this sufficient!]

1/4 C raisins 1/4 currants - or 1/2 cup raisins which I use

1/3 C white sugar/Splenda [generous]

1 [generous] tsp cinnamon

2/3 chopped walnuts/flaked almonds [I always use the latter - always have them in the house]

1 C melted butter

Flour your board. Lay 12 sheets of filo pastry on top of each other, spreading melted butter with a pastry brush between layers. If you have the square pieces, lay these end to end and use them up as if they were rectangular.

Lay apples and almonds in the length.

Tuck in the ends, roll up tightly.

Brush the top with the remaining butter, sprinkle sugar on top.

Bake for 30 mins at 400F/200C/gas mark 5 until golden.

Sprinkle icing sugar over before serving.

Gorgonzola mushrooms

We made this for our 25th wedding anniversary party - it is so easy and people love it.

In fact, it's so easy, there's not much to change on it.... read on.

Gino D'Acampo's combination of strong, blue cheese with sweet honey is a very sexy one and these mushrooms are great as a starter or light supper.

Serves: 2

Cooking time: short

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 large button mushrooms

• 50g runny honey

• 200g Gorgonzola cheese (at room temperature)

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 garlic clove, cut in half

• Salt and pepper

• Rocket to serve

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.

• Carefully remove the stalk from each mushroom and discard to create a cavity ready to be stuffed.

• Rub a little honey on the inside of the mushrooms with the tip of your finger then stuff each one with 1–2 tsp of Gorgonzola.

• Place the mushrooms on a baking tray, season and drizzle with the oil along with some more honey.

• Cook in the oven for about 10 minutes. Arrange the stuffed mushrooms on a large serving plate with a rocket salad.

Seared salmon with Cashew and Lemon Pesto

The official recipe (from the Tradfford Metro Newspaper) which officially "serves 2" is as follows:

for Pesto: 150 gr cashew nuts; 1 whole clove of garlic [or more - preferably more!]; 100 g Parmesan; 2 Tbls olive oil; juice of half a lemon [i.e. 1 Tbl from a bottle];

for Salmon: 1 Tbl olive oil; 2 x 200 gr salmon fillets, skinned and boned [duh! that's what a fillet is!].

Put cashews and garlic on a tray and roast in a hot oven (180ºC) for 6 minutes until lightly coloured*. Leave to cool. [smells lovely]

In a food processor, blend nuts, garlic, parmesan and lemon juice [recipe forgets to add the lemon juice at this point], slowly adding olive oil to form a paste.

In hot olive oil, sear both sides of the salmon fillet.

When ready to serve, place the pesto on top and grill under a hot grill ['broiler"] for about two minutes, until cheese has melted. Serve on a bed of beef tomatoes, roasted baby tomatoes and mixed leaves, adding an extra squeeze of lemon, if desired.

What the recipe fails to mention is the fact that 150gr cashews and half a wedge of parmesan cheese is enough for six people! Just bear this in mind.

It is very nice! A nice dry white wine on the side and... voilà!

Bon appétit!

p.s.. Julie: if you do this with pine nuts, you don't have to stand over them and watch them burn! They don't need to colour - just warm up to release the aroma/taste.

Carrot pumpkin soup

I think I promised to post this recipe about 2 years ago. Here it is, finally. It looks like a lot of work but it isn't, and it is also really good, so definitely worth making. Experiment a bit with proportions - it needs to be a very flavorful, 'kruidig' soup with a sweet aftertaste, so if it is bland when you taste it, add more spices (esp cumin, cinnamon, lemon...) and honey till it is good. And it is really good.

carrots
pumpkin
onions
garlic
mustard seed (or mustard)
koenjit (turmeric)
ginger powder
cayenne powder
cumin
cinnamon
lemon juice
vegetable stock cube
honey
salt/pepper
laurel leaf and cardemon seeds, crushed, in (closed) tea strainer or in a small tea cloth satchel

glaze onions, garlic, spices in olive oil
add pumkin, carrot plus water and stock and cook for approx. 30 mins
remove tea egg (or satchel of spices)
puree the soup, add water to make it thinner
add yoghurt, honey and lemon juice to taste
take off fire (beware of curdling)
taste, add more spices if necessary
can add fresh herbs for garnish (eg. coriander or flat parsley)

Beetroot curry for beetroot haters

I get beets all the time in my vegetable subscription, but I really don't like them. Now, finally, I have found something to do with them other than give them to a neighbor. This is the only way I actually like beets - 'cause you can't taste 'em!!

Cuts beets into small cubes. Chop and onion and fry in oil till translucent. Add beets and grated (or powdered) ginger. Add lemon juice, orange juice, cardemom seeds (if you happen to have them - if not, doesn't matter), cloves (powdered or +/- 3 dried), coriander, cinnamon, salt. Let this simmer for about 10 mins. Then add coconut milk (santen, no idea what this is in English, but I guess coconut milk will do too), chopped nuts (pref. 'paranoten' but peanuts are good too), and a handful of raisins. If necessary add more orange juice or water to prevent sticking/drying out. Cook for another 15 mins. Is good with rice, or cut potatoes in small cubes, boil, and add about 2 mins before curry is done.

Your house will smell like a lovely Indian restaurant for 2 days after this! =)