Valentine's... Onion Soup

Very romantic. Actually made this the night before Jack's birthday - he pointed out that it was his last night in his forties, so it wasn't really appropriate then either. Oh well. I spent the last night of his forties crying - how about that? (It's a lot of onion-chopping.)

The Recipe: Jamie Oliver's English Onion Soup
Online here.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

I assume it's the cheddar that makes it English. It was actually the cheddar that saved it from being a tiny bit bland - but that may not have been the recipe's fault. I have to leave out the garlic, and perhaps this was one of the times when it really makes a difference. But it was nice, we'd have it again.

Didn't think that our soup bowls could go under the broiler, so just made cheese on toast separately and put it on top of the soup (pushing it in a bit) which worked fine.

Thanksgiving: The Good

So, back when all this started, I made a rash vow to cook a proper Thanksgiving dinner for Jack, without opening a single packet, jar, or can. I also promised to have a dinner party, "for maybe six people, with multiple courses, and appropriate side-dishes, all made by me, and produced without any visible panic or weeping."

And it came to pass that these things combined - a miscellaneous bunch of Europeans and wayward Americans gathered in our apartment for Thanksgiving dinner, and made it out alive.

First I'll tell you about the things that went well...

We started out with a bruschetta/crostini-type setup - toasts and french bread with various toppings - the ones below, plus an olive-garlic tapenade that I bought. People really seemed to like them. (But don't have any pictures, sorry.)

The Recipe: Tomato Bruschetta/Crostini
Adapted from How to Cook Everything (10th Anniversary Edition) by Mark Bittman

To make real bruschetta you're supposed to brush the bits of bread with olive oil and grill or broil, then rub with garlic. I didn't do any of that - the oven was otherwise engaged, and I can't eat garlic.

I just mixed together the following:

• Two large vine-ripened tomatoes, core and seeds removed, and chopped
• About a quarter of a red onion, diced
• Torn basil leaves, to taste (hmm, maybe about a quarter cup?)
• Drizzle of olive oil
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Serves 6 (as one of 3 toppings).
The Recipe: Pesto
Adapted from How to Cook Everything (10th Anniversary Edition) by Mark Bittman

• 2 loosely packed cups fresh basil leaves, rinsed and dried
• Half a garlic clove, peeled, or more to taste (I leave this out)
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts (I use 3 to make up for the lack of garlic)
• 0.5 cup freshly grated Parmesan, pecorino Romano, or other hard cheese
• 0.5 cup olive oil (I use probably half this amount)
• Salt, to taste

Makes about 1 cup (probably less without all the oil; anyway, it was plenty for 6 people, we had some left over which we can have with pasta when we're sick of turkey).
Combine ingredients in food processor or blender with about half the oil. Process, stopping to scrape down the sides of the container as necessary, and adding remaining oil gradually. Add more if you prefer a thinner mixture.
The Recipe: Traditional Cranberry SauceFrom How to Cook Everything (10th Anniversary Edition) by Mark Bittman
This came out perfectly. What can I say? You might miss the way the canned stuff glops out of its tin, but you won't miss the tinny taste.

• 4 cups (about 1 lb) fresh cranberries, picked over and rinsed, or frozen cranberries
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 2 cups water

Makes about 1 quart.
1. Combine the cranberries, sugar, and water in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries are broken, 10-15 mins.
2. Transfer to a bowl; cool, then chill until ready to serve. The sauce can be refrigerated, covered, for up to a week.














The Recipe: Red Cabbage
Adapted from The Good Housekeeping Cookbook, 1949 edition (this is the one my mum has, I managed to find a copy on eBay)

My dad was the red cabbage maestro in our house. I left out a couple of things (apple, flour) that I'm pretty sure he didn't use. It tasted exactly like the stuff he used to make.

• 1 2.5 lb head red cabbage
• 0.75 cup water
• 3 tbspn butter
• 0.25 cup vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
• 0.25 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• Salt & pepper to taste (they say 2 tspn salt, but that might be a lot, can't remember exactly how much I used)

They says it serves 6, but that would be 6 people who only eat red cabbage for dinner.
1. Shred cabbage medium fine. Put in large pan; add water; cook, covered, 10 mins.
2. Add remaining ingredients; cook 10 mins, or until tender.












But what about the rest of the dinner? That will have to wait till tomorrow...

A Tale of Two Soups: Curried Squash & Fiery Coconut Tofu

It was the best of soups... it was the worst of soups...

Yes, one soup was gorgeous, the other was the first truly inedible thing I've made this year.

Bad soup first.

The Recipe: Fiery Tofu & Coconut Curry Soup
From a copy of Cooking Light magazine that appeared in our mailbox.

One thing I've (re)learned through all this cooking is just how trusting aka gullible aka dimwitted I am. Oh, what a lot of curry paste that is, she says to herself as she obediently dumps it into the pot.

When, of course, what a sensible person would say is: A quarter-cup of curry paste?!! That can't be right! And would then cross-check in some other recipes and find that it is right only if you never want to feel your lips again.

The bizarre thing is that, if the comments are to be believed, people have fed this to their children!!

As for us, we picked out the tofu and vegetables, nibbled on them as best we could, and sadly threw the soup away.

I dunno - maybe our curry paste is just much stronger than the stuff they used... But the idea of the soup was nice, and maybe one day years from now when the memory of nuclear-holocaust-mouth has sufficiently faded (and Jack has forgotten what he delicately called his "ring of fire" the next day) I'll try it again with some crucial adjustments.

Now - the nice soup.

The Recipe: Curried Butternut Squash Soup
From Emily Weinstein on the NYTimes Bitten blog.

I actually first made this back in January, at the beginning of this whole enterprise, but didn't take any pictures. We were excited to have it again - it's really delicious, with just a light curried flavor :)

Made about 3/4 of the recipe, which is more than enough, and used some parsnips and sweet potato to supplement the half a butternut squash that we had - the parsnips especially turned out to be a nice addition.

It did come out a little thick, as Emily says, but we liked it that way, and you can always dilute it.

Pix

Gazpacho

Finally! Sorry about the long pause, I'm really truly back now.

First, some pix of those heirloom tomatoes we got (don't worry, we didn't throw them into the gazpacho):















Just look at the amazing stripes inside the yellow one:















And now for that gazpacho.

Surprisingly, couldn't find a recipe that had all the characteristics I remembered. Mark B. had bread, but minimal ingredients. Alton Brown had a lot of ingredients, but not bread. Ditto for Pioneer Woman, but she had the texture, smooth and chunky, that I was looking for.

Don't think you can really go wrong with gazpacho, but it came out great. We ate it with crusty bread, but you can get much crazier than that, depending on your mood (Pioneer Woman has shrimp, avocado, sour cream, etc.)

The Recipe: GazpachoAdapted from How to Cook Everything (10th Anniversary Edition) by Mark Bittman, and various other sources.

• 2 lbs tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced [be careful to retain the juices]
• 1 medium cucumber, seeded, and diced [you can peel it if you like]
• Half a large red onion, diced [I soak it in cold water and drain, makes it easier to digest, apparently]
• Half a yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2-3 slices of day-old bread, crusts removed, torn into pieces
• 0.25 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced [I left this out, as can't eat it]
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 tspns vinegar (sherry, red/white wine, or balsamic), or more to taste
• 2 tspns Worcestershire sauce (optional, see Tips)
• Tabasco to taste
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Serves 4-6.

1. Put the bread, olive oil, garlic, and about two-thirds of each of the diced vegetables in a blender, and blend till smooth.

2. Pour into a large bowl and stir in almost all the remaining vegetables, reserving a little of each for garnish. Add the lime juice, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, a few dashes of tabasco, and salt and pepper. Mix well, taste, and adjust seasoning as needed.

3. Refrigerate for about two hours, then serve garnished with remaining vegetables (which you'll also want to refrigerate, obviously), and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

Not sure that the Worcestershire sauce really added a lot to the flavor, and too much of it would turn your gazpacho into a gigantic Bloody Mary. It would probably be fine to leave it out.

Can't remember what type of vinegar I used - it was either red or white wine vinegar, but balsamic sounds interesting (that's from Alton Brown), will try it another time.

You can dilute with water if the soup is too thick.

Pix

Look behind the blender - what do you see?















Step 2 (failed to get a pic of the finished product):

Market Week Day 3: Three-Bean Salad

What to do with all those beans? Aha - three-bean salad! I asked my mum for the recipe. Oh, she said, sounding a little surprised, you just cook the beans, and chop up some onion, and make a vinaigrette. My mum, after all these years, still can't comprehend the depths of my ignorance.

So I went looking online and discovered that no-one seems to agree on what goes into a three-bean salad. Even my beloved Mr. Bittman let me down: to him, a three-bean salad is made with three kinds of dried beans - nooooooo!! Even where there was agreement on the beans, there was none on the dressing. And I was in search of that specific taste - my mum's three-bean salad.

The Recipe: Three-Bean Salad

Here's what I used for the salad - perfect.

But I didn't think that my mum used red wine vinegar in her dressing, and sure enough when I tried a mini version of what is given here it didn't taste like hers at all.

So I did a bit more searching and came across an apple cider-based version. And even though my mum didn't use apple cider vinegar either, this tasted almost right. Though I cut the sugar in half and it was still a little sweet for me. And I should have doubled the recipe, we were a bit short on juice.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

See above for the dressing issue. Any tips? Otherwise I'll have to bug my mother...

One other thing - something I saw recommended on chowhound a while ago - I soaked the onions. They really made me cry when chopping, so thought would try it. Did it make any difference? Who knows.

Also steamed the beans, rather than boiling. Again, don't know if that matters, it's just how I normally cook beans (they tasted great, really farm-fresh.)

Pix

Market Week Day 2: Pasta with Beets & Greens

Continuing with eatmakeread's Market Week...

First it was pasta with green beans. Now pasta with beet greens.

The Recipe: Beet & Greens Pasta
From Culinate.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

Very easy, very tasty, dramatic on the plate, and fun. The writer says her daughter loves it, and I can imagine it would be good for (beet-loving) kids.

(I'm guessing kids might also be entertained by the way beets dye everything pink, if you know what I mean...not us, of course, we're way more sophisticated than that.)

Pix

Eatmakeread's Market Week

I'm kinda doing eatmakeread's Market Week. "Kinda" because I had to start a bit early (Thurs), as that's when our market is, and also because it's more cooking and posting than my pea-brain can handle. The idea is that you do a big trip to the farmer's market on the weekend, then make your meals for the week from what you buy. But it seems that she's pretty relaxed about it - you can do as much or as little as you like.

Anyway, check it out - a fun and inspiring idea, and there's still plenty of time to join in. Plus she has a lovely site.

And here are our ingredients. The market's a bit miniature, so probably not too impressive, but pretty, right?















We couldn't decide between green and yellow beans, so got both, which is actually rather a lot of beans (you're looking at a mere sample). It'll be a beany few days.

In fact, I already made pasta with pesto, beans, and potatoes - have done it before (waybackwhen), but these pix are a bit better.

Pix

Middle-Eastern Feast (with cats)

OK, food in a moment - first I have to show you this:















And this:















She's sure it's all for her! Quite a look on her face when she was told to get down. Awww...

Back to the food. The inspiration for this came from Pinch My Salt: she did a hummus post last week, and I poked around on her site and found some great recipes for other things to go with it. Then Bob had a fancy middle-eastern spread for Father's Day, and that sealed the deal.

Originally was going to try making pita too, but oh well.

Herewith some fun facts from Wikipedia:

• The largest recorded bowl of tabbouleh was made on June 9, 2006 in Ramallah in the West Bank. It weighed 3,348 lbs, and earned a Guinness World Record.
• In the movie Bruno, Sacha Baron-Cohen (in character as Bruno) confuses Hummus and Hamas in an interview with Israeli and Palestinian scholars, creating much confusion.
• Come to think of it, did you see You Don't Mess with the Zohan? (A work of genius.) Hummus features there too...
• Nothing funny about tzatziki, apparently.

The Recipes

All from Pinch My Salt:

• Artichoke Hummus (she has lots of other flavors too, will go back and try some more)
• Tzatziki
• Tabbouleh with Persimmons & Almonds

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

Everything was very easy, so nothing went wrong! It was all delicious. The sweetness of the tabbouleh made a great contrast with the sharpness of the tzatziki.

Hummus:

• Would certainly have been easier with a food processor - my mini-prep is very mini, so had to blend everything in little batches. Forgot to put the oil on the top, oops.
• Had to leave out the garlic, of course :( But it was still great.

Tabbouleh:

• Didn't use persimmons - just some apricots and a nectarine that we had already, and they worked perfectly.
• Used about half the amount of herbs, just because we didn't have enough, and it was fine (though I know it's supposed to be very herby).

Tzatziki:

• Bumped up the mint a bit - Mark Bittman had half a cup, and Pinch My Salt had a tablespoon, so I split the difference and used a quarter cup, which seemed to work.
• Drained the cucumbers but didn't strain the yoghurt, and it was still good (even the next day).

Pix

Tabbouleh:

Hummus:















Tzatziki:















On the table, Jack throwing a pita:

Pasta Ceci

First of all, many apologies for the long absence. Plenty of cooking, but no blogging, sorry. So here are a couple of quick posts (just an hour till "Rescue Me"!)

First up, a slightly goofy rendition of rachel eats' pasta ceci (i.e. chickpeas - si, I speak Italian... not!)

Have made a pasta ceci before, but that was different, a pasta sauce. This is a hearty soup. OK, so it's not soup weather now, but anyone remember last week? (For those of you not in the NE USA, we were having the Great Flood here.)

Anyway, you're going to think I'm a lunatic, but the thing that made me happiest about this soup - it calls for a Parmesan rind! And we had one! How about that?!

The Recipe: Pasta Ceci
From rachel eats.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

It was truly delicious, and will definitely go into rotation when the weather cools down again.

Though there was one small mistake... we had slightly the wrong kind of pasta: ditali instead of ditalini, they're about a million times bigger. So I think that's why it didn't come out as soupy, though maybe I'll throw in a bit more stock/water next time too.

Pix

Not too many, sorry, it was such a gloomy day.

Saturday Spectacular: Chicken Tikka Masala & Onion Kulchas

This was so much fun!

I can't eat garlic (bummer) so Indian food in a restaurant is basically impossible, but until recently it hadn't occurred to me to try making it at home - because I didn't make anything at home, and because Indian food seems, you know, complicated.

Now, to be fair, chicken tikka masala is about as Indian as English muffins are English. In fact, it's much more English than English muffins: it's been called Britain's national dish, and apparently was (possibly) invented in Glasgow. Not that Glasgow's English, of course. OK, I'll shut up now, I've even confused myself.

Let's just get to the recipe, which I found via Chaos in the Kitchen.

This brings me to one of the best things about the world o' food blogs. You click on a link and - whoooaaaa - you fly through a portal, but instead of landing on the side of the Jersey Turnpike you find yourself in the middle of Big Sky Country, in a huge farmhouse kitchen, where a (rather cute) tatooed pastor (?!) is cooking a curry. He mentions naan, and before you know what's happening, you're deep in another site surrounded by rotis, and saags, and dals, and channas...

Anyway, back to dinner - it was really amazing. Though a lot of work for a (very slow) newbie. Started the kulcha dough at about 5:30pm, and sat down to dinner at 8pm. And that was with the help of my trusty assistant, who broiled the chicken and took care of the turmeric rice, while I did the sauce and the onion kulchas.

There was minimal bickering, even though we were tired and hungry, because we could tell that something special was coming together. It was totally worth it, and highly recommended.

The Recipe: Chicken Tikka Masala
From guest poster Pastor Ryan on Pioneer Woman Cooks.

The Recipe: Onion Kulchas
From ChefInYou. These were dreamy - a must-try. Easier than naan, because they just use baking powder & soda instead of yeast. But I still want to try naan, and will come back here for a recipe - it's a great resource, stuffed with good things that seem very doable.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

Chicken Tikka Masala:

• Followed Katie at Chaos's suggestion re using half-and-half instead of cream, and in future might use half a cup less (oooh, the abstemiousness!)
• Also held back on the salt, with no ill effects
• But did use the full amount of Garam Masala, even though it seemed like a lot - it was perfect
• Watch out for turmeric - it stains!!

Onion Kulchas:

• Sauteed the onion for the filling, as really hate raw onion, and wasn't confident it would cook enough otherwise, but maybe this wasn't necessary
• Cooked them on the stove-top, like the tortillas (the whole process is very similar, actually)
• Mine weren't round, but apart from that seemed good - fluffy, with a fabulous combination of tastes tucked inside. Though haven't eaten one before, so they may have been all wrong

Pix

It was dark! So just snatched a couple of the leftovers today...

Asparagus Risotto

Tonight's dinner - nice, but not as good as the pea risotto, methinks. A tad bland.

The Recipe: Asparagus Risotto
From Mr. B. online at NYTimes.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

The point of this article is that you don't need to stir risotto constantly. That may be true, but not sure that even Mr. B. totally buys into his argument here. In his How to Cook Everything (aka The Bible), he says you shouldn't walk away from the stove for more than a minute, and that seems about right, in my (extremely limited) experience.

Pix

Beginning Step 4.















End Step 4.















On plate, baaad pic. Garnish is some left-over prosciutto, sauteed a couple of mins:

Homemade Pasta, Messily

The inspiration here came from a post I found on Macheesmo when browsing his Learn to Cook section. Inspiration actually being an important word. He says (hope he won't mind me quoting): "This is one of those posts that I think really embodies what I’m trying to do with this site. I’ve never made fresh pasta before. The excuse I’ve always said is that I don’t have a pasta press. But a few weeks ago I got to thinking that you know what, pasta was made before pasta presses. Not having that one little piece of equipment shouldn’t stop me from giving it a shot."

Well, I don't have a pasta press either. And, unlike Macheesmo, I don't have any idea what I'm doing. But once he'd pointed out that you could make pasta with a rolling pin, it had to be tried. After all, that's the spirit of this blog, right? Cooking without a clue...

The Recipe: Homemade Pasta
From Mark Bittman, via Macheesmo. I used regular all-purpose flour, rather than semolina. Will try semolina next time, it's apparently a better taste.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes
It went awry pretty much instantly. You put the flour on your kneading surface, and make a well in it. Then you put your eggs in the well. But, without thinking, I'd beaten the eggs, then noticed that neither he nor Mr. B. had done that. Oh. It probably doesn't matter. Actually, it does. The eggs overflowed my well, and ran all over the board, the table, and a chair:















Frantically, I tried to pen them in with my hands and sop them up with flour - the board, table, and my fingers turned into a gloopy mess. Because I'd lost about a quarter of the eggs, the "dough" was just a bunch of dry crumbs. So I added some water. And it turned into a sticky blob. So added some flour. And it looked like this. Compare and contrast with Macheesmo's.















Mr. B. has some pretty helpful instructions on kneading: "Continue kneading until the dough is completely smooth, somewhat skinlike, with some elasticity (if you break off a piece, it should stretch a bit before breaking; if it breaks off immediately, keep kneading."

So I kneaded mine till it was like skin (rather a repulsive idea at the best of times). Unfortunately, it was like the skin of an elderly gentleman.















The rolling out part went OK. Mr. B. suggested dividing the dough into three, and I followed his advice because I only had a tiny surface area to work on. The disadvantage is that you have to do the rolling three times. Way to get in shape!

But should have checked out Macheesmo's pics before cutting - my strips were way too wide.

But looked quite pasta-like.

But took waaaay longer to cook (about 8-10 mins). Though I comforted myself with the fact that even Macheesmo said his were too fat. They puff up when you cook them too.

But they tasted perfectly fine. Did them with some sauteed shallot, creme fraiche, peas (rather a lot), and chopped Italian parsley.

The conclusion? Ridiculously fun. And I'd like a pasta press.

(More) Pix











































Bad pic, sorry - looks a bit disgusting!

Jamie Oliver's Summertime Tagliarini

OK, I know, it's not summer yet. But in all this cooking I hadn't made anything from the cookbook Jack got me for Xmas, so picked out this - and it was quite a hit. It's richer than you'd think, but the lemon gives it freshness.

The Recipe: Summertime Tagliarini
From Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook by Jamie Oliver

• 4 oz pinenuts
• juice and zest of 2 lemons
• large bunch of fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, leaves picked, half finely chopped and half left whole [actually, half left whole is a bit much, since it's just for sprinkling - I did about a third or a quarter]
• 1 cup minus 1 tbspn extra virgin olive oil [seems like a lot of olive oil - see Thoughts below]
• 5.5 oz Parmesan, freshly grated, plus extra for shaving
• 1.75 oz pecorino, freshly grated [presumably he means Romano, we didn't have any, so used all Parmesan]
• sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1lb 2 oz good-quality tagliarini or tagliatelle [an enormous amount, adjust as you see fit]

Serves 4.

1. Blend half the pinenuts to a paste, then put into a big heatproof bowl with the rest of the whole pinenuts, the lemon juice and zest, the finely chopped parsley, and olive oil. Stir and add the Parmesan and pecorino. Season with some freshly ground black pepper. Taste, and adjust as needed.

Jamie says: What you should have now is a reasonably thick sauce, which you should think of more as a dressing, so taste it and think about how the different flavors are coming through. Balance the flavors so you end up with something quite zingy because, as the sauce heats up and the cheese melts, the lemon flavor will calm down a lot.

2. Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Sit the sauce bowl on top of the pan while the water is heating up - this will take the chill out of the sauce and warm it up slightly. When the water starts to boil, remove the bowl and add the pasta to the water. Cook according to package instructions, then drain, reserving a little of the cooking water.

3. Toss the pasta with the sauce and some of the reserved cooking water to loosen it up a bit. The heat from the pasta will melt the cheese, allowing the sauce to coat it. If you find the sauce is too thick add a little more water.

Jamie says: It's not supposed to be claggy, thick, and miserable, but incredibly silky, fresh, and fragrant.

4. Taste once more to balance then serve with a little extra Parmesan and a sprinkle of parsley leaves. Eat immediately.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

Was very worried re the "claggy" scenario. Have had that experience before with pasta and cheese - a very early cooking attempt that resulted in something that ended up being called "A Pile of C**p With S**t On It." It is still fondly known as that, even though I've managed to make it since without turning it into a gluey lump. But this actually came out fine - the reserved pasta water is key.

The only thing is... I've recently started thinking about the taste of our (cheap) extra virgin olive oil, which seems very strong - not sure I like it. And there's a lot of oil in this recipe. It didn't come out oily, but the flavor of the oil seemed more obtrusive than maybe it should have been. Will try using less of it. Any EVOO recommendations gratefully received - I know nothing! Does the taste get stronger as the quality goes up? Or the opposite, like vodka?

Pix

Warming sauce (didn't have a heatproof bowl, so used this instead):















Looks like it would be "claggy," right?















Done:















Close-up - looks remarkably like the one in the book!

Minted Pea Soup

A confession: I love peas. Frozen peas. The fresh ones? Not so much. Always liked popping them out of their pods, but never really appreciated the taste. But now fresh peas are everywhere, another zeitgeist thing.

So here's a pea soup, a frozen pea soup, that tastes really fresh. Honestly, unless your garden is overflowing with the things, I can't imagine it would make sense to make soup with fresh peas anyway.

BTW, as well as her Virtual Bake Sale, which you can still support, I'll Eat You has some very sophisticated pea-fiteroles (such a cute name). Check them out!

The Recipe: Minted Pea Soup
From Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook: 200 Budget Meals, by Sunil Vijayakar
A book that my little sis gave me for Christmas - thanks J!

• 1 tbspn butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 potato, finely chopped
• 2.25 US pints (1 litre) vegetable stock
• 13 oz (400g) frozen peas
• 6 tbspn finely chopped mint leaves
• salt & freshly ground pepper
• creme fraiche (optional), to serve

Serves 4.

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the onion and potato, and cook for 5 mins. Add the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently for 10 mins or until potato is tender.

2. Add the peas to the pan and cook for a further 3-4 mins. Season well with salt and pepper, remove from the heat, and stir in the mint. Puree in a food processor or blender until smooth. Ladle into warmed bowls and top with a dollop of creme fraiche, if liked.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

Nothing comes to mind - this is just a lovely soup.

Pix

Adding the mint:















Like the splat on the side of the bowl? Sigh...

Pizza!!!

Turns out to be one of those infinitely intimidating things that isn't hard at all. (Meaning it's not hard to make something very edible - don't expect us to be opening a pizza restaurant.)

Read a few recipes, but decided to go with Mr B., using some tips from a great post on Kitchen Wench.

The Recipe: Pizza
Based on How to Cook Everything (10th Anniversary Edition) by Mark Bittman (I can't recommend this book highly enough...)

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tspns instant yeast [I used active dry, 2.25 tspns, which you need to activate first - the only tricky part]
• 2 tspns coarse kosher or sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbspns extra virgin olive oil

Serves 4 (two large or four personal-size pies).
1. Combine flour, yeast (if using instant), and salt in large bowl. Add water (and activated active dry yeast, if using) and oil and stir to combine, until mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch. If dough is still dry, add another tbspn or two of water.
2. Turn dough onto floured working surface and knead for a few seconds to form a smooth round ball. [Mine wasn't expecially smooth, but it didn't seem to matter.] Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap; let rise until dough doubles in size, approx. 1-2 hrs. (You can cut the rising time short if you're in a hurry, or let it rise more slowly in the fridge, for up to 6 or 8 hrs.)
3. If you want, you can freeze the dough (or some of it) at this point. Just wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or a freezer bag and freeze it for up to a month, then defrost to room temperature and continue with step 4.
4. When dough is ready, knead it lightly, form into a ball, and divide into 2 or more pieces, as needed [dough was very moist and floppy]. Roll each piece into a ball, and put onto a floured surface. Sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for about 30 mins while you heat the oven. [Tip from Kitchen Wench post: use cornmeal/polenta to flour the surface - this gave the finished pizza a really fabulous crunch.]
5. Put pizza stone on a lower rack if using [we don't have one], and heat oven to 500F or higher.
6. Roll or lightly press each dough ball into a flat round. Do this directly on your pizza peel (if using), or lightly oiled baking sheet(s). [Two personal-size pizzas fitted on our baking sheet.]
7. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and add any other toppings. [I did some caramelized onions, thinly sliced tomatoes, basil leaves, pine-nuts, and grated parmesan.]
8. Bake in oven for 6-12 mins, depending on oven heat, till nicely browned. If using a baking sheet, it should go in the middle of the oven.
Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

Again, only made half the recipe, feeling sure it would be an abject failure. But another time would make the whole thing and freeze half.

Was cautious with the toppings, because everyone emphasizes how important it is not to overload the pizza. But could have used a tad more cheese, making sure it goes all the way out to the edges. Also would have tucked the basil leaves under the tomatoes, as they got a bit crispy.

But it was delicious! And the topping possibilities are endless, of course (Kitchen Wench's post has some great examples, and Mr B. gives a huge list).

Pix

Risen dough:















About to go in oven:















Done!















View from the top:

Homemade Tortillas with Chorizo/Shrimp & Mango Salsa

The idea for this came from a post on Culinate. You'll see why it caught my eye: "How 10 Tortillas Helped Me Believe in Myself: Yes, We Can."

The writer begins in complete unconfidence ("Someone is telling you 'no.' It’s a little voice in your head. It has been there for so long it’s indistinguishable from your true voice. No, you can’t do it.") And by the end she's twirling tortillas with one hand and babies with the other. The starting point I can definitely relate to - the ending, not so much.

But it did inspire me to give tortillas a try. Jack was a bit puzzled. You're going to make the tortillas? (Subtext: You're a total lunatic?)

It turned out to be a truly spectacular meal. We had some shrimp in the freezer, and Jack had brought some chorizo back from MA, and I decided that mango salsa couldn't be too hard (it wasn't).

The Recipe: Homemade Flour Tortillas
From the Homesick Texan. So much nicer than store-bought: light and poofy, with a lovely simple fresh taste. And really fun to make. (Would be good to do with kids, if you have them, and the time/energy.)

The Recipe: Mango Salsa
Adapted from How to Cook Everything (10th Anniversary Edition) by Mark Bittman

• 2 cups firm but ripe mango [his was papaya], cut into 0.5-inch cubes
• 0.5 cup diced red onion
• 0.5 cup diced cucumber [he used red, yellow, or green bell pepper, or a combination]
• 2 tbspn minced fresh chile, or hot red pepper flakes, to taste [I forgot this part]
• 0.25 cup or more chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 tbspn olive oil
• 3 tbspn freshly squeezed lime juice, or more to taste [i.e. 1.5-2 limes]
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Serves 4.

1) Put all the ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Let sit for about 5 mins, then taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more chile, lime, or salt, as needed.

2) Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to a couple of hours [we actually saved half for the next day, it was fine]. (Bring back to room temperature before serving.)

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

I was so sure that everything would go wrong that I actually got Jack to buy a packet of wraps from the store as a standby. But they weren't required.

Both the bloggers fell in love with their tortillas, and I know what they mean. You'll find your heart swelling with pride as the little things puff up in the pan.

We served them with sauteed shrimp and chorizo, some shredded lettuce, sliced avocado, sour cream, and the mango salsa of course.

We put the leftover tortillas in the fridge, wrapped tightly in plastic, and reheated next day as instructed, and they were almost as perfect.

Pix

Dough resting for first time:















Dough balls:















A tortilla:















In the pan:















On the plate - pretty, right?