Soups | Lemon and tomato

Gazpacho

June 13, 2016 by alessandra Leave a Comment

Quick Gazpacho

Here on the west coast we are in full summer heat and enjoying the bounty from the garden: fresh herbs and luscious vegetables just screaming… eat me, eat me So today on opening the fridge to grab a quick lunch it was obvious that I needed to choose something in the veggie department as I had purged all the cheese in an effort to fit into summer clothing. I usually have a selection of peppers as well as cucumbers and tomatoes and I wanted something quick as per usual I had waited until I was starving and about to gobble anything at hand – summer clothes be damned. So what do you make with just veggies? Seemed pretty obvious to me: Gazpacho. I had some great harissa oil from Olive the Senses to add just the right kick so we were off to the races and eating gazpacho in almost minutes.

6 medium ripe tomatoes

1 sweet pepper (yellow, red or orange) seeds removed and chopped

1 English cucumber chopped

½ medium red onion chopped

2 stalks celery

1-2 cloves garlic or several garlic scapes for a milder flavour

1 ½ tbsp. (or to taste) red wine, sherry or apple cider vinegar

1 tsp Tabasco or other hot sauce or harissa or hot pepper olive oil

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp lemon pepper

Peel the English cucumber and if you don’t like the seeds, scoop them out with a spoon. I like the texture so tend to leave them in. Chop the other ingredients so that they will be small enough in the food processor. Add all the ingredients into the food processor and blend until the consistency is to your liking. I prefer to let individuals add their own salt but feel free to salt to taste. Refrigerate for several hours to let flavours meld or eat immediately.

Gazpacho is one of those summer dishes that is bright, refreshing and can be tarted up with just a few extra ingredients so that it meets whatever flavour craving you are having. I often switch between herbs such as tarragon, basil, chives and summer savory but you could also add cilantro or any other herb that you would normally use with tomatoes. Enjoy!

Asparagus Soup

February 15, 2016 by alessandra Leave a Comment

With this brilliant sunshine the theme of spring being just around the corner continues to light my life. After all the groundhog didn’t see his shadow and they never lie do they? Asparagus is a sure sign of spring and when I saw it sitting in Costco this week for only $5.98 for a kilo, I knew it was a sign. For most of us, asparagus comes from the store or if you are really lucky, you planted some and patiently waited the 2-3 years for it to germinate and become something edible. However, there is yet another way of securing fresh succulent asparagus. There are the most fortunate of us, those who grew up picking and eating wild asparagus – the only “real” asparagus. Picking asparagus in the desert is not for the faint of heart who have a phobia of snakes – especially rattle snakes. This photo below which appear to be growing only sagebrush, is in fact prime asparagus land in the interior of BC. The first spring that we were in Ashcroft a wonderful neighbour stopped by with big black garbage bags and invited my mom and I to gather asparagus. Personally I thought she was nuts, as I couldn’t see anything growing in that dry, barren land. Fortunately, I was wrong.

We headed into the dusty, cactus spotted hills with our garbage bags, hiking up and traversing the hill back and forth. Not long after we had filled the bags with nice fat pieces of asparagus. Contrary to the belief of many who prize the long skinny pieces of asparagus as tender, the fat short asparagus are the most tender and full of flavour. We would pick for hours until (usually my mom) would scream and run down the hill after discovering yet another snake. Of course that would finish me too and we would wait by the old VW bug until our much braver friend finished picking her patch. Much like truffle hunting, people are very secretive and protective about their asparagus patches. It has become much more difficult to harvest the wild asparagus unless you have a “friend” with a patch as many are now on private land, but I still taste the first asparagus of the season perfectly cooked and smothered in butter.

Being a little more conscious of my butter intake, and not having the “real” thing, I thought the next best thing would be a healthy green soup. Print

Asparagus Soup

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Author: Lemonandtomato
Yield: serves 4

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Description

Asparagus soup with orange and pistachios

Ingredients

Units Scale

1 1/2 lbs asparagus roasted
1tbsp extra virgin or blood orange olive oil (to roast the asparagus)
zest from 1/2 organic orange
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp chili flakes, or more to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup pistachios, toasted
Cream or creme fraiche optional

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Clean the asparagus, breaking off the ends at their natural break point. Place on a cooking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Place in 400 degree oven and roast until just starting to get tender but not too charred. [url href=”undefined”][/url]
Remove from oven and place in food processor or Vitamix with 1 cup broth. Puree until smooth.[url href=”undefined”][/url]
Add orange zest, salt, pepper, (i often add a bit of lemon pepper too), chilis, and the rest of the broth. Puree.[/url][url href=”undefined”][/url] [url:3]
Lightly toast the pistachios in a pan on the stove. Watch them carefully as they toast very quickly and likely to burn.
At this point you can determine whether you would prefer to serve hot or cold. I like both. If you want hot, place in pan and gently heat. Do not boil.
Pour the soup into bowls, garnish with a bit of cream or creme fraiche, the pistachios and any leftover orange rind.
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Porchetta da Mario

June 1, 2015 by alessandra Leave a Comment

For those of you who know Porchetta you need no further words of introduction; but for the likes of me, some description is necessary. I had heard the word Porchetta and knew it to be meat of some sort but I had no idea that is was meat of the sort that melts in your mouth leaving you with a lingering craving for just a wee bit more. Tender juicy pork on the inside and sinful, much maligned crackling on the outside. Unlike the masses in North America, Italians understand that just a bit will not kill you – it’s just that you keep wanting a wee bit more… and further to that the Italians have not worked for the past 20 odd years at making their pork leaner!

While in Fano, planning our cooking retreats we had the pleasure of visiting real live Porchetta makers Mario and his wife, Nazaria of Porchetta da Mario. They graciously welcomed us into their workshop in Cartoceto, near Fano and took us through the process of preparing the wee piggy ( hardly) for the oven.

They start with an 85 kilo pig which is then butchered, spiced and tightly wired around a rotisserie pole.

Once the pig has been butchered, a mixture of garlic, wild fennel (finocchio), olive oil, salt and pepper are mixed and slathered all over.A rotisserie pole is then placed in the middle of the pig and the process of wiring it to this pole commences. Really quite a feat of strength as the pictures below show. It takes two of them to hold the pig and then they use wire to fasten it tightly. I didn’t include the one which really shows Mario grimacing as he tries to tighten the wire (have to keep the cook looking good).

Once this has been achieved, (not the looking good) the legs are inverted slightly and the fat cut out so that it doesn’t burn.

Next, is probably the toughest part of the creating this amazing meal – lifting the 85kg piggy onto the roasting pit.

As you can see from the picture not all the fat stays in the Porchetta! Once the wee piggy is secured, she is smeared with some fat, the skin is knifed (punctured) to make sure it doesn’t burst and then the beast is put into an extremely hot computerized oven which monitors the rotations and the various temperatures while roasting for about 5 hours.

The Porchetta is then taken to market, as in this little piggy went to market the very next day! People line up ordering slices for lunch and dinner, or slices in crusty Italian rolls all with thick pieces of crackling which truly melts in your mouth. Mario was very generous in cutting us thick slices resplendent with big hunks of crackling the like of which I have never seen.

When in Fano make sure to visit the market and taste the Porchetta da Mario. If you visit Cartoceto, the home of Porchetta da Mario you can also feast on the view of olive groves. Should you not find Fano or Mario, look for the line ups in many of the markets throughout Italy and take a leap of faith and devour some Porchetta and crackling.

Should you want to make Porchetta at home, it may not have the same finocchio flavour but you can at least get yourself some crackling. Check out recipes at:

Jamie Oliver

Bon Appetit

Epicures or create your own.

If you are local and live in Victoria, Vancouver or Seattle then head on down to Meat and Bread as they serve a pretty mean Porchetta!

Ham & Black Bean Soup

March 14, 2015 by alessandra Leave a Comment

Spring is undoubtedly here in Victoria: we are in full bloom and winter seems to either be playing a wicked trick or its decided we’ve been good and it will head East to shower its blessings upon the other side of Canada. Fresh spring air makes my mouth start watering for all those dishes that traditionally mean spring, so with guests coming for dinner we roasted a big ham, with fresh green beans (obviously not local) and mashed potatoes. I never seem to realise just how big a ham really is and how much will remain after all the company has departed. This leaves more than one or two nights of leftovers and so after many versions of ham sandwiches, and ham salads we still had a fair portion left, with of course the humongous ham bone. Ham bones seem to instantly dictate ham and split pea soup especially when you know everyone in the house loves it. However, I wanted something just a bit different and not quite so “Quebec snowy” to celebrate this warm weather and plentitude of flowers, I decided that we just needed something lighter, fresher and maybe just a bit perkier.

At this time of year we are also blessed in our local “thrifty’s” grocery store with the best oranges that I have ever eaten. They are called Buckbrand organic oranges and they carry quite a story with them.

These are in no way the oranges of old that tend to be dry and yucky in the centre; but rather the opposite, oozing a sweet liquid gold that screams squeeze me, drink me! Blackbeans and orange are old friends and make a rather refreshing flavour profile together, add a bit of punch with chili pepper, and spices and you have the perfect hearty revitalizing soup that just so symbolizes all that I love about spring – besides my birthday!

Ingredients

2 cups dried black beans, rinsed and soaked for 10 minutes

75 grams hot pancetta – you can find this in a deli or Italian shops

4 cups (1 litre) chicken stock and additional water or stock as needed

1 ham bone (meat left on) or 2 ham hocks

bouquet garni ( I used thyme, rosemary and bay leaf)

1 cup orange juice

1 cup dry sherry

1 large onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

salt & pepper and chili flakes to taste

olive oil

plain yoghurt or sour cream

tarragon as garnish

Directions

Rinse and soak the black beans for about 10 minutes. Drain the beans and put them in a large pot with the broth, ham bone and the bouquet garni. It will be easier to retrieve the bouquet garni if you tie it together. Cover the pot. Simmer these on low, stirring occasionally until the beans are soft but not mushy. This could take anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 or 4 hours depending on the heat of your stove. Personally, I like to cook them longer and slower as this seems to impart more flavour from the bone. If the mixture becomes too thick, add water or more broth a little at a time.

Once you have the beans cooking, its time to prepare the rest of the sunny flavour. Dice the pancetta into small pieces and cook it over medium heat until it starts to crisp up. Remove from the pan and place on a piece of paper towel to drain.

Cook the onion, and garlic in the residual fat (adding olive oil if necessary) until they are soft and golden. Reserve with the pancetta.

When the beans are cooked take out the ham bones pulling the meat away from the bone and either shred or cut into small pieces leaving it with the beans.

Next add all the cooking liquids as well as orange juice and sherry and combine all remaining ingredients in pot. Bring the soup to a simmer cooking for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Personally, I like to serve it with scoop of plain yoghurt, a sprinkle of chilis and perhaps a sprig of tarragon.

*( If you don’t have pancetta or can’t find it, you could substitute bacon and just increase your chilies by using 3 thai red chilies – make sure to seed them and then finely chop avoiding putting your hands near your face )

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

January 6, 2015 by alessandra Leave a Comment

Well it is high time I got back on the horse and added something to this blog despite still knowing so little about the how to’s!

Right after Christmas it seems that most of us want to get back to the basics. We have had enough sugar that should keep us stoked for a few months; however, sadly that sugar high just doesn’t seem to last. Rather than come crashing down I have found a perfect solution: Roasted veggies.

Come January, I always have a hankering for roasting vegetables. As I said, I am sure this is caused by the need to keep the sugar level sustained and roasting always brings the sugars out of the veggies. So even when faced with veggies that I don’t like, (hello brussel sprouts and beets I’m talking about you) I find that roasting makes them amenable to almost anyone, particularly with a drizzle of balsamic or some other fabulous olive oil.

Soups are such easy meals to make after all the seasonal baking and cooking and they tend to satisfy the need for less indulgence (read calories!).

I still had plenty of veggies in the fridge from New Year’s raclette having gorged mostly on cheese, meat and potatoes (really could there be a much more indulgent meal to “eat in” the new year?) I figured a refreshing roasted tomato and pepper soup would be a good start to the cleanse.

When I am roasting veggies, I almost always tend to roast a few extra peppers, tomatoes, garlic or whatever else I have on hand as they are great in other meals later in the week such as salads, pastas or sandwiches so don’t be afraid to throw a few more onto the pan and then create a second or third meal from them.

Roasted red pepper and tomato soup

6 long sweet peppers

1 yellow bell pepper

1 small onion

Several cloves of garlic, roasted (I usually just roast a whole head and then use the remainder in other dishes – garlic is so much mellower when roasted)

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

8 Campari tomatoes (or other medium size tomatoes)

Olive oil for grilling

Turn on the oven to 450 degrees. The first step is to roast all of the vegetables, so you will need a large cookie sheet or two.

De-stem your peppers, cutting them lengthwise and taking out any remaining seeds.
Peel the onion and cut it in quarters.
Slice the tomatoes in half.

Cut just the tips off the garlic head with one fell swoop so that you can see the garlic inside.
Place the peppers, tomatoes and onion on the cookie sheet and then drizzle them with oil (just enough that they have a slight glisten). You could also spray them or use a pastry brush to give them a light coat. If you are really watching the calories, you can leave the olive oil off completely.
Drizzle the head of garlic with oil and put it on the sheet too.
Cook for approximately 30 minutes keeping a close watch for burning. You may have to turn your oven down to 350 half way through.
Once the veggies have roasted, take a food processor or blender and puree them. I prefer to leave the skins on the peppers but if you wish to peel them, you can do that too. Be careful if putting them in the blender while still hot as it is easy for the puree to burn if it escapes.
Gently add two cups of cold broth to the puree. You may then heat it on the stove or if you have a Vitamix, use the hot soup setting to heat your meal.

Enjoy with a big spinach salad and you are well on your way to setting the tempo for a healthy new year!

Chanterelle and Spinach Soup

October 26, 2014 by alessandra 3 Comments

Fall has set in here in Victoria and this morning brought black sky and a torrential downpour. I turned to my husband Gerry and wished him a great time on the water (with a sly smile on my face, as I had not accepted the invitation to race). He was heading off to sail in some of the nastiest wet I have seen in 6 months. Even worse there was no wind! No wind and heavy rain is akin to sitting on a park bench in the middle of winter. Anyhow, as he was off and I am leaving town tomorrow, I decided that I should deal with some of the great ingredients in the fridge – that would still be there at the end of the week when I return, albeit looking somewhat worse for the wear as he’s not big on opening the fridge door and cooking from within. Marriage works best when I don’t return to a fridge that is on the verge of displaying questionable items that no longer resemble food.

Taking stock of the fridge there was a basket of chanterelles, a box of baby spinach and peppers. What do you eat for lunch on a cold day? Nothing like a bowl of hot soup to ward off the winter bugs and cold, which in our 1912 house is important as the drafts seep into almost every room or so it seems. My parents now know to visit armed with bags of fleece clothing as the house will never be warm enough for them. As they are currently visiting, the least that I could do was to make a hot lunch.

1 tbsp olive oil
250 grams/8 0z of chanterelle mushrooms
1/4 cup white wine (optional)
1 package of baby spinach about 100 grams or 2 handfuls
4-6 cloves of roasted garlic
1/2 medium yellow or red pepper diced or finely sliced (however the mood moves you)
1 Litre/4 cups of homemade chicken stock or your favourite organic chicken stock from the grocer
200 grams/3/4 cup of capelline spezzati 58A or and other fine noodle
Salt and pepper to taste
Chili pepper flakes to taste

Heat pan with the olive oil and then sauté the mushrooms until they are nicely wilted. Stir in the white wine and cook until reduced. Then layer first the peppers and then the spinach in the same pan allowing them to slightly heat.
Meanwhile heat the chicken broth and once it is boiling add the noodles to the broth. Add pepper and salt to taste. Cook until the noodles are al dente about 3 minutes.

Serve by placing the mushrooms, peppers and spinach in bowls. Pour hot noodle mixture overtop and sprinkle with chilis. Best served with a warm crusty bread.