On broad beans and coriander flowers

It's that time of the year: broad beans are everywhere with their vibrant colour, soft texture and perfect flavour. If you're crazy about broad beans like I am, you sure understand all the fuss about them. The season is short! Of course if you dislike broad beans (like my mom) you won't really see all the joy that comes with a large bag and the promise of long hours shelling and peeling beans. No matter how unexciting the process is, I seem to never have enough -- creamy soups, crunchy salads or comfy stews, vegetarian or with a little bacon but always paired with the most perfect bouquet of aromatic herbs: garlic leaves, leek tops, mint and coriander flowers. Oh the joy!

Get a bowl and a spoon, I'm serving soup.



Creamy Broad Bean Soup with a Poached Egg

Serves 4-6

1,2Kg fresh broad beans (in the pod)
1 medium leek (or 2 small)
1 medium onion
2 tbsp olive oil
950ml vegetable stock
small bunch coriander (flowered, if you can get them)
few mint sprigs (optional)

4 fresh large eggs, organic
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
freshly ground black pepper

Shell broad beans and remove the skin (yes, it's time consuming but necessary to get the velvety texture and bright green colour). Reserve. Make a bouquet with the leek top, coriander and mint. Tie the bunch together with kitchen twine. Coarsely chop the onion and leek's white part. Put olive oil in a large pot, add onion and leek and cook for 3 minutes, until soft. Add prepared broad beans and the bouquet. Pour the stock and cook, covered, for 10-12 minutes. Remove the herb bouquet. Using a hand blender, blend until creamy. Check seasoning. Add a little salt if necessary.

Bring a small pan of water to the boil. When the water boils, add the vinegar. Lower the water to a slow simmer. Crack the egg into a small bowl. Carefully pour the egg into the boiling water. Cook for about 3 minutes. Remove with a a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper kitchen towel. Repeat with the remaining eggs.

Toast 4 slices of bread. Pour the soup into 4 large bowls. Put one poached egg and a toast in each one. Ground some black pepper on the egg. Add a dash of olive oil and serve.

A Moroccan Supper

It has been cold in Lisbon for the last month or so. I get cranky when skies are gray and temperatures get to one digit, and student papers seem to grow from my desk! Although I like wintertime, I'm not happy with rain every other day, cold feet and a running nose. There's just one way to get my mood right when that happens: hot spicy soup! For the record, I'm yet to make it to Morocco. No idea why I haven't really since it's just around the corner... The smells and flavours of ras-el-hanout couldn't be more perfect to cheer me up!

Moroccan Chickpea Soup
Adapted from Rachel's Food for Friends

Serves 4-6

3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion (125g), chopped
2 stalks celery (100g) chopped
salt and pepper
2 ½ tsp freshly ground cumin
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
a pinch of sugar (for the tomatoes)
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
600ml vegetable stock
juice of half a lemon
2 tbsp coriander leaves and stalks, chopped

Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Add the onions and celery, and season. Cook with the lid on until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the ground cumin and stir. Add the tomatoes and their juice, the pinch of sugar, the chickpeas and vegetable stock. Allow to simmer for a few minutes before adding the lemon juice and chopped fresh coriander. Season to taste.



Vegetarian brick crispy bags

4 small potatoes, cubed
200g frozen peas
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic glove, finely chopped
½ green pepper, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil + 2, to brush
1 tbsp ras-el-hanout
½ tsp sweet paprika
½ cup chopped fresh coriander
8 sheets pastry brick
lemon pieces, to serve
salt

Boil peas and the potatoes in separate pots in salted water. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan. Add onion, garlic and green pepper. Cook for 3 minutes or until soft. Add spices and stir. Drain peas and potatoes. Add to the saucepan. Season to taste and set aside.

To make triangular pastry pockets, fold like this. Add a spoonful of the veggie mixture. Brush with olive oil, both sides. Preheat a heavy bottomed saucepan. Place the little bags on the hot saucepan, 2 minutes each side. Serve hot with the soup and a piece of lemon.

Spicing up the day

I'm not much into spicy dishes. Anything hot is usually too hot for me but I'm learning to adjust my taste to "new" flavours, and my cooking experiences (for instance with chilies) to my (mild) tastes... I guess the spice girl in me is not overly spicy or (anywhere) hot!! Which brings us to a soup. What were you thinking?? ;) But this is no ordinary soup. This is one of the best soups I had in a while. Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries is not just an adorable voyage in his daily kitchen but a very good recipe book. This is the soup Nigel made in New Year's, and it's not just a good start for a book. It's a darn good suggestion for a hearty soup.



Dal and Pumpkin Soup

Adapted from Nigel Slater's The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen

Makes 4 good-size bowls

1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
A walnut-sized knob of ginger
225 grams split red lentils
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground chili
250 grams pumpkin
small bunch coriander, roughly chopped

For the onion topping:
2 medium onions
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 small hot chillies (or chili flakes, if fresh chilies aren't available)
2 cloves garlic

Peel the onion and chop it roughly. Peel and crush the garlic and put it with the onion into a medium-sized, heavy saucepan. Peel the ginger, cut it into thin shreds and stir that in too. Add the lentils and pour in 1 1/2 litres (6 cups) of water. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to an enthusiastic simmer. Stir in the ground turmeric and chili, season and leave to simmer, covered, for twenty minutes.

While the soup is cooking, bring a medium-size pan of water to the boil. Peel the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds and fibre, then cut the flesh into fat chunks. Boil the pumpkin pieces for ten minutes, until they are tender enough to take a skewer without much pressure. Drain them and set aside.

To make the onion topping, peel the onions and cut them into thin rings. Cook them in the oil in a shallow pan until they start to colour. Cut the chilies in half, scrape out the seeds and slice the flesh finely. Peel and finely slice the garlic and add it with the chilies to the onions. Continue cooking until the onions are a deep golden brown. Set aside.

Remove the lid from the lentils and turn up the heat, boiling hard for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, then add the drained pumpkin. Blend the soup through until smooth, then pour it into a bowl. Stir in the roughly chopped coriander and check the seasoning. Serve in deep bowls with a spoonful of the spiced onions on top.

Back to kitchen...

Or sort of. With the end of this term, exams and papers seem to grow up on my desk faster than I can get hold of them. Plus, Mr. Winter seems to have decided to spend some time in Portugal, making me look like an onion with (at least) 3 layers of clothing, and to move a lot slower because I'm always cold. It also leaves me craving for weird things like bread pudding with custard or champ... And hot chocolate. No, not exactly all the 3 together at the same time! It's that time of the year when my days are just too short for everything that calls for attention: work, family, friends, food, and traveling (will tell you more about it later). I've cooked some soup, baked bread, and made the occasional cake. Nothing new, or brilliant - except perhaps for an almond apple tart that flew too fast to be photographed, meaning I'll have to bake one again soon.

But today what I really wanted was to blog about this chowder that I made a few weeks ago.



Sweet Corn Crab Chowder
Lightly adapted from Delicious, August 2008.

Serves 4

1-2 Tbsp butter
1 large onion, diced
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1 leek, washed and finely chopped
1 cup diced bacon
2 medium potatoes, diced
2 Tbsp plain flour
150 ml dry white wine
200ml single cream
200ml milk
200ml fish or vegetable stock
200g white crab meat
400g can sweetcorn, drained
Fresh flatleaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
lemon quarters, to serve

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a gentle heat. Add the chopped onion, celery, leek, and bacon and cook for 5 minutes, until softened. Stir in the potatoes and toss with the vegetables.

Stir in the flour, and cook for a minute. Pour over the wine, milk, cream, and top up with the stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Mix in the sweetcorn kernels, and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir the crab meat into the soup, and remove from the heat.

Garnish with parsley and serve immediately, with crusty bread. Squeeze the lemon quarter over the soup just before eating.

HHDD#23 - It's Pesto!

I'm very fond of Hay Hay it's Donna Hay, and usually try not to miss any round. It's a food event I keep close to the heart. When Joey from the ever wonderful 80 Breakfasts chose Pesto, I was delighted with the theme: easy, and with so many open possibilities! Coincidentally, one year ago from this day I was making Minted Walnut Pesto after having tried a Cilantro Almond Pesto. So what now? Rocket! Although rocket is not very usual, it has to be my favourite green for pesto.

I've used Donna's recipe Joey has provided, replacing the basil with the rocket, and omitting the lemon zest. Because it's cold in Lisbon, and comfort foods are in season, I've served my rocket pesto as a topping to a bowl of White Bean Soup, recipe courtesy of - the one and only, the lady herself - Donna Hay! ;)



Rough Chop Rocket Pesto*
Slightly adapted from Donna Hay Magazine, issue 35, p. 104

1 cup roughly chopped rocket
2 Tbsp roughly chopped toasted pine nuts
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil (I like virgin extra with mild flavours for this recipe)

Place the basil, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and oil in a bowl and stir to combine. Makes one cup.



White Bean Soup
Adapted from Donna Hay Magazine, issue 33, p. 104

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
450 grs cannellini beans, re-hydrated
4 cups (1 litre) chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

Dried cannellini beans must be soaked in water for at least 4 hours (best overnight). You'll need about 175 grs of dried beans.

Heat a large soup pot on medium heat. Add the oil, onion, garlic and celery, and stir about 2-3 minutes or until they are translucent. Add the beans and stock, and bring to a boil, stirring to ensure the beans don’t stick to the bottom. Reduce the heat, cover and let cook for about 1 hour, or until the beans are very soft. Stir the soup occasionally during this time.

Blend the soup. If you have one, use a hand blender. Otherwise, a food processor or standing blender will work too. Puree the soup until it is smooth. Season to taste. Continue to cook, uncovered, until thick. Serves 4.

Serve soup topped with a tsp or two of rocket pesto.

* Original recipe is topped with chorizo.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day is a food event created by Barbara from WinosandFoodies and now taken under the wing of Bron Marshall.

Minestrone

Perhaps you remember me drooling over a minestrone back when I visited Slovenia in June. One of the most memorable meals I had in a long time! I've been daydreaming of this minestrone made of barley, black eyed peas and dry peas, according with the recipe the lady provided me with when I asked. My minestrone doesn't taste exactly like the one we had there, maybe because we miss the mountains to go with or just because I probably heard bay leaf, and she meant something else... Either way, whilst Autumn settles in this part of the globe, me and Mr. Taster had a couple of bowls and felt comforted with this hearty soup!

Minestrone

Serves 6-8

2 medium carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small courgette, diced
1 small turnip, grated
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
6 cups vegetable (or chicken) stock, warm
1 cup black eyed peas, soaked and cooked previously
1/2 cup dry peas, soaked and cooked previously
1-2 cups barley, soaked and cooked previously
Salt and black pepper
Grated Parmesan, to serve (optional)

Slice carrots and dice turnip and courgette. Chop onion coarsely. In a large stockpot, sautée onion with olive oil for 2 minutes. Add the bay leaf, sliced and diced vegetables, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Add the stock. Cook for 5 minutes. Mix in barley, peas and black eyed peas, and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat, and allow to settle for a while with the lid on. Serve with grated Parmesan.

Spicy Soup or or Why I Love Wintertime

Mixed feelings about the weather is something every human being is familiar with. If it's winter, it's the rain (or the lack of it) and everybody dreams about sunny days. If it's summer, it's how hot it is and how cosy winter days can be... I complain about the weather, therefore I exist. As the spring arrives, I have cravings for salads and colorful fruits but the soup freak in me feels a little sorry for the hot weather. Before that happens I better share my own version of dahl, the Indian spicy soup that makes a winter day like today much brighter.

dahl

Serves 4

1 1/2 cups cup dried red lentils
1 medium onion, chopped
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 large carrot, chopped
1 tsp turmeric (curcuma)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 large tomatoes (or 4 small), chopped
3 cups water or veg broth
salt to taste
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Over medium-high heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a pot, add onions and saute for 2 minutes. Add the carrot and the turmeric and saute 2 more minutes. Add lentils and veg broth. Bring to a boil then lower the heat a bit and simmer for 10 minutes. In a small saucepan, heat remaining olive oil, toast the spices for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the tomatoes and stir carefully for 2 minutes. Mix in the tomatoes to the lentils mixture once tender and add a pinch of salt (or to taste). When about to serve, add chopped cilantro.



This is my entry for No Croutons Required, this month hosted by Holler from Tinned Tomatoes. No Croutons Required is a monthly food blogging event alternately hosted by Lisa's Kitchen and Tinned Tomatoes. The theme for March is spicy soups. The No Croutons Required challenge for March is to make a spicy soup that will tingle on the tongue. How fitting is that?? Thanks to Gretchen for bringing this event to my attention. :)

Jewel-like

Passing by the fashion magazines shelves, I stopped at a cover featuring a mysterious beautiful woman wearing a stunning purple dress. The article was about winter colours and the (once again) mysterious title was 'Colour Jewel-like Palette'... Purple was the colour to look for. The new Black. And while I still don't own a purple dress, that was the exact colour I was looking for my red cabbage soup. Bright stunning purple puree. The new Green! My other half knows better than to show any surprise at what lunch or dinner looks like but he couldn't hold a Wow at the mysterious soup. The photos don't make justice to its marvelous colour! I'll now be looking for a dress with the exact purple tone of a soup...

Purple Soup

Serves 6-8

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
big pinch of salt
2 Tbsp cumin (or to taste)
2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 medium red cabbage head (about 750grs), loosely chopped
4-6 cups vegetable stock

In a large, thick-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add cumin and onions. Saute for a few minutes or until they soften up a bit. Stir in the apples. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped red cabbage (discard the hard core). Mix in the stock. Season to taste. Bring to a simmer and cook until red cabbage is soft, roughly 20 minutes. Puree with a hand blender until smooth.

To serve, drizzle with a little apple vinegar. Garnish with goat cheese, sliced apple and cumin. Or have it plain. It's delicious both ways!

Comfort Food

Soup is definitely my comfort food. It brings this sense of home, it reminds me of my grandma and my childhood. I grew up watching my grandma run a family kitchen where no one could set foot if it wasn't to eat. The reason why she'd make everything in a heart bit was that she had full control of food, kitchen and family members. Her soups (as most her food) were no fuss, savoury and delicious - it took me years to understand why other kids wouldn't like soup because I always thought that every soup would be like grandma's. When I had to decide which one would represent better my comfort food, Potato Cilantro Soup came easily to mind. It's both simple and tasty and cilantro is my all time favourite herb.



Potato Cilantro Soup

Serves 6

4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large onion
1 medium turnip
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 garlic glove, chopped
6 cups vegetable stock or water
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

Peel and dice the potatoes, the onion and the turnip. In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onion and the garlic to the oil and sweat until they are softened, about 3-5 minutes. Add the potatoes and the turnip and stir well to prevent sticking. Add the stock. Season to taste. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook until the potatoes and turnip are soft, about 20 minutes. Add cilantro and remove from heat. Blend in a food processor until smooth. Season if necessary.

My grandmother would garnish it with chopped boiled egg, which I also did but added some Parmesan as well and tried a different option with chopped cilantro and sausage, for my carnivore hubby.

This Potato Cilantro Soup is my comfort food recipe for the 2008 Comfort Food Cook-off, hosted by Eve. But what do people call comfort food? If you're as curious as I am, go have a look at Garden of Eating and find out what people call comfy!