Wednesday. 07/10/2015. 'Perfect Autumn Soup with Butternut Squash, Orange and fresh Ginger.'

This recipe comes from 'Gino's Veg Italia!' by Gino D'Acampo. Page 205.

This time I can not say the book pic looked great or appetising for there was none. It was just the ingredients which sounded excitingly appealing. 








Soups are great medium to bring seasonality into your plate. In this number, with us being in Autumn, it is all about Squashes and particularly the Butternut Squash. 

Squashes.

We love Butternut Squash so much so that we tried to grow them this year however with mixed results. Any plants started at home, grew quickly to then die after their second and third leaves. In desperation we tried to plant some straight outside, two of the common Butternut Squash and two called Coquina.  However it was mid May when we took that decision.  They thrived but then October arrived too soon and we had to harvest green Squashes who did not have time to perk up in sizes. Although they can get their colour by the window sill, I can only advise a sowing of those babies straight outdoors from March to give them plenty of daylight from the start. Well this is our plan for next year, having learnt the do and don't this year. 

Butternut Squash : 2015  trial.

the Prep.

So the ingredients which accompanied one entire Butternut Squash, were 3tbsp  of olive oil to fry 2 chopped red onions and 3tsp of fresh ginger, 1 Maris Piper potato, 1.2 litres of hot vegetable stock, 1 orange: the zest and 150ml of juice from it.  

Very Lazy Ginger.

Got to tell you a secret, I have been cheating with fresh Ginger for a while in my kitchen.  Each time I am buying fresh Ginger, I use a bit of it for a recipe and the rest get lost and wasted in no time at all after grating. So I did resort to use the little pot of wonder that is called 'Very Lazy Ginger'.  It comes into strips easily cut to your liking for any recipes and it last long. Like that, I always have Ginger at home ready to use and no more waste. Beside that Ginger is a fantastic ingredient to give a certain warmth to a dish.  It worked beautifully well in this soup. 

The great Autumn soup in the making.

The zest and juice of the Orange add that extra zing and flavour, which made the entire soup simply utterly delicious for it. Spoonfuls of Mascarpone Cheese finished of the soup, with a good pinch of cracked white pepper and 'Et voilà.' 


I actually made that meal less veggie for my partner by cooking some little cubes of Chorizo to add as yummy decoration on top of the soup. So it was not totally Veggie, but it still had the massive thumbs up anyhow for the spiced paprika sausage worked well with the other flavours, it was a home winner. 

The Result.

This little Autumn Soup got a five star from both of us and will make a come back at home for it was just delicious, just the right combination of ingredients. We loved the seasonality of it and do recommend strongly that tasty number.

Fougasse. 

We had the soup with a side of a gruyére 'fougasse' to share. A fougasse is a lovely type of French bread which is a firm favourite at home. The soup was an economical dish too as we had plenty left for lunch the following day. That is what we call a good all rounder. 

Tuesday. 06/10/2015. 'Pappardelle with simple Mixed Cherry Tomato Sauce.'

This recipe comes from 'Gino's Veg Italia!' by Gino D'Acampo. Page 96 and 97.

Book Pic.

Finding Gino's recipe for homemade fresh pasta I was very keen to try it despite it not requiring my still unused pasta machine. Doing it all by hand and from scratch gives you the comprehension of the entire process of making pasta. It is not that complicated to do yet it is fairly demanding. Learning to make my own bowl of pasta, especially if it looks as good as the book pic, has been one of my plan/dream for ages. 

Pasta Dough Prep.

First it was a matter of making the pasta dough which was not difficult. The important bit is to do it with pasta flour of the '00' grade. This flour is not difficult to find, a trip to the supermarket is all it requires as making pasta is an embedded trend which made this product readily available on the shelves. 

It only takes flour 400g, 4 eggs, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 1/2 tsp of salt to make the pasta dough, and a bit of elbow grease for the kneading once the ingredients are combined. 

Rolling the Dough flat.

After the dough resting (30 minutes in the fridge in a bowl covered by cling film) there is the shaping of the pasta by rolling the dough flat. I must say I was fairly crap at this part and I had slightly thick ribbons of pasta as a result. However I had helping hands which came uninvited along with amused eyes watching my first efforts at pasta making. 

Fatpardelle.

Once I had my 'Fatpardelle' sorted, I just needed to cook them along with that beautiful yet simple Cherry Tomato sauce. The preparation on the kitchen counter (2 garlic cloves, 10 cherry tomatoes halved, 10 red plum tomatoes quartered, 1tbsp of honey, 1 tin of cherry tomatoes, a few basil leaves) benefited of a couple of extra ingredients. 

Sauce Prep.

First, I must confess that a simple Tomato sauce would not have been able to hide any of my cocking up of the pasta big time: I had to have a fall back, kind of plan, like a making the sauce more 'Ragu' like to give it a meaty consistency in case we ended up eating just the sauce for dinner...  I had leftover minced beef  from the Jamie's Samosas' recipe to use up to which I added a chopped white onion. The 200g of mince meat worked as my big excuse and plan B. 

The Beefed up Sauce.

Second, I had a glut of green peppers in the garden which we harvested because the weather turned and the nights are too cold, so two of those babies made it into the sauce. Romanesco peppers that did not turn red on time, I do not think they disturbed the overall recipe as much as the minced beef did but whatever they did together gave a bit of substance to the sauce. 

Pasta in the Sauce.

Due to their thickness my home made pasta did took a little more to cook in the boiling water. Once done they are put in the sauce before being dished out.

the Result.

The dinner was very nice and very filling. It tasted Fantastico. The only downside was my fault which was the thickness of the pasta. But with practice I will get better at it, hopefully. The recipe got a five so it is a come again Home Made Pasta.

Monday. 05/10/2015. 'Fennel and Leek Tart with Pecorino Cheese.'

This recipe comes from 'Gino's Veg Italia!' by Gino D'Acampo. Page 82.

This week's trial, the emphasis is on vegetables... Love them or hate them, a balanced diet includes them. After last week healthy menu that went so well, we were on an incentive to keep it going. But also for us as keen gardeners, knowing what to do with our grown veg to show them at their best is a biggie. 

Book Pic.

This first dish was appealing to me because I like fennel a lot but I must confess that it is a veg that does rarely appear on my shopping list. It's a little bit about introducing more diversity at home, for the world of veg does not consist of potatoes, onions, carrots, tomatoes and celery. All of which are the staple veg in this household. The book picture was also very attractive. 

The Prep.

Cubetti di Pancetta and Leeks mix.

I was faithful to the recipe apart from one added ingredient, cubetti di Pancetta, 80g which I cooked alongside the leeks. Although I would not mind eating totally veggie for a week for I did have a six months spell of vegetarianism back in my days, it is another story with my carnivorous other half. So I treated that Tart a little bit like a 'Quiche' and it did the trick to please.

Frying the slices of Fennel first like Gino says gives them that lovely toasted look, that visually appetising edge. Then the tart's filling of eggs, milk, cream, pecorino cheese and toasted fennel seeds was easy to whisk together into an unctuous mixture.

Filo Casing.

The most difficult part here is the lining of the tin with the filo pastry to make the adequate base for the filling. It involved brushing with melted butter each sheet of filo to built up a sound case that will hold the filling. The more you add a sheet, the more the shape surrounding the tin looks like a star, but this allows you to create decent edges, high enough. 

The build up is leeks and cubetti di Pancetta, then the egg/milk/cream/Pecorino mixture goes in followed by the fennel decoration on top, and the tart is ready to go in the oven. 

The Built up Tart.

Side Salad.

While I waited for it to be ready I prepared a little side salad with some ingredients leftover from last week. It was easy to jazz up together, chopping a Cucumber into cubes, chopping the Parsley roughly, a couple of Spring Onions then halving the Radishes, and pickling the last two elements the way Jamie Oliver's week taught me. Build the side salad on the plate at the last minute, just before removing the Tart from the oven just to give that miracle simple pickling a chance to do its magic and: 'Et voilà': My leftover salad! Mind you I have to admit that the 'Super Food' week trial left me with very nice ingredients to chose from. 

Out of the Oven.

The Fennel and Leek Tart that came out looked fabulous and both of us were impressed. But the ultimate proof is in the taste on the plate. 

The Result.

This first dish of the week delivered on flavour and simplicity. It was a truly scrumptious dinner which we both enjoyed. It got the high five. Economically, the Tart divided in four, left two slices for our lunch boxes which is a plus added to its great taste. We will definitely have it again. 

Weekly Feedback. 28/09-03/10/2015. Jamie Oliver 'Everyday Super Food'.

This trial week of Jamie Oliver's new book was fantastic. 

Now, I remember buying that book as a payday treat to myself about three to four months ago. As I turned around after picking it from the shelves, I met the disapproving but also worried look of my partner. If you would see my collection of cookery books, and magazines which occupies a lot of shelves, surfaces, and places, you would understand the disapproving, so much so that your mind would be able to put words into that particular gaze: 'Not one more.'

Jamie's Home made Tea. 

But there was some anxiety there, in that gaze at that moment in time, for I did not pick a book called 'Comfort Food' or 'Pub Grub', any of Jamie Oliver's previous books would not have encountered that look either. That particular one had an alarm bell attached to it, or like a blue neon sign flashing repetitively which simply said: 
'Healthy'. Not his cup of tea. 

Tango on Jamie's book.

The title said 'Super Food' but the subliminal message in my partner's mind was 'healthy' and that little word came with a lot of assumptions such as boring, not fulfilling or not just filling enough etc etc etc. Well, all those myths were busted by that trial week. 

Although, choosing that book for a trial week met a lot of circumspection and worries, at the end of it, it was a massive thumbs up and someone totally won over that healthy can be excellent, full of flavours and very filling.

Sweet Potato Muffins.

The week went really well and the book will not be put on the shelf to be forgotten, it will be opened again and again. There is a lot of cool dishes in there that we haven't tried yet. The ones, we did have were very tasty. It has to be said that Jamie Oliver's recipes burst out with flavours. 

For our podium of favourite dishes this week, we came to decide that, in third position was the 'Chicken and Garlic Bread Kebabs.' They made a fantastic supper. 

Chicken and Garlic Bread Kebabs.

Being a firm second, came the 'Vegeree Not Kedgeree'.  However altered the recipe was under my hands, this was delish flavoursome. 

Vegeree.

Coming first are the Samosas, which we absolutely loved. It was awesome to learn how to do them with that tasty recipe. 

The Samosas

Pickled Eggs.

This book is very educational food or super-food wise making you conscious of what you eat in an exciting way. Jamie Oliver just pulled it off in my home with his recipes and convinced my partner that healthy doesn't necessarily means boring. He enjoyed that week truly: it was educational, myths and assumptions busting.   

To which I will conclude that from making Brunch Muffins, to Funky Pickled Eggs, passing by Tasty Samosas, I learned a hell of a lot from processes to just little tips which makes plenty of difference. 

I can only recommend that book to anyone. 

Preserve Plan of the Week. 'Blushing Pickled Eggs, Red Cabbage, Cloves and Star Anise.'

This recipe comes from 'Everyday Super Food' by Jamie Oliver. Page 238.

Book Pic

Learning to preserve, I was very happy to find those pickled eggs nugget of a recipe in Jamie's book. Anyone buying his magazine will be acknowledged of the wide range of recipes they offer, from fancy popcorn to herby homemade butter passing by chutney, jams and pickles. From the book picture, the purple edges of the eggs were intriguing enough for me to chose to learn how to do that. I wanted to know how to do pickled eggs for ages anyway. Making fancy ones was far from a stretch too far, it was just exciting. 





Bringing all the ingredients together on the kitchen counter revealed the big purple magical element in the recipe. 

The Prep.

Shredding the Red Cabbage.

And the winner is: The humble Red Cabbage. For that kind of purple, I would have thought Beetroot, because, Gosh, does Beetroot not dye everything in its path from tongue to fingers passing by chopping board? 

Pickling.

Well the dye Agent here is Red Cabbage. It is processed fairly simply, shredded, then stirred into the pickling liquid. 

Shelling the Eggs.

The entire recipe is easy to do. Hard Boiling eggs is not a biggie, shelling them is not complex either and this meant this entire pickling jar of blushed eggs was a joy to do. 

Filling the Jar.

Somehow I had that childish excitement just by filling up the Kilner Jar with the eggs, cabbage and pickling liquid. Maybe because, my pickled eggs are going to be fancy purple like in Jamie Oliver's recipe, or may be because I am starting to understand how pickling is working. The mathematics of it are pretty simple and then, the possibilities for fun and equations endless. This funky recipe just opened the doors of pickling to me in a non boring way: Priceless.  

The Result.

When those eggy wonders reached our plates, I will tell you how they fared on the taste incentive. So this post will be updated with the result at a later stage. 









For the moment the result is a jar which is picture perfect. 

Sweet Treat of the Week. 'Sweet Potato Muffins, Chilli, Cheese and Seeds.'

This recipe comes from 'Everyday Super Food' by Jamie Oliver. Page 64. 

Book Pic.

Now, you know that I am not much of a sweet tooth but that I am trying to up my skills concerning sweets, puds and desserts. Muffins are one of my must learn in my mind book. Savoury Muffins have got that trendy aspect to them which make them very attractive to the adventurous palates but mainly to the not so sweet ones like mine. Learning to do  a healthy brunch Muffin appealed to me straight away. 

Resulting Savoury Muffin.

I must confess that my choice got mixed conservative comments straight away, lots of raised eyebrows and circumspection. The book picture did not convince one that Muffins should be anything but sweet to be nice and worth consideration. So to say the least, I felt like swimming against the tide during my trial.



Pretty stubborn, I tried nonetheless to do the Brunch Muffins... Let's bring some 'outside the box' thinking at home, however cosy some may think it is to be in one, like my Big Boy Berlioz.

Berlioz. loving his boxes. 

Sweet Potatoes.

I will not play here the Fifth Symphony of Beethoven, and think that I conquered all. For it played out differently. First the oddity of the all Muffin affair drew someone in the kitchen lending a very helping hand and curious eyes. 600g of Sweet Potatoes were duly grated for me to use. 










As I have no knowledge of how to do a 'normal' Muffin, I can't compare this recipe and technique to any other, however I can tell about what the result tasted like. 

The Prep.

Putting the intriguing preparation on the kitchen counter, from the Sweet Potatoes to the Spring Onions passing by the Cayenne Chillies and Cottage Cheese, one was very interested to see how I would make Muffins out of that.

The Magical Muffin Mixture.

In the Oven.

 But with the binding of eggs and the magic of self raising flour both of us saw the Brunch Muffins rising in the oven, me with a 'I have done my very first Muffins' smile on my face and my alter ego with a WTF smirk at his lips.


The result was surprisingly light Muffins with that warm wow factor of the Chilli kick to them. From suspiciously interesting they reached the grade of four stars with someone admitting that they were surprisingly nice.  As for myself, I gave my first attempt at Muffins a high five. So reaching a home rating of four point five, this Brunch recipe of Jamie Oliver is a clear winner. We had those Muffins at any time really from Brunch to when we were feeling peckish during the week.  They worked a treat. We will do them again.