Summer Cauliflower Soup

Sorry for my erratic  blogging lately.I have been away in France and I learned how its essential if your wine tasting and driving that you have to do that spitting of the wine into the spit-tune.Ill be doing a blog soon on my wine adventure soon.

Today I want to share a fine soup with an in season veg that is much over looked by myself.The Cauliflower this is a light summery soup which is simple to make and can be made with a variety of ingredients which most of us would have in our cupboard.

                              

Ingredients (enough for 2, double for 4)

1/2 cauliflower

2 small onions 

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

6 dl semi-skimmed milk 

43g grated parmesan or any other mature cheese OR in the event of no cheese in fridge, replace half of the milk with cream 

25g butter 

pepper, generously 

salt, generously 

                           

                            

                              

For a thicker winter soup grate 1 big potato and add with milk and cauliflower.

Chop up the onions and garlic saute them lightly. 

Add milk, chopped cauliflower heads, garlic and onions into a pan and bring to boil. Then turn the heat down and let simmer for about half an hour until cauliflower is soft (and potato, if using one). Then add the cheese, butter and spices and mix in a blender. Serve immediately. 

                              

Hand made bread.

Welcome to the first Never Trust a Skinny Cheff video. As in my blog my aim with  my videos is to show how to make simple accessible food,my friend Diarmuid makes a great bread, which is simple and can be altered to anyones taste.
If you have a favorite recipe which you would like to share or make for the blog please get in touch.

NUT ROAST

 I went to Brighton for a long weekend and my host requested that I make my famous vegy nut roast: he had tasted it a while ago whilst on a visit in Cork. But as we partied hard and ate, out as one does, we didn’t get to eat at home. When the time came for chilling and a bit of home cooking, I didn’t fancy making a big meal so we had a simple Italian dinner. So, Brian I dedicate this blog to you. I usually have this dish with Sunday roast.


Sunflower Oil
3 cloves Garlic
1 large Onion
7 mushrooms, medium sized
3 large carrots, 4 medium.
75 grams cold bread converted to bread crumbs
(If you’re stuck use fresh 3 or 4  slices of sliced pan but please try make it
multi grain at least)
50 grams of walnut
75 grams of crunchy peanut butter
1 egg (vegans can leave this out and add tomato puree)
3 sprigs of thyme


Chop and fry onion and mushrooms for about 3 minutes.
Then add chopped garlic.
Grate carrots
When onion is transparent mix in bread-crumbs and carrots.
If you have whole walnuts break into bits and fry separate pan till dark brown.
Then add nuts and peanut butter
Add thyme, season with salt and pepper.
Mix all together and then add egg and mix.

Grease the inside of a small loaf tin and add mixture

Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius / 400 Fahrenheit / Gas Mark 6.
Roast in an over for 20 mins

If you have no nuts use beans and have a bean roast instead or use
beans and nuts.

Roast Veg Tower

Layered roasted Veg held together with cheese.

Not only does this look great but this great mix of Veg was just put togher to empty out my fridge. The base is a large flat mushroom , all the juices from the roast and cheese trickle down to the mushroom . The mushroom also gives the tower a strong base . I also used a mixture of peppers Eggplant and Tomatoes.

I  chopped up garlic added it to a mixing bowl then added the peppers egg-plant,  oil,salt and pepper. Mix up and leave to marinade for 10 /15 mins or overnight if u have time.

Then form a tower mixing the veg and add a chunk of cheese second from the top and hold together with a wooden tooth pic or skewer , these would be great accompanied by Baked potato which can be baked at the same time.

Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius / 400 Fahrenheit / Gas Mark 6.
Roast in an over for 20 mins

Quiche made easy.

Quiche is a great way of clearing out your cupboards of veg and cheese that are coming to the end of there shelf life. Quiche is easy and simple and can be made in two simple steps.

Step 1 Pastry.

220g plain flour
120g butter
4 tbs of ice cold water

Place flour in mixing bowl and cut butter into small cubes.
Rub together with your fingertips until completely mixed and crumbly.

Mix in water and shape the doe in to a plate shape and put in fridge for a least 1 hour but can be left for the week. The less this doe is kneaded and shaped the better crumble the pastry has.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a round about 5cm larger than a 25cm tin, bake for 10minutes in oven at 200C/fan 180C/gas 6

Step 2 Filling

This depends what you have in your cupboard that needs to be used up. Cream ,cheese , veg and egges are the basic ingredients.
A simple quiche is cheese and onion .

3 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 clove(s) garlic, crushed and finely chopped, optional
2 medium eggs

150 ml milk OR 75 ml milk and 75 ml double cream
120 g hard cheese of choice, eg Cheddar, grated -
salt, pepper, herbs to taste

Beat the eggs in a bowl, then gradually add the milk/cream. Stir in the onions and half the cheese, then season with salt and pepper. Carefully tip the filling into the case, sprinkle with the rest of the cheese, then bake for 20-25 mins until set and golden.

Simple Curry

Oh I do love a good curry so this week I want to share this amazing curry.

What I really like about this curry is that there is so many levels to it, you can make it as complex or simple as needed.

Ingredients

•           2 medium size onions (approximately 300 gm.), peeled and roughly chopped

•           1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled

•           2-3 cloves of garlic (optional), peeled

•           2  fresh medium tomatoes(200 gm. Tinned) or full fat yogurt tomatoes.

•           2-3 tbs. cooking oil

•           1 tsp. cumin seeds

For an amazing curry, add following whole spices 1 inch piece of cinnamon stick or cassia bark, 1-2 bay leaves, 2 large cardamoms-slightly cracked open, 4-5 cloves, 5-6 black peppers.(You can also just add Garam Masala add the end of dish for similar effect).

•           1/2 tsp. turmeric powder (too much makes the curry bitter)

•           1/4 tsp. chili powder (adjust to taste)

•           1 1/2 tsp. of coriander powder

•           Salt to taste

•           1/2 tsp. Garam Masala

•           2 tbs. fresh coriander leaves, chopped

a

            Wash and grind onions, ginger and garlic together in a food processor or chop finely by hand or grate.Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds. Let the seeds splutter. Add onion, ginger and garlic and fry until light brown.

Add all powdered spices and stir for 10 seconds, to release flavours.

 If adding  garam masala powder add at end.  Add tomatoes/yogurt and stir fry until oil separates from the mass. For a more professional taste, add a tsp. water and stir-fry again until oil separates. Repeat once more.

To give different flavours to the curry, you can add chopped spinach or half a tin of pureed spinach or a few diced potatoes or carrots or or half a cup of  lentils or 450 gm. of tinned chick peas, after draining out the brine. You can experiment with other additions too. That is how new dishes are born.

 You can add a few nuts like almonds or cashews at the end of the cooking process. They taste better if you soak and grind them first, adding creaminess to the dish.

Peanut-butter cookies

 

This week I'm doing something very simple  and easy.

 I have been experimenting with biscuits as I'm trying to  reduce my purchases of shop made products (Ill leave my issues with trans-fats and the like for my midweek rants ,which you will see Iv started  last week do have a look).Of all the biscuits Iv tried this has been by far my most successful for me so far.

• 125g  butter
• 100g soft light brown sugar
• 1 medium egg, lightly beaten
• 150g self raising flour or  plain flour  with ½ tsp baking powder
• 100g of your favorite peanut butter 

Pre-heat oven to 190°C/gas 5 

Heat up the butter and add with sugar to a mixing bowl.

Beat in egg to mixture in bowl and  shit flower into bowl and add peanut butter,

and mix.If mixture is to dry add a drop of milk.

Make mixture into balls  and put on baking tray and flatten with fish slice.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Ricotta and walnut ravioli with roasted carrot sauce

So this weeks dish has cheered me up no end.This is the meal I changed last week due to climatic changes.I’v never made Ravioli before, well Iv never really made pasta before . I tried gnocchi but that ended in white sludge.Pasta should technically be made with 00 flour but plain flour will do  ok.

• ingredients
• 210g all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons water

Mound your flower on your work-top , scoop a hole out of the flower .Add eggs and salt, mix add a drop off water if still to dry.Knead the dough for about 10 mins this activates the  glutton in the floor which stops the dough ripping when u roll out your dough.Place you dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.Roll the dough on your work top.The dough needs to be half the dept of a beer mat.
When I cut out my shapes I made them circular, I did this because when you roll out dough it turns into a circler shape .I used a glass to cut out my shapes.

• Filling:
• 200g ricotta cheese
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 7 walnuts, halved and salt to taste

This was the filling I used but you can use spinach and goats cheese or any no. of fillings.I also put together a  sauce to go with this to make a full dish.I want to blog dishes that are easy and the ingredients are accessable but taste and look great.
Roasted Carrot Sauce.
This sauce is really easy to make, but makes the best of your ingredients.

• 3 Carrots(depending on size ); sliced
• 1 Onions; sliced
• 2 tb oil
• 2 Cloves garlic; minced
• 2 / 4 cups of Vegetable stock
• Juice 1/2 a lemon
• Sea salt to taste

Pre heat your oven to roasting temp for your cookerSo I quartered my Carrots and chopped them to the width of your big finger.Put them into a roasting dish and  mix in oil and place in pre heated oven.
Chop onions and garlic.When u see the are roasting ¾ roasted add onion and garlic as they roast fast and will burn if added from start.So when they ingredients are roasted, add to blender and add lemon then salt to taste.Add the vegetable stock a cup at a time till the desired texture and thickness is achieved.
A few tips on this recipe: Make the dough as thin a  possible, especially around the edges where the join between top and bottom, this is where the pasta thickness doubles.
Put as much filling as you can fit into each Ravioli, stretch the edges if you need to make them bigger.Place in boiling water till they floot,cook after making. They don’t really keep, as they dry out and don’t taste as well.

Sweet Potato and Pear soup

I was all prepared to do a light  mediterranean  dish but the weather  yesterday changed my mind ,it was windy and wet ,wet ,wet .So I decided I should cross my original mediterranean idea with something hearty.
So I cam across this soup and just had the right ingredient in the  cupboard
If you're in the midst of winter gloom or happy when you feel the early days of spring  upon you, this is the one for you . It's by no way a run of the mill soup  its fruity and could  easily be served in the summer as a chilled soup,it’s a full-bodied soup not for you if your like more of a broth .
When you first taste it the pear gives u a fruity taste on your palate the sweet potato is more subtle it has a crunch texture from both the pear and sweet potatoes  if you want to cheer up  or do something special and unusual this is a simple way of doing it .
Ingredients
Oil
1 Onion
750g  Sweet Potato(cut into 2cm cubes)
2 large firm pears(cored cubed into 2cm)
750ml of vegetable stock
Garnish with your imagination.
Fry the onion until its transparent but not brown.Then add the sweet potato  and fry for 5 -10 minutes until soft but not browned.Then add the pears and fry for another 2 minutes.Add stock,bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes .
Let cool, blend and add garnish.

Mushroom Soup

So this is a great soup for when u end up buying loads of mushrooms but never end up using them. I buy mushrooms with the intention of  using more mushrooms in my food and  a couple of days before they go bad I find myself making soup to use them up .I used make a milk based mushroom soup before I discovered this soup.

As usual I ended up with a large amount of mushrooms losing the will to survive  but  as it was a  special occasion I wanted to do something different.And this soup is what I came up with. Never had I a soup that is so creamy with out cream.
The great thing about this soup is that it works if you have only white standard mushrooms and powdered stock or if you go the whole hog and get a selection of  mushroom like shiitake oyster brown and dried Porcini mushrooms and use fresh stock. Of course better produce brings better results but give it a go either way
.Clean and chop up the mushrooms and fry in sunflower oil for a couple of minutes stirring well. Add  hot water to your dried porcini.
Then add you thyme garlic , butter and add the liquid plus the porcini.Then cook till the liquid is  nearly reduced.Season with salt and pepper to your taste and then add stock.Bring to boil and then simmer for 20 min , I then add it to a food blender all or part  depending on if you want a chunky mushroom soup or like a fully blended  .
You can keep mushrooms to add and a few florets of thyme for decoration