Smoked Aubergine Soup

We had a Bar-b-q- at the weekend...and I had some left over potato and aubergine charred black from the fire.Instead of turning it into some smokey dips I opted for this soup due to the rainy weather outside...Ain,t nothing like a soup on a grey day.

Saute 2 onions finely diced in olive oil with a pinch of salt.
When the onions are soft add 3 small mushrooms..diced finely.
Add 1 small aubergine,2 radishes,half a cougette chopped finely.
Cook until the aubergine softens and add the charred aubergine (with the burnt skin removed and composted)and cover with a light stock.
Simmer for about ten minutes then blend up for a thick rich soup.
I added the cooked charred potato deskined and cubed up with some cooked green peas before serving for a different texture and that lovely green colour

Whiskey leek rolls...with a walnut ,apple,potato salad and goats yoghurt dressing

We went to visit friends the other day in their Masia(Catalan gorgeous stone farmhouses)and when leaving we were given a pressie of two fat leeks and loads of asparagus.The asparagus was grilled and eaten with alioli...and this is what happened to the leeks ....

Cut the green part of the leeks and bottom part .
There before you ,you,ll have two white rolls of leeks.
Insert a sharp knife in one end and rotate and twist ...do the same at the other end until you have a hollow in the centre.

Now for the filling...
Saute finely diced green peppers,red peppers,a wee bit of courgettes,a wee bit of onion and garlic and black olives(all choped small) in olive oil until soft.
Add a sprinkle of fresh thyme.
At the end of cooking put up the heat and add a gurgle of whiskey .
The heat evaporates the alcohol but leaves that lovely flavour.

Wrap the leek rolls in tin foil with some stock and olive oil inside.
Place on a baking tray and cook in the oven (180c)until soft.

The salad...
Wash and chop...lettuce greens and apple.
Add diced cooked and cooled potatoes.
And walnuts(freshly shelled).
Mix a good few dollops of organic goats yoghurt with a few splashes of white wine vinegar.
Salt and pepper it.
Scatter with chopped chives.

tortilla de spagetti or spagetti omlette filled with tapenade,borlotti bean stew and parmesan

One of my favourite things to do is make something delicious out of nothing...or leftovers.Leftovers always form part of the following days food.The word" leftovers" does not sound appetizing but I think every cookery book should have a section for leftovers and what to do with them....so in honour of that great word I give you the spagetti omlette......

step one.. remove cooked spaggetti from the fridge
other steps...heat frying pan -throw in a splash of olive oil-then spaggetti(roughly a plateful)for a few seconds..
throw in 2 beaten eggs (with a splash of milk and salt and pepper)...
lower heat,flip over when cooked underneath and brown otherside..

There you have it.

I filled mine with homemade tapenade ,a borlotti bean stew (also leftover) and a wee bit of grated parmesan

leek and parmesan quiche

FOR THE PASTRY..
400g plain flour
200g wholewheat flour
30g walnuts(well crushed-whiz up in a blender if ya can almost to a powder)
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
pinch white pepper
pinch of tumeric

Mix the above well then add...

200ml frozen sunflower oil(I popped it in the freezer for an hour-not quite frozen but twas fine)
20g grated parmesan

The pastry mixture was very crumbly,so instead of rolling it I pressed it in to two 8 inch flan trays
and baked them blind(why that expression I wonder...why not baked fully sighted ) in a preheated oven(180c) for 15 minutes or so.

THE FILLING...
315g leeks sauted in tablespoon olive oil with a splash of water
380g firm tofu crumbled
60g parmesan grated
pinch of powdered bay leaves (or throw a bay leaf in when cooking the leeks)
2 teaspoons of dried thyme(or fresh)
4 free range eggs (well beaten)
100ml soya(or other) milk
1 tablespoon of powdered stock(marigold organic)optional
salt and pepper to taste
Mix well and happily fill the pastry cases...throw (yes more) 30g grated parmesan on top ...then bake in preheated(180c) oven until set.

chocolate chip cookies

Its a classic that I think every self respecting soul should be able to make.It is a bit of a calorie bomb...I,m gonna try to make a healthier version of this in the future(note to self)...but they are seriously yummy...
337g flour
225g sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 free range egg
50ml of golden syrup
150g of butter
100g(or one handful)of chopped dark chocolate
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cocoa
1 tablespoon of water

Cream the butter and sugar together.Beat in the egg and add syrup and water.
Mix with the other ingredients together to form a dough.Form into big sized walnuts.
Place on greased baking trays a good 2 inches apart(they expand a lot) and press down a wee bit with a fork.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 10 minutes.Cool on a wire tray.
Any smarty pants out there will have noticed this is a copy of the ginger biscuits(3 feb 2009)..but that is the joy of a good recipe you can take something out ,throw in another and you know it will work..

Leek,rocafort,walnut and pear pizza and Focaccia Bread

First things first..The base..for a good base you need good flour...I used white organic stoneground flour.

THE BASE:
8oog white organic flour
400ml warm water
2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons dry active yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
100ml olive oil

Mix a cupful of the flour,the yeast and sugar together in a big bowl.Stir in the warm water and leave for a few minutes.
Add in the rest of the flour,the salt and the olive oil.Mix well and start to knead the dough in the bowl or on a table.
Ten minutes of kneading should do it.(no less...you knead to knead...v important)
Brush the inside of the bowl with olive oil,put the dough in and cover with a plastic bag.
turn on the oven 180c for one minute, then turn off ,and pop the covered bowl inside.leave for 30 minutes or so until it doubles in size.Remove from the oven and punch the dough in the middle to knock it back.(***** for focaccias see below)
Divide in three pieces,roll out as thinly as possible, or not ;depending on how you like your pizza,(remember it should double in sizeagain).
Place on greased baking trays and cover with large plastic bags.Do the oven trick again:turn on for one minute,turn off and pop the
trays in.Leave for another 30 minutes.Take out trays.Then heat oven to 200c.

Meanwhile prepare the topping:
homemade tomato sauce(see entry Jan27 2009)
sauted leeks
crumbled rocafort cheese
pears sliced thinly
walnuts

Place a wee bit of the tomato sauce on top of pizzas and prebake for 5 to 10 minutes.
Take out of oven.(I let 2 cool down and then froze them for another day).Then pile on
the sauted leeks,walnuts,rocafort and pear slices and bake for 10 minutes or so...depending
on the thickness of pizza.
enjoy with a few drops of chilli oil and black pepper if you so wish...

If you want to make focaccias...its basically the same recipe (see brackets above)
After beating the dough down add some chopped fresh rosemary.divide in two pieces and roll
out a lot thicker..Place on greased trays..Brush top with oil..Place sliced onions and tomatoes on top.
Do the oven trick:turn on 180c for one minute.Turn off.Place the focaccias covered with a large plastic bag in the warm oven for 30 minutes to double in size.Take out.heat oven to 180c and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

This is really a bread recipe .For those who think its hard, try it,its not...making bread is easy..good flour..knead well..start off with easy recipes...try it I dare ya!

PERFECT GINGER COOKIES

I was looking for ages for a ginger bikkie(cookie) recipe and found it at baked perfectionandit was v easy to follow..did a bit of changes to use the ginger candy and syrup..but thank you Risa for the ricipe...
337g flour
225g sugar
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cinnamin
1 free range egg
50ml of ginger syrup(from previous post)
150g of butter
pinch of salt
2 big spoons of chopped candied ginger(from previous post)
1 tablespoon of water

Cream the butter and sugar together.Beat in the egg and add syrup and water.
Mix with the other ingredients together to form a dough.Form into big sized walnuts.
Place on greased baking trays a good 2 inches apart(they expand a lot).Place a piece of candied ginger on top and press down a wee bit with a fork.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 10 minutes.Cool on a wire tray.Impossible to store as they will be devoured instantly.They are chewy buttery and utterly yummy.