Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Sent on blue bird. you my Caldo Gallego soup from The Columbia Restaurant. My all time favorite soup, huge fan of soups. I prefer chorizo to linquiza sic. Will use in a pinch tho.
Plus, we laughed at the after effects you described. My sister, L, was NOT allowed to indulge in a 3rd gd bowl, as we shared a 🛌. She could level the fn house. Godawful she was.
I love a good soup! The two I used to specialise in when I worked in restaurants were French Onion and a nice Nettle soup. Keeping it simple keeps the taste!
If French Onion soup's on the menu, I'll always have it. There's a restaurant near us which has a chef who clearly loves his soup... every time we go there's a different one, and they're all awesome.
Not really a recipe as such, but cheese on beans on toast (grilled). A staple of the household when mum was away and dad was left in charge of making tea, sometimes with a dash of worcester sauce on top. Its very near neighbour was a baked bean and cheese toastie made in the breville, inevitably making a mess when the tomato sauce leaked out and burned.
On the 'cooking is alchemy' topic, 'Salt, fat, acid, heat' taught me so much!
Take a chicken breast or two. Coat it with a mixture of about 60% sour cream or plain yogirt and 40% dijon mustard. Put a layer of bread crumbs into a baking dish, put the chicken on that, and put bread crumbs on top and the sides. Bake at 350F for 30 tp 45 minutes, depending on the size of the breast. Serve with either asparagus or broccoli with butter and lemon.
That does sound good :-) And a wrinkle — friend here does basically what you do on the chicken but adds a couple stalks of rosemary, puts it all in a bag, and lets it marinate for a while...
I have recipes for Feijoada, but no, you can't get the beans in the UK:\
My freezer already has variations on this theme, though not so simple. The folks lived in Tenerife for 35 years, though back in the UK now. A good source of ideas, chorizo & 'mojo' [that's like rock-o, not moh-joh.] which you can't get in the UK. My partner is Hungarian, so we kind of spin this up into a 'trans-Europe could be from anywhere between the two' variant.
So… [to a kilo of meat] fatty cheap pork or chicken thighs work a treat, skinless, boneless, chopped in inch chunks. 3 onions [brown, but you're going to cook them almost to a paste so whatever floats your boat], chorizo, beans, 3 cans or dried home-made - rosecoco, cannelini or pinto but they can get over-soft; just not red kidney. Garlic, bell peppers [3, different colours just for variety]. Mojo [maybe 2-3 tablespoons depending on how spicy] if you can get any, otherwise, decent paprika [Hungarian is best] dried coriander powder, garlic powder [yes, powder as well as your fresh], & some simple cayenne chilli powder to taste. Can of tomatoes & a stock cube if you want. Oven if you like (with the lid on;), but I like to get a good browning on everything (can't beat that Maillard;) then stick it in the slow cooker for the day, so I can leave it to its own devices without needing to check it. Don't start too 'wet', it gets wetter as the onions & peppers cook in.
A bit of flat-leaf parsley goes nicely on top to serve, but fresh coriander [cilantro for the Transpondians] will do reasonably well too. We eat it in a dish with good fresh crusty but doughy bread dunked in - Turkish usually as it's available still warm in North London where I am, but baguette will do at a push. Heck, rice will do at a push, or boiled potatoes, this is 'paysanne' food not fine dining.
Difficult to get wrong really - you also get all day to test your spice/seasoning levels (but don't taste it for at least three hours or you'll end up out-guessing yourself).
Have copied this into my recipe app and will give it a try. Just reading the ingredients and method makes me confident it's going to be very, very tasty indeed. And I'm a big fan of recipes that take inspiration from a couple of different cultures and use them together... so often people, wherever they come from, are going through the same processes and seeking the same result.
It has broad tolerance. It's one of the things I love about it. You can add a bit of 'whatever's left over in the fridge' too. The only thing you need to actually get right is 'how wet it will end up' & 'how much salt & chilli needs adding', bearing in mind the chorizo & mojo [or substitute] *may* be all it takes.
That's it. The rest just comes to you as it cooks.
**Oh, btw, the mojo we use is red mojo picante, spicier than the green & we use the dry spice blend not the finished made up sauce [too acidic for this]. The substitute ingredients copy this. There is a Cuban/Puerto Rican similar product, perhaps more readily-available in the States. I've never tried it for comparison.
Slow cooked oxtail: dredge in seasoned flour, brown the meat, soffrito, deglaze with red wine, add the meat back in. More wine, stock, some thyme and a bay leaf or two. Tomatoes if you like, or not if you don’t. Cook slowly, at least 3 hours. Feast.
My go to, when I get back after a week of workshops, and after a glass of chilled white wine... spaghetti con aglio, olio e pepperoncino. (Try saying it out loud!). Gently simmer sliced garlic and dried chilli flakes in good quality olive oil while you cook the (good quality) spaghetti, mix a bit of the pasta water into the oil just before you toss the pasta. Eat with another glass of chilled white wine. Yum.
That's a classic, for sure. Or that, plus 3 chopped vine-ripened tomatoes, a squeeze of lemon juice, some fresh basil and a splash of white wine is equally delicious.
That is an absolute banker — and wherever I got the recipe from, it also specifies mixing in a little of pasta water (I think earlier, to stop the garlic cooking further: I might have found it in Nigella). LOVE this.
I think it’s something to do with slightly thickening the sauce. I subscribe to a weekly fresh pasta service, and they say to reserve some pasta water just before draining the pasta and add it to the sauce. I’m pretty sure I read about it in Antony Bourdain’s first book too. When you add the water to just oil (and garlic) it makes it creamier. There’s a proper name for that, which escapes me.
Spicy beans on toast - take a can of whichever brand you like (I know this is blasphemy but it doesn’t have to be Heinz for me). Add a teaspoon of black mustard seeds, half to one teaspoon of cumin seeds, half a teaspoon of turmeric and as much chilli powder as you fancy. Microwave for a minute or so and then lavish over your toast, over which you will have already grated some mature cheddar cheese. Hits the spot every time!
That sounds fabulous. I had a much, much simpler version that basically just involved spooning in some mustard and curry powder, but this sounds better...
I recently decided to try adding a layer of habanero lime kettle chips to my regular ham sandwich (made with dill mayo and lots of salad greens) and it instantly changed my life. No joke. I'd always found eating sandwiches to be somewhat of a chore, now they're my first choice for lunch most days.
I don't think I've ever put sweet chilli sauce with cheddar cheese as branston pickle or jalapeno jelly always goes with it so well, but sweet chill does taste great with halloumi (as does a good strawberry jam).
My larder go-to for a decade has been ratatouille, the peasant-y version, not the fancy-schmancy beautifully presented layers of veg.
I literally just use eggplant, capsicum (bell peppers, preferably red or yellow for colour), zucchini and tomatoes. Cooked in a single large pot, adding ingredients in that order, with an occasional sprinkle of olive oil and maybe some salt with the tomatoes. I don't peel the tomatoes or add any onion, garlic or herbs.
After decanting off about 2L of delicious vegetable juice at the end, I generally get about 6L of ratatouille in mason jars that can live in the middle of your fridge for a month.
That gives me a partner for scrambled eggs in the morning, an option for a cold soup with crusty bread and a base for numerous other dishes I might cook that month.
We make something called Socca that is a total of 6 ingredients including the salt, pepper, and oil used in the pan to keep it from sticking. It's simple, easy to make, and deceptively good. It makes an excellent appetizer, or just a snack to have with a beer, and I suspect you could even pass it off as a side dish if you were even mildly persuasive. Plus, it's gluten free for those who have to worry about such things.
This is the one we make in case you're inclined to give it a try.
Domoda...Gambian peanut (and sweet potato) stew. This is utter comfort food, it's like getting a big hug.
Fry an onion, add 2 fresh chillies (sliced), cook until onion golden. Add 4 chopped cloves garlic and some chilli powder, depending on your taste. Stir in 800g of sweet potato in cubes, 400-500g of chopped tomatoes (or a can), some tomato puree, and 200g of smooth peanut butter (*pure*, no added stuff). Stir for a while, then add 800ml veg stock. Bring to boil and simmer until the sweet potato is softened. Add the juice of half a lemon, stir through, then have with rice, on its own, or hell, just eat it straight from the pan.
Don't know if this appeals to anyone but there is a nice twist for steak. Clarify some unsalted butter. On a medium low heat put a handful of coffee beans in a frying pan. Cook for about 1min, moving the beans constantly. Then add a generous amount of the clarified butter. Heat for about 5mins. Then add the melted butter to a cooked steak just before serving, without the coffee beans, with a basting brush.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Sent on blue bird. you my Caldo Gallego soup from The Columbia Restaurant. My all time favorite soup, huge fan of soups. I prefer chorizo to linquiza sic. Will use in a pinch tho.
Plus, we laughed at the after effects you described. My sister, L, was NOT allowed to indulge in a 3rd gd bowl, as we shared a 🛌. She could level the fn house. Godawful she was.
I love a good soup! The two I used to specialise in when I worked in restaurants were French Onion and a nice Nettle soup. Keeping it simple keeps the taste!
If French Onion soup's on the menu, I'll always have it. There's a restaurant near us which has a chef who clearly loves his soup... every time we go there's a different one, and they're all awesome.
Love The Columbia! I still make their 1905 salad from time to time...
Cafe Con Leche. Aka Cuban crack...
Not really a recipe as such, but cheese on beans on toast (grilled). A staple of the household when mum was away and dad was left in charge of making tea, sometimes with a dash of worcester sauce on top. Its very near neighbour was a baked bean and cheese toastie made in the breville, inevitably making a mess when the tomato sauce leaked out and burned.
On the 'cooking is alchemy' topic, 'Salt, fat, acid, heat' taught me so much!
It's very, very hard to beat the humble beans on toast.
I've got 4 kids at home on different schedules. Meals can be exhausting. This is one of my go-to’s:
Sauté chopped onions and mushrooms.
Add 2 jars of crushed tomatoes, 2 jars of beans, chopped kale (or any veggie) and simmer.
Season with rosemary. Add chopped avocado. Drizzle with olive oil.
I like the Jovial brand beans and tomatoes.
That sounds lovely, and very comforting!
Dear gods that sounds sublime
Honestly, it really is. And you're in the Uk so you can get Brindisa!
Take a chicken breast or two. Coat it with a mixture of about 60% sour cream or plain yogirt and 40% dijon mustard. Put a layer of bread crumbs into a baking dish, put the chicken on that, and put bread crumbs on top and the sides. Bake at 350F for 30 tp 45 minutes, depending on the size of the breast. Serve with either asparagus or broccoli with butter and lemon.
It does not get simpler than that.
That does sound good :-) And a wrinkle — friend here does basically what you do on the chicken but adds a couple stalks of rosemary, puts it all in a bag, and lets it marinate for a while...
I have recipes for Feijoada, but no, you can't get the beans in the UK:\
My freezer already has variations on this theme, though not so simple. The folks lived in Tenerife for 35 years, though back in the UK now. A good source of ideas, chorizo & 'mojo' [that's like rock-o, not moh-joh.] which you can't get in the UK. My partner is Hungarian, so we kind of spin this up into a 'trans-Europe could be from anywhere between the two' variant.
So… [to a kilo of meat] fatty cheap pork or chicken thighs work a treat, skinless, boneless, chopped in inch chunks. 3 onions [brown, but you're going to cook them almost to a paste so whatever floats your boat], chorizo, beans, 3 cans or dried home-made - rosecoco, cannelini or pinto but they can get over-soft; just not red kidney. Garlic, bell peppers [3, different colours just for variety]. Mojo [maybe 2-3 tablespoons depending on how spicy] if you can get any, otherwise, decent paprika [Hungarian is best] dried coriander powder, garlic powder [yes, powder as well as your fresh], & some simple cayenne chilli powder to taste. Can of tomatoes & a stock cube if you want. Oven if you like (with the lid on;), but I like to get a good browning on everything (can't beat that Maillard;) then stick it in the slow cooker for the day, so I can leave it to its own devices without needing to check it. Don't start too 'wet', it gets wetter as the onions & peppers cook in.
A bit of flat-leaf parsley goes nicely on top to serve, but fresh coriander [cilantro for the Transpondians] will do reasonably well too. We eat it in a dish with good fresh crusty but doughy bread dunked in - Turkish usually as it's available still warm in North London where I am, but baguette will do at a push. Heck, rice will do at a push, or boiled potatoes, this is 'paysanne' food not fine dining.
Difficult to get wrong really - you also get all day to test your spice/seasoning levels (but don't taste it for at least three hours or you'll end up out-guessing yourself).
Freezes without issue, so you can stock up.
Have copied this into my recipe app and will give it a try. Just reading the ingredients and method makes me confident it's going to be very, very tasty indeed. And I'm a big fan of recipes that take inspiration from a couple of different cultures and use them together... so often people, wherever they come from, are going through the same processes and seeking the same result.
Thank you!
Most welcome.
It has broad tolerance. It's one of the things I love about it. You can add a bit of 'whatever's left over in the fridge' too. The only thing you need to actually get right is 'how wet it will end up' & 'how much salt & chilli needs adding', bearing in mind the chorizo & mojo [or substitute] *may* be all it takes.
That's it. The rest just comes to you as it cooks.
**Oh, btw, the mojo we use is red mojo picante, spicier than the green & we use the dry spice blend not the finished made up sauce [too acidic for this]. The substitute ingredients copy this. There is a Cuban/Puerto Rican similar product, perhaps more readily-available in the States. I've never tried it for comparison.
Can we have it tonight?
I'm game ;-)
Yes, but only if you started it this morning ;))
Very much like Bean Goo!
Slow cooked oxtail: dredge in seasoned flour, brown the meat, soffrito, deglaze with red wine, add the meat back in. More wine, stock, some thyme and a bay leaf or two. Tomatoes if you like, or not if you don’t. Cook slowly, at least 3 hours. Feast.
That sounds fabulous. Oxtail may be a strength locally but I'll have a look. Thank you!
“There’s probably a metaphor for life, love and the universe there “ Context is EVERYTHING!
My go to, when I get back after a week of workshops, and after a glass of chilled white wine... spaghetti con aglio, olio e pepperoncino. (Try saying it out loud!). Gently simmer sliced garlic and dried chilli flakes in good quality olive oil while you cook the (good quality) spaghetti, mix a bit of the pasta water into the oil just before you toss the pasta. Eat with another glass of chilled white wine. Yum.
That's a classic, for sure. Or that, plus 3 chopped vine-ripened tomatoes, a squeeze of lemon juice, some fresh basil and a splash of white wine is equally delicious.
Yum. That’s one for later this week. Thanks.
That is an absolute banker — and wherever I got the recipe from, it also specifies mixing in a little of pasta water (I think earlier, to stop the garlic cooking further: I might have found it in Nigella). LOVE this.
I think it’s something to do with slightly thickening the sauce. I subscribe to a weekly fresh pasta service, and they say to reserve some pasta water just before draining the pasta and add it to the sauce. I’m pretty sure I read about it in Antony Bourdain’s first book too. When you add the water to just oil (and garlic) it makes it creamier. There’s a proper name for that, which escapes me.
Emulsifying?
I always use reserved potato water to make my mashed potatoes creamier. Just use up to half a cup of that and butter, no cream or milk.
Yes, that’s it. And thanks for the potato water tip.
Spicy beans on toast - take a can of whichever brand you like (I know this is blasphemy but it doesn’t have to be Heinz for me). Add a teaspoon of black mustard seeds, half to one teaspoon of cumin seeds, half a teaspoon of turmeric and as much chilli powder as you fancy. Microwave for a minute or so and then lavish over your toast, over which you will have already grated some mature cheddar cheese. Hits the spot every time!
Have you tried lightly toasting the spices (in a dry pan) before adding them to the beans? It should develop the flavours more.
That sounds fabulous. I had a much, much simpler version that basically just involved spooning in some mustard and curry powder, but this sounds better...
And a shot of tabasco and/or Worcester sauce.
Futzing is a great word :)
I recently decided to try adding a layer of habanero lime kettle chips to my regular ham sandwich (made with dill mayo and lots of salad greens) and it instantly changed my life. No joke. I'd always found eating sandwiches to be somewhat of a chore, now they're my first choice for lunch most days.
How about ham and (cheddar) cheese with sweet chilli sauce?
I don't think I've ever put sweet chilli sauce with cheddar cheese as branston pickle or jalapeno jelly always goes with it so well, but sweet chill does taste great with halloumi (as does a good strawberry jam).
That whole concoction sounds fabulous.
Your recipe is similar to split-pea and ham soup
My larder go-to for a decade has been ratatouille, the peasant-y version, not the fancy-schmancy beautifully presented layers of veg.
I literally just use eggplant, capsicum (bell peppers, preferably red or yellow for colour), zucchini and tomatoes. Cooked in a single large pot, adding ingredients in that order, with an occasional sprinkle of olive oil and maybe some salt with the tomatoes. I don't peel the tomatoes or add any onion, garlic or herbs.
After decanting off about 2L of delicious vegetable juice at the end, I generally get about 6L of ratatouille in mason jars that can live in the middle of your fridge for a month.
That gives me a partner for scrambled eggs in the morning, an option for a cold soup with crusty bread and a base for numerous other dishes I might cook that month.
That sounds great... and much easier than I would have thought!
We make something called Socca that is a total of 6 ingredients including the salt, pepper, and oil used in the pan to keep it from sticking. It's simple, easy to make, and deceptively good. It makes an excellent appetizer, or just a snack to have with a beer, and I suspect you could even pass it off as a side dish if you were even mildly persuasive. Plus, it's gluten free for those who have to worry about such things.
This is the one we make in case you're inclined to give it a try.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014757-socca-farinata
I'll check it out - thank you!
Domoda...Gambian peanut (and sweet potato) stew. This is utter comfort food, it's like getting a big hug.
Fry an onion, add 2 fresh chillies (sliced), cook until onion golden. Add 4 chopped cloves garlic and some chilli powder, depending on your taste. Stir in 800g of sweet potato in cubes, 400-500g of chopped tomatoes (or a can), some tomato puree, and 200g of smooth peanut butter (*pure*, no added stuff). Stir for a while, then add 800ml veg stock. Bring to boil and simmer until the sweet potato is softened. Add the juice of half a lemon, stir through, then have with rice, on its own, or hell, just eat it straight from the pan.
That sounds very good indeed. Noted!
Absolutely! Did that in the original version but have got lazy and mostly microwave now - it does the job!
Don't know if this appeals to anyone but there is a nice twist for steak. Clarify some unsalted butter. On a medium low heat put a handful of coffee beans in a frying pan. Cook for about 1min, moving the beans constantly. Then add a generous amount of the clarified butter. Heat for about 5mins. Then add the melted butter to a cooked steak just before serving, without the coffee beans, with a basting brush.
Huh... never heard of anything like that! I'll have to give it a try...