Jerusalem artichoke soup or leek and potato soup and spelling errors

First off, please allow for my spelling errors. By the time I get around to writing this blog, I am usually tired and cross-eyed, or in yesterday's case, somewhat hanging from a night at Martin's new place, The Office. You must go folks, it's great. Claire - why did I go back? Why didn't I stay in bed like a normal person? Anyhow, even if I do double check for errors I can't find them as the page is a blur. And I can't get Rory to check them because he can't read.

Anyhow, I digress. Today was a stinker. I have seemed to do a series of freebies for people in a week I can least afford to with work-load and house and work and work. But no work means no house so keep it coming. By the way, my bond was accepted and my bank now owns my house. I now need to find builders, buy everything for the kitchen, a TV, a washing machine, a bed, a desk, a chair a sofa and and and. So not stressed at all. Really, I promise. Fair to say I have an inventory which I will be giving my girlfriends of what I need. Then they will come to my flat and give me presents as we sit on cardboard boxes. But no knives, that's just bad luck. I have tested the theory and it is true.

Anyhoo, onto jerusalem artichoke soup...it is easy and healthy and you can substitute the artichokes for leeks and potatoes (4 large leeks and 5 large potatoes). And folk, the difference between leek and potato soup and Vichyssoise is that leek and potato soup is served warm and Vichyssoise is served cold. Geddit? Lastly, I have substituted low fat milk for cream as cream freaks me out and I don't believe that there is a need for it in this day and age unless you are after a triple bypass. Right... here we go:

Jersusalem artichoke soup / leek and potato soup

Prepare 750g (3 1/2 cups) Jerusalem artichokes (or a mix of artichokes and potatoes) by par-boiling and peeling (peeling see first jerusalem artichoke blog. Par boil for about 10 minutes
Cut potatoes and artichokes into chunks.
Gently cook 1 large chopped onion and a crushed clove of garlic in a little oil to release the garlic flavour.
Add 2 sticks of chopped celery and the artichokes or artichoke and potato mix or leek and potato mix.
Pour on 1 litre (4 cups) hot vegetable stock (2 cubes)
Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, covered for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
Puree in a blender, and add milk or more stock to thin if necessary. Season to taste.

Goodnight

Jerusalem artichokes - everyone should try these once!

The first thing to note about jerusalem artichokes is that they are not as the name might imply, from jerusalem nor are they artichokes. The next thing to note is that you would not be a complete fool if you mistook their bulbous, knobbly, tuber-like appearance to ginger. So when you go to your greengrocer, ask them to point them out to you as the last thing you want to happen is that you get home and find that you have bought a kilogram of ginger. It's not big and it's not clever and you'll be cooking ginger for a year (one of my next recipes will be making crystalised stem ginger in the case this fate happens upon you).

But it is important to note that if you will be buying Jerusalem artichokes, you will have to do so now as they are in season for about 4 weeks a year and it's round about now. seriously, it's a narrow and delicious window period. You also won't find them in your regular retail outlets, you will need to go to a specialised fruit and veg store.

Jerusalem artichokes are often used as a potato substitute for diabetics because it mimics a starch but it actually isn't. The taste is very difficult to explain, other than they are sublime. They are creamy and nutty and sweet all at once. They make great crisps when sliced very fine and drizzled with olive oil and whacked into a high temperature oven for 10 minutes or another great recipe is jerusalem artichoke soup which I will post tomorrow.

The first time I had jerusalem artichokes was as a side dish at my friend's restaurant The Rivington Bar and Grill in Old Street in London. Mark Hix, owner and friend and chef extrodinaire, Mark Hix used only seasonal foods at the restaurant and he also had a strong focus on British traditional food and dishes. He was chef director if The Ivy, J Sheeky's, Scotts and the Rivington was his next project but by know means his last. Anyhow, it was a bitterly cold day and these steaming, silky potato-ish type things arrived at the table and I can't begin to tell you how beyond orgasmic they were.

I haven't eaten them since and I can't tell you what made me go into the greengrocers on Thursday last week and ask for them, but I did and there they were. I went to Dunkeld fruit and veg in Johannesburg and the lady told me I was very lucky to get them and they only had them in for about 4 weeks a year and they have only one supplier. SO HURRY!

I was going to cook them for dinner whilst Rory was away but I thought it only fair to save them for him and see what he thought of them (he waxed lyrical, by the way)!

So here's how you cook them, you can't go wrong and it can't be simpler.

Firstly, preheat your oven to about 160 degrees

1) cut the knobbly bits off so it's an easier smooth surface to peel.
2) use a carrot peeler to peel the fine skin off (work quick because they discolour or put the ones in water that you have already peeled)
3) rinse them and dry them off
4) pour a generous amount of olive oil into a roasting pan and put your artichokes in.
5) roll them aound and make sure that all sides of the artichokes are covered
6) sprinkle with salt
7)out artichokes into the oven and turn after 20 minutes so all sides brown
8) turn oven down to about 120 degrees and leave for another 20 minutes

And that, really is all you have to do. Serve jerusalem artichokes as if they are a starch. A great accompaniment to fish, meat and chicken.

Enjoy. And remember to get them now! You snooze, you loose.

Store Cupboard Essentials

I was going to do this in a couple of days time but I just received a gentle nudge in the right direction from Lisa saying how the hell was she supposed to go to Pick n Pay without her list, so Lisa hon, this one is for you.

I am a blog short as I didn't post one last night as I was just so tired from work, this mortgage business and general life, I was in bed by 9pm. That and the fact that Rory woke me up at 5:45 yesterday morning as he was off to Clarens for a working weekend. Good god I miss him. Seriously, I don't mind being on my own but I think it dawned on me today just how much of a difference he makes in my life. I mean we have spent a number of weekends apart in the past year and a bit but this time, I am really really missing him. Thankfully, he comes back tomorrow. Sad, but true. But what I have gleaned from his trip is that he cooked a full english breakfast with a huge fruit salad successfully for 13 people and he nearly landed up spooning one of his work colleagues in the twin bed next to him. Go baby!

Anyhow, how I digress (Lisa)! Your store cupboard essentials are those ingredients that you will not only use most frequently when cooking, but ingredients that will, when put together and you have 'nothing in the house' will make a more than sufficient meal. So, if you are going to be doing your monthly shop (and as it is pay day, I am sure most of you will be doing so this weekend) check out the list below, this should last you for 1-2 months and really is the most cost-effective way of filling your cupboard with ingredient essentials and ensuring you have dinner ingredients in the house to prepare at the drop of a hat should somebody swing past. Obviously your fruit and veg should be bought weekly and always should include:
Tomatoes
Onions
Garlic
Spinach
French Beans
Carrots
cucumbers
peppers (green and red)
coriander
Rosemary and / or thyme

Your dry produce looks as follows:
Salt
Pepper
Chicken / Vegetable stock
Curry powder
cumin
Tumeric
ground coriander
coriander seeds
Fish sauce
Soya Sauce
Chutney
Tomato sauce (if any cook has ever denied using this, they are lying)
Tobasco Sauce
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Apple cider vinegar
Brown sugar
Lentils (orange or green, buy Puy Lentils are the best, albeit the most expensive)
Tinned chick peas
tinned kidney beans in brine
tinned butter beans in brine
Tinned Tuna
Tinned Salmon
Tomato Paste
Tinned peeled plum tomatoes
Tinned chopped tomatoes
Olives
Brown Rice
Cous cous
Pasta (spaghetti and fusilli)

Voila! There are about 10 different dishes you could make with that list alone. I was thinking today, I have never cooked with cheese. I honestly can't abide the stuff (other than cottage cheese and occasionally goats cheese). So if anyone would like to let me know their favourite cheese recipes, please let me know.

Next...Jerusalem artichokes

Rory's 'seriously simple mix in a bowl' Balsamic Chicken

So Rory cooked tonight, albeit bloody late as he went to the gym and only got home at 8pm (not that I want to appear ungrateful) but at this point I would have eaten his hand. I have been busy with mortgage brokers, accountants and PR recons the whole day and have lost my will to live. And cook tonight.

My first meal cooked by Rory was nothing if not random. He was so keen to impress, bless him. He still is but having lived with me for a year his cooking skills have improved 1000 fold. He really has become quite good). Picture it, a tin of Stoney ginger beer, a packet of brown onion soup and a couple of chicken breasts. Hmmm, not your average meal you think. I left him to potter in the kitchen and when he opened the oven all I saw was chicken breasts boiling in ginger beer. I winced (on the inside) and on the outside I smiled adoringly at him and said, "that looks amazing, baby". I ate it and coed and aaah-ed. Oh dear. But just like I have become ok with waking up next him with crazy bed-hair, so I feel equally comfortable at telling him where he is going wrong in the kitchen.

Anyhow, we have come a long way and if Rory is cooking dinner, he will research for the day what the best thing is to cook given the ingredients we have at home. Today he Googled "simple chicken recipes" and came up with this on his own which he served with rice. He also threw some Mediterranean vegetables into the dish with the chicken which he did all on his own accord (I am starting to feel a little threatened). Your Mediterranean veg can include anything from courgettes, to brinjal to mushrooms but MUST have onion and sun-dried tomato.

Here's how he did it:


Ingredients

# 4 Boneless chicken breasts
# 1/3 Cup of balsamic vinegar
# 1/2 Cup of chicken broth
# 2 Tablespoons of White sugar
# 1 Teaspoon of italian seasoning
# 1 Teaspoon of salt shopping list
# 1 Tablespoon of Minced garlic
# Chopped vegetables of your choice MUST INCLUDE ONE SLICED ONION

Method

* Mix all ingredients in a bowl
* Marinate chicken for 10 minutes on each side in the refrigerator
* Cook chicken in a pan over medium heat for 5 minutes a side or until cooked through
* Lower heat and pour in the marinade and simmer chicken for 5 minutes per side
* Place in oven proof dish with veg and cover with foil
* Place in oven for 30 mins on a low heat (160c degrees )


THE SECRET TO PERFECT RICE (serves 2)

Rinse rice well to remove the starch. This means you will have to rinse it about 3 times
Pour one cup of rice into a pot
Cover with 2 and a half cups of water
Add a generous pinch of salt
Boil on a low heat so it simmers gently for about 25-30 mins or until most of the water has evaporated
Remove the pot off the heat and cover the pot with a dish-cloth that has been double folded
*Ensure that the entire circumference of the pot is covered otherwise the rice will not steam
Once pot has been covered with the dish-cloth, leave it for about 7-10 minutes
You will be guaranteed fluffy, light rice. Voila

Good night folks. Much PR business to be getting on with tomorrow.

Tom Yum Help

Tonight, I am somewhat freaked out. I MEAN FREAKED OUT. I have had a hell of a day organising interviews, sending our releases and had the day topped off with a 3 hour meeting for feminine hygiene products and discussed vaginal discharge and menstruation odours ad nauseam whilst everything else fell apart around me. By this I mean having to fill in a thesis for my mortgage application, see my accountant, my financial advisor, my mortgage broker and my estate agent. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO ALL THIS AND WORK. Huh? And if anyone has advice, please feel free to comment.

Rory is off for a pizza tonight with a mate which is great because a) I don't eat pizza ever, I find it offensive and he can go to a pizza place and indulge with glee and he gets to spend an evening with his friend which gets him away from stressed out, freaky me.

I am going for a glass of wine with a friend at Full Stop which I am quite looking forward to. Even though I should be working, as I should be now.

Anyhow, on the way back from feminine hygiene 101, I thought I would want something healthy, quick and tasty for dinner that required minimum preparation and cooking time. So Tom Yom Soup it is. Another one of my very favourite dishes, again because it is healthy and fragrant. You do need a few specialised ingredients for this dish but you will find them all in a Woolworths or one of the better Pick n Pay stores. You will need:

Serves 2
1 packet of Tom Yom paste
6 mushrooms cut and quartered (shitake work best but you can use button)
2 sprigs of spring onion (chopped)
Handful of chopped coriander
12 prawns (you can substitute with chicken pieces that have been cut into small chunks. These can be boiled in the soup but add them first and make sure they are boiled for 10 minutes before adding your veg)
3 courgettes (sliced into rounds)
1 tablespoon of sweet chili sauce
1 tablespoon of fish sauce

Method:

Empty Tom Yom paste into a pot.
Fill with 4 cups of water
Add sweet chili sauce and fish sauce
Add courgettes and simmer for 5 minutes
Add mushrooms
Add prawns
Mix well and pour into 2 bowls
Garnish with spring onions and coriander

Voila! Dinner made. No mess, no fuss.

I now have to pull myself towards myself and have a long hard think as to why I am putting serious amounts of work off and find myself incapable of completing my mortgage form (that is 25 pages long).

I really find myself completely overwhelmed tonight. Enjoy your Tom Yum. It really is yum.

This blog just got interesting. Rory cooks Sam's egg curry

OK, so I am going to have to make this blog more than about food. Although if you knew what I had eaten today you would be ashamed - a schwarma and a packet of crisps - oh dear. Whilst I have remained COMPLETELY stationary in front of my computer selling my soul to journalists. And if reading about my boyfriend effing and blinding in the kitchen about 'ectoplasm' in the pot (that was actually pop corn I made and ignored in the pot from last night, so be it). The pot is now clean and it wasn't ectoplasm.

So he is cooking tonight cause I have a million things to do (this blog has become my solace and time-out project) and I need a night off cooking, quite frankly. And he is getting uppity because I told him to put the carrots in the pot before the broccoli and cauliflower cause the carrot cooking time is slower. He didn't do this. I corrected him and there was a little strop that ensued (baby I love you). Now he is on Facebook and will probably forget about dinner altogether and I will land up cooking it.
Correction - he has put Facebook away and is sweating diligently over the stove. I am directing from the lounge and he is cooking, and laughing and effing and blinding all at the same time cause he has know idea what the hell is doing!

This is what is being thrown together tonight. Monday Night Egg and Vegetable curry. Serve with cous cous

You will need:

4 Carrot
1/2 head of broccoli
1/2 head of cauliflower
1 onion
3 fresh tomatoes
Dash of chutney
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
Soya sauce
balsamic vinegar
sugar (to taste)
salt (to taste)
Vegetable stock
Olive oil
Curry powder
3 eggs.

Method:

Chop onion coarsely and set aside
Boil your eggs so they are medium hard (as per blog 2)
Slice carrots coarsely (cause Rory does) and boil in a bot with vegetable stock
Once carrots are slightly soft add broccoli and cauliflower which will also be coarsely cut into baby florets
Bring to the boil and once broccoli is bright green remove immediately, drain the veg and run under cold water and set aside
Chop 3 tomatoes and add them to your fried onions which you will be putting back on to the heat.
Add a generous pinch of salt and cover and let simmer on a medium heat for 10 minuted (WATCH THIS DOES NOT BURN)
Once simmered, add a teaspoon or so of brown sugar, a splash of soya sauce, a tablespoon of chutney and a splash of balsamic vinegar to the mixture and stir.
Transfer this mixture into a pot and add your veg and the tin of tomatoes.
Add a little more salt to taste and stir
Add 2 generous heaped tablespoons of curry powder and stir in
Let simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes
Cut your eggs in to quarters
Pour your mixture into a serving dish and add your eggs on top
Garnish with coriander but it is Monday and we have none

NB: When cooking tomatoes always add sugar to take away from the acidity

Serve with cous cous


THE SECRET TO COUS COUS

Pour 1 cup of cous cous into a bowl
Pour in a generous splash of olive oil (this serves to separate the cous cous granules)
Stir the oil into the cous cous.
Add a generous pinch of salt and stir
Boil your kettle and pour to cups of water over your cous cous
Stir in and cover the bowl with a dish cloth for 5 minute
Remove cloth and you have the perfect fluffy cous cous

RORY MACROBERT YOU MAKE ME HOWL WITH LAUGHTER

Things you can do with boiled eggs...My favourite...Salad nicoise

SALAD NICOISE

I can honestly say that if i were to have a last meal, this would easily be top of the list. Obviously of French origin, the salad nicoise is a staple on most menus in the UK, but seems to be sadly lacking in South Africa. I find this odd as South Africa easily has the best fresh produce in the world and with our sunny climate, I am surprised more restaurants have not evolved their menus to accommodate this dish. It is the perfect dish to serve guests and should be accompanied by some crusty fresh bread. It is so divinely colourful on the plate and can be adjusted to suit as many people as you need to serve quite easily.

It is simple to prepare, fresh, tasty, wholesome and filling. This is what you will need for your nicoise and then I will tell you how you can play about with the flavours.

This recipe serves 3 people

10 small new potatoes
500 grams of french beans topped and tailed (this means you cut the scraggily bits at the top and the bottom off)
10 Rosa Tomatoes quartered
Half a bag of mixed lettuce leaves
1/4 of a red onion finely sliced
15 calamata olives
2 generous tablespoons of capers
3 medium boiled eggs
2 tins of solid meat tuna
5 Sprigs of Coriander

For the dressing:
1 heaped teaspoon of grain mustard
Juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
half a teaspoon of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
a splash of water

Method:
Wash your potatoes and boil the till soft. Take off the heat and let them cool after running them under cold water. We'll come back to them later.

Bring a pot of water to the boil and add your top and tailed beans. Boil them for about6 minutes only. You want them to be crunchy and sweet, not brown and soggy. As soon as thy have boiled. Drain them and plunge them into a sink filled with cold water and ice - this will shock them into retaining their colour. leave them in there for 2 minutes and place them in your serving dish.

Add your quartered Rosa tomatoes and your fine sliced red onion to your beans and toss.

Ditto the lettuce leaves and toss.

Add your olives and capers and toss.

Drain your tinned tuna well and add the tuna to the top of your bean, tomato and onion mix.

Go back to your potatoes and halve them, placing them carefully on the top of the tuna for presentation sake.

NOW FOR THE DRESSING

Very simple. Throw all the ingredients into a jar and shake!
Pour over your salad.

Chop up your coriander, sprinkle on top and serve. Voila! heaven in a dish.

Now this is not necessarily the traditional way of preparing a salad nicoise but it is how I like it served...but this is where you play around with it until you find your own favourite mix of flavours.

Capers are very much a love or hate thing, so if capers make you recoil in disgust, substitute with a tinned and drained kidney beans or chick peas. Just because a recipe states 'you must use this or you must use that' does not mean you can't adapt it to suit your tastes.

How about swapping the new potatoes for roasted and sliced sweet potatoes? (you simply prick them with a fork a few times, whack them into some tin foil and throw them into the oven on 180 for an hour).

Swap the coriander for chopped parsley or finely chopped thyme (so fragrant and so delicious)

Alternate the tuna for hot smoked trout or tinned salmon (tinned salmon is DELICIOUS and so underrated. It is also full of omega 3's and calcium)

I have not added salt and pepper to this recipe as you can add your salt to taste at the table - my golden rule is that you can add salt but you can't take it away.

So there it is - your first recipe and the best one at that. And something I will be making in my new kitchen as I will literally have a pot, a knife a fork and a tin opner. Oh the fun.

How to boil an egg? Carefully!

The first thing to note about boiling an egg is that is personal choice. Present me with a soft boiled egg where the yolk resembles gravy and I will probably throw it straight back at you. Although, if we are talking food-etiquette here (much like ordering the correct temperature of a steak as medium-rare), having your yolk slightly runny is the correct way to have your eggs, if there is such a thing. And here is how you do it.

Firstly, never boil eggs that have come straight from the fridge, if you plunge them into hot water they will crack.

Remember to look at your kitchen timer, unless you have an innate clock, which I doubt you do. Not watching the timer will no doubt ruin your eggs.

Every egg has a little air pocket at the top (you would have seen this when peeling your eggs). Steam builds up in this air pocket, causing pressure and your egg, again, may crack. You can buy a little contraption from any good home-store which pricks the shell thus allowing this steam to escape.

Always use a small saucepan, eggs with too much space to jolt about it will end up cracking and a gentle simmering of your water is sufficient.

Just cover your eggs with water, do not fill the pot. If the eggs are very fresh (less than four days old), allow an extra 30 seconds on each timing.

Now, here is your time-guideline. Place the eggs in the saucepan, cover them with cold water by about 1/2 inch (1cm), place them on a high heat and, as soon as they reach boiling point, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and give the following timings:
3 minutes if you like a really soft-boiled egg
4 minutes for a white that is just set and a yolk that is creamy.
5 minutes for a white and yolk perfectly set, with only a little bit of squidgy in the centre.

AND NEVER OVER BOIL YOUR EGGS OR YOUR YOLK WILL TURN BLACK

Peeling hard-boiled eggs

The best way to do this is to first tap the eggs gently all over to crack the shells, then hold each egg under a slow trickle of running water as you peel the shell off, starting at the wide end. The water will flush off any bits of shell that cling on. Then back they go into cold water until completely cold. If you don't cool the eggs rapidly they will go on cooking and become overcooked, then you get the black-ring problem. YUK!

This post pays tribute to Delia Smith.

The beginning. A very good place to start. I begin this blog at a very stressful and transient part of my life as I sit on the precipice of buying my first property. This is all very scary and exciting at the same time, but right now it feels much like a rite of passage.

This blog will document what foods and recipes will feature in the next few months and above and beyond educating readers on the best tricks of the trade that I have learnt over the years, it will serve as a guideline as to what one can cook when limited for time, tools and money. All of which I will experience in the next few months as I do not even have my own a set of cutlery, having moved here from London 2 years ago with nothing, I have rented my current flat fully furnished.

Nothing sends me into more of a spin than a non-functioning, equipment-challenged kitchen. The kitchen is where my creativity really comes out to play and a healing place for me when everything else seems to be chaos and maudlin. It is fair to say that I have learnt a lot, albeit self-taught. But cooking is an alchemy, is it not?

I have called this blog 'Le Oeuf' as this means 'the egg' in French (I thought the French version sounded slightly more fanciful than 'the egg' which sounds too much like 'the onion', I think). The egg is the most basic starting point in the kitchen, the very basic of what every cook must know and possibly the most versatile ingredient you will come across; if not the most difficult to get just right. Eggs make the basis of sauces such as hollandaise, béarnaise and mayonnaise. Eggs can be whipped into souffles, meringues and omelets. Eggs can be boiled, poached, fried, deviled, pickled and scrambled and are used in most baking recipes. Do you see where I am going with this?

So please, for the next few posts, bear with me whilst we get the perfect boiled, poached and scrambled egg just right. And while doing so, I will teach you how to give your egg dishes a bit of a twist and how to build on your own cooking alchemy.

Welcome to Le oeuf.