Considering the mood of this soup, I think we can hardly call it wintery, but for me it was just perfectly comforting on this extremly cold day. The first photo is kind of a cheat, because I haven't used Meyer lemons, but regular one. I think the zest would have been a bit too bitter otherwise. I must say, that I was waiting for days, until I finally gave in and cooked this soup. I was afraid that I end up with a warm lemonade. Well, I was wrong, it is so taste, I would even say it is kind of a soul food, after all in a way it is fresh, but still it warms you and so smooth that it strokes your throat. It is not visible, but a bunch of peas are hidden in the soup, that were perfect in combination with the scallop, and the basil oil just brought the whole thing to right point.
Ingredients:
1 shallot
1 tablespoon olive oil
50 g round grain rice (e.g. arborio)
1000 ml chicken stock
50 ml vermoutt
100 g peas
1 lemon
1 egg
salt, pepper
Sautée chopped shallot, add rice and stir so it is covered with oil. Add the vermouth and cook over high heat until it has reduced. Add 500 ml stock and cook over low heat with the lid on until the rice is cooked thorugh. Now puree, sieve and pour it back to the pot. Add the rest of the stock, peas and bring it to the boil, let it cook for 2 minutes. Grate lemon zest into the soup. Whisk egg white until half stiff with a pinch of salt. Whisk egg yolk with two tabelspoons of lemon juice and add some of the hot soup while whisking. Pour egg yolk mixture into the soup and whisk it together, then stir in the beaten egg white. Season with salt and pepper and serve with seared scallops and basil oil.
Well, honestly I do not often make doughnuts or beignets or other deep fried treats. In fact, I only do it once in a year, simply because of the scaring calories, however I decided to break this habit. Therefore here I am with the second batch of beignets this year. After the beetroot, I've chosen another seasonal favourite of mine, the sunchoke, that I boosted with some nutmeg. Though this wouldn't been enough, so I sprinkled it with ginger-lemon flavoured icing sugar. Well, my neighbour, who received a medium sized paper bag full with beignets just ate it all within a few minutes, while we still were chatting. I think that was quite a compliment! By the way, what I especially love about these, among the taste and the light and fluffy texture, is that they pretty much resemble to the sunchoke bulbs, agree?
Ingredients:
180 g sunchoke
60 g butter
200 ml water
150 g flour
2 eggs
nutmeg
pinch of salt
icing sugar
ground ginger
zest of 1 lemon
Cook sunchoke until soft, peel and puree. Bring water with butter, salt and freshly grated nutmeg to the boil. As soon as it is boiling add flour, the whole amount at once. Whisk it together with a wooden spoon, and as soon as a thin white layer is visible on the bottom remove it from the heat. Pour batter into another bowl and stir in 150 g of sunchoke puree, then stir in the eggs one by one. With a help of a spoon form small balls and bake in hot oil for 3-4 minutes. Roll baked beignets in ginger-lemon flavoured icing sugar.
While I was in Hungary, I was lucky to enjoy some fragant sour cherry and plum preserves togther with chicken liver and mashed potatoes. That is an unbeatble combination and no fancy food can compete. As the mentioned fruits are not in season at the moment, I decided to prepare some pear preserve that will just be gorgeous with veal liver. I am pretty inexperienced with preserves, therefore I am thankful for any advice. I indeed received some of them, but then I decided to do it the same way the pickled cucumbers. By the way those turned out perfectly crisp, but I must make some changes, because it was not sour enough, at least according to my taste and some of the spices I am also going to remove when I make it again. But back to the pears! I think it was a great idea to add whisky, however port wine would be a winner too!
Ingredients:
1500 g pear
2 lemons
1 vanilla pod
3 cardamoms
5-6 sichuan pepper
1 clove
2-3 allspice
1 small piece of cinnamon
100 ml bourbon whisky
500 g sugar
700 ml water
Peel and dice pears and keep it in lemon-water so they don't get brown. Bring water together with sugar, whisky and spices to the boil. Put diced pears in jars, pour hot syrup over it and close the jars. Cook jars in 90°C warm water for 20-25 minutes.
While enjoying the first bites of a nashi pear, suddenly I noticed that it smells in a way like chocolate. Immediately everything was clear and I just knew how to combine the ingredients for the cake I was planning during the weekend. I wanted to bake a loaf using sunchoke and nashi pear. If sunchoke, well then hazelnut is a must, but what about the rest? So that chocolate fragrance that filled the air in the morning brought me the idea to add white chocolate and vanilla to the loaf. The neighbour's eight years old daughter loved it, so I am pretty sure that I made the right choice with the ingredients. Besides a slice with a cup of hot tea was just perfect in this cold and snowy afternoon.
Ingredients:
150 g butter
200 g sugar
1 pinch of salt
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
130-150 g sunchoke
150 g flour
100 g ground hazelnut
1 teaspoon baking powder
juice of 1/2 a lemon
100 g white chocolate
2 nashi pears
Cook sunchoke until soft, then peel as long as it is lukewarm and puree. Whisk butter with sugar and a pinch of salt until fluffy, then whisk in the eggs one by one. Stir in 100 g of sunchoke puree, vanilla extract, flour and ground hazelnut. Sprinkle baking powder on top and squezze lemon juice over it. Fold in coarsly chopped chocolate and the peeled and diced nashi pears. Bake for 50-60 minutes in the preheated oven on 180°C.
In the Romandie, the french speaking part of Switzerland saucisson is a very popular cold smoked sausage that is usually made of pork. The so called Longeole is originated in Canton Geneva, while Canton Vaud is famous for the Boutefas and the Saucisson vaudois. I must confess that altough I love the smell of these sausages I am not really a fan, but once in a while they are welcome on our table. Today's lunch was inspried by dish from Canton Vaud, the so called Papet Vaudois that is kind of a leek-potato stew made with white wine and served with saucisson. Yesterday, I discovered a delicious potato dish in this blog and I felt immediately, that I must make them. I only have changed the filling that is inpsired by the traditional Papet Vaudois. The idea of the Sauerkraut sauce is already since quite a while on my mind and actually I planned it to be served among fish, but the smoky sausage just was screaming for it! Then I suddenly thought, why shouldn't I use cabbage in some different way in this dish. That's how I had the idea of white cabbage puree. Simply sautee sliced white cabbage in butter and caramelise with sugar, cook in a little stock, puree with cream and to give a tiny kick season with smoked salt. Roll in blanched savoy cabbage and warm it in brown butter right before serving. That's it!
Ingredients:
250 g potato (slightly floury, yellow)
50 g flour
1 tablespoon potato starch
1 egg yolk
salt, nutmeg
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon olive oil
1 leek
50 g bacon
1/4 teaspoon majoram
50 ml white wine
salt, pepper
Mash or grate the cold, cooked potatoes, then add flour, starch, egg yolk season with salt and nutmeg and knead a dough. For the filling fry thinly sliced bacon in butter-oil mixture, add finely sliced leek and sautee. Add majoram, white wine and cook it until the wine is absorbed. Season aith salt and pepper. Roll out the potato dough and put some spoons of the filling in a row, fold it and slice. Fry in clarfied butter from both sides until golden brown. Put it into the preheated oven for another 15-20 minutes on 80-100ºC.
70 ml veal stock
70 ml Sauerkraut juice
1 shallot
2 juniper berries
50-70 g cold butter
salt, pepper
Bring veal stock, Sauerkraut juice togther with the chopped shallot and the juniper berries to the boil and reduce over low heat by two thirds. Sieve, add diced cold butter and whisk it up with an electric mixer. Season and if necesarry keep it warm in a bain marie.
It wasn't that easy to get back to the kitchen, as I expected. Somehow those few days, when I had the opportunity to relax and enjoy the food that is cooked by someone else, I pretty much got used it. Although I also baked two chocolate mousse cakes, but still, nothing can beat mom's paprikás csirke. Anyway, the original plan was to bake a simple lemon tart, so to say to warm up and get back to the routine, but then I ended up making this beetroot-blood orange version. I have been ever so curious about Heston Blumenthal's pastry, so it was the perfect opportunity to try it. The filling is also based on his recipe, but I must confess, that I already have some new plans with it. So stay tuned for a pretty exciting dessert to come. As far as the pastry is concerned, well it is gorgeous! Already while working the raw pastry, I felt that this is going to be something amazingly good. If you want that the tart has a more intense orange flavour, then use normal oranges instead of blood.
Well, yep, all these in one little cake! I have been planning this for quite a while, until I finally managed to decide how it should be. Actually, I have some more versions waiting to be baked, but this coffee flavoured one is just perfect right now as a so to say "good-bye" post. It is only a short break, because I travel to Hungary, but will be back already next week. So now back to the cake!
200 ml milk
100 ml cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 gelatine sheets
Caramelise sugar, add milk and cream and bring it to the boil, then stir in the previously soaked in gelatine. Find the mousse recipe here.
300 g white chocolate
200 g cream
20 g instant coffee or espresso
Chop chocolate and pour boiling cream over it and whisk it together. Let it cool and glaze the cakes with the ganache.
