Marvellous Minestrone

In my last post, I wrote about my annual ritual of preparing ham stock from scratch.  It is with this same stock that has had the excess fat skimmed off the top and the meat separated from the bone, skin and fat, that I turn into a truly marvellous minestrone.

My Minestrone Soup

a glug of olive oil
1 medium sized onion
1/4 stick of leek
1/3 stick of celery
1/2 carrot
1 small-medium sized potato
1/2 small-medium swede
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 zucchini
1/4 green capsicum
1/2 cup peeled fresh borlotti beans
a handful of green beans
5 kale leaves
1.5 litres of ham stock plus the ham from the hock
1-2 cups of hot water as required
1 rind of parmesan cheese which has been cleaned
a good pinch of salt or two
a grind a black pepper
1 bay leaf
handful of fresh basil leaves
1 small bunch of flat leaf parsley to finish it off

Dice the onion, leek, celery and carrot into small pieces all about the same size and set aside.  I take the time at this point to wash/peel and dice the potato and swede into small cubes.  The garlic I chop finely, however you can use a garlic crusher or mince it finely - whatever takes your fancy.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan that will accommodate the soup, the bigger the better so you don't have to worry about overfilling the pot.  Gently fry the onion, leek, celery and carrot with a pinch of salt until the onion becomes transparent.  Add the potato and swede and cook for a few minutes. Add the ham from the hock, which has been diced as well as the stock and stir through.  The stock would have become a solid jelly-like mass in the bowl when it cools, gently tip it out of the bowl and scrape out the leftover bits to ensure that nothing goes to waste.  

Let this heat through.  As the stock heats up it will become liquid again.  Add the chopped garlic.  
Let everything come to the boil and drop the heat to a gentle simmer.  Pop the rind of the parmesan and herbs into the soup.  Let it all cook for at least 45 minutes to allow the flavours to be enriched by the parmesan.  
At this point, I tend to dice the remaining vegetables in similar sizes, however I am conscious of how quickly some of the 'softer' vegetables will cook so I tend to chop these in slightly larger sizes so they do not cook away to nothing.  

Add the pasta, another pinch of salt and some water, if it is required once once the pasta is in the pot.  
The aim is to have enough liquid to allow the pasta to cook evenly.  I prefer to use spirals as this is what my mother always uses and why break with tradition?

Let the pasta cook for about five minutes.  When the it is almost done, add the remaining vegetables.  Cook the soup for a further two to three minutes until the pasta is cooked;  test the potatoes to ensure that they are cooked as well.  Taste the broth to check the seasoning and correct as required.

Serve this piping hot sprinkled with the freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley and a piece of fresh gluten-free bread.

A Scrumptious Winter Stock

One ritual that I have when the cool weather arrives is to make a delicious ham stock which I use as a fantastic base for many soups.  I have memories of my mother making ham stock in preparation for ham and pea soup as a child - the delicious smell would fill the kitchen and drift through the house.  The bone and bits of ham would have been squirrelled away from the Christmas ham that we had each year.  Every morsel of rind, skin and eventually the bone were saved in a container in the freezer to be utilised a few months later in a stock. It is with these fond memories that I make this.

1 gluten-free ham hock - ask your butcher or deli owner if it is;  some a labelled as gluten-free which is great
1/2 onion
1/3 carrot
1/4 stick of celery
1/4 of a leek - either the white or light green part is fine;  ensure that it is well washed
6 pepper corns
1 bay leaf
a small pinch of salt
approximately 2.5 litres of water

Place all ingredients into a stock pan or large saucepan that will accommodate the ham hock and enough water to cover it.  Ensure that the water covers the hock;  this may be more or less than the specified amount.  Don't worry if it is, you only need to ensure that everything is covered by water.

Bring everything to the boil and let it cook gently for approximately two hours or until the meat falls off the bone.  The level of the liquid will have dropped significantly.  This is what you want, there is no need to add any more water.

Once you reach this point pick the bone and any large pieces of vegetables or meat that you can out of the stock.  Separate the meat from the vegetables as best as you can.  Strain all of the vegetables, remaining smaller pieces of meat and herbs from the stock, into a large bowl.  Pick the pieces of meat out and add to the bowl of meat that you already have.  Discard the vegetables and herbs, they are no longer required as all of their flavour has gone into the stock.  

Let the stock and meat cool overnight in the fridge to allow the fat to set on the top of the stock.  Remove this carefully with a spoon or knife before using.  Before using the meat, I separate the meat from the skin and fat so that it can be added to the dish that I am cooking.  

You now have a lovely ham stock ready to use, complete with scrumptious meaty morsels to accompany the stock.

Warming Winter Breakfast

One thing that I have really missed since being diagnosed with Coeliac Disease is porridge.  I loved the warm creaminess of the the cooked oats smothered in sugar.  Oats are very good for you, but not for those with a gluten intolerance.

Oats in America are classed as gluten free, an error that I am relieved I picked-up on before buying a muffin one morning.  Whereas in Australia, the Coeliac Society does not list them as so.  Someone who has been diagnosed as gluten intolerant may trial eating a small amount of oats for three months and after that time have an endoscopy to see whether or not they are able to digest the oats - this is something that I am not really willing to do, hence the need for an alternative.  
More information can be found at :  http://www.coeliac.org.au/content/downloads/Oats%20Position%20Statement.pdf 

But nevertheless I have finally found a suitable, possibly even better, substitute:  quinoa flakes.  This ancient Peruvian grain, or rather seed, is perfect when cooked in milk and sprinkled with brown sugar.  

There are a number of different brands available on the market, however I have conveniently found one at my local green grocer.  I cook 1/4 cup of rolled quinoa, 1/2 cup of milk and a small pinch of salt in the microwave for about 1:45 minutes usually stopping it halfway through to stir. 
Once cooked, I sprinkle the cooked 'porridge' with a teaspoon of brown sugar allowing it to melt slightly. Then add a dash of cold milk and mix together and eat.  Breakfast is done!

Battle of the Pumpkin Soups

As we are moving into the cooler months I find that I am looking into cooking warming soups.  

One soup that is a particular favourite and deliciously simple is pumpkin soup.  I love to make a creamy, buttery, nutmeggy soup but when talking about what I had prepared for dinner with my mother, she said that she prefers her pumpkin soup with coriander and cumin.  

The soup that she had made for herself was pumpkin, vegetables and lentils with the addition of cumin and coriander - of this soup, she sang its praises.  

This was something that I found interesting:  the difference of a few ingredients, namely spices and herbs can change the flavour of a vegetable so greatly.  I had to try this soup for myself.  The ‘battle’ was on!

Monica’s Pumpkin Soup

a glug of olive oil

20g knob of unsalted butter

1/4 jap pumpkin

1/2 onion

1/4 carrot

3 cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp of freshly ground nutmeg

salt to taste - usually about two pinches

1 litre of vegetable stock

Start by chopping up all of the vegetables, including the garlic which is set aside.

Heat the oil and the butter until the butter has melted.  Add the pumpkin, onion and carrot to the pan and saute gently adding a pinch of salt.  Cook these until they have softened a little and the onion is translucent.  

At this point add the nutmeg and the garlic and stir through heating both through - you don’t want to burn the garlic!

Add the stock - I use a gluten free vegetable stock powder with boiled water.  I find that this works perfectly well. However feel free to use your preferred stock type.  

Bring the soup to a gentle simmer and cook until the stock is reduced by about a third.  The vegetables will be well cooked by now.  I find that this takes about 20 minutes or so.

Blend with a Bamix or stick blender until smooth.  Check the seasoning and correct as required.

Serve with freshly baked gluten free bread or toast.

Mum’s Pumpkin and Red Lentil Soup 

1 carrot

1/2 a butternut pumpkin - the piece I had was 680g

1/2 stick of celery

1 onion

1 glug of olive oil

1 & 1/4 tsp dried ground cumin

1 tsp dried ground coriander

2 cloves of garlic

1 litre of vegetable stock

1 & 1/4 cups of red lentils

salt and pepper to taste

Dice up all of the vegetables.

Heat a glug of olive oil in a large pan and add the onion, carrot, celery and pumpkin with a pinch of salt and saute gently until the onion is translucent and the vegetables are brightly coloured and becoming a little soft.  Chop the garlic and add to the pan heating it through for a minute.  

Add the stock then the lentils to the pan and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally.  Drop the heat down a little so that it is boiling gently and cook for at least 20 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked through and the lentils are mushy.

Blitz the soup with a Bamix until smooth.  Check the seasoning and correct.

Serve piping hot, topped with a dollop of natural yoghurt.

After trying both soups, I found both to be quite lovely but when comparing the two they are very different.  I have to say that I personally prefer my version (of course!) but Mum’s soup is a delicious change from the same pumpkin soup that I always make.

Try them for yourself and tell me your thoughts! 

Dinner in a Flash

There are some evenings that you arrive home from work later than anticipated and the grand plans that you had to prepare dinner using a newly found recipe fall quickly by the wayside.  This happened to me last night.  I arrived home late and starving.  I was soon cooking one of my many fall-back fast dinner 'recipes'.  

These meals that I prepare are not following any strict instructions or ingredient list.  I simply look in the fridge and the cupboard at what I have at hand and prepare dinner accordingly.  Invariably many of the fast meals are based around a pasta dish.

The particular dish that I prepared last night was spaghetti with a five minute tomato sauce.  In the time that the pasta took to cook, I had prepared a fresh tomato sauce using only tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, garlic and salt.  So simple and delicious.

Ten Minute Spaghetti with Tomato and Garlic Sauce

125g of gluten-free spaghetti
1 1/2 tomatoes diced
3 cloves of garlic finely sliced
1 decent glug of extra virgin olive oil
a generous pinch of salt
grated parmesan cheese
a grind of black pepper

Cook your gluten-free pasta according to the instructions on the packet.  Once this is cooking, heat up your frying pan.

Dice your tomatoes and finely chop the garlic.  Add a decent glug of extra virgin olive oil to the frying pan and heat.  Add the garlic, it should cook straight away with the kitchen being filled with the gorgeous garlic smell.  Turn the flame down to allow the garlic to cook and become golden, remove it from the oil and place to one side, leaving the garlic flavoured oil in the pan.

Add the tomato and let these cook down, adding a pinch of salt.  The tomatoes will quickly soften and become sauce like.  Add the garlic back into the pan with the tomatoes and continue to cook gently.  

The pasta should be cooked by now, strain and save some of the cooking water in the saucepan.  Put the pasta back into the pan it was cooked in.  Taste the sauce and season with salt as necessary.  It should have the sweet, savouriness of the garlic with the richness of the tomato and extra virgin olive oil.   Stir the sauce through the pasta ensuring the each strand of spaghetti is 'kissed' by the sauce.

Serve the pasta topped with grated parmesan and a grind of fresh pepper.  Serves one.

To create this meal for more than one, simply multiply the ingredients accordingly.  This dish can be served alongside a meat or veg dish as well.