Fennel, Potato and White Bean Soup

I admit, when we started planting our garden in the spring we may have been a little over ambitious.

Now of some vegetables we have more than we can ever eat.

Fennel is one of those vegetables.

Don't get me wrong, I love fennel! But we have like kilos of it.

So I desperately needed to find a recipe with lots and lots of fennel in it.

That is just one of the probably 5-7 baskets of this year's fennel harvest...

And I found this wonderful summery soup in "Casa Moro - The Second Cookbook" by Sam & Sam Clark of restaurant Moro in London.

Yes, another one from this book. You should get it. It's a fantastic cook book with soo many delicous recipes!

What you need:

170g dried white beans

4 tbsp olive oil

4-5 fennel bulbs (approx. 500g total), finely diced

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 tsp fennel seeds (optional)

3 medium waxy potatoes (approx. 350g), peeled, diced and lightly salted

1 litre bean liquid and/or water or chicken stock

about 40 threads of saffron, infused in 2 tbsp boiling water

2 tbsp chopped fresh fennel leaves

sea salt and pepper

the fennel, potato and bean soup with homemade flatbread and hummus.

Directions:

Soak the white beans overnight, then drain, cover with generously with fresh water and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 1-1.5 hours, until soft, then drain, reserving the cooking liquid.

In another pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.

Add the diced fennel with a pinch of salt, stir well, lower the heat and fry for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fennel becomes soft and caramelizes.

Add garlic, fennel seeds and potato cubes and fry for another 5 minutes.

Pour in the bean liquid and/or water/stock and the saffron infused water.

Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer.

Cook for another 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are soft, then add the drained beans.

Season with salt and pepper and simmer for a few more minutes before stirring in chopped fennel leaves.

Serve!

Bildunterschrift hinzufügen

Notes:

• If you don't have fennel tops, chopped parsley or chervil will work as well!
• I served mine with flatbread and homemade hummus (both recipes from the Moro cookbook, as well!), but I can image it being really, really good with fish, served almost like a sauce or stew.

Stinging Nettles Soup

As most of you may have already noticed, Wil and I have been making trips to the countryside fairly regularly in the last weeks and months. After picking mushrooms last fall we began looking into self-sufficiency and are now really curious of what else can be found in nature that is edible and for free. Don't worry, we are not turning into hippies. But once you experienced picking your own food, rather than buying it in the supermarket, you get kind of addicted. For example, at one of our last trips we found chive growing like weeds everywhere we walked. There were also tons of wild strawberry plants that hopefully soon, will carry delicious berries. And we cannot wait to find a mustard, horseradisch or wild garlic plant etc. Yes, all these things can be found, probably a few miles away from your doorstep, and I'm not talking about your local grocery stores here...

well, maybe that is a little bit hippie just without the tree-hugging.

Best is to pick the fresh young nettle leaves.

So in front of Wil's studio, there are tons of nettles. Most people hate them cause they sting and grow like crazy. But, in fact, they also get used for medicinal and cosmetic purposes, for example as a remedy for arthritis and intestinal problems, as well as for purifications and fasts. Nettles are really good for your liver and gall bladder and they help controlling dandruff and make your hair all shiny...

You can also just eat them. When prepared they almost taste like spinach 

(but they contain more iron than spinach!).

Wil found this recipe here for Stinging Nettles Soup, and we couldn't resist, but had to try it out.

It was delicious and really simple to make! Just remember wearing gloves when picking and preparing them...

The purple thingies are wild violets, which we found in the forest, as well.

They smell wonderful, are edible and upgrade every meal!

What you need:

• 2 Tbsp. butter, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
• 1 lb. potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth, or water
• 1/2 lb. stinging nettles
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
• Sour cream, yogurt, or horseradish creme

Our alterations: 

We added one chopped carrot as well as one chopped garlic clove, and left out the nutmeg.
But that was just because we didn't have nutmeg at home, anymore...

And we decided to already stir in a spoon of horseradish and garnished with sour creme/creme fraiche.

Preparation:

1. In a large pot, melt 1 Tbsp. butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and 1 tsp. salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft, about 3 minutes.
2. Add potatoes and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a steady simmer and cook 15 minutes.
3. Add nettles and cook until very tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 Tbsp. butter, pepper, and nutmeg.
4. Puree soup with an immersion blender or in a blender or food processer in batches. For a silken, less fibrous texture, run mixture through a food mill or sieve.
5. Stir in cream, if using. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if you like.
6. Serve hot, garnished with sour cream, yogurt, or horseradish creme, if you like.

Notes: 

It tastes way better if you use homemade chicken or vegetable broth rather than the powdered one.
I find the powdered stuff often way too salty and chemical/msg tasting...

They grow everywhere!

Easy Peasy Pumpkin Soup

Last Monday, on Halloween, was the first time ever I got to carve a pumpkin.

Halloween is not a big thing in Germany really, and pumpkins for a long time were one of these forgotten vegetables, until a few years ago. Thanks to globalization Halloween is slowly establishing itself more and more as a new kid's event over here, and pumpkin dishes successfully fought their way back into the hearts of German food lovers.

This one here is a very simple and easy to make pumpkin soup that tastes delicious.

You'll need:

500g pumpkin cubes (I use hokkaido pumpkin, cause you can cook it with the skin)

250g carrots roughly, chopped

1 medium-sized onion, roughly chopped

1 Tbsp butter

juice of one orange

100ml heavy cream

1.5 l water

2 tsp vegetable stock

salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg

roasted sunflower seeds, pumpkin oil and cream for garnish

Directions

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add pumpkin carrots and onion and sauté for a few minutes while stirring. Add the vegetable broth and water and bring to a boil. Have everything boil for about ten minutes, or until the carrots and pumpkin are soft.

With a hand blender mix everything until smooth. Mix in the orange juice (careful, you might not need all the juice) and heavy cream. Season to taste with salt, pepper, a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Sprinkle pumpkinseed oil, a bit of cream and roasted sunflower seeds over it.

Serve!

PS: 

I decided to serve the soup with bacon-wrapped cod rolls. Therefore cut the cod into slices and season to taste with pepper and a tiny bit of salt (the bacon is already pretty salty). Place the cod slice on a slice of bacon and roll it all up with the bacon being on the outside. Pin the fish-bacon package with a toothpick so it won't fall apart, when frying. Fry the rolls in a pan from each side on high heat for 2-3 minutes.

Turn the stove down to medium/low heat, cover the pan with a lid and let the rolls cook for another 3-5 minutes to make sure the fish inside is properly cooked.

Serve on top of the pumpkin soup. It's delicious!

PPS: 

You can also add a little parsley for garnish. I just didn't have any...

This was us with our pumpkin on our tiny spontaneous halloween party

I think I did a pretty good job on my first carved pumpkin ever...

We even captured something weird with my camera. There was nothing there, I swear. But it felt strangely cold right next to me.... 

spooky isn't it?

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EAT MORE FISH! - Creamy Cod Chowder

A couple of days ago Wil surprised me and made a delicious Cod Chowder.

It was delicious!

It was light and hearty at the same time.

He found the recipe in a book about soups that he brought from Canada.

It's called 300 sensational soups and every recipe Wil tried out of this book so far turned out pretty damn good, and it's pretty easy and done relatively quick.

In case anyone is surprised by my perfect English, it's because I just copied the recipe from the book...

What you need

6 slices bacon, minced

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 onions, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh thyme

750g / 1.5lbs yellow- or white-fleshed potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm dice

1.25l / 5cups fish stock

1.25kg / 2.5lbs  boneless skinless cod fillets

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

375 ml / 1.5cups whipping cream (35%)

50ml / 1/4cup minced fresh chives

In a large pot, sauté bacon over medium heat until browned and crispy, about 5 min. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels. Set aside.

Add butter to the pot and heat until melted. Add onions and thyme; sauté until softened, about 6 minutes. Add potatoes and stock. If necessary, add enough water to barely cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are almost tender, about 15 minutes. Add cod, salt and pepper; simmer until fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork and potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, gently transfer fish t a large plate. Using a fork, flake fish apart and set aside.

Stir cream into the pot and reheat over medium heat until steaming, stirring often. Do not let boil. Taste and udjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary. Return fish to the pot.

Ladle into heated bowls and garnish with reserved bacon and chives.

Serve!

Variation: Halibut or Tilapia would also work beautifully in this soup.

 PS: Wil used bacon that we bought from a local market right next to where we live. There is a stand that carries pork products from an old breed of pigs called Wooly Pigs, named after their hairy 'fleece', that is similar to that of a sheep. 

They are pretty cute AND delicious!

Before...(picture: Geoff Robinson, Source telegraph.co.uk)

...and after (source: www.christandl.ch/stefanmathis.html)

Gazpacho

Summer is approaching and it's steadily getting hotter and unfortunately more and more humid here in Berlin.
A good reason to dig out refreshing and light summer recipes.
I started off with Gazpacho a cold spanish tomato based raw vegetable soup.
This sounds awful, I know.
But, let me tell you, it was pretty damn good!
It is really easy to cook, the ingredients are cheap, and it certainly helps to keep or get back into summer shape (I know with most of us, this is, of course, not the case...).

All you need is:

900g tomatos
1 cucumber
2 red or yellow peppers
1 fresh red chilli
2 garlic cloves
175g white bread crumbs
2 tbsp tomato purrée
5 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
a dash cumin
salt and black pepper










Peel the tomatos.
Therefore place them in boiling water first (for about 30 seconds)  and then quench the tomatos in ice cold water.
That way it's easier to remove the tougher skin.
It will come off easily now.
Quarter the tomatos.
Peel and chop the cucumber.
Cut the peppers and the red chilli and remove the seeds.
Press or finely chop the garlic cloves.
Mix all the vegetables together with breadcrumbs, olive oil, white wine vinegar and tomato purrée.
Season to taste with salt, pepper and cumin.
Put half or a third of the mixture into a blender.
Add 150-250ml of water, depending on how juicy the vegetables are.
Blend until smooth.
Do the same with the rest of the vegetable mix.
The Gazpacho should not be too thin but have a rather creamy texture.
Therefore be careful not to add too much water.
You can always add more in the end.
Refrigerate it for a couple of hours.

Best served with ice cubes, croutons, some basil or parsley for decoration and maybe a dash of worcester sauce!

Leek,cheese & ground beef soup

Usually I try to avoid cooking with things such as processed cheese.
But it's too good!
Next time I'll try to use proper cheese, though.
Such as Gruyere, camembert or gorgonzola...hmmm!
As long as it melts, it should be fine.
And maybe add some white wine or cidre to spice it up a little...

Until then, here is the classic recipe.

What you need:

500g ground beef
1 ltr beef broth
2 big leeks, washed and cut into rings
200g sour cream
200g cream
200g Velveeta, soft processed cheese (not the light version!)
pepper nutmeg, salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil








Heat up the vegetable oil in a big pot.
Then fry the ground beef in it until crumbly.
Pour in beef broth and let it boil.
Add leek and let everything boil for approx. 10 minutes.
Remove pot from heat.
Pour in sour cream, cream and Velveeta and stir until all is mixed well.
Season to taste with pepper, nutmeg and salt.
Slowly heat up the soup again.
Be careful not to have it boil again in order to prevent the cheese from clotting.

Serve hot on a cold winter night!