An apology, and an autumn cracker of a soup

Yes, it is more than a year since anyone last thought of this poor neglected blog, myself included.  I’ve been cooking, some, but a year full of travelling and music and movies (both watching and helping to make one!) and various other life changes have conspired to prevent me from spending much time writing outside of work, or being home much to do the kind of culinary experimentation that I so enjoy. 

However, as the winter nights draw in and thoughts turn to wrapping up warmly, getting home earlier and eating comfort food, it seemed like the right time to share a recipe I only just discovered but which I think will become a firm favourite.  It started life as a carrot soup on my very favourite blog of all time, but since I am not too fond of carrots but very enamoured of sweet potatoes and butternut squash, I decided to play around and make it my own. 

The real draw for me was the chili.  After buying a chili plant in the summer and nurturing it on my balcony, my obsession with fiery food has only increased. It elevates this soup into something special, and gives it a kick of heat that is very welcome on a cold day.

Autumn Sweet Potato-Squash-Coconut Soup with Chili and Lime
Adapted from Orangette

50g unsalted butter
800g sweet potato and butternut squash, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped

1 chili, chopped (and de-seeded if you prefer less heat)
4 cups (950 ml) vegetable stock (or chicken, if you like it better)
1 ½ to 2 (13.5-ounce) cans unsweetened coconut milk
Lime wedges, for serving
A few tbsp of crème fraiche to stir into the soup (if desired)

Chives, chopped (for garnish, if desired)

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes, squash, chili and onion, season with a few pinches of salt and some pepper, and cook for about 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

Stir in the stock and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very soft and the liquid is slightly reduced, which should take about 45 minutes. Puree in a blender or in the pot, using a hand mixer, and do a final taste test to get the seasoning right. 

Garnish with anything you like (I went for a swirl of crème fraiche and some chives) but don’t leave out the lime. A few squeezes of lime juice absolutely make this soup.

'Tis the season

I do love Christmas.  Not in an over the top way, and definitely not until December 1 hits.  I don't like it when the shops put out their Christmas goods in September, and am always vaguely distressed by the out of control advertising for things you don't want or need.  'This Christmas' should be banned from the airwaves, forever.  But there are many lovely things about this time of year. The parties, the lights, the scent of a newly cut Christmas tree (mine is bringing me out in hives, but at least is looking pretty while doing so).  Advent calendars, which I will apparently never be too old for.  And the food.  Most especially the baking.

This weekend I had some good friends around for an early celebration.  There were smoked salmon sandwiches and there was Prosecco, because tea just seemed too prosaic.  There were orange cupcakes with chocolate icing.  And there was gingerbread cake.  Which was too good not to share.

Gingerbread cake with lime
(adapted from Mary Berry)

250g/8oz softened butter
250g/8oz dark muscovado sugar
110g black treacle
375g/12oz plain flour
5 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
1 fresh ginger root (or a few pieces of stem ginger)
2 limes, zested
300ml milk
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

You can cook this in any shape or size you want, but for reference, the mixture fills two 7" baking tins or one 10" tin.  I bet it would also make lovely muffins.

Start by preheating the oven to 160C/325F/Gas Mark 3, and greasing and lining whatever tin you decide to use.

In a saucepan, heat the butter, sugar and treacle over a low temperature, stirring until the mixture is smooth and all of the butter lumps have disappeared. Then take off the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour and the spices. Be generous with the ginger, and add in any other spices you think might complement it.  Pour the treacle mix into the flour, and stir thoroughly until they are combined.  Stir the beaten eggs into the mix, and add half a grated ginger root.  Or more, if you desire.  It gives the cake a lovely low fire.  You could also chop up some crystallised stem ginger and throw that in.  I don't care for ginger pieces so they didn't make into my version of the cake.  Instead, I decided to add the zest of a lime.  I think that I could have done with twice that amount though, as the flavour didn't come through all that strongly.

Warm the milk gently in a saucepan, taking care that it doesn't get too hot and burn on the bottom of the pan. Add the bicarbonate of soda and let it foam a little. Add to the gingerbread mixture, and stir until well combined.

Pour the whole lot into your prepared tin and throw it in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until the top is starting to.  I found that my cake needed the full hour, since it was being cooked at a relatively lower heat.  Keep checking it to make sure that it doesn't burn though.  If a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, it's done.  Et voila!  I don't think this cake needs much else by way of adornment.  Just a sprinkle of icing sugar.

I was considering making a tarte tatin for Christmas Day this year, but think that this cake might just have moved into contention...

Coconut, ginger and lime soufflé

Sit beside a piggery and watch for flying creatures.

And if  you do, you might also be quick enough to catch me posting a dessert recipe as I'm about to.  I surprise myself from time to time:  this is one of those times.

It's not that I can't.  It's simply that I don't, or not often.  We tend not to make what we don't eat ourselves.  I married a non-dessert person so I became one too.  Nuts in all forms are off the menu in this house and if you look at the list of 'may contain' ingredients in so many dessert or pudding ingredients, you hav\e to stop before you even start or substitute to the point where the finished product bears no resemblance to the recipe starting point.  I know we all do that but an apple and almond cake is simply not the same without the almonds.  Frustrating?  You bet.  So my kids never expected any 'afters' once the main course was served and eaten.

But on my last visit to Toronto, I cut out a recipe from the Globe, one of the lovely Lucy Waverman's, in the 29th February (Sadie Hawkins' Day) edition.  Entitled Proposal Pie, it might be an attempt to entice young men to accept a marriage proposal.  After all, it was once said that the way to a man's heart had something to do with what he ate first but that may have been the Heart Foundation trying to get clever.

But even if this one doesn't prove to be a matchmaker, it's certainly easy and successful  and if only I could find the coconut without the 'may contain' warning, it would be perfect.  And hey, if I can make it..........    well, you get the idea. 

2 large eggs
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup plain flour
1 cup whipping or double cream
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes (or desiccated)
1 tbsp finely chopped candied ginger (or ginger in syrup and just drain the syrup)
½ tsp grated lime rind
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt

Whisk ingredients together in large bowl.  Divide among three small, buttered flan dishes (but don't use the tiny ramekins as I did).  Bake at 170º C (350ºF) for about 40 minutes until top is golden and middle is set.  The 'pie' settles in three layers when cooking.

Serves 2 amply with extra for the next day or a couple of gate crashers.

New year's resolutions

Hi, and welcome to Eat and Two Veg: the start of a year of culinary experimentation. A long Christmas break (spent lazing and cooking most of the food in the known universe) has given me a good chance to think about goals and potential projects for the new year. In 2011, I signed up for the 365 project and took a photograph every day for 365 days. Not always as easy as it sounds, but good fun and I'm already feeling slightly bereft at the loss of my daily challenge. Hence this blog, in which I'll be able to combine my love of photography and cooking. Unless otherwise credited, all photos in my posts will be taken by me.

The idea is to spend a year searching out and trying new recipes - at least one new one a week - and then posting about the results here. A 'Project 52', if you will. They won't always (or even usually) be incredibly complicated, since the best food is often the simplest. Can you really beat a good plate of macaroni and cheese, after all? But I do hope it will give me the chance to learn some new techniques and experiment with different flavour combinations. I'm also hoping that family and friends will sign up and help me out - whether on a regular or occasional basis. By the end of 2012, this should produce a collection of great recipes to share around.

To start off in style, here's a cake I made for New Year's Eve. And yes, technically that was last year and shouldn't count, but it's my blog and my rules. Slightly labour intensive, but well worth the effort, especially if you love coconut. And while this could be done with dessicated coconut, I'd recommend trying it with a fresh one. The taste is more intense, and it's fun breaking into it with a hammer! Recipe provided by Delia Smith, and given a twist of lime.

Fresh Coconut and Lime Layer Cake

(Adapted from Delia's Vegetarian Collection)

Ingredients

For the cake:

3 oz (75 g) finely grated fresh coconut

6 oz (175 g) self-raising flour

1 rounded teaspoon baking powder

3 large eggs at room temperature

zest and juice of 2 limes

6 oz (175 g) very soft butter

6 oz (175 g) golden caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the coconut frosting:

1½ oz (40 g) finely grated fresh coconut

9 oz (250 g) mascarpone

7 fl oz (200 ml) fromage frais

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 level dessertspoon golden caster sugar

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 3 / 325°F / 170°C.

Preparing the coconut is the first step, which isn't as difficult as it sounds. First push a skewer into the 3 holes in the top of the coconut and drain out the milk. Then place the coconut in a polythene bag and sit it on a hard surface – a stone floor or an outside paving stone - and give it a few strong blows with a hammer. As my friend Birgit discovered, this was the best part of the process!

Remove the pieces from the bag and prise the top of a knife between the nut and the shell. You should find that you can force the whole piece out in one go. Discard the shell and take off the inner skin using a potato peeler. The coconut is now ready to use. The best way to grate coconut flesh is with the grating disc of a food processor, but a hand grater will also work. Let the grated coconut soak in the juice of the limes until you're ready to add it to the batter - it cuts the sweetness a little and is a nice addition.

To make the cake, sieve the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, holding the sieve high to give them a good airing. Now add all the other ingredients apart from the grated coconut to the bowl and combine everything with an electric hand whisk until you have a smooth mixture,which will take about 1 minute. If you don't have an electric hand whisk, use a wooden spoon.

Finally, stir in the 3 oz (75 g) finely grated coconut and the lime juice and zest, and divide the mixture between two eight inch (20 cm) sandwich tins with a depth of at least 4cm - lightly greased and lined with parchment paper [note: you can also make this as a solid cake by cooking it in a single deeper tin].

Place the tins on the centre shelf of the oven for 30-35 minutes. To test whether the cakes are cooked, lightly touch the centre of each with a finger: if it leaves no impression and the sponges springback, they are ready. Next, remove them from the oven, then wait about 5 minutes before turning them out on to a wire cooling rack. Carefully peel off the base papers, and when the cakes are absolutely cold, carefully divide each one horizontally into two halves using a sharp serrated knife.

Make up the frosting by simply whisking all the ingredients together in a bowl to combine them. Next select the plate or stand you want to serve the cake on – you'll also need a palette knife – then place one cake layer on first, followed by a thin layer of frosting (about a fifth), followed by the next layer of cake and frosting, and so on. After that, use the rest of the frosting to coat the sides and top of the cake and finish by covering the whole thing with the rest of the coconut. Et voila. It should look something like this - a bit messy but delicious nonetheless:

Here's to a year of good cooking and good fun!