Summer soup

Sometimes I feel like I’m cheating on this blog and on my readers with instagram. It’s like I’m leading a double life. The ease with which I share my everyday kitchen adventures there, is making it difficult to come here and write lengthy stories and detailed recipes.

I don’t like this to be honest. I want to share more here but then again the effortlessness of posting a single photograph on instagram, one that tells a story by itself, with just a caption below it or even without one, is particularly appealing to me.

Perhaps I need to change my perception of what my blog is or what I want it to be, the idea I have of it and the purpose it has for me. I want to be flexible and more spontaneous yet the fact that I write this blog in two languages makes it difficult to post as quickly as I’d want to. Perhaps I should also stop being such a perfectionist and not need to have all the photos of the process and the recipe written just so. I guess I need to work on these things in order to post more regularly here and share with you all the goodies I make. I want that so much! And believe me I have lots to share.

So in an effort to do that, I’m sharing with you a soup I made the other day. A watercress soup with green apple and super-quick pickled radishes. It is delicious, healthy and light, the best type of soup to enjoy during these first days of summer.

It can be eaten either warm or chilled and it is perfect either way. It’s not a thick soup but on the thinner side and scrumptiously light, with crunch and pungency coming from the pickled radishes. It’s a fresh, herby and vibrant soup with sweetness from the apple, potatoes and onions that tames the strong pepperiness of the watercress while the acidity and sourness of the yoghurt complements it.

Watercress soup

Use the freshest and best quality watercress as it will make all the difference. Don’t go for the packaged leaves but buy whole bunches of watercress with their stems. For those of you who haven't tasted watercress before, it is peppery and slightly bitter, reminiscent of rocket, and has the freshness of purslane.

I used my trusted mandoline to julienne the radishes, but a good sharp knife will do the trick as well.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, finely sliced
200 g potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 Golden Delicious (green) apples, peeled and chopped
2 large bunches (about 400 g) fresh watercress with stems (tough stalks removed), chopped
1 liter chicken (or vegetable) stock
1 small bunch (about 20 g) fresh parsley, chopped
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

for the super-quick pickled radishes
6 radishes, cut julienne (matchsticks)
½ tsp white balsamic (or white wine) vinegar
½ Tbsp water

120 g Greek strained yoghurt, full-fat, for serving

Special equipment: mandoline (optional), small sieve, immersion or regular blender


Preparation
Add olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot and heat over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes stirring constantly until translucent and then add the garlic. Sauté for 1 minute, stirring continuously and then add the potatoes and apples. Stir, cover the pot with the lid and cook over low heat for 8 minutes.

Add the stock and bring to the boil over high heat. Turn heat down to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes and apples are very soft. Add the watercress and parsley and cook for 4-5 minutes with the lid open. Give the soup a taste and add salt and pepper.
Turn heat off and leave to cool for 5 minutes before liquidizing the soup.

In the meantime, in a small bowl, add the radish and the vinegar and mix with a spoon. Then add the water and mix again. Put aside for 5-6 minutes, then drain well using a small sieve.

Ιf you’re using an immersion blender, liquidize the soup directly in the pan until smooth. If you have a regular blender, transfer the soup little by little to it and liquidize until you have a smooth soup. Return soup to the pan.

Serve the warm soup into bowls, add a dollop of yoghurt and top with a few pickled radishes.

You can also serve it chilled.
Enjoy!

Strawberry and raspberry galette

I have been enjoying fresh strawberries for over a month now. It’s always the greatest feeling each year when I see the first ones appear at the market and I want to take home with me each and every little basket I lay my eyes on. I become a glutton, munching on them every chance I get, mostly with just a sprinkling of sugar.

After a while, I reluctantly begin to add them to desserts. Tarts, cakes, galettes and of course ice creams. When they mingle with butter, cream, sugar, flour and eggs, their taste becomes a little muted but never muddled.

Then I begin the process of jam making. That’s a huge deal to me when it comes to strawberries. I want to preserve the little red beauties for weeks and months to come, keep them for when the memory of the fresh berries has long fainted and I desperately need to it to be revived.

My go-to recipe is this one and this year I deviated from my regular way of making it. I lightly mashed the strawberries and allowed them to simmer for fifteen more minutes to get that traditional jam texture and feel. S was complaining, as he prefers the preserve-like type of jam with the whole fruits floating in the sweet liquid, but of course he proceeded to finish the first jar in a matter of days.

A couple of days ago I made this galette with strawberries and raspberries. It’s not very photogenic, but I couldn’t help but sharing it because it tastes so damn good. It’s easy, quick and the best treat ever.

It has a buttery, flaky crust, with a little crunch at the bottom from the addition of ground hazelnuts to the base to soak up some of the fruits’ juices, and the light sprinkling of demerara sugar over the rim of the pastry not only adds a caramel-y sweetness but texture as well. The sweet and tart berries release their juices during baking and become almost like jam, and the apricot glaze makes them shiny again and adds that little bit of extra sweetness that balances the sourness of the raspberries.

When some months ago I was craving the flavor of strawberries, I bought an Italian wild-strawberry liqueur which came pretty handy with this galette. I added some to the filling and it gave such a lovely depth of flavor as well as a slight kick. You don’t need to use it if you don’t have it already and I wouldn’t suggest you buy it for that purpose only, but it was a nice touch.

I’ll leave you with this song. Happy June, and see you soon!

Strawberry and raspberry galette

A galette is an easier type of tart in the sense that it’s free-form and you don’t need a tart-pan to bake it in. You just roll it out, place the filling in the center and bring the sides of the pastry up and over the fruit.
Make sure to bake the galette inside a rimmed baking sheet as it will inevitably leak; not a lot but just enough to be unpleasant for you and your oven. I learned this the hard way when, one time, the bottom of my oven was covered in caramelized juices from a similar galette that leaked.

Demerara is raw cane sugar.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

for the pastry dough
200 g all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp caster sugar
Pinch of salt
Zest of 1 lemon
140 g unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1-2 Tbsp cold water

for the filling
180 g fresh strawberries, hulled and halved if large
120 g fresh raspberries
1 tsp corn flour
3 Tbsp caster sugar (or more if your berries are too tart)
½ tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 vanilla bean, cut in half and seeds scraped)
½ tsp wild-strawberry liqueur (optional)

25 g (2 Tbsp) ground hazelnut

for the apricot glaze
1 heaped Tbsp apricot jam
½ Tbsp water

1 small egg, lightly beaten, for glazing the dough
Demerara sugar, for glazing

Special equipment: large food processor, plastic wrap, rolling pin, rimmed baking sheet, baking paper, pastry brush, small sieve


Preparation

for the pastry dough
• with a food processor
In a large food processor, add the flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest and blend for 5 seconds. Add the cold cubed butter and process for a few seconds until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then add 1-2 Tbsp cold water and process in order to bring together the mixture into a dough that just holds together when pinched (see photo below). Add 1 Tbsp of water to start and see from there whether it needs more. You don’t want the dough to be wet.

• by hand
In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest and stir with a spatula. Add the cubed cold butter and, using two knives, a pastry cutter or your fingertips, cut it into the flour, until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then add 1-2 Tbsp cold water and mix with your hands, working quickly, until the dough comes together into a ball that just holds together when pinched (see photo above). Add 1 Tbsp of water to start and see from there whether it needs more. You don’t want the dough to be wet.

Empty the pastry dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap, form a disk, cover it and place it in the refrigerator to chill, for 40-45 minutes.

for the filling
Add the strawberries, raspberries, corn flour, sugar, vanilla and optionally the strawberry liqueur into a medium-sized bowl and mix gently with a spoon to coat the berries. Leave aside for 10 minutes.

Remove the pastry dough from the refrigerator, unwrap and discard the plastic wrap and place dough between two large sheets of baking paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry into an approximately 30cm round, with a 0.5cm thickness. Remove the top piece of baking paper and place the pastry, along with the bottom baking paper, onto a rimmed baking sheet.
Scatter in the middle of the pastry the ground hazelnuts. Arrange the strawberry-raspberry filling evenly in the middle of the round piece of pastry and on top of the ground hazelnuts, scraping out any juices and sugar that’s left in the bowl, and taking care to leave space around the edges of the pastry, about 5cm. Place the baking sheet in the fridge. At this point the pastry will have gotten soft so by putting it in the fridge, the butter will harden thus making the pastry flaky when baked.
Leave it in the fridge for about 25 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Remove it from the fridge and fold the edges of the pastry up and over the filling, making sure to seal any cracks, so the juices don’t run out during baking even though some will find their way out. You can use the baking paper to pull and fold the pastry dough over the fruit.
Using a pastry brush, glaze the dough with the beaten egg and sprinkle with some demerara sugar.
Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for about 40 minutes until the berries soften and the pastry takes on a golden-brown color.

Remove from the oven and immediately start to make the apricot glaze.
In a small pan add the apricot jam and the water and heat over medium heat until the jam melts, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and strain the mixture. Using a pastry brush, glaze all the berries gently (not the pastry) being careful not to break them up.

Allow the galette to slightly cool. Serve warm with some crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.
You can also eat it at room temperature.

You can keep it for a day or two, covered, at room temperature but it is best eaten the same day. The next day the pastry loses its flakiness and becomes somewhat biscuit-y but not hard.

Green & White

As I’m sitting in front of my computer writing these words, I can hear S upstairs playing his guitar. He's improvising, working on a track. In a little while, he will come downstairs and ask me to come up. He'll want my opinion on the music, ask me if it inspires me to write lyrics and sing to it. And then, perhaps, I will ask him to read what I've been writing here and tell me what he thinks.

I love these habits we have developed, the moments of communication on a creative level and beyond. These small realities of our everyday life are precious and revitalizing.

Another sort of habit we have involves Saturday and Sunday morning treats. Sometimes it’s croissants from the bakery with homemade jam and French press coffee, others it’s something from The Hague open market, in the form mainly of bread rings covered in sesame seeds that they sell at the Turkish stalls and that resemble the Greek ones.

Most of the times, it includes eggs. A brunch of sorts, just for the two of us. During the winter it’s fried eggs with feta. Now, at springtime, it’s poached or boiled eggs with asparagus or avocado, sometimes simply with a sprinkling of sumac and other times a little more complex and adorned, with a lemony, homemade mayonnaise sauce.

This creamy sauce is essentially a thin mayonnaise made with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and egg yolks. It is delicious. It’s sharp, rich and full-bodied and complements perfectly the nutty green and white asparagus, the soft-boiled egg and the slices of ham served over a nicely toasted slice of rye bread.

It’s a good brunch dish to have with friends on a Sunday or even for lunch on a less busy day spent at home.

Green and white asparagus on toasted rye bread with ham, soft-boiled eggs and a creamy, lemony, homemade mayonnaise sauce

This time I blanched/boiled my asparagus, but they’re also quite tasty grilled.

Cook your eggs to your liking. I usually prefer mine runny in the middle (6-minute egg, which I need to share how it’s done with you at some point), but this time I opted for a little firmer (8-minutes).

This homemade mayonnaise contains raw egg yolks so be careful not to serve it to people with compromised immune systems, infants, the elderly, or pregnant ladies. Make sure to use eggs of trustworthy origin and as fresh as possible.

Yield: 6 servings / 1½ cup creamy mayonnaise sauce

Ingredients

for the creamy mayonnaise sauce
4 medium egg yolks
Juice of 1 lemon (70-80 ml)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
150 ml extra virgin olive oil

350 g fresh green asparagus
500 g fresh white asparagus
Extra virgin olive oil
6 thin slices ham
6 large eggs, boiled to your liking
6 rye bread slices, toasted
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Special equipment: small food processor (or blender), vegetable peeler


Preparation

for the creamy mayonnaise sauce
In the bowl of a food processor (or in a blender), add the egg yolks, lemon and a little salt and pepper, and pulse 2-3 times to blend. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil at a very slow pace through the top of the lid, until incorporated. In the end you will have a thin mayonnaise sauce that resembles a thick dressing rather than the classic stiff mayonnaise, the recipe of which you can find here. Taste and add more salt or pepper if you think it needs it.
Keep the mayonnaise sauce refrigerated and covered until ready to use. Use it the same day you prepare it.


Peel and trim the woody stems of the green asparagus (read in this post how to trim them).
Peel the white asparagus and trim 1 cm off the bottom part of each spear.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil over high heat, add the white asparagus and boil them for 6-8 minutes (depending on their thickness) or until tender, without putting the lid on the pan. Test them by inserting the tip of a knife into one of the spears.
Remove them with a slotted spoon, draining them well, and place them in large plate.

In the same water, add the green asparagus and blanch them for 2-4 minutes (depending on their thickness) or until they are tender, without putting the lid on the pan. You can test them by inserting the tip of a knife into one of the spears. Be careful not to boil them for too long, they need to be a little crunchy.
Remove them with a slotted spoon and place them in the large plate with the white asparagus.
Toss them with a little olive oil.

Note: Blanching means to plunge raw vegetables or fruit into boiling water, and boil them for a few seconds to a few minutes (depending on the fruit/vegetable), until they slightly soften but still retain their crisp texture and vivid color.

To serve, place the toasted bread slices on plates. Fold on top a slice of ham. Lay 3-4 whole asparagus on top and drizzle some of the mayonnaise sauce over the top. Cut in half the eggs, place them on top and season with salt and pepper. If the eggs are runny, it’s best if you let each person cut open their own egg to watch the yolk ooze out.
Put the mayonnaise sauce in a bowl at the table and let everyone help themselves to more.

Enjoy!

Coconut love

What a difference a week makes. Last week it was cold, dark and raining almost every day and now the sun is shining, with the occasional rainstorms of course because this is the Netherlands after all, and it’s really hot. It’s proper summer around here and what’s better to have during days like these than a cold dessert in the form of round icy scoops of coconut deliciousness.

S and I have declared this the year of the ice cream. We have been indulging in homemade ice cream for more than a couple of months now, through rain or shine, warm or cold weather, and we have officially become addicted.

One of my latest obsessions is coconut and I’ve been using it in many of its forms in every type of dish. Coconut oil for pan-frying fish and steak, coconut flour and sugar for waffles and cakes, coconut milk for smoothies, desiccated coconut for ice creams.

I have tried several coconut ice cream versions with various results, yet I always return to this one. It’s a keeper. It is pure, authentic ice cream, with no nonsense ingredients but the stuff proper ice cream should be made off; eggs, milk, cream.

It’s rich, smooth and creamy and it coats your tongue with its velvety texture while the full flavor of exotic coconut lingers on. But you know me, I always need my chocolate fix, so I had to pair the ice cream with a chocolate sauce. Not just any chocolate sauce though, a chocolate sauce that once you pour it onto the cold ice cream, it hardens and becomes a beautiful shell that cracks with the touch of a spoon.

It’s like those shells that store-bought ice creams have and that you think you can never recreate at home. It turns out, you can, and it can also be healthy and ridiculously easy, with only two ingredients: dark chocolate and coconut oil. It takes five minutes to make and it is spectacular. Frankly, I wanted to pour it over everything but I restrained myself. Even if you don’t end up trying this heavenly ice cream, which you would be crazy not to, you should at least try this insanely delicious chocolate sauce.

PS 1 A little while ago, the site New Diaspora asked me for an interview (ooh that sounded fancy!). If you're interested in learning a few more things about me, then click here to read it.

PS 2 I changed the blog’s header, sidebar, social media buttons and text font and I’m so excited because I have wanted to do this for a while but never could find the time. I made all the changes myself, and being a total novice on matters of design, it makes me even more proud of the outcome. I felt my little space here needed to be rejuvenated and a picture of chocolate sorbet with berries for my header did the trick. By the way, you can see it on this post.

Hope you like it, tell me what you think!

Coconut Ice Cream
Slightly adapted from The prefect scoop

The coconut flavor in this ice cream comes from desiccated coconut that’s been toasted and then steeped into the milk. It gives the ice cream a robust flavor of coconut without being overwhelming.

Yield: about 1 liter

Ingredients
70 g desiccated coconut
150 g caster sugar
Pinch of sea salt
250 ml fresh, whole milk
500 cream, full-fat (35%)
5 large egg yolks
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Special equipment: fine sieve, ice cream maker (optional yet preferable)


Preparation
In a small skillet, add the desiccated coconut and place over medium-low heat. Toast, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula until the coconut starts releasing its aroma and begins to brown. As soon as you notice that it starts to change color and darken, turn heat down to low and be extra vigilant as the coconut can burn easily. Continue toasting and stirring non-stop until the coconut has taken on a golden to light-brown color. If at any point you smell that it’s burning, remove from the heat and stir well. The process of toasting will take about 4 minutes.
Empty the coconut in a bowl.

In a medium-sized, heavy bottomed saucepan, add the sugar, salt, milk and 250ml of the cream. Heat over medium heat until the mixture is warm but not hot; don’t bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, add the toasted coconut and stir well. Cover the pan with the lid and let steep for 1 hour at room temperature.

After the hour has passed, rewarm the mixture over medium heat. Again, be careful not to bring it to the boil. Set a fine sieve over a medium-sized bowl and pass the coconut-infused mixture through the sieve and into the bowl, pressing down on the coconut with a flexible rubber spatula to extract as much of the liquid and flavor as possible. Discard the coconut.

In another medium-sized bowl, add the remaining 250ml of cream and set over it the fine sieve.
In a third medium-sized bowl, add the egg yolks and using a wire whisk, whisk well. Very slowly, pour the warm coconut-infused mixture into the egg yolks, whisking quickly and continuously so the eggs don’t curdle. Pour mixture into the saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, making sure to keep scraping the bottom of the pan. Stir the mixture until it thickens and coats the spatula.

Pour the custard through the fine sieve and into the bowl containing the cream. Stir well with a spatula until well blended and add the vanilla extract. Stir well.

Fill a large bowl with ice cubes and a little water, and place the bowl with the ice cream mixture on top. Stir the mixture with a rubber spatula in order to cool it down. Once cool, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.
Then whisk the mixture and pour it into your ice cream maker. Continue, following the manufacturer's instructions.

Alternatively, if you don't have an ice cream maker, empty the chilled ice cream mixture into a container suitable for the freezer. Put mixture in the freezer, take it out after 40 minutes and whisk it very well. You can also beat it with a spatula vigorously (or you can use a blender, or even a stick blender).
Continue doing the same thing every half hour, until it's too thick and frozen to beat or whisk. The whole process will take about two and a half hours.

Chocolate Sauce/Shell for ice cream
Adapted from Jeni’s splendid ice cream at home

I only use unrefined, extra virgin coconut oil because it’s healthy and has no chemical additives. It has the flavor and aroma of coconut, more or less prominent depending on the brand. In this sauce, you can certainly taste it along with the chocolate.
Perhaps some of you don’t enjoy the flavor of coconut but if you use flavorless/odorless coconut oil it will most probably be refined and thus unhealthy for you. Also, the flavor and texture of the sauce won’t be pleasant. It is in fact terrible; believe me I’ve tried it.

Coconut oil must be kept at room temperature and like butter, it has a high melting point, which means that it melts very easily and it hardens as soon as you chill it. At room temperature, in the summer it is liquid whereas in the winter it is hard.

Yield: about 280 ml

Ingredients
200 good quality dark chocolate (55-70%), chopped
100 g extra virgin coconut oil


Preparation
Place the chopped chocolate and coconut oil in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (bain marie) and melt, stirring often. The bottom of the bowl must not come in contact with the simmering water. Stir gently with a rubber spatula and once the mixture is smooth and melted, remove bowl from the top of the pan and set aside to cool slightly.

Pour it over your cold ice cream, be a little patient and watch it harden after 30-50 seconds. Dig in with your spoon and crack it open.

You can use it immediately or keep it covered, at room temperature until you want to use it. If it hardens, melt it again using your microwave or in a bain-marie.