Potage St Germain (Split Pea Soup): Cookbook Challenge Soup

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Hannah

Theme: Soup
Recipe: Potage St Germain
Cookbook: The Australian Women’s Weekly Essential Soup Cookbook

As I mentioned earlier, part of the reason I accepted my mother’s strict finger-waggling decree to not cancel my Brisbane trip was that I planned to come back and spend Sunday cooking for her, my father, and my grandmother, in order to make their lives easier amidst the hospital tumultuousness.

Never one to renege on a promise, I woke up bright and early on Sunday morning (after arriving back in Canberra on Saturday), ate some delicious breakfast, patted my hairdresser-straightened hair goodbye whilst showering, sighed over the return of the curls, hopped in the car, stopped at Woolies, and then proceeded to let myself into my parents’ house and take over their kitchen.

I’m a good daughter like that.

I’d actually forgotten how meditative long, slow, methodical hours of cooking can be, and how creating several varieties of soup all at once can make you believe that an emerald-green diadem of domestic princessdom is hovering above your head.

The imaginary diadem was, of course, emerald-green in honour of the glorious shining colour of this vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and splendiferously healthy Potage St Germain. I delivered the soup to my Fairy Grandmother along with a fresh bunch of mint, so that there would always (well, until it ran out) be a nourishing, warming, delicious, restorative, and fragrant meal awaiting her in her kitchen.

I love this soup. I used to make it frequently when I was a teenager, but haven’t done so in years. I promise you that I shan’t be making that mistake again for, despite the humble ingredient list, this pea soup is nothing but delectable. (Unless you hate peas.)

Just in case you don’t believe me, here are my grandmother’s words regarding the soup, as emailed to me last night:

Soup, glorious soup! Comfort food of the highest degree: it was delicious and I have enjoyed it two nights in a row with enough for three more meals.

What more can I say?

Potage St Germain

From The Australian Women’s Weekly Essential Soup Cookbook
Find other entries in The Cookbook Challenge’s Soup theme here
I’m also entering this in Ricki’s August 11-15 Wellness Weekend, because I can.

2 cups green split peas (400g)
1 litre water
1 tb olive oil
1 large brown onion (200g), chopped coarsely
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 trimmed sticks celery (150g), chopped coarsely
1.25 litres chicken stock, or vegetable stock for the vegan version
500g frozen peas

Soak split peas in the water in a large bowl for 3 hours or overnight.
Heat oil in large saucepan; cook onion and garlic, stirring, until onion is soft. Stir in celery; cook, stirring, 2 minutes.
Add undrained peas and stock, bring to a boil; simmer, uncovered, about 1 hour or until peas are tender (skimming the surface and stirring occasionally). Stir in frozen peas; cook, stirring, about 10 minutes of until peas are tender.
Blend or process soup, in batched, until pureed (I just used a stick blender directly in the pot). The recipe also says to push the soup through a large sieve, but you know what? Bollocks to that. I don’t mind a bit of texture in my soup. Can be made ahead to this stage; cover and refrigerate overnight or freeze.
Just before serving, stir over heat until hot. If you like, serve with mint or another garnish of your choosing.

Berry and Almond Cake, Dairy- and Gluten-Free: Cookbook Challenge Hearty

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Hannah

Theme: Hearty
Recipe: Deliciously Wicked Upside-Down Pear Berry and Almond Cake
Cookbook: Wicked by delicious.

I know what you’re doing at this very moment. You’re looking at the above theme for the Cookbook Challenge, then you’re looking at my pictures of cake, and now, lastly, you’re either rolling your eyes or applauding my ability to take absolutely any theme and turn it into a justification for dessert.

I shan’t deny it. The “Hearty” theme does, at first glance, lend itself towards thick stews, pasta bakes, enormous vats of risotto and even-larger vats of cassoulet.

But I promise, it also lends itself to cake. Hear me out.

I can prove myself to you. I can. I can make you believe that this Pear Berry and Almond Cake perfectly fits the theme of “Hearty”.

One easy justification is that it uses berries (with their antioxidants) and almonds (with their healthy fats). Heart-healthy antioxidants + heart-healthy fats = heart-healthy cake (minus the, erm, butter/dairy-free spread) = Hearty.

But that’s not my real reason.

My real reason is this:

As you know, my grandpa went to hospital last week and underwent a five-and-a-half hour complicated surgery. While, for a 91 year old, he has certainly come through the ordeal spectacularly well, there’s no denying the fact that his recovery will be long and often uncomfortable. It’s not my place to discuss details here, but suffice to say that my mother, grandma, and uncle are currently working in shifts to make sure someone is with my grandpa 24/7.

When I stopped by my grandma’s house to give her a hug, she mentioned that she’d been craving something sweet these past few days.

Although it was but an offhand comment, I immediately had a lightbulb moment. You see, I hate being unable to help with the vigil, but what I can do is bake and, most importantly, bake to show my love and support.

So I found a recipe I could adapt to be dairy- and gluten-free (required for both my mum and grandma), and I baked.

This cake, both dairy- and gluten-free yet still wonderfully rich, nutty, sweet, dare-I-say-moist and moreish, is a representation of my love for my family. And love is, of course, associated with the heart.

Therefore this cake qualifies for the Hearty theme. Don’t you think? Maybe? Just a little? Just this once?

Deliciously Wicked Upside-Down Pear and Almond Cake

From Wicked by delicious.
What follows is the exact cookbook recipe, which I didn’t follow to the letter as I lacked pears. I’ll explain what I did with the recipe at the end.

1 tb brown sugar
200g unsalted butter (I used Nuttelex, a dairy-free spread)
200g caster sugar
3 large eggs, lightly whisked
200g almond meal
2 tb self-raising flour (I used gluten-free self-raising flour)
2 tb blanched almonds (I used slivered)
1 large pear, skin on

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 23cm round cake pan with non-stick baking paper. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the base.
Using an electric beater, beat butter/Nuttelex and sugar until pale and creamy and the sugar has dissolved. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Add the almond meal and flour and mix well.
Cut the pear lengthways into 1 1/2 cm slices, arrange in pan over the brown sugar. Sprinkle almonds in the gaps. Spread batter over pears.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10-15 mintues in the pan before serving warm or cold with custard, cream, or ice cream.

What I actually did: I didn’t have a pear, so I left out the 1 tb of brown sugar and replaced the pear with 180g frozen mixed berries. I made the batter as stated in the recipe, and spread it directly into the tin. I then dotted the frozen berries and slivered almonds over the top of the batter.

In theory, this swap worked perfectly, and it was certainly delicious, but I had massive issues with getting the cake to cook through (I’m guessing because of the liquid-y-ness and/or frozen-ness of the berries). I baked the cake for 1 hour and 5 minutes, because it clearly wasn’t done at the 45 minute mark, then let it rest for about an hour. At this point I cut the cake in half, only to discover that it was still completely uncooked. I put the cake back in the tin, covered it with foil, and baked it at 180°C for – who knows?! – about 30-45 minutes more. To be honest, it was still quite “moist” at this point, but delicious enough that I decided to release it into the world. P.S. What with the final texture and all, the cake became perfect when warmed slightly in the microwave and served with muchly cream. All to the good and the love.

Chocolate Date Meringue Torte: Cookbook Challenge Dessert

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Hannah

I know that I usually do,
but I can’t tell you a story today.
I know that many of you come here for
laughter/lyricism/lightness
and
I want you to know that I love that,
that it covers me in
elation, like gossamer, like
the crystal coating on Vienna almonds.

But today,
no matter what
or how I try to write,
my words keep coming out with jagged edges.

They don’t fit here.
Not now.
And so instead,
a recipe.

I hope you like it.

Chocolate Date Meringue Torte

From Good Taste Magazine, December 1998
For the Cookbook Challenge: Dessert Theme. For the other entries, see here.

I took this to a dinner party hosted by two spectacular friends of mine, and was thrilled by how much they/we enjoyed it. Softened-caramelly dates, rich beckoning chocolate, sweet meringue, the perfume and butteriness of almonds, and a crackly top hiding dense chewiness within.
This dessert, my dear readers, is one to have at your side when there are no words.

3 large egg whites, room temperature
110g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
120g dried pitted dates, chopped
120g almond meal (or whole almonds, processed to fine crumbs)
120g good-quality dark chocolate, grated (or pulsed in the food processor to a fine consistency.

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease and line a 20cm spring-form tin.

2. Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites in a bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, whisking well between each addition until the meringue mixture is thick and glossy.

3. If you haven’t grated your chocolate, now would be a good time to do so or, if you’re me, take the easy way out and process the roughly chopped chocolate in a food processor until it’s in tiny bits. Also, I used Whittaker’s Dark Chocolate with Roasted Almonds, which means that my torte was skewed a bit more towards almond than chocolate, proportionally, than the original recipe. I didnae get no complaints!

4. Use a large metal spoon to fold the chopped almonds and chocolate into the meringue, following by the chopped dates, until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the tin, and carefully spread/smooth the mixture to fill the tin evenly.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, then remove from oven and let stand for 4-5 hours until completely cool.

6. If desired, serve with thick cream and fresh berries. This is what the torte looks like when you take your friend’s request for “more cream” to the extreme:

Sri Lankan Chicken and Cashew Curry: Cookbook Challenge Spice Theme

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Hannah

Theme: Spice
Recipe: Sri Lankan Chicken and Cashew Curry
Cookbook: Curry in a Hurry

From around the age of ten to eighteen, I played clarinet. For the majority of these years, I was a member of a clarinet ensemble that would rehearse every second Friday night. Over the course of those almost-eight years, I transitioned from being one of the youngest members (which entailed a tendency to get attacks of the giggles on a regular, and likely very irritating, basis) to one of the most established and mature (hah! I still display a remarkable tendency to get the giggles…) clarinet players in the group.

What never changed, however, was my mother’s unfailing kindness in ensuring I had a hot dinner and, if I was lucky, dessert waiting for me when I arrived home at 9pm, tired from the rehearsal but also hyped up on the tea-with-four-billion-sugars that I would drink with my friends during the rehearsal break.

For some reason, the dish most intertwined in my mind with those late clarinet-playing nights is mum’s green curry chicken. I remember the strong smell of coconut enveloping me as I walked in the front door, and I remember the rich sauce soaking into basmati rice as I chatted to mum about my ability to fit eight spoonfuls of sugar into one tiny disposable polysterene cup of tea.

The recipe you see pictured above (and below), which I cooked with the Cookbook Challenge Spice theme in mind, is not a green curry chicken. It is, however, a chicken curry recipe that involves spices and coconut milk, and is best served over rice, so it’s almost the same thing. Right?

More importantly, this Sri Lankan Chicken and Cashew Curry is what I made for my parents upon their return from three weeks in Japan, so that they wouldn’t have to worry about cooking while they readjusted to the Aussie time zone and normal life. Sometimes what goes around comes around, in the best possible way.

In other words, this post is a way for me to say thank you to my parents for unfailingly supporting (and feeding) me in all my musical endeavours. They still do.

Sri Lankan Chicken and Cashew Curry

From Curry in a Hurry
Serves 4
See the other Cookbook Challenge Spice recipes here

1 tb coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
8 curry leaves, or 2 bay leaves
3 tb vegetable oil
1/2 – 3/4 cup raw cashews
4 – 5 chicken thigh fillets (could easily be made vegan by substituting tofu/tempeh/seitan/extra vegetables)
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp crushed ginger
1/2 tsp crushed chilli
1 whole clove
2 green cardamom pods
1 small cinnamon stick
2 cups coconut milk
1 1/4 tsp salt

Put the coriander, cumin, fennel and curry leaves in a medium frying pan or wok, without oil. Place over medium heat, shaking the pan frequently, until the spices are browns and aromatic (about 2 1/2 minutes). Pour into a spice grinder (Hannah’s note – I used a mortar and pestle, old-school style) and grind to a fine powder.
Add the oil to the pan and fry the cashews until golden brown. Removed with a slotted spoon and set aside. Cut the chicken into 2cm cubes and brown, in batches, in the same oil until golden brown and partially cooked (about 3 minutes). Remove.
Brown the onion over med-high heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the garlic, ginger, and chilli, and cook for 30 seconds. Next add the clove, cardamom, cinnamon, and ground spices (Hannah’s note: the original recipe didn’t say when to add the ground spices, so this is just where I thought it made sense to add them!) and cook briefly.
Stir in the coconut milk and salt. Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer for 1-2 minutes, then return chicken and cashews to pan and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Serve over rice, preferably accompanied by hyperactive chatter from a family member.

Question Time: Did your parents have a special dish they’d cook for you to support extra-curricular activities? (Wow. That’s a rather specific question…)

Black Forest Cupcakes: Cookbook Challenge Cup Theme

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Hannah

Theme: Cup
Recipe: Black Forest Cupcakes
Cookbook: High Tea at The Victoria Room

When I was younger, my paternal grandmother would bake cupcakes for my family as a treat. These cupcakes came with a fluffy vanilla base and three different types of icing: white, pink, and chocolate (not “brown”, because that sounded icky to my mind). Each cupcake would be garnished with one single walnut half, one single M&M, or one single piece of crystallised ginger.

These cupcakes were subject to a very strict hierarchy in my world. The hierarchy went, from top to bottom, Chocolate with M&M, Chocolate with Walnut, White with M&M, White with Walnut, Chocolate with Ginger if the ginger was whipped off and thrown away instantaneously, Pink with M&M, and then came Pink with Walnut, Vanilla with Ginger, and Pink with Ginger. These last three options were never eaten.

I remember, very distinctly, one afternoon deciding that I was going to be a Big Grown-Up Girl and try one of the cupcake flavours I always passed over. I picked up a Pink Iced Cupcake with Single Walnut Garnish, and skipped merrily outside to my grandmother’s front lawn to eat while I played.

Except I really didn’t want the cupcake. I nibbled the icing, then stood perplexed, frantic, conspiring, in the garden. How could I get rid of it without hurting my grandma’s feelings? Eventually, I tucked the cupcake between the roots of a big tree, trying to ignore the way the pink of the icing shone bright, bright, proudly, amongst the brown wood.

Half an hour later, I got into the back of my parents’ car. I waved goodbye to my grandma, who had walked out to the footpath to farewell us.

As our car pulled away from the kerb, I saw my grandma turn as a flash of pink caught her eye. As our car turned the corner, I saw my grandma stare into the roots of the sole tree in the middle of her front lawn.

I still feel guilty about that day.

What does this story have to do with The Cookbook Challenge? Not much. After all, the Black Forest Cupcakes that I made for its Cup theme are polar opposites to my grandma’s cupcakes. Where the latter were light and fluffy as clouds, the former are dark, dense, and rich; they’re more like mini mudcakes than cupcakes.

Also, there’s no way I would ever have hidden one of these babies in the roots of a tree to avoid eating it. These Black Forest Cupcakes are far, far to delectably delicious for such naughty treatment.

Black Forest Cupcakes

Recipe from High Tea at The Victoria Room, a cookbook I won last year from my darling friend Lorraine

425g can pitted cherries in syrup
165g butter, roughly chopped, at room temperature
100g good quality dark cooking chocolate, roughly chopped
100g dark eating chocolate
215g (1 1/3 cups) castor sugar
75ml cherry brandy (I used kirsch, because that’s all we had)
170g (1 cup) plain flour
2tb (40ml) self-raising flour
2tb (40ml) cocoa powder
1 egg

Preheat oven to 170°C . Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
Drain the cherries, reserving the syrup. In a blender or food processor, process 130g cherries with 125ml (1/2 cup) of the reserved syrup until smooth. Slice remaining cherries in half and set aside. Discard the remaining syrup (says the cookbook – I say keep it for drizzling on oatmeal the next morning!)
Place butter, chocolate, sugar, brandy/kirsch and cherry puree in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until chocolate has melted. Leave to cool.
Once mixture has cooled, lightly whisk in sifted flours and cocoa, then add egg. Divide mixture between muffin tin.
Bake for 40 minutes. Once cooked and firm to the touch, remove from oven and allow to cool in tin, then on a wire rack until completely cool.
If you want to follow the cookbook perfectly, whip 165ml thickened cream with 2 tsp of cherry brandy, spread over the cupcakes, the top with cherry halves and grated chocolate. I admit that this makes for a more accurate “black forest” presentation than what I did (which was put cherry halves on the unadorned muffins). However, I was divvying these muffins up for several people and many were likely to be stored in freezers, so I needed to keep the cupcakes plain and freeze-able. Anyway, everyone knows that cream attracts bugs amidst foliage.

Wayfaring Chocolate

adventures in chocolate, travel, cooking, and living

Tag Archives: Cookbook Challenge