Recipe of the week: Celeriac Soup with Red Wine

Why Celeriac Soup

Sydney seems to have been stricken with one of the coldest and wettest winters I remember, perfect soup weather!

Celeriac is a great vegetable. Despite their tough skin, inside they are smooth in texture like a parsnip and have a wonderful earthy and pungent celery flavour.

This soup is delicious by itself, but is even better with the peppery, blackcurrant flavours of red wine. I reduce the red wine with a medium sherry until it is thick and syrupy and serve the soup with a little drizzle on the top with a few sprigs of thyme.

Ingredients

3 large celeriac, peeled and sliced
1 large potato, peeled and chopped roughly
2 white onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled
3 sprigs of thyme
100ml pure cream
1 litre of chicken stock, or water
300ml red wine
200 ml medium sherry
Olive oil
Nutmeg ground
Salt and pepper

Method


Heat oil in a large pot and sauté the onion until translucent and starting to colour. Add the potato, celeriac and thyme and let it cook for another minute.


Cover with chicken stock or water and bring to the simmer. Continue to simmer for a 1/2 hour, add cream and continue to simmer for another 1/2 hour, or until the vegetables are tender.

Blend the soup in a blender, or with a hand mixer and pass through a sieve. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

For the reduction; simmer red wine and sherry until thick and syrupy. (Make sure to keep an eye on it once it reduces half way because the liquids tend to evaporate very quickly.)

To serve, drizzle with the red wine reduction and a slice of fresh bread.

Serves 3-5.

Bon Appetite.

A winter affair…

Winter is my favourite time of year. I love the crisp air in the morning, the smell of wood fires and the comfort of your warm woollies on a cold night.

Winter is the time for comfort food. Think slow cooked suppers, simple soups and perfect puddings.

Winter dishes are great as they tend to be fuss free, one pot wonders. I think if someone wants to learn to cook, winter should be the season in which to do so. Firstly you find yourself stuck in doors more, and most winter dishes tend to be one-pot wonders, that are not about presentation but about the comfort and taste.

Braised Lamb Shanks with ‘The Best Mashed’ Potatoes


Lamb shanks are a perfect winter warmer. The soft sweet meat that falls apart on the fork and the ‘ever so creamy’ mash potato are a perfect meal for beginners. You cant over cook it, and no matter how good you are at cooking they will always look the same on the plate!

Ingredients:

4 lamb shanks
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
2 cups of red wine
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil

Mashed Potato
8 King Edward Potatoes
Approx.70g full fat milk or cream
Approx. 50g unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
Finely grated nutmeg

Method
Heat oil in a large wide bottomed pan, or Dutch oven. Brown the lamb shanks, and place to the side in a bowl. In the same pan gently fry the onions, garlic and carrot. If the mixture starts to catch to the bottom of the pan add a pinch of salt to stop it catching.

Stir in the cinnamon, ginger and chilli flakes and season with salt and pepper. Put the shanks back in the pan, add wine and cold water almost to cover, bring to the boil then put the lid on the pan, lower the heat and simmer very gently for 1-1 1/2 hours or until meat is tender.

Take meat out, and simmer cooking liquid until thickened slightly.

For the Mash.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Individually wrap each potato in foil and place in the oven. Bake for up to 1 hour or until soft inside.

When cooked, unwrap and scoop out the inside into a saucepan whilst hot. Add the cream and butter and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until creamy and smooth. Season with salt pepper and nutmeg.

To serve place a good heap of mash potato on a plate and place the lamb shank on top. Finish with a good spoon of the sauce.

Serves 4

Pea and Ham Soup


The smell of this soup filling your house, as you step out of the cold always makes the world just seem like a better place. I love to enjoy this soup piping hot with a thick slice of rye bread smothered with butter.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
20g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 smoked ham hock (get your butcher to cut the hock into about three pieces)
500g green dried split peas, rinsed and drained
2 bay leaves
2 liters water
1-2 teaspoons thyme leaves

Method

Heat oil and butter in a large saucepan. Add onion, celery and carrot. Cook over low heat until soft. Add parsley, ham hock, split peas, bay leaves, water, stock and thyme leaves.

Simmer covered for an hour. Remove the lid and simmer for a further hour, or until the ham has fallen from the bone. Remove the bones from the soup and cut off any remaining meat. Return the meat to the soup.

Serves 4-6

Baked Rice Pudding
A wonderful winter dessert. The best mixture of rice pudding, and baked custard…

Ingredients
1 cup of rice
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup of milk
1/3 cup of milk
1/3 cup of caster sugar
1 teaspoon nutmeg
10gr butter, softened

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place rice in cold water and bring to the boil. Once boiling remove and drain. Return the rice to a pan and cook till tender in the 1 cup of milk, stirring occasionally. Whisk together the egg and sugar.

Stir in the egg mix, extra milk and nutmeg.
Brush ramekins with butter and sprinkle with sugar, fill with rice mix, and bake in oven for 10-15 minutes, or until set.

Serves 4-5

Bon Appetite

Life is Beautiful...

More Gourmet Splendors In Sydney



Queen Street Woollahra.

I come here for my indulgent food days, when just the supermarket and grocer won’t do. Yes I know it is a little posh, yet if you are wearing your oversized sunnies you can always get away with it.

First I start at Simon Johnson for my French cheese fix, some gorgeous olive oils and vinegars, beautiful dried pastas and of course chocolate. Here dinner for the night always starts to stir in my mind. After eating way to much cheese and my bags full, I stroll down Queen Street passing the designer boutiques, eyeing all the beautiful things.

Next I stop at Whole Foods House to buy organic vegetables, and then I continue on to all the decadent delicatessens buying bits and pieces that I know my fridge cant fit.

However at the end of night, having shared an indulgent gorgeous meal and wine from Moncur Cellars with a close friend I know that my day of indulgence is over and tomorrow I will buy my milk and bread from the local supermarket.

Squash, garlic and walnut Tagliatelle

This pasta is simple yet stunning. Warm roasted vegetables and two forms of walnuts, just delicious. You could add some grated pecorino, or a herb, if your kitchen was better stocked than mine was last night.




Ingredients

1 small butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into cubes
olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, chopped roughly
2 small zucchinis, sliced
10 walnuts, chopped roughly
250g tagliatelle pasta
walnut oil
Pecorino cheese
Maldon sea salt
Pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Toss the squash with some olive oil in a large roasting pan, salt and pepper and roast for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and zucchinis and roast a further 15 minutes, or until almost done. Toss through the chopped walnuts and and cook a further 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked and the nuts are toasted.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in lots of salted boiling water, until al dente. Drain and add to the vegetables in the roasting pan. Drizzle with walnut oil and toss well. Season to taste with salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese.

Serves 2

Bon Appetite

Recipe of the week: Lentils and Sausages

Why Lentils and Sausages?

What better way to welcome winter. This is perfect comfort food for a cold winter’s night- or better still, served with a big dollop of creamy mash potato!

Ingredients

250g French small green lentils (Puy Lentils)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 celery stalk, finely chopped
250g tomato passata or 1 tin of crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoon Wostershire sauce
1 garlic clove, peeled but left whole
8 Italian sausages
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Extra olive oil, or chili oil to serve

Method

Rinse the lentil well to remove any grit. Heat olive oil in a large heavy based pan and sauté the onion over medium- low heat until soft and slightly golden. Add the carrot, celery and garlic and sauté until they are also soft.

Add the lentils, making sure to stir them through until they look glossy. Add 1 litre of hot water, season with a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Once the lentils are bubbling turn down the heat and add the tomatoes. Cook uncovered for 40 minutes or so, until the lentils are soft, and most of the liquid has gone.

Meanwhile, prick the sausages, and fry them in a lightly oiled non-stick pan over high heat. Continue to cook them on each side until they are golden and are cooked all the way through.

When the lentils are cooked stir in parsley, Wostershire sauce and sausages. Taste for seasoning, and serve with an extra drizzle of olive or chili oil.

Serves 4

Bon Appetite

Away

I’m away on holidays this week. Please feel free to comment on any of my previous posts. Otherwise happy cooking and more from me next week!