PEPERONATA IN A LE CREUSET POT FOR ALEXANDRA FULLER

A disturbing and darkly humorous memoir of colonial life in Africa, examining the themes of  love, loss, and reconciliation

We first met them in Let’s Not Go to the Dogs Tonight.  Author Alexandra Fuller continues the story of her family in the sequel called Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness. Both books are my favourites and I recommend both!  

With a narrative that moves skillfully back and forth in time, Fuller introduces us to her ancestors who left Great Britain for Kenya. Her memoir tells of the love her family came to experience for Africa: a love of the wild, a love of adventure, a love of land and nature. Many people tell you that Africa can possess the soul. It must be true, but why?  

When we experience Africa's abundant primordial landscape, the presence of wildlife, and the freedom from conformity that can exist in this beautiful continent, these things strike a fundamental chord within us; they cannot be exiled from memory. Instead, they create a permanent love and longing for Africa. It’s a perilous love because along with beauty a danger abides there. It manifests itself in terms of poverty, war, absence of medical care, needless death. This dangerous love took hold of Fuller’s family. 

The author's mother, Nicola Fuller, and Nicola's pet chimpanzee at home in Kenya

Author Alexandra Fuller

The memoir focuses on Fuller’s parents, concentrating on the girlhood and adult life of her romantic, adventurous, eccentric, probably bipolar, certainly courageous and always loving and entertaining mother, Nicola Fuller. The product of British colonial Africa, Nicola along with her husband Tim, leave Kenya for the West, but cannot become accustomed to it. Before long they return to Africa determined to stay forever.  It is a decision that will cost them dearly. Low in funds, they choose to settle and farm in politically turbulent Rhodesia, where land can be had for less.

This was in the early 1970s, when the brutally oppressive Rhodesian government led by Ian Smith had forced most of the six million black Rhodesians into Tribal Trust Lands, where their actions could be monitored and controlled. Fuller admits that the white colonialists, numbering at about 250,000, did not question the treatment of blacks. They prefered "to believe that theirs was a just life of privilege. Critics accused these whites of belonging to the Mushroom Club: kept in the dark and fed horseshit." 

A guerrilla war broke out, during which white South Africa offered help to Rhodesia through the use of chemical weapons. Rhodesia was eventually turned over to the black majority and was renamed Zimbabwe. The Fullers lost their farm, but more severe in scope was the death of three children and the psychological breakdown of Nicola.  Through it all, however, to quote Nicola Fuller, "it didn’t occur to us to leave … we came to see our lives fraught and exciting, terrible and blessed, wild and ensnaring … (we saw) our lives as Rhodesian, and it’s not easy to leave a life as arduously rich and difficult as all that." So they stayed on, moving to neighbouring countries, trying to find work, looking for a home. Several years later, they settled in Zambia, eventually building a fish and banana farm, finally being able to savour their love of Africa in relative peace. They built their new home close to a tree called "the tree of forgetfulness," which according to legend possesses magical powers: by sitting underneath the tree of forgetfulness all troubles and arguments are resolved. And "Nicola Fuller of Central Africa," as she likes to call herself, believes this "2 million percent." After her daily work tending her fish ponds at the farm, you will find her sitting under the tree of forgetfulness, pouring herself a cocktail. Actually, her husband Tim (who oversees the banana part of the operation), pours the cocktails, Nicola, along with Tim, of course, enjoys. 

The author's mother, Nicola Fuller, likes to cook flavorful stews in her treasured Le Creuset cooking pots. I think she will enjoy my red pepper stew. 

Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness is an extremely engaging book, one that's difficult to put down. Alexandra Fuller writes with honesty, sensitivity, and where it fits in, with humour. She understands her mother’s viewpoint (which has undergone improvement throughout the years), and she is also clear about the suffering black Africans endured under colonial oppression. One cannot help but be disturbed by the history of colonial Africa, poignantly described here.  However, the book is also populated by a plethora of eccentric characters, be they human, simian, equestrian or canine. They are entertaining and unforgettable. Plus there are those Le Creuset pots. A set of orange Le Creuset pots that move along with Nicola Fuller all the many times she pulls up stakes. Thousands of delicious, flavorful stews were created in them! The pots, over 40 years old now, are displayed in her kitchen, and they still see regular use. (Buy something of quality, and you will have it forever).

Author Alexandra Fuller, now an American citizen residing in Wyoming, writes lovingly both about her family and about Africa. Her prose shines. After all, she is describing her beloved mother and her beloved Africa.  

This is my contribution to Novel Food, the literary/culinary event hosted by Simona from Briciole.  Read it, cook something inspired by it, and then write a post about it.  For this round, I made a lovely pepper stew, a peperonata!

A peperonata in honour of Alexandra Fuller, cooked in a Le Creuset pot! Problem is, my Le Creuset is green and not orange like Nicola's ...  But it's the standby cooking cauldron in my kitchen, therefore I get a pass, right? In it went chopped onions, fresh tomatoes, a sweet potato, some lovely herbs ... A very pleasing and easy to make stew on a hot summer day!

PASTA, POTATO AND ONION SOUP

This is a hearty winter soup. Thick, tasty and creamy, but without dairy. Rosemary and parsley add green flavours and give the soup a light green colour. Vegetable broth adds another dimension of flavour, making the soup irresistible. You just want another and yet another bowl. You want to enjoy those potatoes and pasta mixed in the delicious thick broth. Carb heaven! Comfort food!

It's an inexpensive meal, made with ingredients everyone almost always has on hand and it has a long history in my family. This was one of my maternal grandfather’s favourite soups. We don’t know where he came across the recipe, but he taught my grandmother how to cook it. Unusual, because pappou, as we, his grandchildren called him, was never known to go near a stove. He farmed, he made prize-winning wine, he was a beekeeper, but he never cooked. Pappou often asked my grandmother to make this soup for him, and she did, but eventually, she started adding more ingredients to enhance its flavour. 

World War II was a time when most Greeks were close to starvation.  Grandmother often prepared a version of this soup by using water, a few potatoes and a bit of pasta. The soup helped ease her family’s hunger during the Axis occupation.

I learned to cook pasta and potato soup by watching my mother, and now I make my own version, especially when, like today, it’s very cold outside. Eating it nourishes me, but it also connects me to my past.  This soup is really quick and easy to make, but it’s a life-giving soup because a long time ago it sustained folk during unfortunate times. So thumbs up for this pasta potato (and onion) soup, and please pass me another bowl.

Ingredients:

4-5 tablespoons olive oil

1 large red onion, chopped
2 shallots, chopped

3 stalks of celery, diced

2 cloves of garlic chopped well

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
1 nice size Yukon gold potato, peeled and cut in half - it will be used as a garnish

salt and pepper to taste

leaves from one sprig of rosemary, chopped
1/4 bunch of parsley

4 cups vegetable broth or water
1/2 pound vermicelli pasta, broken up - for best results you will need a thin pasta! 

Directions:

• In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil and add the diced potatoes, the onion, the rosemary leaves, the celery and the garlic.  
• Cook over medium heat for a few minutes, mixing well to incorporate the ingredients with the olive oil.
• Add the liquid and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and add the salt, the pepper, the Yukon gold potato and the parsley. Cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  
• Drop the pasta into a pot of boiling water and cook according to directions.
• Remove the Yukon gold potato from the soup and reserve it.  When it's cool enough to handle cut it into small cubes. 
• With an immersion blender puree the rest of the soup.
• Add the cooked pasta and the reserved diced Yukon gold potato. 
• Garnish with some rosemary and olive oil.

GREEK STYLE ROASTED POTATOES

 

Oregano, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Four ingredients that make a spud taste awesome! Peel, mix and roast. Simple and yet so flavourful. This way of cooking potatoes is very popular in Greek homes. Yes, this is the ubiquitous Greek roasted potato! Every Greek or friend of a Greek has either eaten them, or cooked them, or both. A good accompaniment to Greek roasted potatoes is feta cheese. That, some olives and a salad are an excellent and inexpensive meal. 

For this recipe, I always use Yukon Gold potatoes, a variety that's grown here in North America and is very similar to varieties available in Europe. The Yukon Gold potato entered the market in 1980, and it's a cultivar developed in Canada. It's distinguished by its thin, smooth, yellowish skin. Its flesh is golden yellow in colour and high in moisture content, and its flavour is extraordinary: sweet and buttery. These types of potatoes can be baked, boiled, or grilled, and will always yield the best results! 

 Ingredients:

3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges

1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons dried oregano 
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup vegetable broth
juice squeezed from one large juicy lemon

Some thyme leaves for garnish

Pecorino Romano cheese, grated, and maybe a little feta cheese, too, if you're feeling up to it

Directions:

Pack the potatoes tightly in the pan but make sure they are still arranged in one layer.

Take them out of the oven and add the Pecorino Romano, mix, then raise the heat and cook uncovered.

Looking almost ready!

• Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
• Smash the garlic cloves and peel them. Remove the green sprout from the middle of each garlic clove. Do this because the sprout can turn a funny grey colour when it's roasted (as I have learned from experience), and I don't think you're going to like grey stuff mixed in with your potatoes, even if you know it used to be some harmless little garlic sprout. Once the sprouts are discarded go ahead and mince the garlic.   
• In a large bowl toss the potatoes with olive oil, oregano, minced garlic, mustard, and salt and pepper. Come on, get your hands in that bowl and get the tossing action going! 
• Now, spread out the potatoes onto a baking pan. They have to be closely packed in but in one layer, so choose a pan that can accommodate them that way.
• Bake for 25 minutes, then take the pan out of the oven.
• Add the broth and the lemon juice.  Grab yourself a spoon and toss those potatoes once again. 
• Raise the oven temperature to 400°F/200°C.
• Place the pan back in the oven and finish cooking the potatoes. This should take an additional half-hour to forty minutes. They'll be done when tender in the middle and a little browned around the edges.  
• Take the potatoes out of the oven, place them on a serving dish and for garnish sprinkle them with some thyme leaves and a handful of Pecorino Romano cheese.   
• Feta cheese? Crumble a little feta cheese into tiny pieces and sprinkle it on top of the potatoes, or, you can serve some feta on the side, which is my personal preference. 
• Serve while they are still warm, and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! 

Serve plain

Or add some feta cheese on top.

 

TRADITIONAL GREEK ROAST CHICKEN WITH RIGANI AND POTATOES

First off, although it's easy to guess:  Rigani in Greek means oregano. This recipe is representative of one of the most typical way Greeks prepare roast chicken. It's fast to make and delicious. It contains the holy trinity of Greek seasonings: olive oil, lemon and oregano, and believe me, the chicken here gets seasoned with a lot of oregano. Don't be stingy with the stuff.  I 'm always surprised at how juicy the chicken is when it comes out of the oven! I think the meat stays moist because of the way the chicken skin is prepared: a large pot of boiling water is poured over the uncooked chicken. The effect of this is to toughen the skin a bit. Since the skin gets tougher, it protects moisture from escaping during baking, and so the roasted meat is juicier.

The classic accompaniment to this dish are roasted potatoes, which are baked alongside the bird. Love it! 

Along with the potatoes I usually serve vegetables such as string beans or carrots, and a green salad made up of arugula or Romaine lettuce. Sometimes, if they are available, I'll serve boiled dandelion greens seasoned with olive oil and lemon (plus oregano). Also, one of my favourite things is to have feta cheese on the side. That's a habit I acquired during childhood when my aunt would mash a bit of feta into my potatoes so that I would find them more palatable ...  Thanks, auntie, it worked! 

Ingredients:

One 3 to 4-pound chicken (1.5 to 2 kilograms), organic is best
Salt and pepper 
dried Greek oregano
1 small onion, peeled and cut into quarters
2 cloves garlic smashed and peeled
4 large baking potatoes, or use more if you want leftovers
the juice of two lemons
1/4 cup olive oil 

If you want to be really traditional, use a round baking pan.  Perhaps the choice of a round pan dates back to the days when round clay pots were used for baking.

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C. 
• Traditionally, before Greeks roast a chicken, they wash it well, then place it in a bowl in the sink and pour a kettleful of boiling water over it. This will kill some bacteria, but it will also toughen the skin so that the chicken will be juicier when fully cooked. So pour the hot water over the chicken, then remove the bird from the sink and pat it dry with paper towels. (When it's time for clean up, use a 10% bleach solution: that's a ratio of 10% beach and  90% water — on the surfaces that were exposed to the raw chicken). 
• Sprinkle the juice of one lemon into its cavity and season it with salt and pepper. 
• Place the onion pieces and the garlic into the cavity and tie the legs together with kitchen twine. 
• Peel the potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise and then slice each half in four.  The slices should look like wedges. 
• Place the chicken in a roasting pan and surround it with the potato wedges. 
• Use the juice of the second lemon to season the potatoes and the outside of the chicken. 
• Pour the olive oil over everything and season again with salt and pepper.  
• Get your oregano and sprinkle it all over the chicken and potatoes. Don’t be stingy with it, but don’t pour it on too liberally, either. (I have never measured exactly how much I use). This dish requires a strong oregano flavour, but if too much is used, the chicken and potatoes might come out tasting bitter. 
• Pour 1/4 cup of water into the pan, taking care not to spill any of it on the chicken.  
• Place the pan in the preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes.  
• Lower the heat to 400°F/200°C and cook for another hour.  The end result:  a golden chicken, and potatoes deliciously saturated with the cooking juices! 

This picture triggers so many memories for me...  I remember winter Sundays trotting to my aunt's house for dinner ... stopping to gaze up at the bare trees and grey sky, then picking up my walking pace so as to outrun the approaching dusk. I was a pre-teen on a mission. Skip on the sidewalks, stop to see what goodies the candy shops had for sale and what new comic books had arrived at the newsstands. Then skip again across streets and sidewalks till I reached the archway which led to my aunt's home. My face and legs were red from the air that had grazed my skin, and my toes needed the comfort of a warm fire. I anticipated the pleasure of spending time with family. When I reached my destination, a cousin waited at the door to envelop me in a hug. Wonderful sounds and smells would greet me. Laughter, talk, a fire, the aroma of this familiar chicken and potatoes dish. This description is idyllic, perhaps it may even give the impression of being a daydream; it was real, however, real and ephemeral ...

MASHED POTATOES INFUSED WITH ROSEMARY AND GARLIC

Mashed potatoes are a form of comfort served in a bowl.  A soft, mushy, milky mash, steaming hot, with a sweet aroma that calls you to sit at the dinner table, satisfy your hunger, and send away your workaday cares. Mashed Potatoes! Yes! 

Yesterday's dinner was made up of steak and mashed potatoes. Prior to cooking, the steak had marinated for two hours in a sweetened concoction which gave it a somewhat crunchy exterior and also added an unbelievably tender, tasty texture. A nice honey undertone to it also. I am disappointed that I don't have the recipe for the marinade; it belongs to the friend who cooked the steak, and apparently, it's guarded like the crown jewels in the Tower of London. But trust me, that recipe will be posted on this blog one day, just wait and see. Anyway, after the dishes were done, we headed out for a night of New Year's Eve debauchery. In all honesty, I can't remember where I was when 2012 "was born," but I am guessing, and probably correctly, that indeed it was born. This afternoon I staggered to the front door and picked up the newspaper, all the while nursing a prodigiously colossal hangover. I tried to focus my right eye on the paper. That was the eye I was managing keep open. I could tell that my left eye was tightly shut and also that it had somehow gotten bandaged. I couldn't remember who bandaged it but suffice it to say that whoever it was must attend a semester's worth of refresher clinicals in the art of wound care. So as I said, I focused my right eye on the front page of the paper. The date was emblazoned in large black letters: "Happy New Year, January 1, 2013!" Oh no, 2013?!?!!?  2013?  Where had 2012 gone?

The last thing I remembered was eating rosemary, nutmeg and garlic infused mashed potatoes on New Year's Eve 2011. Then what happened? How much partying had I done? Was this a parallel universe? What happened to 2012? What happened to the whole of 2012? What was the problem with my left eye? Who was the president? Obama? Hillary? Ron Paul? I caught another headline: "The US to switch back to the gold standard." I guessed that Ron Paul had been elected. Darn, I would have much preferred Santorum over Ron Paul (Santorum? Just kidding)! I let the newspaper fall to the floor, and I tottered back to bed. 

"Don't have answers," I murmured to myself as I crawled underneath my blanket. "Just let me get some more sleep and perhaps when I next awaken things will make more sense, although I doubt it." 

Sigh! By mid-year, my memory had for the most part returned. I believe it was the nutmeg that was to blame. I most likely used too much nutmeg in the mashed potatoes. And as it turns out, my left eye wasn't bandaged. That was the ... it was my ... I have no idea how my bra got twisted and got tangled over my left eye! The steak I mentioned? Wait till you hear this one! Are you ready? It wasn't meat. Turns out we attacked a tray of nutmeg brownies. 

And as it also turns out, I had never even left the house. I mean, who goes out on New Year's Eve these days? I stayed home and finished reading a wonderful "who done it," called "Death Comes to Pemberly." Loved it, loved it. Jane Austen's characters from "Pride and Prejudice" occupy the pages of this novel by P.D. James, and Mr Wickham is still up to no good. I highly recommend this book. I was so engrossed in reading it that I was careless with the amount of nutmeg I let drop into the milk for the mashed potatoes. Nutmeg in large quantities can be dangerous; it has hallucinogenic properties. Look it up!

Well, I should inform you that I am no longer friends with the person who gave me that sack of nutmeg as a Christmas present. 

"But it was hazelnut flour I bought for you," this woman said to me when I telephoned her to complain. "I know how much you like it." True, I love anything hazelnuts, however, the sack she gave me contained nutmeg balls which I ground up and put to what I believed was good culinary use. 

"You're so hard to shop for," she continued. 

"Why didn't you just buy me a case of Diet Pepsi," I retorted.  "Or better yet, why didn't you just get me nothing which is exactly what I got you for Christmas: nothing!"  

"Not for years, not even a card," she said sarcastically. 

I hung up. 

Bellow, I give you the recipe for the mash, minus the nutmeg. In all seriousness, the rosemary and garlic infusion turns the potatoes from an ordinary side dish into a rather special concoction.  

Recipe:

• Get some potatoes that are appropriate for mashing. 
• Peel them, cut them up and boil them until they are soft. Right away, drain them. 
• Meanwhile, into a saucepan, add the milk to be used for mashing the potatoes. Throw in a really large sprig of rosemary plus 4 cloves of peeled smashed garlic. Bring to a boil. 
• When the milk boils, but before it spills all over the stovetop, remove it from the heat. Let the rosemary and garlic steep in the milk. Let them steep long enough so that the milk is infused with the flavours of rosemary and garlic. 
• Back to the spuds: when you have drained the potatoes, strain the milk onto them, add some salt and pepper and some olive oil and butter. Now, get to mashing! 
• Place the potatoes in a serving bowl and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese over them. Bring them to the table and pass them around. 
• Tip: keep away from the nutmeg. In fact, don't even keep a supply of it in your house, or apartment, or castle, or where ever it is you happen to live. Really? You live in a castle? How much is your heating bill?  Do you have a moat? Send pictures, please.

 Happy 2012 from me, Ana! 

HACHIS PARMENTIER

Hachis Parmentier is a meat and potatoes meal, popular in France, reminiscent of shepherd's pie but much better. It's made with layers of leftover beef and mashed potatoes, it's covered with cheese, and then it's baked, coming out of the oven looking rather decadent, and tasting delicious. I made some at the beginning of this month, and we enjoyed having it for dinner. At the time I didn't have any leftover beef to work with, but I had a small quantity of frozen chuck meat which I defrosted,  cooked low and slow, then turned into hachis Parmentier. 

A few words about the name for this dish:  hachis means chopped up, and it derives from the word hatchet. I find the etymological history of the word fascinating. The online dictionary, one of my favourite sites on the Internet has this to say: "Middle English hachet, from Old French hachete, diminutive of hache, ax, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German happa, sickle."  Yes, I do get excited over words and their history, but look: our word axe derives from the French hache, and it came to exist by dropping the letter "h," which the French almost always drop when speaking, and which some English speakers also drop, although they shouldn't. So axe up some cooked meat, season it, and you'll be one step closer to creating hachis Parmentier.

As for "Parmentier," the word is applied to dishes cooked with or accompanied by potatoes. The name "Parmentier" refers to Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, an 18th-century French pharmacist who promoted the potato as a food source, and who was responsible for having the French government declare potatoes an edible crop. He used all sorts of methods to do this, including serving potatoes to such luminaries as the visiting Benjamin Franklin. My favourite of Parmentier's stunts was this: he surrounded his potato fields with armed guards to suggest that valuable goods were being guarded there. His guards were instructed to accept bribes from the passing crowds and to withdraw during the night so that the crowds could gain access to the fields and steal the "valuable" potatoes. That's what I call a promoter; the man was way ahead of his time! I love potatoes, and so I thank Monsieur Parmentier for his efforts, yes, I thank him wholeheartedly.

Now let me put the dictionary aside so I can describe how I cooked the hachis Parmentier.

Method:

Beef:  Use leftover cooked beef if you have it. If not, use about a pound of chuck beef cut into small pieces. You will need to boil the beef so that you can have the bouillon needed for the recipe.

For the bouillon: 

• 1  to 1 ½ pounds of chuck beef cut into pieces (you'll be cutting it up even further once it's cooked).
• About 4 cups of water
• 1 onion, quartered
• 2 carrots peeled and chopped in half
• 3 celery stalks, cut in half, leaves included
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf, a teaspoon of peppercorns, some salt, a few sprigs of thyme, and some spigs of parsley.

1. Place all the ingredients into a soup pot. Bring to a boil and skim off the foam that comes to the surface. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 2 hours until the meat is soft. 
2. Strain the broth and reserve it. 
3. Shred the meat into small pieces and reserve it.

For the filling:

• 3 or 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 carrot, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tomato peeled seeded and chopped3 mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 leek, thinly sliced, white and light green parts only
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon of thyme leaves  

1. Add the oil to the pan and heat. Sauté the onions, tomato, carrot, mushrooms, and leeks until they are soft. Mix in the reserved meat then sprinkle the flour over and combine it well.
2. Add enough of the reserved bouillon to moisten the filling. You want to have a filling that is nice and juicy, but not one that is swimming in broth.
3. Add the thyme and parsley
4. Place the filling in a greased oven-safe casserole.

For the topping:

• Use 2 pounds of Yukon gold potatoes to make mashed potatoes just the way you like them. I cook them in boiling water, peel them, chop them, then mash them. While mashing, I add 1/2 cup milk, 3 tablespoons butter, and a seasoning of salt and pepper.
• Layer the mashed potatoes over the filling.  
• Sprinkle 1/2 cup grated Gruyère and one tablespoon grated Pecorino Romano cheese over the potatoes. Using a fork or a spoon, create an interesting pattern on the surface of the potatoes.
• Bake the dish in a preheated 400° F oven for about 20 minutes.  It's done when you are able to see the filling bubbling and when the potato topping is a nice, light golden brown. If you like, decorate the top with chopped chives.

Bring to the table and serve.  This will make a really delicious and warming meal, especially when it's cold outside. I hope you enjoy it!

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH FALL VEGETABLE SOUP PUREE

With fall around the corner, and with the weather getting a bit chilly, making soup seems just the right thing to do.  Plus, this soup is delicious!

I chopped vegetables, seasoned them and roasted them. Along with the vegetables I used two juicy Bosc pears. That was the best part! 

I purchased the butternut squashed cleaned and pre-cut. It's so much more convenient not to have to clean, trim, and slice the squash. I know that my supermarket has it available freshly pre-cut; it doesn't come into the store covered with preservatives, and that's key! 

The kitchen smelled great as the vegetables were roasting. The herbs that had been combined with them gave off a pleasant aroma. When the vegetables came out of the oven, they looked and tasted wonderful. I pureed them with some vegetable broth and made a very enjoyable chunky-creamy fall soup, one that I will make again and again. 

Ingredients:

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1½ inch pieces, or approximately 1  1/4 pounds (635 grams) of pre-cut butternut squash. 
2 medium red potatoes, scrubbed well and quartered (leave the skin on)
1 small sweet potato peeled and chopped
2 medium yellow onions, peeled and quartered

3 carrots halved lengthwise and cut into 1½-inch pieces
2 stalks of celery chopped

2 Bosc pears, peeled, cored and quartered. 
6 cloves of garlic left unpeeled

olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (not too much pepper)

sprigs of fresh sage, thyme, and rosemary

1/4 teaspoon of turmeric
4 to 6 cups of vegetable broth

optional: some roasted pine nuts for garnish

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400° F, 200° C.
• Line two large-rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper (makes for easy clean up) and grease the surface of the paper with olive oil. Place the vegetables on the baking sheets - don't add the pears yet - and toss the vegetables with some olive oil, salt and pepper, the leaves from thyme springs and a few branches of rosemary. 
• Roast until the vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, about 50 minutes.
• Halfway through roasting take the vegetables out of the oven, turn them over so they roast evenly, and mix in the pears. Place the vegetables back in the oven and continue cooking until done.
• In a large saucepan warm four cups of the vegetable broth along with some sage leaves. The rest of the broth can be used if the soup needs to be thinned out. 
• Squeeze the garlic cloves and remove the roasted part. Discard the garlic peels.
• Place the vegetable broth into a large saucepan and add the turmeric along with some sage leaves. 
• Carefully add the vegetables and bring the mixture to a boil. Purée the vegetables with an immersion blender.
• Taste the soup for seasoning and reheat as needed.
• You can always spruce up the soup by garnishing it with some roasted pine nuts. 

Make sure the vegetables are well caramelised.

ZUCCHINI HASH with POTATOES AND SUNNY SIDE UP EGGS

The combination of zucchini and potatoes tastes like summer plus comfort. 

The trick to this recipe is to have the potatoes and zucchini finish cooking at the same time so as to prevent the zucchini from overcooking. I solve this little problem by precooking the potatoes and combining them with the zucchini at the last minute. 

This recipe will be an excellent addition to a leisurely summer weekend breakfast. It serves four but the ingredients can be adjusted to serve any number of people coming to the table. 

And ... I love the way the egg looks as I cut into it and its yolk runs over the potatoes and zucchini. It tastes darn good too! 

Ingredients:


2 medium Yukon gold potatoes

2 small or one medium zucchini

4 eggs
extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons butter
one small onion, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

1 or 2 scallions, sliced thinly, use only the white and light green parts  

a sprinkling of grated Pecorino Romano cheese (for garnish).

salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

1. Peel the potatoes and chop them into half-inch dice. Cook them in salted hot water until they get soft, then drain well and set aside to dry.
2. Chop the zucchini into half-inch dice. 
3. Heat some oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and onion. Saute for a minute or two, then add the parsley and dill. Cook, stirring frequently until the zucchini is tender. Remove from the skillet and reserve. 
4. Over medium heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter to the skillet. Wait until the butter has melted and then add the potatoes and garlic. Cook, stirring, until the potatoes begin to turn a golden colour. 
5. Add the scallions and return the zucchini to the skillet. Combine well and cook no more than a minute just until the ingredients are incorporated. 
6. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the heat. At this point, you may want to transfer the ingredients to a platter if you'll serve them that way. Keep warm.    
7. Melt the rest of the butter in a non-stick skillet and cook the four eggs sunny side up. Season them with salt and pepper. Top the zucchini and potatoes with the eggs. 
8. At the table, divide the potatoes and zucchini among four plates. Each serving should be topped with an egg.
9. Garnish with the grated Pecorino Romano cheese right before passing the plates around. 

   

ROAST LEG OF LAMB AND POTATOES GREEK STYLE FOR EASTER! ARNI PSITO

For this year's Easter Sunday dinner we roasted two legs of lamb. Very easy to make. The lamb was out of the way once it started to roast, and that freed us up to do so many other things...The recipe given below is for one leg of lamb. Since I cooked two, I doubled it. Sometimes I make this same recipe with lamb that's off the bone. Works just as well. I cook lamb the low and slow way which makes it very juicy and meltingly soft. If you scroll down, don't get discouraged by the length of the recipe. I give detailed instructions, that's why the length, but let me reiterate that this is an easy recipe. And boy oh boy, no tough, fatty lamb for dinner with this one!

Ingredients:

1 leg of lamb on the bone (about 6 pounds) 
salt and pepper to taste
6 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
4 or 5 celery stalks
3 carrots  
6 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
4 sprigs rosemary
2 tablespoons dried oregano
6 sprigs thyme
Some grated pecorino Romano cheese
olive oil
1 large lemon
water
1/4 cup lemon juice


Directions:

• Trim some of the fat from the lamb. How much? As much as your conscience wants you to. 
• With a small knife make about 6 slits in the lamb and insert a piece of garlic into each one. Twist some kitchen twine around the lamb. Three rounds will be enough. I have devised this method so that I can keep the herbs attached to the meant as it cooks. 
• In a small bowl, add two tablespoons of olive oil and the juice of one lemon. Whisk to combine, and rub the mixture over the surface of the lamb. Season with salt and pepper and with one tablespoon of the oregano.
• Leave the carrots unpeeled; place them along with the celery on the bottom of a heavy baking pan and add the lamb on top. These vegetables are meant to serve as a rack, therefore arrange them accordingly, letting them rest mostly beneath the lamb. They are to be discarded once the lamb finishes cooking.
• Pour one cup of water around the lamb.
• Place in a preheated 450 F oven and roast for 20 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven, turn the lamb over, and roast for another 20 minutes. 
• Lower the heat to 300 F and remove the pan from the oven. 
• Arrange the potatoes and any remaining cloves of garlic around the lamb. 
• Season with salt, pepper, the remaining oregano and with a small portion of the thyme and rosemary. 
• Add the rest of the rosemary and thyme on top and underneath the lamb, wedging it in the twine. 
• If the water was evaporated, replenish it so that it measures about 1/4 of a cup. Add the lemon juice to it.  
• Sprinkle the Pecorino Romano cheese on top of the meat and potatoes. 
• Cover with parchment paper and aluminium foil and place back in the oven. If the pan has a lid, add the lid on top of the aluminium foil. This will give you an exceptional seal, and that's what you want. 
• Bake at 300°F for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the meat can easily be pulled away from the bone.
• Remove the aluminium foil and parchment paper and raise the temperature to 400°F; allow the lamb and potatoes to brown some more (about 20 minutes, but you be the judge with your own oven).
• Take the lamb out of the oven, cut the twine and dress with some olive oil and if you like lemon juice, get yourself another lemon and go to town squeezing its juice over the lamb. 
• Let rest before serving. 

Hints:

1. It will be more convenient to slice the lamb on a cutting board and then place the meat onto a platter; it's just easier and more efficient to do this in the kitchen and not at the dining table. 
2. Remove the potatoes to a serving dish. None of that fancy surround the lamb with them! Forget about it! Make things easy for yourself on this busy day.
3. For those who want jus, strain the fat out the pan juices, then pour them into a gravy bowl. 
4. This year we served everything buffet style by placing all the dishes on the server in the dining room. We had two tables set for guests, and both tables were within close proximity of the server; everyone helped themselves. One of the best ideas ever!!!!! It was informal and a lot of fun. And it was also more enjoyable for moi, the hostess!!!