On the menu tonight... and a beautiful blog

In my effort to be a better food blogger, I've got what's on the menu for tonight! The meal I've created is all about simplicity. (Sorry, posted a day late!)

Menu 16 Nov 2010
Potato and leek soup
Pasta with gorgonzola sauce

To make the soup, you roughly chop equal parts leek and potatoes. Tonight I used two huge leeks and about six medium to small potatoes. Throw the leeks into a heavy-bottomed pot with a tiny bit of roughly chopped onion and plenty of olive oil and a bit of butter. Cook on low with the top on the pot until the vegetables are soft. Then add the chopped potatoes and mix. Add enough water to cover the veggies and add vegetable stock cubes (1 for every 500 ml of water). If you're cool and have homemade vegetable stock ready, use that! Bring to a boil on high and then reduce to a simmer. Stir occasionally so it doesn't burn. Cook until the potatoes are very soft and crumble to the touch. Add freshly ground black pepper and blend with a stick blender until a smooth purée. If it's too thick, add a little water.

For the pasta, take 1 cup double cream and just over a cup of crumbled gorgonzola cheese (I used dolcelatte tonight) and heat them together in a non-stick pan. Stir until the cheese basically dissolves. Add a generous amount of pepper and turn off the heat. Cook the pasta in salty water until just 'al dente'. Mix sauce and pasta and devour with a good amount of grated parmesan on top.

Beautiful blog find: Cannelle et Vanille by Aran Goyoaga
http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/
I was just going through my Flickr page and saw that there was a feature on photos of citrus fruits. One photo stood out and it was by Aran Goyoaga, who is a Basque ex-pat living in the USA, pastry chef by training. I quickly went to her Flickr page and then her blog. The photos are just stunning and the recipes look tasty and wholesome. I don't post them here because I'm respecting her copyright and haven't had time to ask for permission to use her images, but do check her work out. You'll be drawn in by her superb artistry.

Salmon Pasta Improvisation

We had a visitor recently from Finland and she brought loads of whole smoked salmon/rainbow trout. Our refrigerator and freezer are bursting at the seams, so I decided to do something about it by improvising with the last bits of veg from the previous Saturday's market run. The result was delicious and so easy a child could do it (though I wouldn't want them wielding the big knife to slice the salmon. A nice, refreshing summer dinner.

Salmon Pasta with Tomatoes, Leek and Parsley
Feeds 4
Time: 30 minutes, max
200-300g smoked salmon or rainbow trout, thinly sliced and loosely broken into bite-sized pieces
3 fresh, chopped tomatoes with most of the juice and seeds squeezed out
A handful of parsley
1 leek, finely sliced
400g pasta
salt, pepper
olive oil

Chop the salmon, tomatoes, leek and parsley. Sauté the leek until cooked through and soft using a non-stick pan. Take off heat when cooked. Cook the pasta to al dente. Drain and put back in pot with olive oil, add all of the ingredients, a pinch of salt and generous amounts of pepper. Toss together until evenly distributed. Eat without cheese.

Eat your veg!

Our first courgettes/zucchini were ready last night and I bought some delicious fresh peas at the outdoor market on the High Road as well. I've had a bit too much meat in the past week and wanted something nice and fresh to make me feel more as if I were enjoying 'summer' as they call it here. This meal left me feeling refreshed and there was plenty left to enjoy again today. It also felt good to know that the peas were from Yorkshire, the zucchini from my garden and the leeks hopefully didn't travel from outside Britain either...

Pasta with zucchini, parsley and garlic
3-4 cloves of garlic chopped finely
1/2 leek, sliced finely
bunch of fresh parsley chopped finely
2 medium sized zucchini, grated
1lb/500 g pasta
salt and pepper
olive oil
parmesan

Sauté the garlic and leek in the olive oil and a non-stick pan. Add the zucchini, salt and pepper to taste. Cook on medium and let some of the water evaporate. I also squeeze out some of the excess water you find in super fresh zucchini beforehand. Cook for about 10 minutes, maybe a bit more (don't overdo it), then add parsley and let it wilt. Add to your al dente pasta with a little extra olive oil and garnish with parmesan or romano cheese.

Fresh peas with leeks
Peas
leeks, sliced finely
olive oil
salt and pepper

Shell the peas and steam until you smell the peas (5 min?). Don't overcook. Sauté the leeks gently in a non-stick pan and when they are soft, add the peas for a couple of minutes, no more. Add a little salt and pepper to your taste.

Tomato and mozzarella salad
tomatoes
mozzarella
olive oil (nice, flavourful)
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper