Barbara was visiting us from San Francisco. She
doesn’t cook a lot, and wanted to join us in the kitchen. She wanted to pick up
some techniques (not that we know that many) and generally participate in the
cooking.
Tom had grown some Jerusalem Artichokes in his garden and brought them
over. We found a recipe for A New Artichoke Soup in Tender
by Nigel Slater. We invited Tom and Scott to join in the dinner since it was
from their harvest.
The soup is excellent. By the way it turns out that Jerusalem Artichokes have
nothing to do with Jerusalem or Artichokes, it is a part of the daisy family.
Who knew? The spinach topping on the soup really gives a nice kick to the
recipe.
For the main course we made Sausage and Mushroom Risotto. We love the
hearty risotto. Of course, we got the sausage from McCall’s Meat and Fish. The recipe
is called Risotto
con Luganegh (Risotto with pork sausage) and is from The Cuisine of Venice & Surrounding Northern Regions
by Guisti-Lanham Dodi. This is our go to Risotto recipe. It is excellent! It
can be found in our blog of: April,
21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.
Tom brought dessert. Another sweet end to a great meal. Barbara
graduated from being just a sous-chef.
A new artichoke soup
Tender
Nigel Slater
I have long made a simple artichoke soup by adding the scrubbed tubers
to softened onions, pouring over stock, and then simmering until the artichokes
fall apart. I often add a little lemon juice, bay leaves, and sometimes a thumb
of ginger. I blitz it in the blender, then stir in lots of chopped parsley.
Some might introduce cream at this point but I honestly don't think it's
necessary. The soup is velvety enough. It has become a staple in this kitchen
over the last few winters; its warm nuttiness is always welcome on a
steely-skied January day.
Late in the winter of 2008, possibly having had one day too many of what
Beth Chatto calls "dustbin-lid skies," I changed the soup's tone by
adding a stirring of bright green spinach. As often happens, it came about by
accident—a bowl of creamed spinach left over from a boiled ham lunch— added to
the soup just to use it up. The magic in this soup is in the marriage of earthy
cold-weather food and a shot of mood-lifting chlorophyll. Spring is obviously stirring.
enough for 4 to 6
large leeks — 2
butter - 3 tablespoons
Jerusalem artichokes -1 pound
bay leaves - 2
light stock or water - 4 cups
for the spinach
butter - a thick slice
large spinach leaves — 1 pound
creme fraiche - 2 heaping tablespoons
ground nutmeg
Finely slice the white and palest green part of the leeks, wash
thoroughly in plenty of running water, then drain. Melt the butter in a
heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the sliced leeks, then let soften over low to
medium heat for fifteen to twenty minutes. They need to remain green and white
and shouldn't brown at all. I find the easiest way to achieve this is to place
a round of wax paper on top of the leeks, followed by the pan lid. A regular
stir will help.
Rinse and coarsely chop the
artichokes and add them to the leeks. Continue cooking for a few minutes, then
add the bay leaves and stock or water, and bring to the boil. Decrease the heat
so that the soup bubbles gently, partially covered. It will take about
twenty-five minutes before the artichokes are tender. Blitz the soup in a
blender until smooth. I should probably remind you not to overfill the blender
container. Pour into a bowl.
Make the spinach cream: Melt the butter in the artichoke pan and add the
spinach. Turn it from time to time until it softens. Press the spinach against
the side of the pan and drain off the liquid. Do this thoroughly. Transfer to a
blender and add the creme fraiche, a tiny pinch of ground nutmeg, and a little
salt and blitz.
Warm the artichoke soup (it may be hot enough already if you have worked
quickly), spoon into soup bowls, then add a couple of spoonfuls of the spinach
to each bowl and mix the two lightly together as you eat.
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