Dinner for one (White Bean and Bacon Soup)

I love creamy soups, like the creamy potato and bacon soup my brother-law makes or the white bean and chorizo soup at the Common Ground Cafe in Rondebsoch. But I don't really like to cook with cream if I can help it. It  makes the food so moreish that I never stop eating and end up looking like that child in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. No, not the fat boy - the one who gets blown up like a balloon. That's also the only reason I don't have a chocolate river flowing through my flat.

The Photographer is currently away - somewhere in Namibia taking photos of wild horses and quiver trees. So I wanted to make something quick, easy, nutritious and preferably only enough for one. This also explains the lack of photos. (The only camera I have in the house is the one on my mobile phone and I have to press the button so hard that the picture is always fuzzy.)  But this recipe is really so good that I didn't want to wait to share it.

Ingredients  (serves one)

1 can butter, cannellini or other white beans
1 small or half a medium/large onion, chopped finely
1 tsp thyme
1 cube/tsp chicken stock powder
2 rashers bacon, pancetta or similar
White pepper
A splash of olive oil
Approx half a cup of water

Heat a small pot over high heat. Add the bacon and fry until crispy. Place on a paper towel to drain the excess fat. Chop once cool.

Use the same pan to fry the onions - if there is a lot of fat in the pan you may want to wipe some away with a paper towel. If there is very little, add some olive oil.

Return the pan to medium heat. Add the onions.Sauté until see-through.

Meanwhile, drain the beans well. Once the onions are see-through add the beans, thyme, chicken stock and enough water to cover the beans. Don't add anymore at this stage otherwise your soup may end up too thin. Cover and bring to the boil.

Once it has boiled switch off the plate and take off the heat. Add a pinch of white pepper.

Blend until smooth (I like to use a handheld immersion blender so it can be done directly in the pot).

At this stage you can decide on how thick you want your soup...add more water until you reach the desired consistency and add stock to taste.

Serve in bowl topped with chopped bacon and a side of crusty bread.

An Affair to Remember (Baked Beans)

Before Café Giulia had a website, before I even knew it had a name and still called it that-cafe-on-Abercrombie-St-about-halfway-down-on-the-right-when-you-drive-from-Cleveland-to-Broadway, I was in love with their baked beans.

“Baked beans?”, you say. 

 “Yes, baked beans”, I say.

“But what would you want with soggy beans covered in syrup?”, you ask.

“Nothing,” I say. “But that is not what I am talking about.” 

The baked beans at Café Giulia were more soupy than sweet and filling enough to make brunch really satisfying. These baked beans are in the same vein. Perfect with toast for a hearty brunch with a side of scrambled eggs or comfort food on a cold day.

Ingredients (about 6 servings)

3 cans cannellini or butter beans

1 ham hock

2 onions

A splash of olive oil

2 cloves garlic

A handful of chopped celery

1 grated carrot

2 tsp brown sugar

2 bay leaves

2 cans chopped tomatoes

200ml water

 Chop the onions.

 

Heat a large pot on medium-high heat. Add a splash of oil and fry until translucent.

 

 Finely chop the garlic and add to the onions. Add the celery and grated carrots.  

 

Then add the tomatoes, bay leaves, water, sugar and ham hock. Cover with a lid. When the sauce starts to simmer gently, turn the heat right down to low. Leave to simmer for 4-5 hours.

 After 5 hours of simmering, drain the beans well and add to the pot.

Simmer for another hour. Tilt the lid of the pot slightly so the steam can escape to thicken the sauce.

Remove the ham hock and take the meat off the bone. Serve the meat on the side with the baked beans and toast for supper (or brunch).

[Note: I actually prefer the beans sans ham in the morning (much to the delight of The Photographer who enjoys the ham sans beans).]

After sunrise (French Toast)

I insist that breakfasts on weekends and public holidays are different from the muesli and yoghurt I spoon into my half-awake self before sunrise on weekdays.

 

This lovely, public holiday morning, as I went down into the kitchen, I saw the perfect solution to my breakfast dilemma. We had bought some lovely sourdough bread last week from De Oude Bakkerij which we didn’t manage to finish (despite a concerted effort on our part) before it started getting stale.

So I soaked it in a little egg and milk et voilá: French Toast. This version is a sweet one, with a higher milk to egg ratio and a bit of sugar and cinnamon.

It’s great on its own or you can serve with fried bacon, maple syrup and caramelised banana (none of which I had in the house this morning).

Disclaimer: the amount of egg/milk mixture depends a lot on the absorbency of the bread. If you haven’t used the bread, make the mixture in batches (1 egg/100ml milk/1Tbsp sugar/1/2 tsp cinnamon).

Ingredients (Serves 2-3)

200ml Milk

2 eggs

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 pinch of salt

3-4 large slices of stale sourdough bread (or up to 1 stale baguette)

Butter for frying (do not substitute for oil – the butter makes the flavour)

 

 Take some milk and eggs in the quantities above. Mix together. Add sugar and salt.

And cinnamon.

 Cut up some bread into thick (1cm) slices (I wasn't joking when I said large).

Pour the egg mixture into a shallow bowl. Dip in the bread slices. Leave to soak for 1 minute.

 Turn the bread around and let soak on the other side for 1 minute.

Remove from the bowl and place on a plate. In the meantime, heat your frying pan to medium high.

 Add butter to the frying pan. When the pan is hot (a little bit of water flicked onto the pan sizzles), add the bread.

Fry until golden brown (I like to flatten the bread a little with a spatula so I can make sure all of it is in contact with the pan - be gentle.)

 

Turn the slices around and fry till the other sides are golden.

Serve as is or with jam, maple syrup, golden syrup, caramelised banana, bacon...or, The Photographer's  favourite, Nutella....

Summertime, and (Fajitas) are easy

Ah yes, except somehow I missed summer (and the spring before it) and am firmly in autumn before I have managed to write another blog. I have a few paltry excuses: a new job, more travelling and the mere thought of registering for a PhD made cooking seem way too much effort. Omelette and a quick stirfry became major culinary events when bread and cheese (or even sometimes popcorn) became the norm. And blogging, well… I think the recent activity on this blog speaks for itself.

So, a fitting return to blogging is one of the simplest (and tastiest) recipes I have found. Perfect for an after work meal,  I found it in Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food.  I bought this for The Photographer hoping it would somehow magic him into a cook . The subtitle “Anyone can learn to cook in 24 hours” seemed to promise a lot. It has been 2 years and I’m still waiting in anticipation.

Due to lack of ingredients I have simplified it even further, but will add Jamie’s extra ingredients as I go along.

Ingredients (4 pitas - serves 2 hungry people)

1 red or yellow paprika/bell pepper/capsicum

1 medium red onion

2 chicken breasts cut into strips or a packet of chicken tenderloins

1 tsp paprika

1 pinch cayenne pepper

1 pinch ground cumin

Sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

Olive oil

4 pitas or tortillas

100g grated cheddar cheese

1/2 punnet baby tomatoes

 

Chop the onions into half rings.

  
Clean the bell pepper/paprika/capsicum and slice lengthways.

 Chop the chicken into bite sized chunks.

Place onion, bell pepper/paprika/capsicum on a plate.
 

 Add paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt, pepper and a dash of olive oil (Jamie adds a squeeze of half a lime here).

Mix well. In the meantime preheat the pan on medium high heat.

 

Once the pan is preheated (a drop of water sizzles when dropped on the pan), add the fajita mix. Stir occasionally until the onions are see through and the chicken is just cooked through.

 

 In the meantime heat the pitas in the oven.

Slice them open.

Chop the baby tomatoes into 2-3 pieces.

Once the onions are seethrough and the chicken just cooked (about 10min), remove from heat.

 

Prepare your pita by adding cheese.

Add the chicken and peppers (Jamie also adds guacomole and sour cream) and baby tomatoes.

(Jamie makes a salsa with the tomatoes using fresh chilli, fresh coriander, lime and olive oil)

Dinner in under 10 minutes (Mexican Omelette)

Just so we are clear. I am not Mexican. I have never been to Mexico.The closest I have been to real Mexican food is eating Tacos in Los Angeles. And some homemade food(made by Mexicans) I had at a church bazaar(in Australia). And various forms of tacos, burritos, nachos - strangely mostly in North Queensland.

The ingredients for the omelette seem to have something in common with Mexican food (except no beans or tortillas) but other than that, I can offer no guarantees that anything like this has ever been made there.

Apart from it's dubious national origins, this omelette has one huge thing going for it. It takes less thank 10 minutes to make. Most of the ingredients can be bought and left in the fridge for a while. So it's the perfect dinner(or breakfast) when you have no energy

Ok, here goes - the vaguely Mexican inspired omelette.

Ingredients (serves 1)

2 eggs

2 tablespoons of milk

5 peppadews or roast peppers

7 pieces of sliced or one whole small jalapeno

1 handful of grated cheese

Salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika powder

1 teaspoon butter

Slice the peppadews and roughly chop the jalapenos

Crack the eggs into a bowl.

Add the milk ...

 

 Salt and pepper...

Paprika powder....

 

Whisk until combined

 

 

 Preheat the pan on medium heat(I usually start this while chopping and doing the eggs).Melt the butter in the pan.

Add the eggs to the pan.

When it bubbles a bit...

Add the cheese....

(About this much)

  

Add the peppadews and jalapenos.

Fold over and cook for a few minutes until the egg on the inside is set.

And eat (with salad if you have some)