Asparagus and Celery Soup

It is difficult to offer an exciting photo for this soup as it is just....green.  I could have tarted it up with swirls of cream and artfully arranged celery leaves of asparagus spears, but why bother?  It is just simply a delicious, asparagusy and celeryish plate of goodness (are those real words?).  It is made in the way of most blended veg soups: sweat chopped asparagus (about 400g of English green asparagus), a head of celery, chopped (include the leaves if you have any) and a large onion or leek, chopped, in a tablespoon of olive oil and 25g of butter.  Keep the heat moderate and the lid on, so they gently soften and give off their own juices, and we don't want them to brown.  This soup needs a bit of starch to thicken it, so I stir in a dessertspoon of flour, then just cover with boiling water and some marigold stock powder to taste.  Grind in some black pepper, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Blend with a stick blender or processor, return to the pan, and thin down, if liked, with creamy milk or some creme fraiche.  Lovely with crusty bread and cheese for lunch or supper and enough for four.

Caponata

There are probably as many recipes for Caponata as there are Sicilians, from whence it comes.  Giorgio Locatelli has more than four variations in his latest book on Sicilian cuisine.  So choosing a recipe will always be a matter of personal taste.  I don't like it too oily, I like the aubergine to be quite chunky, and for me it has to have celery in it.  I also like it quite sweet and sour so add a splash of wine vinegar, and a salty tang from stoned picholine green olives and salted capers.  You could add raisins if liked for extra sweetness and to ramp up the Moorish influence, and some toasted pine-nuts are nice to add crunch and protein if feeding veggies or vegans.  But please - no peppers, they aren't authentic.  Here is my version, a hybrid between a Jamie Oliver and Giorgio Locatelli recipe.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, and saute a large onion chopped, with 3 stalks of chopped celery.  Don't colour them, but allow them to soften, and the onion to go translucent.  Stir in an aubergine, chopped into one and a half inch chunks, and stir and sautee until they soften too.  Don't add more oil, as they'll just drink it up.  Add a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and cook for a few moments, then stir in a tin of tomatoes (a good brand please, like Cirio), and about 12 or so stoned green olives with a tablespoon of rinsed capers.  Now add salt, pepper and a tablespoon of good wine vinegar.  Simmer gently for half an hour until the aubergine is tender and creamy but not mushy.  Allow to cool to tepid, stir in lots of chopped parsley and a spoonful of your very best olive oil, and eat with crusty bread.  This will serve four people generously with some other mezze.  I made some hummus tonight, and some totally geographically inappropriate guacamole, which actually went really well with all the other flavours. 

Chicken Waldorf Salad

One of my favourite scenes from the peerless 'Fawlty Towers' involves an irascible American man, ordering Waldorf Salad.  A baffled Basil Fawlty disappears to the kitchen and re-emerges, declaring that Waldorf Salad is off because they are 'out of waldorfs'.  As well as being very funny, it says a great deal about British food in the 70s!  We are much more comfortable with such exotica now!  As the American angrily barks, the recipe is 'celery, apples, walnuts, grapes - in mayonnaise' and this is pretty much what you do.  I like to cut the richness of the mayo (good old Hellman's) by mixing it with equal quantities of 0% fat Greek Yoghurt and lemon juice to taste - about 2 tablespoons each of mayo and yoghurt and the juice of half a lemon for two people should do it.  I roast chicken breasts for about 20 minutes until cooked but still juicy - season well and drizzle with olive oil before roasting, cool, then cut into chunks and fold through the mayo sauce along with a diced apple, quite finely chopped celery sticks (2), a handful of red grapes, halved, and about 50g of roughly-chopped walnuts, toasted in a dry frying pan.  Pile onto a bed of Batavia lettuce leaves and serve with crusty ciabatta. 

Celeriac and Celery Soup

A friend who had looked at my blog for the first time today said "thanks for telling me what I can do with celeriac".  It is a shame it is a veg that appears to strike fear into people - I love its aniseedy celery flavour and smooth texture.  I decided to use up half of one that has been lurking in the fridge, along with a head of celery and a big leek, to make a soothing, creamy soup on a chilly late Winter day.  It is just the usual approach - clean and chop a leek (keep some of the green part, it adds to the colour), and chop an onion, then sweat these in about 25g of butter and a splosh of olive oil, along with a cleaned, chopped head of celery and a small head of peeled and chopped celeriac.  Do this sweating stage slowly, with the lid on, to help soften and develop the flavours.  Don't allow the veg to colour.  Now, just cover with veg or chicken stock and simmer for 15 minutes or so, then blend.  I like to add quite a bit of flat-leaf parsley at this stage - the overall colour at the end is much improved.  Thin with milk or cream if liked, season with celery salt and nutmeg and serve in a big bowl with crusty bread - I had some warm wholemeal soda bread fresh from the oven - heaven!  And cheap too - add some cheese and fruit and you have a substantial lunch or supper for well under a fiver.