Promethean Mash

Food of the Gods?

Roast Fennel mash: Serves 2-3

There is a myth that this recipe was stolen from the gods* there is another story that I had some fennel nestling in the cupboard and wondered if it would go with mash. I've been experimenting with "mash mash-ups" (look at me with young people slang!)a but lately, adding things like onion and cauliflower to spuds not only to reduce the amount of carb but also mainly because they taste good. Anyway this is a nice addition to mash which goes well with pork and in this case Roast Poussin and roast veg.

What you'll need:

250 g of fennel 92 bulbs) cut in half and trimmed.

650 g of mashing potatoes

Good knob of butter

100-200 ml warmed milk (it will depend on how runny you like your mash)

Salt and pepper

Couple of tablespoons of olive oil

Salt and pepper

Tin foil.

Time: 30-40 mins while other things are cooking.

What to do:

1. Put the fennel in to the foil with the oil and seasoning
2. Wrap it up and put in the oven (I put it in with the roast) 190^oC for 30-40 mins or until the fennels soft
3. Then whizz up the fennel into a paste with hand blender, you can try using a fork but it can be stringy (I suppose it depends on how "rustic" you like things.)
4. Mix the fennel into the hot mash (you know how to make mash just don't blend with a mixer it'll go all gloopy)
5. Eat but you knew that already!

*or is it something about Prometheus stealing fire from the gods in a bulb of fennel he got a nasty punishment for his pains you'll just get a nice dinner.

Little Stars......

Let’s ease into this....

Vegetable Soup with Little Stars

To celebrate getting my stove sorted out after too long I made some soup. I was feeling rough this morning so didn’t go down the market but managed to amble out in the low winter sun round to my local grocers and was pleased to find all the things I need for a simple vegetable soup. One pleasant surprise was a bag of little pasta stars or stelline which apart from being perfect for soups are also cute looking alphabeti spaghetti for grown ups!

Vegetable soup is one of those pleasingly simple tasty things, ultimately adjustable to the time of year and what you find at the shop or in your cupboard. I think however it should always include one of the most of the following:

“Alliums” (onion, charlottes, celery, leeks, scallions or garlic)
Root veg (carrots, swede, parsnip, kohl rabi, turnip)
Starch (potatoes, rice, and pasta)
Legumes (peas, beans)
And additionally greens (cabbage, turnip tops, parsley, celery greens)
My version today.
1 leek medium about 20 cm of white!
4 medium carrots
Half a Kohl rabi
1 medium potato
1 medium red onion
Handful of frozen peas
Large handful of green beans sliced
8 mushrooms
Handful of stelline (little stars) pasta
3 sticks of celery plus the chopped leaves if they are worth eating
2 bay leaves
2 Veggie stock cubes
2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Salt and pepper
Large pan

Stock: (I did what I normal do which chop and wash the top of the leeks, one of the carrots, 2 bay leafs , 2-4 pepper corns and 2 veggie stock cubes) as to amounts I measured out 4-6 portions of water in my soup bowls 2 litres. I boiled the above for 30 mins until the carrot was soft. I then careful sieved the stock leaving the gritty last few drops in the pan.
Time: around an hour (plus 30-40 minutes for stock)

What to do:
1. Make stock (see above)
2. While the stock is boiling peel and chop the veg into small pieces of similar sizes i.e. so they will fit on a spoon.
3. In a large stock pan heat the oil and add the chopped and washed leeks, onion and celery.
4. Allow the leeks onion and celery to sweat down for 5 mins.
5. Add the stock to the pan once the stock is back to the boil let the veg cook for 5 mins. till it softens.
6. Add a couple of grinds of black pepper
7. Now add the sliced beans and mushrooms and cook for further 5 minutes.
8. Now it’s the turn of the potatoes and kohl rabi which need about 10-15 minutes of cooking . In general make sure everything is cooked through.
9. Add frozen peas and allow soup to come back to the boil.
10. Check on the pasta packet how long the little stars take to boil mine said 6 mins and add the pasta.
11. Once the pasta is cooked check the seasoning it’s best to do it now because the starchy items like the pasta and the potatoes absorb salt so add it now and another grind of pepper and the chopped celery tops.
12. Serve in this case with some Turkish flat bread from the shop.