Recipe of the week: Cauliflower Soup

This was one of the recipes that made me very curious when I saw Chef Henrique Sá Pessoa preparing it. The reasons were simple: one of the quickest and simplest recipes I've ever saw and with the interesting option of allowing you to eat it cold or hot, depending on season and on your taste ... 

You will need: 
1/2 Cauliflower 
1 shallot 
25 g butter 
milk 
Sesame seed 
1 bay leaf 
salt 
olive oil 
Truffle oil to taste 

Cut the cauliflower into pieces, add the shallot and bay leaf and sauté it slowly,  in butter and a splash of olive oil for about 5 minutes. 
Add the milk till covering the cauliflower and let it cook for about 4 minutes. 
In a skillet toast sesame seeds carefully. 
Grind it well and serve with the toasted sesame seeds and truffle oil to taste. 

Tip: Depending on the season try to serve it hot or cold...

Cherry and Avocado Gaspacho

Because we cannot change everything at the same time, sometimes we need a pause to adapt the new reality and stabilize before going on with our own projects. In the last couple of months I took this pause in order to take all the small steps I needed and to feel all the reasons that made me create this blog still make sense! 

Today I would like to share a Chef José Avillez version of Gaspacho, a recipe that I had to use one of my most recent gadgets a fruit stone extractor...

You will need:

500 g pitted cherrie

7 small plum tomatoes on the vine

1 medium onion 

1 1/2 red peppers

1 small cucumber

1 large slice of rustic bread

1/2 tin of tomato juice

1 dl of sherry vinegar

6-10 ice cubes

1 avocado

lemon juice

40 g red onions

olive oil 

salt and pepper

In a large bowl, add the bread diced without the crust, the chopped tomato, the diced onion, the cucumber (peeled , sliced and without seeds), and the pepper (diced and without seeds). Add the tomato juice, olive oil, sherry vinegar, salt & pepper. Mix it well. Cover with the ice cubes and then with film and chill for 12 hours.

Cut the avocado in halves, remove the stone and peel it and put it into a bowl. Season with lemon juice, mash with a fork and add a bit of chopped red onion. Mix well, add a drizzle of olive oil and mix again. Refrigerate.

Remove the stone of the cherries, blend it well, drain and reserve. Take the gaspacho and blend it well. For each liter of gaspacho add 4 dl of cherry puree. Mix well. In the center of each dish put a little of avocado cream and add the gaspacho. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and serve immediately with basil.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

I discovered this recipe from Portuguese Chef. Henrique Sá Pessoa on youtube and as it seemed to be quick, easy and incredibly tasty I said: I must cook it!

You will need :

asparagus

2 onions

spinach

butter

olive oil

chicken stock

extra virgin olive oil

Start by peeling the asparagus. Enjoy scrap and stalks of asparagus and boil with the chicken broth. Boil the asparagus with a pinch of salt for 2-3 minutes. Peel and chop the onion, in a pan, add a splash of olive oil, two knobs of butter and let the onions cook for 4-5 minutes. Remove the water from the asparagus, put it in cold water and set aside.

When the onion is cooked, add the asparagus cuted in pieces, cover it with chicken stock and let it boil.

Remove from heat and mash, add one knob of butter to turn it more creamy. Add a few leaves of baby spinach, which will give a little more green to the soup without overpowering the flavor of asparagus . Add 5 tablespoons of cream mix well and it's ready.

Tips: 

Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and freshly ground pepper...

You can also serve it in a shooter glass

Recipe of the week: Pumpkin Soup

If you are looking for a quick, simple and tasty soup this is a very interesting option. 

You will need:
400 gr of pumpkin
200 gr of potatoes 
2 carrots 
1 leek 
Salt & Pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Peel the pumpkin, the carrots and the potatoes and cut it into small cubes, Chop the white part of the leek, put everything in a small pan and add just the water needed to cover it. Season it with a pinch of salt and a splash of olive oil and let it cook for aprox. 25 minutes. Grind it and that's it! 
Serve it with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and freshly grounded black pepper.

Tip: this is a great option for a cocktail starter or amuse bouche... 

An apple Vichyssoise to bring the temperatures down...

Today's recipe today, sent by Cesar Benavides, is the first contribution of our blog followers': a cold soup to cool the temperatures which are still above the 30ºC outside...

Among the many recipes Vichyssoise this is a great summer suggestion replacing the potatoes by the apples which turns this soup lighter for a summer evening and the rest of the bikini operation !

You will need:

4 large leeks, 

3 apples (you can use Golden or starking, for instance)

75 ml of extra virgin oil

200 ml of cream

700 ml chicken stock (see recipe in previous post)

Salt and pepper

Start by washing the leek, and slice white part. Sauté a little avoiding it to get colour and add the apples previously peeled and diced. Add the chicken stock and let it boil for about 15 minutes. Grind it, add the cream, let it boil again for about 5 minutes, and correct the seasoning with salt & pepper. Remove, let cool reserve it in the fridge.

Serve the soup very cold, with freshly ground black pepper. (Alternatively you can also add a bit of chopped chives).

Cold Carrot Soup with philadelphia cheese and chives

As we are still in the middle of the summer, today I bring you a cold carrot soup with Philadelphia cheese and chives, a recipe of the Portuguese chef José Avillez.

You will need ... (4 people)

600 gr carrot

100 gr leek

60 gr of philadelphia cheese light 

50 gr butter

20 gr of chives

salt and freshly ground pepper qs

Cut the sliced ​​leeks and carrots previously peeled and sauté it in a pan with a bit of butter. Cover with water and boil it until they are well cooked. Remove from the heat and grind it.

Bring it back to the boil and season it. Remove from heat, add the philadelphia cheese, stirring until it is well connected and creamy.  keep it in the refrigerator. Serve cold and dredge chopped chives and a freshly ground black pepper.

Fresh Melon Soup!

Today it was a typical summer morning, with more than 30ºC outside what better than cold and easy soup to bring the temperature down?

Even if cooking it's not your type you have no excuse to avoid this soup as this could not be easier...

You will need (for two persons)

1/2 melon

ham

salt

Grind the melon , adding a bit of salt and reserve it in the fridge. Serve it cold with small pieces of ham!

Tip: You can also serve it in small shot glasses as an appetizer...

Gazpacho!

It may seem incredible but it took me five years living in Spain to prepare my first Gazpacho... Perhaps because it is almost 11 o'clock in the evening and there are still 30 degrees outside...

You will need (for 4 people):

6 ripe tomatoes

40 g of peeled cucumber

50 g red pepper clean

1/2 slice of bread

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

70 ml of olive oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

1/2 peeled onion

2 cloves of garlic

Crouton

salt and pepper to taste

100 ml water

Peel the garlic, removing the germ (inner part) and clarify three times starting always with cold water. Mince the onion, cucumber, red pepper, tomatoes, bread, garlic and water. Add olive oil, vinegar and mayonnaise. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix well and store in refrigerator.

Serve as a cold soup with croutons, or as starter in a shot glass...

Vegetables Soup with peas

A slight variation to the typical vegetable soup, especially thinking who loves peas ...

You will need:
2 medium potatoes, sliced
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
1 turnip
2 thinly sliced leeks 
extra virgin olive oil
chicken or beef
salt
Parmesan for grating

Sauté the onion, carrots turnips and potatoes with a splash of extra virgin olive oil . Add water and let it cook. Mince and let it boil again adding the sliced ​​leeks and peas until they are cooked. Add one or two cubes of chicken or beef stock and rectify the salt. Before serving add a bit of grated cheese.

Note: If you have time use homemade stock of beef or chicken, and you will clearly notice the difference ...

Monk fish Soup...

For yesterday dinner and to celebrate the visit of a friend i've cooked ​​this monk fish soup , with some variations on the original recipe of José Avillez.

Ingredients (3 people):

750 gr tomato

Approx 500 gr of flaps or tails of monk fish

1 red pepper

1 large onion or 2 medium

5 cloves of garlic

coriander

mint

white wine

extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper

Start by cutting the monk fish loins, cut it into parallelepiped and reserve it in the fridge, save the rest of the fish for the soup. Cut the onion, tomato and garlic into slices and pepper on strips, (previously removing the seeds), place in a pan, by layers, the onion, garlic, peppers, tomatoes and the rest of the fish  repeating this step until you have finished the ingredients.

Add the coriander a good splash of extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper, and a bit of white wine. wait it to start boiling and and lower the heat let it to cook slowly.

Meanwhile, cut the parallelepipeds of monk fish into very thin slices and place in  each dish, season with salt and a splash of extra virgin olive oil.

When cooked, add some mint leaves and grind it. heat it again  adding a few more mint leaves and a splash of olive oil.

For a more spectacular effect do not serve this dish in the kitchen ... Serve the hot soup over his monk fish adding a splash of extra virgin olive oil!

If your guests get scared by the raw fish, take a moment to explain that monk fish is cut into very thin slices so that it cooks in the moment ...

My Mom's fish Soup!

More than the recipe by itself, I would like to pay a public tribute to my parents as they are the main responsibles for this passion about food & gastronomy...

All the afternoons taking care of the kitchen garden and collecting the nuts from our centenary tree with my father or the ritual of going to the market all Saturday mornings to buy fresh fish, meat and vegetables with my mother... Both are the real responsibles for this metamorphosis from eating to live to live for eating!

After this, it's quite obvious that today I'll tell you one of my mother's recipe and, for me, the best fish soup I've ever tasted... 

You will need:

Fish (I suggest you to use monkfish or ling)
3 onions

1 red pepper

3 clove of garlic

3 potatoes

1 egg

mint
salt & extra virgin olive oil

Put everything on a pan and, on top, add the kind of fish that you prefer in order to avoid the spines to mix with the rest of the ingredients. Cover all with water, season it with salt and a bit of extra virgin olive oil and let it cook.

When the potatoes are cooked, take the fish carefully in order to avoid any spine to mix with the rest. Grind the soup and add one egg mixing it in order to spread it across all the soup. Add the fish and it is ready to serve.

Onion soup, will you try it?

After a week pause for vacations we're back with a recipe that usually divides the opinions: the ones who never tasted and don't even think in trying it and the ones who love it...

Ingredients

25 g of butter

5 tiny sliced onions 

1  tea spoon of wheat flour 

1/4 de white wine cup

750 ml de meat stock

Salt & pepper 

mini toasts

Grated cheese

In a large pan, melt the butter in low heat. Add the onion and cook it, stirring it, till it gets blonde, (about 15-20 minutes). add the flour and mix it. Add the meat stock and let it cook about 20 minutes and season it with salt and pepper.

Divide the soup in bowls that can go to the oven and cover it with mini toasts and finally with cheese. Take it to the oven, pre-heated to 180ºC till the cheese melts, (I usually connect the grill for a little bit).

The Easiest Chicken Soup

An excellent dish if you are with stomach problems or to recover from the excesses of the weekend..there are several ways to prepare it, but I doubt that there is any easier than this. 

Ingredients:

Free-range chicken

1 onion 

Rice or soup pasta

salt

Put the chicken in a pressure cooker, (I usually cut it in small pieces as it cooks faster and is easier to shred), with one onion cut by the middle, fill with water and season with salt and let it cook (the time will depend on the size of the pieces, I would say to leave it at least half an hour). 

Take the chicken out and at the same time that you shred the chicken add the rice or the soup pasta to the stock and let it cook. Then mix it and is ready to eat!

Tip: I strongly advice you to always buy a free-range chicken instead of broiler, Everything you cook will be much more tasty!

Quick and Delicious Pea Soup

I must confess I love the receipts of Jamie Oliver, as they are simple & easy to prepare and have a great result. It is the example of this pea soup...

Ingredients:

500g Peas

2 large Potatoes

1 Large onion

1L Vegetable Stock

2 springs Fresh mint

a sticks Celery

1 knob of butter

150gr ciabatta

100ml doubble cream 

feta cheese

salt, black pepper & extra virgin olive oil

In a pan add a splash of olive oil, and the butter and leave to melt. Stir the chopped onion and celery into the pan and add a splash of water, cover and cook till the vegetables start to soften. 

Fill a medium pan with vegetable stock (I confess I've cheated and used a biological supermarket stock) and bring it to simmer over a medium heat, add the roughly grate potato and then half of the mint leaves 

Add the peas to the pan of the vegetables, cook for 1 minute and then carefully pour the stock mixture into the pan and bring everything to boil. stir the cream into the soup and cook it for about 5 minutes. whiz until smooth. 

mix the remaining mint leaves and the toasted croutons, the feta, and a little bit of extra olive oil and then serve and taste it...