Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday aka Mardi Gras, Carnival and Pancake Tuesday. It’s a BIG party day down in the Big Easy and you bet everyone there is going to be eating and drinking like kings. Though I’ve never been to New Orleans I can only imagine what typical Mardi Gras food consists of. I imagine it contains lots of seafood from the Gulf with French influences such as gumbo, bouillabaisse, bisque, crawfish, you get the picture. (My stomach is growling as we speak.) This is my simplified version of a bouillabaisse. Typically, and according to tradition, there should be at least five different kinds of fish (not including shellfish) in a proper bouillabaisse. That can get pretty pricey so I thought I’d use some key seafood ingredients saving money yet without compromising flavour (which I may have used for a six-pack). This version is light, fresh and brothy just the way I roll.

RECIPE:
Serves 4

20 mussels – rinsed
20 Manila clams – rinsed
1/2 lb large locally caught wild shrimp – P&D’d (peeled & de-veined)
1 lb white fish (Pacific cod, Tilapia, Pacific halibut) – 1″ cubes
3 cups leeks (whites only) thinly sliced, washed
1 red bell pepper – small dice
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1 x 15 oz can diced tomatoes – drained
1 cup white wine (whatever’s in your glass will work) OR an 8 fluid oz bottle of clam juice*
3 cups water
about a handful of fresh basil – chiffonade
2 sprigs fresh thyme (for steaming mussels & clams)
2 tbsp olive oil

*TIP: Bottled clam juice is easily found in the States though it might be hard enough to find across the pond. Steaming the shellfish in the white wine is a great alternative for making your own clam juice.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat large soup pot on medium heat for 1 minute. Add olive oil along with leeks, red pepper and chili flakes. Saute, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Cover with lid while they’re sauteing. This will keep in the moisture and help prevent them from going brown. You don’t want any colour on the leeks, just softened.
As leeks and pepper are cooking, preheat a large saute pan on high heat for 1 minute. Very carefully add mussels and clams to pan along with the wine and thyme or bottled clam juice and thyme. (Be careful of splashing the liquid.) Cover with lid and cook until all the shells are open. Give the pan a shake after 30 seconds or so to move them around. Cook for 2 minutes approx or until all the shells have opened.
NOTE: If there are any unopened or cracked shells when the majority are cooked, discard them.

Holding a colander over the soup pot drain the shellfish into the colander. This steaming liquid will be the base of your soup and it’s delicious. Add the water, bay leaves and chopped tomatoes to the soup pot and bring to a boil.
Next remove all the mussels & clams from their shells. Set the meat aside and throw away the shells or even better you could use them with your saved veg and the shrimp shells to make a seafood stock.

Add the white fish and shrimp to the soup and stir. (They’ll cook in the broth.) Once soup comes to a boil reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes on medium low heat.
Just before serving add all mussels, clams and fresh basil. Stir and taste. Season with S&P.

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

I don’t think anyone is exempt from the winter weather that’s hitting us all at the moment. Between the snow, the cold and the days upon days of rain we’re having here in LA at the minute, I thought a quick n easy soup would hit the spot. I made chicken for dinner last night and had some left over so I thought the obvious choice was to bust out a soup for lunch today and hey presto here it is. If you don’t have any leftover chicken like I did, buy a roast chicken and just use that. You’ll get a great flavour as well as having the carcass to make your stock. Perfecto! This is one of the simplest ways to make a soup as you basically just put everything in the same pot and simmer it.

Did I mention it’s flu season? A bit of homemade chicken soup and vitamin C are sure to help!

RECIPE:
Serves 4

1 organic roast chicken or 4 cups leftover chicken – shredded
6 oz shredded carrot (about 2 carrots)
1 cup celery – thinly sliced
2 bay leaves
2 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup thin egg noodles (like spaghetti cut into 2″ pieces. I bought a packet in the supermarket)
S&P
freshly chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS:
Add the broth to a soup pot and place on a medium-flamed burner. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Add shredded chicken, bay leaves, carrot and celery and cook for 20 minutes, partially covered.
NOTE: This can all be done ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to eat. When you are ready bring the soup to a boil and add noodles. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Add noodles and stir soup. The noodles are small and thin like spaghetti so they’ll cook in about 10 minutes. Once noodles are done taste and season with S&P. Remove bay leaves, top with parsley and freshly ground and serve. Easy!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible

Those of you who happen to live here in LA may know of the Real Food Daily organic vegan restaurant. Although I’m not a vegetarian I do try to incorporate a lot more of the veggie dishes in my everyday food. My missus being a veggie and me being the overly healthy Irish guy, we’re always on the lookout for good quality vegetarian places such as this. I’ve been going to RFD for the past 5 years or so and I really like their food. Some of our friends are nervous to try such healthy vegan food but there’s an abundance of soy meat dishes, or what I call fake meat, on the menu so I get my fix when we go. (I gotta be a good hubby and throw the girl a bone now and then, though having said that, I probably request going here more than she does…hmmm…) One of the things they do really well there are their soups, except their bowls kinda blow but that’s another post.

Ann Gentry, RFD’s owner, came out with a cookbook a couple of years back so this is one of her recipes that I slightly adapted. The use of quinoa here is brilliant. Quinoa is all over the shop these days and for good reason, esp. for vegetarians since it contains high quality protein. It’s the bomb diggity.

NOTE: I made this soup last night for dinner but I played around with it a little mainly due to not having all the ingredients in my house. So for my version I marked them in red below on the recipe. An for my own little touch I added some fresh kale that I had in my fridge. I removed the stalks and chopped those in place of the celery. I added the chopped leaves at the end a few minutes before serving.

RECIPE:
Makes a big o’ pot

3/4 cup quinoa (I used Inca Red)
1 tbsp canola oil (olive oil)
2 onions, finely chopped (1 1/2 onions)
3 carrots, peeled & finely diced (omitted)
3 celery stalks, finely diced (omitted, used 6 Kale stalks instead)
2 zucchini, diced
1/2 cup yellow corn kernels (1 ear of fresh corn) (1 can low-sodium since it’s not corn season)
1 red pepper, finely diced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
2 tsp sea salt
12 cups (3 quarts) vegetable broth (I used about 10 cups of 1/2 stock, 1/2 water)
1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Black pepper
6 Kale leaves – washed, stalks removed & chopped, leaves rolled & chopped
1 jalapeno – seeded, fine dice

DIRECTIONS:

Rinse the quinoa well in cold water then drain. Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium high heat. Add the quinoa and stir constantly for 10 minutes or until all the moisture evaporates and the quinoa crackles and becomes golden. You’ll be able to smell them toasting. Transfer quinoa to a bowl and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large heavy stockpot over medium high heat. Add onions, carrots and celery. Saute for 12 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add zucchini, corn, bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic and salt. Saute for 3 minutes longer or until vegetables begin to release their juices. Add stock, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the toasted quinoa and simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the quinoa is tender. Squeeze the tomatoes into the soup and add the juices from the can, then stir in the cumin and coriander.
Simmer uncovered over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally or until the quinoa is tender. Stir in the cilantro and kale leaves and season to taste with pepper and more salt if needed.

Recipe Courtesy: The Real Food Daily Cookbook

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

On New years day you guys might remember I did a post about the southern tradition of eating black eyed peas & greens, which I used to make a delicious (if I say so myself) soup. When I’m making a soup using legumes (said in my best french accent, layguuuum) I’ll always use fresh as opposed to canned. I know the canned ones are easier and quicker but to be honest you can’t beat the fresh flavour of the packet peas.

My whole thought for making anything is about layering flavours on top of each other to make the best possible most flavourful dish. That starts with soaking and cooking the peas (in this case).

Follow the packet instructions to soak the peas for whatever length of time (usually overnight). When doing this I like to add some salt & a couple of bay leaves to the water to start getting some flavour in there. The next most important step is to boil them. Now, you can just cook them in boiling salted water but why not make it a bit more interesting?
Try putting in some carrots, onion, celery, bay leaf, peppercorns and even a bouquet garni if you want. I find the more effort you put into the early stages of cooking will vastly improve the end result. If you’re going to go to the trouble of cooking fresh legumes go that little step further to make them even more tasty.

Also, when the peas are cooked don’t just throw the cooking liquid away down the sink, oh noooooo. Drain the cooked peas into another pot and use that liquid as the broth for your soup. Look at that, a double whammy! You just cooked really flovourful legumes AND made some veggie broth in the process, which saved you money as well. Pretty nifty me thinks.

Right get cracking.

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

So, Christmas – Done. New Years Day – tomorrow! Another year older and hopefully wiser.

Have you noticed all the food traditions associated with the new year? Of course my Texan Missus has hers, which involves black eyed peas and leafy greens (representing good luck, good health & good fortune), which is now a tradition I’ve adopted.

I’m thinking the feast you just had on Christmas might have yielded some leftover turkey or ham and with a lot of you in the midst of winter right now one of the easiest, healthiest & quickest meals to put together is a great big ol’ pot of soup, which is also a great way to use up the leftovers. (If you don’t have any ham check out this turkey soup recipe.) I bunged this together in about 30 minutes (hassle-free indeed) and man was it good! You’ll love how good this smells cookin’ up in your kitchen and will probably serve you well as a good hangover munchie.

RECIPE:
Serves 6ish

1 cup white onion – small dice
1 cup carrot – small dice
1 cup celery – small dice
3 bay leaves
3 cups cooked ham – fat trimmed, diced
2 cups potatoes – small dice
2 cups dried black eyed peas, soaked overnight & drained*
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 bunch fresh thyme – wrapped with string like a bouquet garni
7-8 cups low-sodium or homemade chicken broth
NOTE: The beauty about making a soup like this is that the measurements don’t have to be exact. If you have more potatoes or carrots who cares, bung em in. The more the merrier. Just add enough liquid to make it soupy. At the end of the day guys it’s just food. Enjoy cooking.
*Feel free to use canned black eyed peas but rinse them first. Canned beans are already cooked so you should add them in towards the end of the cooking time. But if you do use the dried peas, be sure to check out my trick for making them flavourful!

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat large soup pot on medium heat for 1 minute. Add olive oil and onion and saute for 2 minutes, stirring. Next add carrot, celery, bay leaves and ham and saute for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once veg are beginning to soften add broth, potatoes and thyme and soaked black eyed peas, bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 2o-30 minutes until veg are cooked through. Add more liquid if needed.

Taste and season with S&P.

That’s it. How easy was that?

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY AND THANKS FOR THE CONTINUED SUPPORT.

CHEERS TO A HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS 2010!!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

There are a few dishes that are well known Irish dishes: bacon & cabbage, Irish stew and the old reliable potato (in any form). This soup has one of those staples and is probably one of the easiest soups to make. I had all the ingredients in my CSA box and I promise, making this soup with recently picked fresh ingredients makes it really delicious. The earthiness of the thyme works a treat here and if you’re still looking for a quick appetizer for Santa Day, look no further.

RECIPE:
Makes about 4 cups

2 large leeks – whites only, sliced & rinsed (But keep the greens for your homemade stock)
2 white potatoes – peeled, chopped
1 tbsp thyme
1 quart low-sodium veg broth or even better, homemade stock
2 tbsp olive oil

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat soup pot on medium heat for 30 seconds. Add olive oil and leeks and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add thyme and potatoes and combine with sauteed leeks.

Add broth and stir. Partially cover with lid. Bring to a boil and once boiling reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.

Puree in food processor in batches.

NOTE: Do not fill your blender above half way with hot liquid. Hot liquids expand when pureed so be careful. Place a kitchen towel on the lid when blending so you don’t burn yourself when the liquid expands.

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible

Winter is arriving if not already here for a lot of you (apparently there’s snow in Houston?) so this is defo soup season. You all know there’s nothing better than a delicious bowl of homemade soup with a nice sangwich. I remember growing up in the tropical Isle of Ireland and the odd day it might be cold and wet my Mum would always make us soup for lunch. It’s always been one of those things that was a staple in our house as any leftover veg from dinner would be made into a delicious soup the next day. Those were the days.

This soup recipe is one of my faves and you’ll definitely love the fresh pea flavour and earthy texture. Off you pop and get the pot out.

RECIPE:
Yields: A big ol’ pot.

1 lb bag of green split peas
3 small-med sized sweet potatoes – peeled & diced
1 white or yellow onion – chopped
1 cup celery – chopped
2 fresh carrots – chopped
2 bay leaves
8 cups veg stock or water
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

Begin by emptying the bag of peas into a colander. Run the cold water over them and rinse thoroughly. While rinsing sort through the peas for any foreign objects, like dirt or even little pebbles. Once rinsed let drain in the same colander.
Preheat a large soup pot for 1 minute on medium heat. Once heated add olive oil along with celery, carrots and onion. Saute on medium, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes. Do not brown onions.

Add rinsed peas, potatoes, bay leaves and stock. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce to a simmer and partially cover. Cook for 20 minutes approx or until peas are cooked through.

Using a hand blender, if you have one or a food processor if not, pulse. Don’t puree totally but leave some veggie chucks in there. It creates a more rustic texture (which I like).

Taste and season with S&P.

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients.

All the veg we associate with Autumn and Winter are finally in abundance and ready for soup season! Pumpkin, butternut squash, broccoli and potato soups are some of my faves.

In the States we’re getting ready for Thanksgiving, which is right around the corner. There’s just a hint of time left to start planning those holiday meals (one week and counting!) but don’t worry–I’ve got you covered. I’ve got some delicious healthy recipes I’ll be posting right up until the big day.

If you’re like me you’re used to having the classic butternut squash soup on your menu for the holidays but I thought a great substitution would be this aromatic, satisfying and over all damn tasty pumpkin soup. Impress your guests and serve the soup in a hollowed out pumpkin or you could use the smaller individual sized pumpkins or squash for bowls like I did here:

As you know, I don’t use cream, butter or sugar in my soups. It’s important we stay healthy as much as we can during the holiday season (easier said than done right?) Little tricks like adding an apple sweetens the pumpkin naturally and adding in curry powder adds a delicious layer of spice. You could try using freshly grated nutmeg or cinnamon instead or as well as we know how good spices are for us!

Serves 4-6

RECIPE:
3 1/2 cups pureed pumpkin*
5 cups low-sodium chicken/veg broth
1 red apple – cored and cubed
2 tsp curry powder
S&P to taste

*NOTE: I used fresh roasted pumpkin puree but you can use canned. Be sure to read the labels though. Some canned pumpkin have added sugar–go for the 100% pure pumpkin puree.

DIRECTIONS:

Add all pumpkin puree to a large preheated soup pot along with 1 quart (4 cups) broth. (Add additional broth if necessary). Stir to combine. Once warmed through add the apple and curry powder and stir.
TIP: If you go with canned puree, mix in some fresh chopped earthy flavored herbs such as thyme, rosemary &/or oregano.
Bring to a simmer and partially cover. Cook until apples are soft, 15 mins approx. Using a hand blender if you have one or a food processor, puree soup until smooth. Add additional broth if needed.

Taste and season.

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

Those of you who’ve been following me for a while (thanks!), you’ll know I’m a big fan of the one pot meals. I’ve made a variation of this stew a few times before with different flavours and also using flour to thicken the sauce. In this case I decided to keep it light and more of a broth than a thick(ish) sauce. One of my favourite variations is my Beef & Guinness Stew. This always proves a great hit especially on those cold winters evenings. Today’s stew is perfect for a lighter yet still delicious alternative. The beauty of these dishes is you can just forget about it for a couple of hours in the oven while you watch Oprah or do whatever it is that floats your boat!

Serves 4

Recipe:
2 lbs Organic Chuck Steak – excess fat trimmed, 1″ dice
3 large carrots – peeled. cut into 1/4″ slices
2 large parsnips – peeled, cut into 1/4″ slices
1 small turnip – peeled, cut into wedges
1 lb mini red potatoes – halved
1/2 garlic bulb
2 quarts low-sodium beef or chicken stock
1 cup white wine (whatever you’re drinking…..today)
1 bouquet garni – fresh thyme, 4 bay leaves
1 tbsp black peppercorns
3 or 4 tbsp olive oil
S&P

Directions:

Preheat large saute pan on high heat for 30 seconds. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and sear the meat in batches, 3-4 minutes, in a single layer. Do not over fill pan. Season each batch with 1/4 tsp S&P. Once meat is browned remove to a colander and let drain over a bowl. Wipe out pan after each use. Repeat process with additional meat.
Once all meat has been seared, wipe out pan, add additional tbsp olive oil and add vegetables to pan. Saute for 5-6 minutes until beginning to brown. Once browned add to large oven proof dish along with meat and juices. De-glaze pan with white pan. (I would normally use red wine with beef but I wanted to keep the broth light so that’s why I chose white wine). Scrape all the caramelised bits from the bottom of the pan and add to meat and veggies along with the broth, garlic, herbs and peppercorns. Cover with foil and pop in the oven for 2 hours approx or until meat is fork tender. It’ll melt in your mouth like butta but with less fat!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

Well, the first rain of the season in Los Angeles has been a doozy. I’m talking real rain people! I’ll admit, there’s something nice about coming home to a warm cozy house with dinner on the stove, rain dancing on the roof and my missus dancing on the ceiling but I’m thankful it doesn’t happen that often. You should see how these people drive in the rain! Not pretty. Apparently rain and electricity don’t mix over here either because as soon as it kicked off, our power decided to do the same….for hours. Good thing we had finished dinner or that would’ve blown! Lucky for us we had this delicious soup to dive into. Rain and a blast of cold wind (to be read sarcastically—it was all of 70° yesterday!) makes for perfect soup weather.

RECIPE:
Serves 6-8

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion – fine dice
4 garlic cloves – minced
2 tbsp fresh rosemary – chopped
2 tsp red curry powder
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 x 1lb bag lentils – rinsed
1 x 14 1/2 oz can organic diced tomatoes
1/4 cup sun-dried tomato paste
10 cups water (or veg/chicken broth)
1 lb cubed butternut squash
4 cups Swiss chard – de-stalked, chopped, washed
1/2 cup fresh parsley – chopped
2 tsp sea salt
freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat large soup pot for 1 minute on medium heat. Add in olive oil. Add onions and saute for 4-6 minutes or until translucent & soft, stirring–do not brown. Add in garlic, rosemary, curry powder, bay leaf and cayenne and mix through. Cook for 2 minutes and add lentils. Stir. Saute mixture together for 5 minutes until lentils are coated and toasted.
Next add in tomatoes, sun-dried paste, 1/2 the butternut squash and all the liquid (water 0r broth). Bring to boil and once boiling reduce to simmer, partially covered. Simmer for 25 minutes until lentils are tender. Stir in Swiss chard, parsley, the rest of the butternut squash and sea salt. Simmer for a few more minutes to wilt the chard and soften the squash. Taste the squash and when it’s nice ‘n’ tender you’re good to go. Finally, taste and season with S&P.

NOTE: We had a couple dried chili peppers lying around (gifts from our neighbors) that we threw in whole to see if they’d give off some heat. They certainly did, but lucky for us it was the perfect amount of kick. Do you dare?

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.