Winning Winter Warmers–Soup, quiche, curried pickled onions

While we wallow in winter weather, we wish-wash with water, wet, when willowy wind whistles. When we wake, winter withholds wondrously, while we wish the weather would warm. Yes. I know. I'm trying my hand at alliteration. It reminds me of poetry slams with my son. This is the best I can do.

This is what happens when winter keeps me indoors. I spend long minutes in bed playing word games online with a dozen people before switching off my heated blanket and drifting off to sleep—snug in my furry socks and flannel pyjamas. My mind is filled with words.

Soup remains our staple at this time of year. Easy, earthy, heart-warming, and filled with goodness-knows-how-many flavours. We break artisanal bread and roughly throw it into the clay oven, then argue over the burnt bits. The vase of tulips is past its prime, but they’re still beautiful; the perfect stamens continually fascinate, with their gossamer petals filling my grandmama’s yellowed custard jug. The kitchen is hot and steamy all day as I prepare a robust Spanish soup.

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TOMATE CALIENTE SOPA y NARANJA (Tomato and Orange Soup)

(Serves 6 people)

INGREDIENTS:

Soup

1. In a large stockpot, melt the butter, add the sliced onion, and sauté until the onions are glassy, sweet, and soft.
2. Add the chorizo and stir-fry until the fat has rendered.
3. Add the carrots and sauté for a further 2 minutes.
4. Drop in the bay leaves and peppercorns together with the prepared stock.
5. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer until the stock has reduced by at least a third.
6. Once the stock has reduced sufficiently, blitz until smooth.
7. Add the concentrated cream of tomato soup and orange zest.
8. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper; add the spices to taste. (Note: sometimes the salt content is fine without additional salt)
9. Add the orange juice.
10. Just before serving the soup, add the thick cream and the torn basil leaves.

To garnish: roast a punnet of halved Roma tomatoes; I love tomatoes on the vine and often use them, sprinkled with olive oil, salt, and pepper, in a hot oven for 30 minutes. Use these tomatoes to garnish the soup when serving. Drip a good splash of Olive oil in a coil and sprinkle a few torn basil leaves on top. A drizzle of fresh cream may also be refreshing. To tantalize: a few red and green chillies, cut diagonally, may also be used; they look pretty and add heat.  Grated Parmesan cheese and croutons work fabulously.

Serve with a slice of homemade bread and thick lashings of butter!

¡Buen provecho!

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Before I continue, I must button up my windbreaker and brave the inclement weather. I do this to walk in my new hiking boots; my Dad says they’ll be my best friend soon! I certainly hope so. My ankles are weak, my woollen socks weigh me down, and they feel like concrete. The Powerball awaits no man, so off I go to place my bets. The jackpot could be mine.

Last week I baked a quiche for supper. Being wheat-intolerant, I returned to my trusty pastry recipe using gluten-free flour, and it was delicious, flaky, and feathery. This recipe comes highly recommended. 

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MY GO-TO SAVOURY TART CRUST (GLUTEN-FREE)

This recipe is perfect for quiche

In a saucepan, melt the butter in the boiling water. Sieve the dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to the boiling liquid. Stir until a smooth, soft ball forms. Transfer to a buttered loose-bottomed quiche tin. Using your fingertips, pat the dough to the bottom and sides of the tin. Do so while the dough is still warm. Make sure the entire tin is covered. Keep it on the side until needed.

EASY FILLING

Pour the cream into a glass bowl, add the cubed Brie, and melt in the microwave until the Brie has completely melted but is not boiling. Beat the eggs with a fork. Pour the lukewarm cream over the beaten eggs. Season with cracked black pepper and a little salt.

Fill the pie crust with the bacon and vegetables. Pour the custard all over the top. Leave to settle before placing the Roma tomatoes and olives in a circle to garnish.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 30 minutes; check after 20 minutes. Do not overcook.

Remove from the oven, cool. Garnish with snipped chives. A fine grating of Parmesan cheese gives the quiche extra zing. A simple tomato and basil salad, finished with a good glug of olive oil and vinegar, perfectly complements the quiche.

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SANDRA’S BEST CURRIED ONIONS

I’ve just dug this recipe up; it’s fabulous and the perfect store cupboard product. A traditional Cape Malay curried pickle onion. It’s easy to prepare and a delicious alternative when you’re in a hurry or packing for a picnic—a perfect match for serving fish or for a traditional barbecue (braai). Serve on a cheese platter.  This recipe has been a favourite in our home for 36 years.  Happy birthday, my sweet friend; have a fabulous day.

You’ll need:

2kg pearl onions (pickling onions), soaked in cold water to loosen the yellowed outer layer; remove.

Pickling sauce:

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add the cleaned onions, and boil for 2 minutes. Drain. Fill sterilised canning jars with the onions. Bring the sauce ingredients to a boil. Prepare the thickening by stirring together. Pour the warm sauce over the thickening, stirring continuously so that the thickening does not clot. Return to the stove and bring to a boil. Pour hot sauce over the onions in jars. Seal jars. Leave to stand in a dark cupboard for at least 2 weeks before opening.

Cook's note: add a few bay leaves, whole chillies, and peppercorns to the jars for garnishing.

That’s it from me. My breathing has just returned to normal after a gruelling workout this morning. Growing older isn’t for sissies now, is it? With that thought in mind, we must not let the grass grow under our feet; time waits for no man. Oh dear, I'm running late. Confit of duck on the menu, and I have a million things to do.  I'll tell you all about the new boots in a forthcoming blog.  Excited. Friends find Friday fabulously frivolous; fortunately, family fails famously.  I'll stop.

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