Tummyrumble

Baked pork chops with a porcini and creme fraiche topping

Look at those fine dining thyme sprigs... I could have been on Master Chef, me.
Originally uploaded by Manne.

My lunch today was supposed to be the hearty butternut squash soup from last night. However, I was sneakily dragged away to a celebration of  the burger at Camel + Artichoke on Lower Marsh. Who wants soup when you can have a burger in a fantastic bun, all slobbered with roof-of-mouth-zinging chilli con carne and cheddar mature enough to vote in the next general election.

Forgot all about soup. Still sitting in the office fridge. Shame.

Back from lunch W told me she had some pork chops she needed to use, so googled for some recipes and came across Delia's "best pork chop recipe she's ever done", so I figured that should do the trick. Having eaten not just white bread, but chips as well (oh, the sugar!) for lunch I figured cauliflower mash would be the perfect companion to get back on the low carb bandwagon.

Turned out I was right. And I don't think Delia exaggerated at all. Thanks to baking it in a sealed package in the oven, swimming in creme fraiche and mushroom juices, the pork chops come out amazingly moist and succulent. Fall of the bone pork, served with a creamy mushroom sauce... Can't go wrong, really. This definitely surpasses my previous favourite pork chop recipe.

Don't skimp on the lemon, it adds a crucial fresh acidity to this dish.

Ingredients for 2 (excluding cauliflower mash)

2 large pork chops
5 grams dried porcini mushrooms, soaked and finely chopped
200 grams crimini mushrooms, roughly chopped
fresh lemon thyme, chopped
1 large lemon, juice of
1 tbsp white flour
creme fraiche
butter for frying
salt and pepper for seasoning

Method

Put some water to boil in your kettle, soak the dried porcini mushrooms for 20 minutes. Once soaked, drain liquid and squeeze out the juices, don't forget to chop these finely later before you add them to the frying pan.

Start your oven, set it to 180 degrees Celsius. 

Fry the pork chops with a good knob of butter, browning them nicely on each side, season with salt and pepper. Remove from frying pan and place on a large sheet of tin foil in a roasting dish. Sprinkle the chops with the thyme.

(I actually used two sheets of foil slightly overlapping, the general idea here is to create a sealed package to put in the oven once you have placed the topping on the chops.)

Add some more butter to the frying pan and fry the crimini mushrooms. When you see the juices starting to come, add in the chopped porcini and the lemon juice. Simmer for about a minute, then sprinkle with the flour and stir well.

For some reason Delia here points out not to worry what it looks like... Not sure what she means as I thought it looked absolutely yummy.

The flour will soak up all the fat and juices, stir all the time and be careful not to burn the mix. Once all is blended well together, spoon mushroom mix on top of chops.

Using a tablespoon, place a generous dollop of creme fraiche on top of each chop. Then fold up a "tent" of the foil, sealing the package completely while leaving space for the chop topping to not get squashed. Place in the oven and bake for an hour.

Once baked, plate up and serve. This goes remarkably well with my favourite cauliflower mash, but since the chops and sauce by themselves are very rich you could serve it with just some steamed asparagus or some broccoli and cherry tomatoes. Make sure to spoon the creamy juices from the foil package over the veg...

Cauliflower and carrot mash - excellent potato mash substitute

This is as simple and quick as it is tasty. I actually think this surpasses potato mash in terms of not just taste, but also simplicity in cooking. Goes great with steak, sausages, gammon...

You need 1 cauliflower head, 4 carrots, 1 Boursin garlic (or other variety of your liking) soft cheese. serves about 4 since the cheese makes it really rich.

Clean and cut the cauliflower in florets. Scrub the carrots, slice them in half centimetre slices (you want to make sure they get soft in tune with the cauliflower, hence the thin slices).

Bring a pot with water to boil, add the cauli and carrots, bring back to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

Drain all water using a colander and leave cauli to rest for a few minutes. Give it a shake now and then to make sure all water leaves the florets.

Put the veg back in the pot and bring out your trusty masher. Use it well. Add in the cheese and mash it in good, making the mixture really creamy. The carrots may not mash completely, but just let them blend in chunky bits with the cheese and cauli.

If you like, season with some freshly crushed black pepper.

This is the perfect potato mash substitute if you are on an LCHF diet.

The perils of dining on a deal

Palm Court Brasserie, Covent Garden.

3 course dinner, 16.95 a  head. With a glass of kir royal!

Final bill, two people, 63 quid.

Huh?

Oh. Let's see.

Bread... Olives... One glass of wine each... A bottle of sparkling water... Green beans and roast veg on the side... Table cloth, flowers on the table, chairs, table, stressed out waitress. Oh, wait, that wasn't on the bill.

Just goes to show that restaurants are perfectly capable of raking in the money even if they do amazing deals. Especially with diners like me and Namibian Viking being charmed by the waitress versed very well in the upselling ninja skillz.

While the meal mostly was what I expected, edible food served with a modicum of flair in a Covent Garden environment (although the art deco style does sit very well with me), the chicken liver and foie grais pate served with caramelized onion was actually really good.

Book the Palm Court Brasserie at bookatable.com if you want to go. All the offers are listed there as well, I suggest the 50% off the a la carte menu as I think that gives a bit more exciting range of things to try compared to the rather uninspired three course set menu.

 

Hearty autumn butternut squash soup

Butternut squash is the perfect vegetable for making soup, as winter lurks around the corner. It even has the right colour palette... 

Today W was at home with that same annoying cold that I had last week, making me not run the Amsterdam half marathon (which was ok, ate and drank lots instead at the amazing Italian neighbourhood place Ciro Passami L'olio and Fenan Klein Afrika where they serve communal Ethiopian eating on huuuuuuge fermented pancakes, "injera", awesome), so i figured a nice and warming soup would be the perfect treat.

Butternut squash to the rescue.

Ingredients (serves 4)

1.5 l vegetable stock
4 large carrots, cut up in chunks
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and chunked
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
fresh ginger, about 1/2 a thumb sized, chopped
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin seeds
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp smoked paprika powder
1 tbsp soy sauce
fresh coriander, finely chopped, for garnish
300 gr lardons or pancetta
creme fraiche, for dolloping in the soup
salt and pepper
olive oil for roasting
butter for frying

Method

First set your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. While it is heating up, peel and cut in chunks the carrots and butternut squash. Put the chunks in a bowl, add some olive oil and stir around until all the pieces are lightly coated. Place chunks on a pan in the oven, leave to roast for 25 to 30 minutes until the squash is softening and starts taking on a lovely golden brown (yes, the roasting does make  difference for the taste).

While the veg is roasting, first fry the lardons crispy in a large frying pan on medium heat with a knob of butter. Set lardons aside, but keep the fat in the pan and gently start frying the chopped onion, garlic and ginger.

Now take a small sauce pan. Place the ground coriander, cumin and thyme in the dry sauce pan and heat it gently while swirling the mix around until small whisps of smoke start coming out and you can feel the spicy fragrance filling your kitchen. Make sure not to burn them. When you feel the fragrance, take the pan off the heat.

When the onion starts going translucent in the frying pan, add in the spice mixture and let fry for another 2-3 minutes. Also add in the cayenne pepper and paprika powder and make sure it is all nicely blended. As you add the spice you will see it soak up the fat making the mixture go a bit dry, so keep stirring it around and make sure it doesn't burn.

Put the onion mixture in a big cooking pot, large enough to hold all the veg and the stock. Deglaze the frying pan with some of the stock to get all the nice lardon frying goo loose from the bottom, add to the cooking pot.

By now the veg should be done roasting, get them out of the oven and into the cooking pot. Pour over all of the stock, bring to a simmer and let simmer for 20-25 minutes. Then remove from the heat and leave to cool a bit.

Blend the contents of the pot using a food processor or staff mixer, making it entirely smooth. You may need to add some more water (heat it in a kettle first) to be able to get it smooth and soupy.It shouldn't be like a puree.

Add in the soy sauce and any additional seasoning to taste, reheat if needed.

Ladle in big bowls, put a dollop of creme fraiche slightly off center and a small handful of lardons right next to it... Sprinkle with chopped coriander, serve piping hot to the impressed diners who probably are all hanging out in the kitchen drawn in by the wonderful aromatic smell emanating from the cooking pot.

W? She stopped coughing. Magic soup I tell you.

Awesome LCHF snack

Awesome LCHF snack
Originally uploaded by Manne.

W just sent me this photo of her after dinner snack plate from a few days back.

Nuts, parmesan cheese and a perfectly ripe fig. Excellent combination if you ask me, and while the fig may be a bit sugary I would say this falls within the definitions of LCHF.

Again, as long as you eat less than 100 grams of carbohydrate per day you are by definition following a low carb diet and if you watch your intake I hardly think the fig will push you over the edge... On this plate, the fat content in the nuts and parmesan is quite high. However, parmesan actually has more protein than fat.

Waiting for W to come home now so we can cook dinner. Sweet lamb bolognese is on the menu.