Onions | Canalside Community Food - Part 4

Freakily, last week two different people, from two different continents, sent me this recipe for radish leaf soup. I feel that is a sign that the recipe must now be shared with everyone at Canalside, even though, lacking a potato, I have not yet had a chance to make it myself. Let me know how you get on with the peppery, leafy radish leaves that are doubtless still sitting in your fridge from last week. It looks delicious—please note especially the suggestion of topping your soup with ‘pumpkin seeds, sliced radishes, crème fraîche, sour cream, olive oil, freshly cracked black or a pinch of red pepper powder, scallions, edible flowers, fresh herbs, a dollop of pesto, or a dribble of pumpkin seed oil’.

Radish Leaf Soup
6-8 servings

I (that’s David Lebovitz) strongly suggest you use radish leaves that are unsprayed or organic, and wash them well to make sure all grit has been removed. If you don’t have enough radish leaves, feel free to make half the recipe, or bulk it up with lettuce or another mild green. Something like spinach, kale, or Swiss chard will overtake the flavor of the radish leaves (although it’s not the end of the world if you’re trying to use up odds and ends of various greens), but you could use arugula in addition to the radish leaves, or something similar. I don’t peel the potatoes but you are welcome to. If using commercial chicken stock, cut the salt in half and add more, to taste. If you don’t have chicken stock, water or vegetable stock works fine. I added a touch of heavy cream, which smoothed things out nicely and gives the soup a subtle richness, but offered a few alternatives. You could use more, or use regular milk (cow or plant-based), or leave it out. Possible garnishes are, but are not limited to, pumpkin seeds, sliced radishes, crème fraîche, sour cream, olive oil, freshly cracked black or a pinch of red pepper powder, scallions, edible flowers, fresh herbs, a dollop of pesto, or a dribble of pumpkin seed oil.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and diced, or 2 leeks, cleaned and sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
freshly ground black pepper (I used a total of about 1 teaspoon of pepper)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 medium potatoes, washed and diced, (12-16oz, 340-450g)
2 cups (500ml) water
12 cups (lightly packed) fresh radish leaves, rinsed very well (9 oz, 270g)
3 cups (750ml) chicken stock
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup (125ml) heavy cream, sour cream, mascarpone, or creme fraiche

Preparation

1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, seasoning them with the salt and pepper, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for a minute or two, to help them release their aroma.
2. Add the potatoes and 2 cups of water to the pot. Cover, bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a steady simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender when poked with the tip of a sharp paring knife, about 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Add the radish leaves and stock. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer just until the radish leaves are wilted and cooked through. Remove from heat.
4. If using an immersion blender, add the cream, mustard, cayenne, and cream to the pot and puree until smooth. If using a standard blender, let the soup cool until tepid then puree the soup with the cream and mustard. (Never fill a blender more than half full with hot liquid as it can blow off the lid and cause injuries.) Rewarm the soup and serve with any of the suggested garnishes.

Recipe from David Lebovitz, https://www.davidlebovitz.com/radish-leaf-soup-recipe-soupe-fan-radis-recette/.

We’re getting some huge spring greens at the moment and I’ve discovered a few new recipes involving them as a result. I make Dhal fairly regularly but rarely follow a recipe. This one is a really good introduction though, I was quite amazed at how rich it tasted and I’m really not sure what the difference was to my usual attempts! Make sure you cook until the lentils are soft, I’m often too impatient.

Spring Green and Coconut Dal

Ingredients (Serves two)
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, finely sliced
1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, finely chopped, grated or crushed
4cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 red chilli, finely sliced
1 tsp black mustard seeds
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
100g yellow mung dal lentils, rinsed in a sieve (I used red lentils)
1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
200g spring or summer greens, tough ribs removed (sliced them and fired with the onion), leaves finely shredded. Feel free to go heavy on the greens I found they worked well.
handful of coriander leaves
a squeeze of lime or lemon juice
toasted coconut chips or toasted desiccated coconut, to garnish
salt

Method
Prep time: 5 min
Cooking time: 50 min

Melt the coconut oil in a large pan. Add the onion and fry on a low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Turn up the heat a little and add the garlic, ginger, chilli, mustard seeds and turmeric. Stir for about 1 minute, until you hear the mustard seeds start to pop. Stir the coconut milk in the can then pour into the pan with the lentils and ground coriander and cumin. Fill the coconut milk can half full with water and add that too.

Bring up to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the greens, stirring in small handfuls at a time, then cook for a further 5–10 minutes, until the lentils are tender and the greens wilted. Keep an eye on the liquid and add more water if needed.

Season the dal with salt, stir in the fresh coriander and add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice to taste. Serve the dal prinkled with toasted coconut and a few extra coriander leaves.

Adapted from: https://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/spring-green-and-coconut-dal

This is EXACTLY what you need to eat on Easter Sunday.* Whatever else you’re serving, this will make it even better. The recipe comes from Abra Berens, who recommends accompanying it with grilled duck breast and radicchio. It’s also pretty super spread on a piece of toast.

Parsnip Purée
Serves 4.

Ingredients
120ml olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and cut into thin slices
250ml white wine
900g parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
2 teaspoons salt
250ml double cream (although we in fact substituted oatmilk)
2 star anise
Zest of one orange

Preparation
In a medium saucepan, heat a generous glug of the oil over very low heat. Add the onion and cook until very soft, for about 15 minutes.

Add the wine, and continue to cook until it’s almost completely evaporated.
Add the parsnips and salt, and toss together.

Add the cream, the remaining olive oil, and star anise. Bring to a boil, the reduce the heat so that the mixture simmers gently. Cover and cook until the parsnips are falling-apart tender, about 15 minutes more. Remove the star anise.

Purée the mixture (liquid and all) until it is very smooth. Add the orange zest and enjoy.

Recipe adapted from Abra Berens, Ruffage: A Practical Guide to Vegetables (2019).

*I expect you can work it into a Seder as well…

Thanks to Erica Moody for suggesting this recipe from Meera Sodha’s column in last week’s Guardian Food.

Meera says: There might seem to be a lot of chillies in this, but it’s not a hot dish, because the natural sweetness of the squash and sweetcorn, combined with the rich coconut milk and spiky lime, balance things out. Fresh curry leaves are now sold in most major supermarkets.

Butternut squash and sweetcorn erriseri

Prep 10 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1kg squash, washed
Sunflower oil
Fine sea salt
1 x 340g tin sweetcorn, drained
2 tsp black mustard seeds
12 curry leaves
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3 green finger chillies, finely chopped
2 tsp turmeric
1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (ie, from 1 lemon)
Coriander leaves, to garnish

Method:
Cut the squash in half (no need to peel), scoop out and discard the seeds, then cut it into 2cm cubes. Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/gas 6. Tip the squash pieces on to an oven tray, pour over two tablespoons of oil and a good sprinkling of salt, and toss to coat. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the squash chunks are tender and their edges caramelised.

Add two tablespoons of water to the drained sweetcorn kernels and blend to a smooth paste (I use a stick blender).

In a large frying pan, heat two tablespoons of oil and, when hot, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves, and leave them to crackle and pop for a minute. Now add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until translucent and turning golden, then add the garlic and chillies, and cook for two minutes. Stir in the sweetcorn paste, turmeric and a teaspoon and a half of salt, cook for a minute, then add the coconut milk (keep the tin) and whisk so everything is combined and the curry sauce is a vibrant yellow.

Half-fill the coconut milk tin with water and add to the pot to loosen the curry – you may need a little more or less water than this, depending on the thickness of your coconut milk – bring to a boil and simmer for five minutes, until it starts to thicken. Stir in the roast squash and lemon juice, and check the seasoning. Garnish with coriander and serve immediately.

Adapted from Guardian Food, 20th March 2020

I haven’t used a soup recipe for a while and I’ve suddenly realised I’ve been surviving off beans and toast for lunch for a little too long, We have an abundance of leeks at the moment and I could go for the easy option of leek and potato soup, but thought I would try this slightly different idea instead.

Leek, spring green and apple soup

Ingredients:
25g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely sliced
600g leeks (about 3-4 large), finely shredded
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 apples, peeled and diced
250ml cider
1 litre veg stock
100g spring greens, finely shredded
salt and pepper

Method

Heat the butter and oil in a large pan. Add the onion and leeks. Fry on a low heat for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and apple and cook for 2 minutes. Add the cider and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the stock, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the spring greens and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the greens are tender. Blitz until smooth or leave chunkier, whichever you prefer.

Season, and serve.

Taken from: https://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/view/recipe/leek-spring-green-apple-soup

We seem to have had a huge haul of beetroot this year, so I’ve been looking for recipes to make use of this. I tried this one last week, but my housemate had just moved out taking all the kitchen equipment with him so mine ended up a little strange with orange chunks instead of zest, and hand rolled pastry… It was still great though! I added a little wensleydale to offset the sweetness but leave this out and the recipe is vegan.

Beetroot & red onion tarte tatin

Ingredients:

400g beetroot, cut into wedges

1 red onion, cut into wedges

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp soft brown sugar

2 star anise

flour, for rolling

500g block puff pastry (there is a vegan Jus-Rol)

1 orange, zested

peppery green salad, to serve

Method:

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. In a bowl, toss the beetroot and onion in 2 tbsp of the oil, the vinegar and sugar. Add the star anise and season well. Heat the rest of the oil in a large, ovenproof non-stick frying pan (normal ceramic dish worked fine for me), then nestle in the veg so that they cover the surface of the pan. Cover with foil and cook in the oven for 45 mins.

On a well-floured surface, roll the pastry to a thickness of 0.5cm and cut out a circle the same size as your frying pan. Carefully take the pan out of the oven, remove the foil and wiggle the beets and onion around in the pan to make a compact layer. Put the pastry on top, tucking it in all around the edges, then return the pan to the oven and bake for 35 mins or until the pastry has puffed up and is a deep golden brown.

Slide a palate knife around the edge of the tart, then put a plate on top of the pastry, serving side down. Flip the pan over to turn the tart out onto the plate – be careful not to burn yourself with the handle. Top with the orange zest and a sprinkle of sea salt, then serve with a peppery salad on the side.

From https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/beetroot-red-onion-tarte-tatin

Last winter was my first at Canalside and followed an extremely hot and dry summer (with a poor onion harvest as a result of the dry conditions) which means I’ve been quite shocked at the number of onions in my share this winter – so much so that I have quite the pile accumulating at home. What better way is there to get through them than onion soup? The recipe is from another good youtube chef Binging with Babish (and is featured in Netflix’s The Chef Show S2E6) – see if you can spot his catchphrase “Let the flavours get to know each other” (although they have to do that a lot with onion soup!). I doubt beef stock is essential in this recipe so adapt it for a veggie/vegan diet as required.

Shopping List

For the soup:

1350g Onions (yields 4 servings)

6 cups high quality beef stock (or amped up store bought stock, see below) (or veggie stock)

2 Tbsp flour

Soy sauce (optional)

Fish sauce (optional)

Day old French baguette (for topping)

Gruyere cheese, shredded (for topping)

For Amped-Up Store Bought Stock

1 bunch parsley

Sliced carrots

Thyme sprigs

3 garlic cloves, halved

2 bay leaves

Sprinkle of peppercorns

2 cloves (optional)

Parmesan cheese rind

Method

Start by preparing your onions. Peel them and then cut in half from pole to pole – through the root and stem. Remove the tough root part by cutting it away with your knife. Then thinly slice them pole to pole – like cutting with the grain of the onion. This gives the slices more structural integrity so that they stand up to the slow cooking method.

Next prepare your stock. Ideally you would use homemade beef stock, but you can also “soup” up a store bought version. To do that, add your beef broth to a stock pot and bring to a simmer. Add aromatics like parsley, sliced carrots, thyme sprigs, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves, and parmesan rind. Let it simmer for 1 hour.

In a large dutch oven (any large thick based pan) drizzle 2-4 Tbsp olive oil and let heat up for one minute. Dump in the sliced onions. It will look like way too many, but just trust me.

Slowly caramelize the onions over medium heat. Keep them moving constantly, and scrape down the sides of the pot. The onions are done when they are soft, jammy, and caramelized with a lot of fond on the bottom of the pot.

Add 2 Tbsp flour to the onions and cook for 1-2 minutes then deglaze the pot with 1 cup of dry sherry and cook, scraping up fond from the bottom of the pot.

Once the alcohol is cooked off, add the beef broth. Make sure to strain it first if you added aromatics.

Let the whole thing simmer for 5-10 minutes to let the flavors get to know each other. Optional: add umami boosters. I like to add a splash of fish sauce and soy sauce to richen the flavors.

Cut thick slices of day-old french baguette. Put them on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and top with salt and pepper. Toast bread in a 200°C oven for 5 minutes. Slice a clove of garlic in half and rub down each piece of bread with the garlic.

Check the soup for salt and pepper and season as necessary. Ladle soup into broiler-safe cups. Top with sliced baguette and shredded cheese. Put the bowls onto a baking sheet and put into an oven preheated to broil. Broil for 3-5 minutes until golden brown.

Garnish with chives and serve and enjoy!

From https://basicswithbabish.co/basicsepisodes/frenchonionsoup

It seems like every sprouts recipe in existence starts with “sprouts are now one of my favourite christmas foods…” but however cliche it is, I agree since I started experimenting with different ideas. In past years I’ve used Jamie Oliver’s squashed brussels recipe but this year I want to keep it veggie so I’ve gone for the recipe below. I might experiment with boiling, frying and squashing the sprouts before the roast as per the Jamie recipe though.

Maple Balsamic Sprouts
Ingredients:
4 cups (350g) Brussels sprouts, halved
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
salt and pepper, to taste
1/3 cup (40g) hazelnuts, roasted chopped

Maple Balsamic Glaze
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoon maple syrup

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 220 C
Wash and half the Brussels Sprouts and toss them with oil, onions, garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Spread onto a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned on the outside and tender on the inside.
Stir together balsamic vinegar and maple syrup and set aside.
Remove from oven and toss with hazelnuts and maple balsamic glaze.
Serve warm.

Taken from: https://www.mydarlingvegan.com/maple-balsamic-brussels-sprouts-with-hazelnuts-and-rosemary/

This is an absolute flavour bomb. The combination of onion, spice and pumpkin is delicious, fresh and complex, with a savoury depth that you will savour. Serve with rice, and a garnish of fresh coriander, if you like, for a little touch of green.
If you want to make this vegetarian, you can apparently replace the fish sauce with an equal amount of Japanese miso, but I used fish sauce

Burmese Golden Pumpkin Curry (Shwe Hpayone-thi Chet)
Servings 2 as a main

Ingredients
100 ml rapeseed oil or other neutral-tasting oil
2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon paprika
16 fresh or dried curry leaves
3 medium onions, sliced
3 spring onion, green and white parts, shredded
4-6 garlic cloves, sliced
3 cm piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1 small squash or pumpkin, peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoons fish sauce

Instructions
Heat the oil in a saucepan over a high heat. Add the turmeric, coriander, cumin, paprika and curry leaves to the oil and allow to sizzle for a few seconds. 
Now turn the heat down to medium and add the onions, spring onion, garlic and ginger and fry for 10 minutes, until fragrant and the onions have wilted and some have crisped up.
Add the squash, sugar, and 300ml of water. Stir well. Cover and cook for 25 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Add the fish sauce, stir again and serve with rice.

Recipe adapted from Mimi Aye, Mandalay: Recipes and Tales from a Burmese Kitchen (2019).

Also available online at https://www.kaveyeats.com/2019/11/mimi-ayes-golden-pumpkin-curry.html

Much as I’m excited to get back to my favourite celeriac recipe (Celeriac Pasta Ribbons Weekly update Jan 3 2019), I’m in desperate need of replenishing my lunch stores at the moment and nothing is better than a good autumnal soup. This should use a few different items from this weeks share, so enjoy!

Celeriac soup with thyme

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes
Yield: 2 large servings

Ingredients:

1 medium celeriac
2 carrots
2 medium potatoes
1 medium shallot (or onion if not)
2 cloves large garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
0.75 to 1L veg stock
5 sprigs thyme
10 fresh sage leaves (I’ll probably use dried sage to save a trip to the shops)
1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 220° C (might need turning down!)

Cut off skin and roots of celeriac. Dice celeriac, carrots, and potatoes into 1cm cubes. Place on a baking sheet or in roasting pan. Roughly mince shallot and garlic. Add to dice vegetables. Drizzle with 2 tbsn olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Toss until all the vegetables are well coated. Roast in the oven 35 to 40 minutes or until the vegetables are beginning to caramelize and brown.

While vegetables are roasting, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Fry sage, 3 to 4 leaves at a time until crisp. Remove from heat and set aside.

When vegetables are done roasting, transfer them into a blender. Add thyme leaves from 5 sprigs into blender with most of vegetable stock. Puree until smooth. Add more vegetable stock to achieve the consistency you desire.

Transfer soup to a medium pot. Bring to boil over medium heat. Serve with crispy sage, extra thyme and a drizzle of heavy cream.

If you are using an immersion blender consider peeling the potatoes before roasting to achieve a smooth consistency in the soup.

The soup consistency is on the thicker side. After pureeing, add more stock if desired to get a thinner soup.

Taken from: https://naturallyella.com/celeriac-soup/