New years resolution

I know it is very corny, but my one major new years resolution this year is to cook at least one new recipe every month. I know it’s not much of a goal, but I thought it would be best to start with something I could actually live up to and actually have the time to write the blog that should ideally go with it. Inspired by my new goal and the winter weather, I started this new soup recipe, which can easily be a nice, quick dinner on a busy night, but also a warm lunch on a cold day.

Fennel Soup

2 bulbs of fennel
1.5 l chicken stock
1 onion, diced
1 glove of garlic, crushed
1 medium carrot
Salt and pepper
60 gr flour
50 gr butter

Clean and dice the onion and carrot, and chop the fennel in small strips. Put the fronds of the fennel aside and save as finishing for the soup. Heat the butter and sauté the vegetables for 3 minutes. Add the flour and stir gently with a wooden spoon to make a roux. Let the roux cool slightly before adding the warm stock. Add the stock bit by bit, stirring it well to make sure it is taken up by the flour and butter mixture. After the stock has been added, let the soup simmer until the vegetables have softened. The soup is now ready to go in the blender. Make sure not to put too much in at a time and blend with the small top off, put a cloth or tea towel over it to close the opening. Flavour the soup to taste with salt and pepper. Reheat the soup before serving. The recipe this is inspired on called for 2 dl cream, but we liked it fine just like this.

If you like a bit of crunch and freshness in your soup, I can recommend this topping:

Apple Topping

1 apple
¼ red onion
2 tsp lime juice
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp grainy mustard
A small bunch of mint
Fennel fronds, left over

Finely dice the apple, unpeeled. Clean the onion and chop it finely. Mix the apple and the onion, the chopped mint and fennel fronds. Make a small dressing mixing the lime juice, olive oil, and the mustard. Coat the apple and the onion with the dressing and add the heated soup for a nice crunchy effect.

Autumn break

It's autumn break this week and timing couldn't be more perfect. Instead of this dreary week with rain and greyness, this year it seems Mother Nature is giving us a real treat. It's been sunny all weekend and the nights are cold but during the day when the sun shines the temperature is great for doing things, like taking a walk in the park. Which is exactly what we did to take in all the wonderful yellows, oranges and reds.

Furthermore, autumn break means all the time in the world to try new recipes. In spirit with the season, I decided to make pumpkin recipes. Pumpkin is not very popular here in Holland and I have little experience cooking it or eating it. Although, I do remember some dishes from my time in South Africa where it is much more common. Feta and pumpkin make a great combination, so that's where I started making my salad for lunch yesterday.

Roasted Pumpkin and Feta Salad

1/2 pumpkin, deseeded and cut into cubes of about 2cm5 handfuls of rocket or any other quite spicy lettuce
12 black olives, deseeded
1/2 packet of feta cheese
1 red onion, cut in rings
5 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
1 tsp of ground cumin
1/2 tsp of round chilli flake1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven at 220 degrees Celsius. Peel and deseed half of the pumpkin and cut it into cubes of about 2 cm. Make a dressing for the pumpkin, using three tablespoons of olive oil, the cumin, the chilli flakes and the cayenne pepper. Put the pumpkin parts in the dressing and mix well, making sure all the parts are covered. Season with some salt and pepper. Put the pumpkin part on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes. When the pumpkin is ready take it out of the oven and let it cool a bit otherwise your salad leafs will welt. In the mean while, put the clean lettuce in a bowl and add the olives, the onion and the feta. You can add the feta to taste varying the amount to whether you're a cheese lover or not. In my family we are not that cheesy when it comes to salads, so half a slice of feta will do for us. Make a quick dressing with the balsamic vinegar and the rest of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and if you like some dried Mediterranean herbs. Top the salad with the slightly cooled pumpkin and the dressing. Enjoy!

Adapted from Jamie's Fantastic Roast Chicken

This is a long time favourite of ours, my sister and I first made it when we cooked our first ever special Mother's Day menu, a tradition which we have kept. Each year on Mother's Day, we surprise our mom with dinner, the menu varies as one of the rules we created says that it has to be new. But this is recipe is one that we have been making ever since, that's how much we liked it.

Fantastic Roast Chicken

1 chicken (1 kg)
1 kg of potatoes
1 celeriac
250 gr of butter, soft
1 lemon, zest
8 slices of pancetta, thorn to bits
8 artichoke hearts
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
a bunch of fresh thyme
pepper and salt

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius. Clean the chicken en wipe dry with paper kitchen towels. Mix the butter, the lemon zest, the thyme, the pancetta, garlic, salt and pepper. Put the butter mixture between the skin and the meat. Be careful not to tear the skin. Make small cuts in the thighs and stuff with butter mixture too. If you have any mixture left, rub it on top of the chicken. Put half a lemon inside the chicken. Put the chicken in a tray and pop in the oven.
Now peal and clean the potatoes and cut in chunks of about 4 cm, do the same with the celeriac. Put the potatoes to the boil and cook for about 10 minutes. I add the celeriac after 5 minutes, because I love the way it tastes when it is soft. If you prefer the celeriac to have more of a bite, don't put it in with the potatoes.
After the chicken has been in the oven for about 20 minutes, take the chicken out and add the potatoes, the celeriac and the artichoke hearts. Put the chicken back on top and put back into the oven. Leave the chicken in the oven for 50 minutes. When ready, take the chicken out of the oven and let it rest or about 10 minutes after which you're dinner is ready to serve: enjoy!

If you have left-overs, which we rarely do -that's how much we enjoy this dish - these will make a brilliant sandwich the next day.