A Hearty Brunch

Ingredients
3-4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion
the inside yellow stalks of a celery
1 small red pepper
4 white mushrooms (or chanterelles)
1 haddock fillet (roughly the size of a large hand)
a handful of spinach leaves
a handful finely chopped chives
Lime juice

2-3 eggs
a pat of unsalted butter

Method
Slightly heat the oil (do not let it smoke!) and add the chopped onion, then the celery and red pepper. Slice the mushrooms, cut in half or more, if they are large. Add to the pan. Cut up the haddock fillets in about 1” squares and add. Cook at gentle heat. Add the spinach leaves. If they are large, chop them up. Stir for a few minutes until the spinach is wilted. Sprinkle with chopped chives. Drizzle with a bit of fresh lime juice.

If your appetite is only so-so, this is all you may want. On the other hand, if by this “brunch time” you are quite hungry, why not wrap this whole mixture into a 2-3 egg omelet.

Directions
Break the eggs into a bowl and just slightly whisk with a fork, add a small pinch of salt and pepper. Melt a bit of butter in a pan and pour the egg mixture in. After a minute or so turn it over, and immediately put the above mixture on it, turn off heat, fold the other half of the omelet over and slide the whole production on a plate.

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Broccoli – Arugula Salad

Ingredients
1 head broccoli, in florets
1 head cauliflower, in florets
1 fennel bulb, finely sliced
1 bunch Arugula, chopped
½ iceberg lettuce, finely chopped
1 small finely sliced red onion
1-2 dill pickles, chopped or sliced
a pinch of sea salt and pepper
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar

Method
Break up the broccoli and cauliflower into florets and lightly steam them for about 5-8 minutes. When the broccoli turns a vivid green colour, it is done. Remove both vegetables from the pot and place them in a salad bowl. In the meantime finely slice a medium sized fennel bulb and add it to the broccoli and cauliflower. Add the washed Arugula. If the leaves are very large, chop them coarsely. Chop the iceberg lettuce (nutritionally speaking, this type of lettuce is pretty worthless, but it does add a good bit of crunch to a salad), add the onion and dill pickled. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and add the vinaigrette made up of the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Mix well and serve.

Serving suggestions
If you are a vegan - add a handful of nuts (walnuts are particularly nice with this);
If you are vegetarian - serve with hardboiled eggs, or a chunk of cheese, regular or feta
If you are a carnivorean (!) – add cold chicken, or some left-over roast.

Whichever version you choose, you’ll be assured of a satisfying meal.

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Baked Quince Compote

Ingredients
3 quinces
3 apples
3 pears

The apples should be ripe and may be any kind: red or golden delicious, bosco, russet, northern spy - any flavourful and normally juicy apple will do. The same goes for the pears: bosc, bartlett, pakenham, etc.

Method
Peel and core the fruit, cut into chunks, put in a heatproof dish and cover. Put into the oven and bake, covered, at medium temperature for about 30-40 minutes. The fruit should have generated quite a bit of juice and be fairly soft. If not, let it bake a little longer. Turn the oven off and let the compote sit in there until it has cooled off.

It is interesting to note that no water has been used here. In other words, the fruit it cooked in its own juice thereby retaining all its best flavours. If for any reason the fruit is dry and does not generate much juice, a cup of white wine will do the trick nicely.

This compote may be served just by itself, or fill a crepe, or top a millet custard, or accompany some ice cream, home-made, naturally!

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Chickpea Soup with Cumin and Cilantro

Chickpeas, cumin and cilantro (coriander) are partners all over South America - as well as in India and the Middle East. This soup is a staple throughout South America. Satin-smooth and rich tasting, it is elegant enough to provide a start for a fine dinner.

Ingredients
1 ½ cups cooked chick peas
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1-2 teasp cumin seeds (crushed)
a few stalks and roots of coriander (cilantro)
1-2 cups stock (chicken, beef or vegetable)
juice of one half or whole lime

Method
Heat the chickpeas, onion, cumin and stock to boiling point. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Puree the mixture and season with lime juice.

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GOLDEN CHICKEN

Ingredients
4 Chicken legs
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp sea salt
¼ - ½ cup fresh lemon juice

Method
Preheat the oven to medium heat, approx. 350 degrees F. Wash the chicken* and mop dry with a paper towel. Cut off whatever visible fat you find.

In a small bowl prepare the mixture of spices: turmeric, coriander, cinnamon and salt. Using a sieve, dust the chicken pieces from both sides. Use a rack (a cake rack perhaps) that will fit over a large pan and place the chicken pieces on it. Bake for at least an hour. The meat should be very well cooked through and be golden-brown.

Using this method will ensure that you get rid of most of the unwanted fat the chicken may have. It will simply drip into the tray below. Regular, supermarket type of birds, have a lot of fat, whereas organic free-range ones tend to be fairly lean. Towards the latter part of the baking dribble some lemon juice over the chicken. Do this once or twice. It will add a lovely flavour to the meat itself and the juice that is dripping down.

When cooked to satisfaction, lift the chicken off the rack and pour the fat and all juices into a shallow dish. Put it in the fridge or freezer where the fat will congeal; it can then be lifted off, leaving just the meat juice which will form a gelatinous blob that can be warmed up again and dribbled over the meat, or stretched with a bit of white wine for a delicate sauce.

On use of spices: Turmeric will put a “golden glow” on almost any dish, but particularly on poultry. It is a spice almost devoid of any flavour of its own but has a way of improving the flavour of anything it is put on.

Serving suggestions: Chicken cooked in this manner is equally tasty cold, served with a salad, and particularly where drum sticks are used, an ideal “finger food”.

* If using free range chicken you will notice an enormous difference in the fat content. This type of bird tends to be lean and may, in fact, have hardly any fat on it at all. In this case rub the chicken with butter.

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Virtuous Hamburgers

Ingredients
1 lb minced beef
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried marjoram or 1 Tbsp fresh
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 tsp finely minced fresh garlic
2 free range eggs
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
lettuce
sweet onion
tomato
mustard

Directions
Put the meat in a bowl and add the spices, the garlic (DO NOT use garlic powder, dreadful stuff!) and the egg(s). Mix everything well together and form patties of the size you wish to have. Drop them in a pan in which the olive oil has been warming up (there should be a slight sizzle as you drop the patties in). Fry them on both sides, slowly, to make sure the meat is cooked right through. Test one piece by breaking it open. There should be nothing pink there. Lift the patties out and put on some paper towels to absorb any excess fat.

Serving Suggestions: Using a large lettuce leaf for each patty, spread it out on a plate, top it with some sliced sweet onion (Vidalia onion is particularly sweet, but purple onion will do), a slice of tomato, some mustard of your choice. If necessary, use a second leaf of lettuce to wrap the hamburger up, held in place with a tooth pick or two, so that you can eat it as finger food. Otherwise, plop it on a plate and eat it with a fork!

Variation: If you are an aficionado of lamb, there is no reason why you can’t make this dish with lamb, or veal, or turkey.

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