Comfort food: Tomato soup

I always remember Heinz baked beans on toast and Heinz cream of tomato soup at lunchtimes when I was growing up so now they are a kind of comfort food for me. I love to overcook the beans so they become a little mushy and then pour the beans with their steaming orangey tomato sauce over a couple of slices of buttered toast and then... indulge! Or a tin of tomato soup heated until bubbly and then enjoyed with fresh hunks of bakery bread to dip in. Hardly haute cuisine but it really is comfort food!

I can't always find my Heinz tomato soup here in Saudi and besides I do prefer to make things from scratch these days and avoid all the hydrogenated fats and monosodium glutamate and other nasties that can be lurking in the food in the name of preservation or flavour enhancing.

I have an ill child at the moment who is not eating much but is craving mummy's tomato soup so today was the perfect day for a little soup making and bread baking. :)

Soups are so easy to make and are often overlooked despite all the nutritional benefit that can be found in them. Tomato soup of course would be a wonderful thing to make in Algeria right now with the fields overflowing with ruby red tomatoes bursting with flavour and the price is low.

The ingredients for a small batch of soup to serve 2 people:

• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 bayleaf
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil (if you have fresh, it would be better chopped finely and added at the end of cooking)
• 6 medium tomatoes
• splash of balsamic vinegar
• splash of Worcestershire sauce
• salt as required
• generous pinch of sugar
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste
• water - I used very little since tomatoes contain a high percentage of water... I think 500ml is enough but check the consistency and add to your preference

1. Chop the onion and garlic and saute in a tablespoon of olive oil along with the bayleaf and dry basil.

2. Meanwhile place the tomatoes into a pan of almost boiling water and leave for a couple of minutes. Drain the water and pluge the tomatoes into cold water. Remove the skins, deseed the tomatoes and then chop roughly.

3. When the onions have started to soften and become translucent add the tomatoes and salt. Leave on a low to medium heat, stirring every so often until the liquid from the tomatoes has almost dried up and then add the balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, sugar and a little water to make the mixture look soupy. Leave to simmer so all the flavours blend together.

4. Allow to cool a little before blitzing in the blender or liquidiser and return to a gentle heat. Taste to see if it needs a little more sugar to remove acidity or salt to season.

5. Just before serving pour in a little cream and swirl around. You can also sprinkle over a little freshly shaved Permesan just before serving and some chopped, fresh basil.

5 minute meals

Pasta: so quick, easy and versatile.

My three girls all wanted different 'sauces' with their pasta today but it was very quick and easy. Here are three simple things to do with pasta.

• Boil pasta in salted water.






• Meanwhile to make a tomato sauce, quickly fry 1 grated clove of garlic in a small pan, add half a can of chopped tomatoes, a sprinkle of sea salt, and some dried herbs. I used a little crushed bayleaf, Pasta seasoning and dried crushed basil.






• Chop up 50g mortadella into tiny cubes.






• Grate 50g cheddar cheese.

Version #1 was pasta mixed into the tomato sauce with some cubes of mortadella added and then cheese sprinkled over the top.

Version #2 was pasta mixed into the tomato sauce with a little grated cheese sprinkled over.

Version #3 was pasta with a cheese triangle melted and a splash of water to help the cheese melt, the remaining cubes of mortadella stirred through and a generous helping of grated cheese over the top.

Later when my son woke up hungry, version #4 was pasta with a small knob of margarine, cubed mortadella - reheated in the microwave and then grated cheese sprinkled over - that was a 2 minute meal!

What could be simpler?!

M'hadjeb

Yesterday morning I sat with my sister-in-law for practical lessons in how to make M'hadjeb. It's something I have wanted to learn to make for a long time now so it's about time! M'hadjeb is similar in principle to the Pakistani/Indian Paratha in that it is a flat chapatti type of bread with a filling; in the case of M'hadjeb though, the dough is made from semolina rather than regular flour.



It is a very economical recipe at this time of year since semolina is a staple of North Africa and onions, tomatoes and peppers are in season and are cheap. Tomatoes are around 10Dinars/kilo (50halala/kg; 7p/kg)

The filling is made from equal quantities of chopped onions and peeled, seeded, chopped tomatoes. Sauté the onions until soft, add salt and the tomatoes, some chopped green pepper if desired and you can also add chili powder or caraway seed if you like. Cook until reduced and rich in flavour.

For the dough, pour semolina of medium coarseness into a large bowl - for my trial run I just used about 1 kilo of semolina and a teaspoon of salt. Pour on some tepid water and mix briskly with the hands and add enough water to obtain a dough that comes together and is kneadable.

Turn the dough out onto the table and start kneading and keep sprinkling with drops of water and pummeling, stretching and kneading. You probably need to sprinkle with water every minute. Knead really well for at least half an hour. We kneaded for about 20 minutes, covered and refrigerated and then continued in the morning for another 15 minutes.

You should finally have a soft, elastic dough that is quite sticky. You'll find that it is easy to knead but if you leave it for a moment, it sticks to the work surface. To test, break off a small piece and stretch into a rectangle, it should stretch easily and become quite sheer.

Form the dough into even sized balls, about the size of a tennis ball.

Oil the table and your hands and then take one piece of dough and with the hands smooth out and flatten the dough into a large square/rectangle. Holes don't matter too much but try to make it as even as possible and avoid very thick areas. Stretch any thick edges.

Bring the top edge down and fold to the middle of the square and then add a tablespoon of the filling and spread out to cover what will be the middle section.

Next, fold up the bottom edge, then the left side over as far as the final edge of the filling and then the right side. Pat down gently and make sure none of the filling is oozing out. Sprinkle with oil.

Carefully lift up the M'hadjeb and place on the hot plate which should be set over a medium to high heat.

Turn over with a palette knife and cook evenly on both sides.

They can also be made with no filling, and then sprinkled with sugar and eaten with coffee; these are Ma'aarek.

I'm hoping that these instructions will be an adequate reminder for me when I get back home in order to replicate what I made yesterday!

Panini (with focaccia bread)

Something else to do with that wonderful focaccia bread: paninis.

Make the dough and then divide in half and roll out to fit two baking trays. Cover and leave to rise for about 1/2 hour and bake at 350 F until cooked.

Cut each flat loaf into about 6 squares and split each piece in half. Fill with your preferred filling. In those pictured below I spread Philadelphia on one half and mayonnaise on the other half, added a scattering of drained, tinned tuna, chopped olives, chopped tomatoes and a little grated Gouda cheese.

Sandwich together and place in the heated sandwich maker with griddle irons for a couple of minutes until the filling is warmed and the bread is slightly toasted, as in the photo. Yummmm!

Aubergines and peppers...

Now what to do with all the aubergines (eggplant) and peppers (capsicum) that hubby found on special offer?!


I decided to make them into salad. First I put the washed peppers and aubergines on the barbeque and turned them occasionally until the aubergines were soft and the peppers blackened in parts and blistered. I also put a bulb of garlic on the bbq to see how it would turn out.

Another aubergine I sliced; also peeled a sliced a butternut squash, tossed in oil and then cooked on the griddle until soft.




I chopped up the sliced aubergine and sliced butternut , placed on a plate, sprinkled over some crumbled feta, homemade French dressing and chopped fresh parsley.

Once the barbequed aubergines were cooled I peeled them and mashed them roughly, added the peeled and chopped peppers, a couple of cloves of garlic finely grated, a splash of balsamic vinegar, a tablespoon of olive oil, salt, the juice of half a lemon and then gave it a good stir...

Delicious served on toasted baguette or ciabatta... I was too hungry to toast the bread though!

Self-saucing Chocolate Pudding (with photos)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Thought I'd share this wonderfully delicious and simple recipe for self-saucing chocolate pudding. It is always a hit with the children and is greedily devoured within minutes.

For the sponge:

1/4 cup margarine
1/2 sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup self raising flour or 1 cup plain/all purpose flour + 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk

For the sauce:

1/2 cup light brown sugar (I use Hawaiian Turbinado)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
300ml (1 cup + 1/4 cup) hot water

1. Cream together the margarine and sugar and then beat in the egg and vanilla.
2. Add the flour and cocoa and mix as well as possible before adding the milk and mixing until smooth.
3. Spoon the sponge batter into a greased ovenproof dish or pyrex bowl.
4. Mix all the sauce ingredients in a jug and then carefully pour this over the sponge batter. It will look like something went horribly wrong but what will happen is that the cake will rise above the sauce and the sauce will thicken at the bottom of the dish under the cake.

1. Bake at 350 deg F/180 deg C/Gas mark 4 for about 40 mins. The cake will be spongy and will bounce back if you touch it and you will be able to see some of the sauce bubbling up the sides of the dish.
2. Leave for 10 mins or so cool a little and then serve. Add a scoop of ice cream if you like and enjoy!
   
   
   

Two things for today...

Haven't really cooked anything special for the past week or so. We have eaten out, hubby has cooked, we have eaten leftovers and the kids are craving some yummy pudding so I have decided it's high time I make something! So today I have decided on making a filled bread plait.

For the bread you need:

330ml (1 1/3 cups + 2 extra teaspoons) warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
480g (3 cups) strong plain flour
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

Place all ingredients into breadmaker in the order listed and use pizza or dough setting (it will only knead and prove the dough, it won't bake it).

When the cycle is finished, remove dough from bread pan, divide into two equal portions and place on floured baking trays. Roll out to fit the trays, place filling in the middle third of the dough, using a knife or pizza cutter cut slits as far as the filling as shown below.

(The filling I used in the pic below was chopped leftover tandoori chicken, Kiri cheese softened with a little yogurt and a sprinkle of mint added and grated Cheddar. Today I will probably use chopped mortadella, olives if I have some, chopped tomato and grated Cheddar or Gouda)

'Plait' the bread by drawing a piece of dough from the left, then the right, then left until you have finished, tuck the last couple of pieces in tidily.

Sprinkle with black seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds... whatever takes your fancy.

Leave to rise for about an hour and then bake at 350F until golden brown and hollow sounding.

Should come out looking something like this:

Note: The above method is for making the bread with instant yeast. Check the type of yeast that you have and check the instructions. If you have the yeast that comes in tiny balls, you will probably need to mix it with a little lukewarm water and some sugar to activate the yeast before adding it to your flour.

The pudding I am hoping to create is Nigella Lawson's Marshmallowy Chocolate Mousse that I found on Soulafa's Absolutely Delicious blog.

The ingredients are:

1+1/2 cups mini marshmallows

4 tablespoons( 1/2 stick) soft butter

9 oz best quality semisweet chocolate chopped into small pieces

1/4 cup hot water from a recently boiled kettle

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

It looks quite quick and easy to make... verdict will be from the kids later!

Update

Verdict: Didn't turn out very moussey but maybe that's because I'm not sure we have 'heavy double cream' here so I just used whipping cream which was perhaps too light.

Sadly the children found it much too rich and I'm told they prefer 'normal' chocolate pudding: the self-saucing type of chocolate cake pudding. Oh well! I tried!

Just waffling...

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I have had my toasted sandwich maker for a while now; it has 3 sets of plates for making toasted sandwiches (croques monsieur), grilling meat and making waffles. It is only recently though that I decided to try out the waffle irons and actually make waffles that I used to enjoy in the UK so much! It was well worth it and the children love to have them for breakfast and in their school lunchboxes.

You need:

1.75 cups plain (all-purpose) flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1.5 cups milk

3 eggs seperated

7 tablespoons oil (105ml)

(1 cup = 250ml)

Sift the dry ingreds into a bowl, add the egg yolks, oil and milk to the dry ingreds and beat well to ensure there are no lumps. Give it a quick beat with electric beaters if it looks too lumpy.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and then carefully fold into the batter.

Lightly grease and heat up the waffle iron and then using a soup ladle, pour about 1 ladleful into the waffle area. Cook for 4 or 5 mins until golden.

Delicious with golden syrup (my personal favourite), Nutella, jam and loads more! Keep them in a tub in the fridge and if you like them a bit crispy just pop them in the toaster for a couple of minutes before eating.

Chocolate cream eclairs

A delicious recipe for chocolate coated, cream filled eclairs.

Ingredients for the choux pastry:

2 cups water
3/4 cup butter
2 1/4 cups strong all-purpose flour, sifted
6 eggs

1. Place water and butter into a large saucepan and bring to the boil.

2. Remove the pan from the heat and throw in the flour in one go and beat well until dough comes away from the edges of the pan.

3. Allow to cool a little and then using and electric whisk beat in the eggs two at a time until you have a smooth and shiny mixture as in the photo below.

4. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a plain, wide tip. My bag has a plastic end on which to screw on metal tips so I just left it with no tip and piped like that.

5. Grease a cookie sheet and then sprinkle on a little water.

6. Pipe eclairs 2 inches long onto the cookie sheet as below.

7. Bake in an oven preheated to 375F for about 25 mins: until they are golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before filling and icing.

8. For the filling you make a creme patissiere or simply whisk 300ml whipping cream with a little sugar. Spoon the whipped cream into the piping bag. Make a small slit in the side of each eclair and pipe in a little of the cream.

9. Now for the frosting:

4 tablespoons butter/margarine

2 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup icing/confectioners sugar

Melt the milk and butter together and then stir in the sifted sugar and cocoa and mix well. Allow to cool and then carefully spoon onto the top of each eclair. Refrigerate to allow the frosting to set and then let the kids loose!

If you want to make creme patissiere the recipe is as follows:

2 eggs

4 tablespoons caster sugar

2 tablespoons corn flour

1 1/4 cups milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence

Beat the eggs and sugar until creamy, add the cornflour. Heat the milk until not quite boiling then pour over the egg mixture beating constantly. Transfer to saucepan and cook on gentle heat, stirring constantly until thick. Stir in vanilla and remove from heat. When cooled pipe into eclairs as above.

Doughnuts!

A big thanks to fellow blogger Rainbow in the Grey Sky for her perfect recipe for doughnuts!


I followed her recipe exactly and then after they were cooked and rolled in sugar, I used a cake icing piper and pushed a hole into the side of each doughnut and squirted in some jam or some Nutella chocolate spread. Absolutely delicious and so light and airy! An absolute hit with the family especially the husband who seemed to be reeling in shock at my cooking success all evening! Nothing I have cooked has ever had that effect, lol!

Such an easy thing to make, especially if you have a breadmaker to do the kneading and rising stages for you. If you love doughnuts, I urge you to try the recipe!