FOOD:Midweek suppers should be healthy, and relatively quick to pull together. So no deep-frying
I WAS WATCHING an episode of Nigella Expressthe other night. As always, the divinely voluptuous Ms Lawson spent the majority of the programme pouting, uttering exotic words and flashing us her sexy fangs.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love Nigella Inc. But this particular episode was a snapshot of domestic bliss, rather than an illustration of how she, too, is a frazzled worker bee, just like the rest of us. They filmed her having an incredibly "busy" and stressful day, to emphasise how perfect her chosen recipes were for quickie suppers. But here's the catch: her life looks anything but busy and stressful. For a start, the work part of her day seemed to consist of one leisurely meeting with her publishers, during which she browsed through pictures from her new book. Then she hopped into a stress-free taxi ride to the supermarket. I know you could argue that it was just a glimpse of her day, rather than a real-time reflection of her life, but at the same time, it was all so dreamy. I wanted blood and guts, screaming children, fights with the taxi driver, burst bags of shopping and rejected pin numbers. To cap it all, I was hoping for a glimpse of a do-gooder, telling her off in the street for using plastic bags.
But none of this happened. After her shopping trip, she arrived home and all her goods magically unpacked themselves into the fridge. Her friend arrived for dinner looking dutiful. Her kids were nowhere to be seen, and her kitchen looked stunningly tidy.
The she started her squid recipe. She happened to have a bag of ready-prepped, sliced squid, which then got doused with semolina, special seasoning spices from the US, and cornflour. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't have any of those ingredients kicking about in my cupboards, except maybe the cornflour, which has probably been there since the year her papa was chancellor.
Then she casually poured about five centimetres of vegetable oil into a saucepan and dumped the squid in, to shallow fry. It did look delicious, but as I watched the show, I started to fret. That was a lot of oil to get rid of. I hoped she didn't dump it down the drains. Did she cool it down and then dump it in her bin? Did a big truck come around to her gaff once a week, to take away all her used oil, like they do in our restaurants? I had so many questions and kept mumbling that the squid recipe required too much work and I would never cook it after a stressful day. Eventually, the remote was confiscated and I was told to go to my room.
I guess what I'm trying to say is this: deep-fried food is a pain in the butt and midweek suppers should be relatively good for you, as well as easy-peasy.
Onion broth with cheese and garlic toast (serves four)
For a fabulous French onion soup, you need fabulous stock of the chicken and/or beef variety. Most commercial stock cubes are full of rubbish, so either buy a decent cube or powder (such as the Marigold powdered stock which you can get in health food stores) or forget about it and just get a bit more enthusiastic with the salt and pepper, herbs and garlic.
Good knob butter
4 very large white onions, peeled and finely sliced
Good teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper
Splash of brandy (optional)
Few sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf (if you have one)
1 litre of stock/water
Few splashes of soy sauce
4 slices sourdough bread
4 cloves garlic, peeled
Drizzle of olive oil
150g grated cheese (preferably Gruyère)
Flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to garnish
Melt the butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan and gently sweat the onions until they are really soft. You aren't looking for colour, just really soft onions. When they are limp-looking, turn up the heat and add in the sugar and season well. When they are just starting to colour, add the brandy and keep cooking on a high heat so that the alcohol cooks off. Add the herbs and slowly add the stock, while stirring constantly, then add a splash of soy sauce. Bring up to the boil, then reduce the heat, and simmer very slowly for about 10 minutes.
Toast or grill the bread, then rub the garlic cloves onto each slice of bread. It's almost as if you are using the bread as a grater for the garlic. If you do it well, you should be left with pathetic little stumps of garlic, which you can chuck into the soup. Drizzle the garlic toasts with a small bit of olive oil, then top with the grated cheese and grill until the cheese is bubbling and melted. Set aside and taste the soup. If it tastes bland and watery, keep cooking and add more soy sauce or sugar. Spoon into bowls, gently place the cheesy toast on top and scatter with parsley and/or a bit more thyme.
Poached haddock and egg with parsnip puree
Sounds like a lot of work, but feel free to ditch the haddock, just make the parsnip puree and serve it with a poached egg and a handful of greens for a comfort dinner.
1kg parsnips
Salt and pepper
Few sprigs of thyme
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
Few knobs of butter
2 tablespoons of crème fraiche/ Greek yoghurt
4 smoked haddock fillets (each about 150g each)
Splash of milk
4 eggs, poached
Watercress or baby spinach, to garnish
Peel and roughly chop the parsnips. Place them in a large saucepan of cold water, add a good pinch of salt and the thyme, then bring to the boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the parsnip chunks are soft. Drain, and ditch the thyme. Whizz the parsnips, mustard, butter and the crème fraiche in a food processor until smooth, but pulse it often, rather than turn it into baby food. Put it back in a small saucepan, add another knob of butter, check the seasoning and re-heat when you're about to serve. In a frying pan, bring some water and a splash of milk to the boil. Add the haddock and simmer gently for about five to 10 minutes. Drain and serve on the puree, with a poached egg on top. Garnish with watercress or baby spinach.