rescue.remedy

I’ve become a (big) fan of cooking with alcohol. At this point I'm stuck on cider (yes, cider does count as alcohol, even if it’s a girly kind of alcohol). The cider seems to give meals a fresh, crisp taste and it tends to work particularly well with carrots, celery, onions and green beans. Recently I made an assortment of pretty simple winter foods. 

The colder it gets the more I want to eat.

Roasted Tomato Soup

·         6-8 ripe whole tomatoes

·         1 can chopped tomatoes (with or without herbs)

·         1 medium-sized onion (or 2 small onions)

·         2 cloves garlic

·         Small handful fresh basil

·         1 tbsp fresh chopped oregano   

·         Pinch paprika

·         2 tbsn vegetable stock

·         1 tsp cinnamon

·         1 tsp cumin

·         1-2 bay leaves (optional)

·         Salt and pepper to taste

·         Olive oil

·         Balsamic vinegar (optional)

Cut the tomatoes into quarters and place on an oven baking tray. Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil and the chopped oregano (and some balsamic vinegar if you like a bit of a bite). Place the tomatoes in the oven grill for 30 minutes on about 180 degrees Celsius.

While the tomatoes are roasting, fry the onion, garlic and paprika in a pan for about 10 minutes. Place to the side.

Once the tomatoes have roasted, combine them with the onion mixture. Add the canned tomatoes, the cinnamon, cumin and bay leaves. Cover the mixture with water and add the vegetable stock as well as salt and pepper to taste. Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer for between 20 – 30 minutes (the longer you simmer the soup the better the flavour of all the ingredients will develop and combine…but I’m usually so hungry that I can’t help thinking “screw that shit, let’s eat”.) Since the basil tends to bruise quite easily, add the whole leaves to the soup just before you remove the soup from the stove.

Allow the soup to cool off for a bit, blend and serve.  

Cider-Mustard Carrots and Beans

·         300 – 400g carrots cut into strips

·         150-250g green beans

·         2 tsp Dijon mustard

·         ¼- ½ cup cider

·         ½ cup margarine

·         Salt to taste

·         1-2 tsp sugar

·         ¼ cup water

Melt the margarine, add the carrots and beans and fry for about 10 minutes. Add the sugar, cider and mustard, bring mixture to a boil and then simmer for a further 20 minutes. The liquid should evaporate and the sauce should become thick and sticky. If after 20 minutes the sauce has not yet thickened, remove the vegetables from the pot, place to the side and allow the sauce to boil on its own for a few minutes until thickened. Mix and serve.

I wish I could say that I bought and prepared the artichokes from scratch but alas, they came courtesy of our local deli and were drenched in the most delicious lemon, olive oil and chili dressing.

This food wasn't super exciting but, oh my, did it hit the frozen-winter spot.

~YUM~