Warm Summer Salad

Today was supposed to be the Grand Opening of this site. I’ve planned it for months. I wanted to make sweets and cakes and goodies for the first official post. My workshop is lined with garlands and pennants. A podium is set for a festive shooting. A short speech is prepared, and Facebook and Twitter accounts are opened which, by the way, I once alleged never to do. And then, nature struck!

My right hand is under siege. Three days ago a persistent eczema invaded the index and middle finger. The next day I cut the thumb with a kitchen knife. Yesterday I grabbed a wire fence while halting a bicycle ride and, sure enough, my hand slipped and was left with a wound. As if it was not enough, I have a carpal tunnel syndrome on my wrist caused by the incessant sandpapering of wooden boards! With such predicament, there is no question of baking or rolling sweets. I barely can type with the pinky that is still unaffected (knock-knock-knock). Feast aside, the only thing I am able to offer today is a warm summer salad, without a speech. Let there be a festival later!

WARM SALAD

New potatoes (washed, cut in wedges)
Celery (cut in sticks as long as the potatoes)
Sugar peas
Avocado
Fried sage
Olive oil
Lemon juice
A pinch of hing
Black pepper
Salt

Blanch the sugar peas in boiling water for a couple of minutes. Drain.
Boil the potatoes until almost cooked, but still firm and slightly hard.
Place a good sprinkle of oil in a wok, heat with a moderate temperature, briefly temper hing and black pepper.
Add the celery stalks, sauté for a while (5-7 minutes).
Add the potatoes; keep sautéing until the veggies have gotten a beautiful golden colour.
Mix with the sugar peas and avocado.
Add lemon juice and salt.
Garnish with fried sage leaves.

HOW TO FRY SAGE LEAVES

Make a batter with flour (any flour is good. I used wholegrain spelt, but refined flour would make more refined coating), a pinch of hing, black pepper, cayenne, salt, baking powder and water. It should have a consistency of thick pancake batter. Heat up enough oil to cover the bottom of a pan. Dip one leaf at a time in batter, coat it on both sides and slip in hot oil. Repeat until the bottom of your pan can’t handle more leaves. Turn them around once and take them out with a slotted spoon when they are golden and crisp on both sides. Make as many patches as you like. The sage leaves are tasty and garnish soups and salads with a wonderful flavour and structure.

Asparagus Soup With Coconut

When I said in the introduction I am a spontaneous cook, I meant it. However, when assembling this soup, I did write down the ingredients on a notebook. A few days later I was packing for a trip and figured it is a good idea to take a notebook with. I have several notebooks around the house and grabbed the first one I saw. There was plenty of, what seemed, chicken scratch. I ripped off half of the pages. How liberating was that! A clean start.

Needless to say, upon returning from the trip, I wanted to write a post about the delicious asparagus soup I had duly noted down. I paddled through all the notebooks I could find. Finally it occurred I had thrown away the pages where the recipe was. Soon I realized it wasn’t the only one. Oh well...

Thank God the soup is uncomplicated. The pictures show the main ingredients. The subtle taste of asparagus indicates I have probably seasoned it with hing and black pepper. Water cress and thyme are used as a garnish.

HOW TO CRACK A COCONUT OPEN

Coconuts have three eyes. I’ve heard they never fall on people because they can see :-). Now that we have humanized coconuts, let’s operate them. That is, if you still can...

Before knocking a coconut open, you have to drain it through one of the eyes. One of them is softer than the rest. Pierce it with a sharp object and let the water run out. It makes a fresh drink. It can be used in cooking, too.

Take a blunt and solid item (dull side of a heavy kitchen knife is good) and firmly rap around the coconut right in the middle. Hit especially the ridges. It is the determination of your tapping that will crack the coconut, not force. If done correctly, the coconut will split in two equal parts and is easy to clean. If you have troubles with this method, place a coconut in a bag and drop it down from the window! Second floor or higher works perfectly.

Scoop out the white flesh. Scrape out the thin brown skin attached to it. Grate the coconut or put it in a blender.

MAKE YOUR OWN CONONUT MILK

Place the pieces of coconut and hot water in a blender and mix until it has a fine, cream-like consistency. Sieve out any junks of coconut if they bother you.

ASPARAGUS SOUP

Asparagus

Celery

Potatoes

1 coconut (made into milk)

Whey (by-product of cheese-making), vegetable stock or water

Ghee or oil for tempering

Hing

Black pepper (coarse)

Salt to taste

Herbs for garnish

Heat up the ghee

Sauté a sprinkle of hing and black pepper for a few seconds

Add the celery, sauté for a while before adding potatoes

Add the potatoes, sauté for a while before adding asparagus

Add the asparagus, sauté for a while before adding whey

Add only as much liquid as it takes to cover the vegetables

Simmer until the veggies are soft

Run through a blender

Add the coconut milk and more whey to reach the consistency of your liking

Add salt to your taste

Garnish with fresh herbs