Onion Jam

 

Pictured: Bacon, onion jam, gouda, romaine lettuce on multi-grain ciabatta (from Theobroma)

As with all super simple recipes, time is the secret ingredient to making an onion jam sublime. And again, as with all basics, the sky’s the limit as far as tweaking, twisting or evolving the recipe is concerned to suit your specific purpose. Simply used, for a salty, roast meat sandwich, you can elevate it by adding strong, fragrant herbs like rosemary or thyme. Add more vinegar, slap some mustard on and it brings authenticity to hot-dogs. Switch sugar for bitter-orange marmalade and its something else entirely. Or you can use it as a base for soup. Either ways, contrast its soft texture with something with bite and its sweetness with something salty or smoky. 

Ingredients:

6 large onions finely chopped

1 tablespoon of good quality balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of butter

2 – 3 teaspoons of cane sugar (less is more)

A small pinch of salt

Method: Heat olive oil in a wide saucepan (preferably with a lid), stir in the chopped onions until they are evenly coated in the olive oil and on a low heat, cover for about 5 – 8 minutes until the onions start to sweat. Now uncover slightly and stirring every 6 – 8 minutes to avoid burning, let the onions begin to caramelize. This should take about 20 – 40 minutes. When the onions begin to colour deeply and are soft and yielding when tasted, stir in your salt, sugar and balsamic vinegar. Keep stirring until you get a deep, shiny brown mass.  

French Onion Soup

Ingredients

6 tablespoons onion jam

2 bay leaves

2 tsp of butter or 1 tablespoon olive oil

¾ cup of white wine

3 cups of strong stock

2 cups water

2 tsp flour

2 tsp cognac (optional)

Croutons:

Thick slices of bread brushed with olive oil and toasted

Grated cheese

Parsley (optional)

Method:

Sautee the onion jam in the olive oil and warm through. Stir in the flour and when evenly mixed, pour in the wine and stock. Drop your bay leaves in. Leave to simmer gently for upto 40 minutes.  Check for salt.  When the soup has reduced to a nice, hearty consistency, turn off heat and put in a ramekin or oven proof bowl. (You can make this more ‘wintry’ by adding some cognac at this stage.) Break up the toasted bread, cover generously with grated cheese and put in a pre-heated oven or under a hot grill until the cheese melts. Serve immediately.

Spaghetti with Lemon – Two Ways - by Gynelle Alves

The beauty about both these recipes is that they are on table in minutes. Made with the most basic of ingredients, a good quality olive oil goes a long way in heartening the flavors. If you want a bit more of something to effortlessly gild your reputation as unruffled, domestic goddess, slivers of fire-roasted peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, toasted pine-nuts, pan-seared mushroom, zucchini, shrimp all work well.

This Way:

Ingredients:

400 gms dried spaghetti

1/5^th cup extra virgin olive oil (plus a splash more)

Juice of 2 very juicy large lemons

Finely grated lemon zest of that lemon

4 fat garlic cloves, finely slivered

2 little red chilies finely slivered (optional)

Bit of freshly chopped parsley (optional)

salt and freshly milled black pepper

Parmesan shavings

Method:

Cook pasta in a saucepan of salted boiling water as per instructions. Drain very well. In the now emptied saucepan, add olive oil, garlic, chili, lemon zest. Stir around on low heat for half a minute or so. Immediately add the drained pasta and toss on medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper and lemon juice and toss some more.

Serve warm with shavings of parmesan.

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That Way:

Ingredients:

400 gms dried spaghetti

Juice of 2-3 large lemons + finely grated zest

¼ cup real butter

1 cup double cream

1 cup grated parmesan (plus a little more)

Generous pinch of good quality saffron strands soaked in 2 tbsp hot water

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

Method:

Cook pasta in a saucepan of salted boiling water as per instructions. While the pasta is cooking, in another smaller pan, pour the lemon juice. Add the butter, cream, salt and pepper to taste. Let this just come to a bubble then lower the heat, add saffron and let it simmer for 3-5 minutes till the sauce reduces a bit. Drain the pasta well and return to the pan. Add parmesan and lemon rind then add the lemon sauce and toss well. Serve warm with a bit more parmesan on top.

Lemon Sangria - by Gynelle Alves

Who doesn’t love going to a party and seeing a big bowl of sangria, surrounded by laughing (a bit too loudly now) friends. But, don’t get hung-up on red wine ones alone. This is a basic lemon sangria recipe. Add peaches, pears, strawberries, tangerines, pomegranate seeds, muddled mint… anything you want and make it your very own.

Ingredients:

1750 ml bottle of sparkling white wine

1/3 cup limoncello liquer

½ cup lemon juice

½ cup sugar if you like it sweeter.

Slices of lemons

Fizzy lemonade as per desired strength

Method:

Except for the fizzy lemonade, mix everything together well (plus your fun additions) and let chill nicely (at least 20 minutes) till serving time which is when you pour in your fizzy lemonade.

Lemon Butter

Stolen from Genesia (Yes, she did steal this from me - :-P Genesia), this recipe for a compound lemon butter is super easy to make and is a lively, tangy-fresh alternative to regular butter when added to soups, mashed potatoes, hot corn-niblets, in a salami sandwich or even to sauté all sorts of things in. You can add freshly chopped herbs like parsley, dill and chives. The olive oil keeps it at a very spread-able consistency and doesn’t let the butter burn when used to cook with.

Ingredients:

400 gms good quality salted butter (at table temperature)

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup lemon juice (more/less according to your lemony preferences)

Pinch of salt and a really big fat pinch of coarsely ground black pepper

Method:

Take all the ingredients and vigorously whisk them together well any way you can… balloon-whisk, hand-held immersion blender, with a fork… till everything is well amalgamated. Taste for salt, lemon and pepper.

Spoon the mixture into containers with air-tight lids and use or refrigerate as you would butter.

Lemon Curd - by Gynelle Alves

Traditionally eaten in a tart, or on hot scones lemon curd is just as marvelous on toast, cream cracker and khari biscuits, in a citrusy trifle in place of custard, whipped with a little cream to fill a pavlova, on crepes, waffles, doughnuts, beaten into a little pot of yoghurt, in spoons, on fingers... Lemon curd is a delight - cheap and eager to please and when put in a jar with a home-made label of love, is a great ‘I thought of you on the weekend’ present to give someone on a bleary Monday morning.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 ½ cup fine granulated sugar

6 large eggs

Juice and finely grated rind of 4-6 lemons

Method:

Melt butter in a double-saucepan over low heat.. (If you don’t have one, a thick bottomed saucepan on an iron girdle works fine) Gradually add sugar and stir until well blended. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs then very slowly pour them into the butter and sugar. With a whisk, gently beat till light, pale and creamy looking, keeping the heat at a steady low. Add your lemon zest now and then very slowly, the lemon juice, whisking all the time. Up the heat a little to a low-medium and whisk while letting it gently cook till thick, coating the back of a spoon or leaving a trail. About twenty minutes. Pour into sterilized air-tight glass jars and cool. Lasts refrigerated for 10 days (If well hidden)

Cheater’s tip: I seriously heart lemon curd with its velvety texture, it’s buttery-sweet-lemony goodness - but sometimes, it just won’t creamy up quick enough for a certain skinny five year old standing there with her empty bowl and spoon and a growing look of dessert desperation in her eyes. That’s when I cheat. Adding about 2-3 tablespoons of flour (corn or super-refined) and then proceeding with a saintly expression. It barely alters the taste though the texture does lose something. If it goes lumpy, don’t despair, a vigorous whisking or quick blend sorts it all out.

Lovely Lemons - by Gynelle Alves

 

When I think of lemons and life giving you lemons as I sometimes do, I think of a certain grey miserable rainy day outside Lower Parel station when the weight of the world rested unevenly on my shoulders making my neck hurt. The day was grey, the mood was grey, the milling, oppressive crowd was grey… And then, cutting through the heavy drone of the faceless masses came a tinkling, that unmistakable scraping of metal on corrugated glass and I looked up and there, in the murky, morning on the nimboo-pani wala’s cart, were a pile of tenacious balls of brilliant yellow, like sunshine, looking my way like secret agent smiley faces. Did someone say ‘make lemonade’?

Lemons may not be glamorous fruit, their season yearned and waited for, special rituals and recipes collected in anticipation of their harvest. Nope, they are always there, just hanging about – tied up with a couple of chilies to thwart the evil eye, occasionally used instead of change for a fiver with the ginger and chilies. But these little yellow buggers can brighten up just about any dang thing.

Over the years they’ve changed in size, shape and texture. The tart, thin-skinned green limes of old have given way to larger, yellow fruit that are not quite as big and subtle as the lemons you can buy abroad but have a pleasing zest and reliably juicy. Always around, homely and lovely-lemony as they are, these recipes can also be all dollied up for company quite easily.

Rocket Basil Salad

 

Ingredients:

2 cups basil leaves

3 cups rocket leaves
 

1 cup baby spinach leaves
 

½ cup good quality olives
 

Parmesan shavings
 

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
 

2 tablespoons e.v. olive oil
 

A pinch of salt

Method:  

Combine all the ingredients making sure leaves are covered with vinegar and oil. Chill for 5 minutes in the fridge before serving. This salad is a standard basic that works beautifully on its own and takes suggestion kindly – throw in tomatoes, replace parmesan with fresh mozzarella or dot with curls of crisp bacon and chunks of avocado or stir in tinned tuna, parsley and lemon juice or prawns sautéed in nothing more complicated than butter, chili and garlic. It works, its delicious and on its own contains enough flavour to not need a complicated dressing.

Chicken or Veggies in Orange Saffron Sauce

Ingredients for the sauce:

1 pinch of good quality saffron strands
½ cup of orange juice (not the sweetened kind)
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tablespoons double cream or 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons e.v. olive oil
Pinch of salt

Method:

Let the saffron stand in hot water for upto 10 minutes. Now combine the saffron liquid, juice, zest, salt, oil and cream or mayo. Whisk. Check for seasoning and leave to ‘settle’ in the fridge for a couple
of hours (or the previous day!)

Chicken or Veggies:Score the boneless chicken breasts so that they’re ‘sliced’ but not all the way through. Rub with olive oil, salt, ½ a clove of garlic per breast, thyme and a little lemon juice. Leave for about 20 mins, then sear on a hot pan, lower heat and cook till done, spooning a little of the sauce over.  For veggies, asparagus or zucchini work well. Blanch in boiling water for 5 mins, then sear on a hot pan with garlic and fresh herbs.

Dress either or both with sauce and serve. 

(*Note: check out the comments page on the harissa sauce entry for 'eclat's interesting experimentation with this recipe)

Almond Gazpacho

Ever since I saw Padma Lakshmi do the sexy-foodie ‘ummmm’ cliché after eating almond gazpacho on her show, I’ve wanted to make it. For the record, I don’t trust skinny female foodies, especially not supermodel ones, but even her lack of originality and expression (compounded no doubt by a lifestyle of inadequate nutrition) did not manage to affect
how deliciously good this soup looks. And it’s all whizzed together raw, can be made the previous day and served out of the fridge when you need it – a truly super soup.

Ingredients:
½ cup whole blanched and peeled almonds
1 cup stale white bread, no crust
2 or 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
2 cups cold water
2 big garlic cloves
Salt to taste

Garnish with:
•       A few slivers of toasted walnuts
•       Big grapes

• Parsley or chives

Method:Soak the bread for 5 minutes. Now, grind the almonds, salt and garlic
until it’s pasty and smooth. Squeeze the bread and add to the
processing. Put the entire mass into a larger bowl and with the hand
blender on, add the olive oil in a thin stream so that it all
emulsifies nicely. Add vinegar or wine next and then water. Check for
salt. Serve in individual bowls or glasses and garnish with slivered
walnuts or almonds toasted and a couple of grapes. A dash of green
Tabasco or gin will also not go amiss.