Seeking Comfort with an Avocado, Apple and Poached Salmon Soup

If you have been following this blog for some time, it will be no surprise to you that I have a tremendous sense of melancholy and nostalgia when it comes to food and all memories associated with it.

I very much romanticize about the act of cooking and eating.



Through the process of writing this book, I have dug deep into my childhood and growing up in a family of cooks. It seems as though every important event in my life has an aroma and taste associated with it. Whether it may be the smell of wet dirt still attached to the roots of leeks in the winter or the crackling sound of olive oil poached potatoes, food is the background of many of the stories of my life.

The soundtrack of my life. Yo La Tengo and food.



I spent large part of last week writing food-related stories, both past and current. I felt the connection to my past and I recognized an enhanced romanticism when I wrote about it.

"Was it all this wonderful?" I thought to myself. So hard to distinguish sometimes. I thought about it a lot over the weekend. I'm sure you relate to this feeling as well.



I can be in my head quite a bit sometimes and by Saturday, I started to feel a bit homesick. Too much thinking and too much writing drove me to the edge of exhaustion.

I called my best friend Jill who even from Italy, manages to sense how I am doing. "I cannot read your blog sometimes" she said. "I know you too well for that".

I got it. I knew what she meant.



I had finished and submitted another book chapter to my editor by Saturday, so I took the weekend off from thinking, writing, editing, and all things work-related.

I quickly blended a soup of avocados, cucumber, and apple. Served it with olive oil-poached salmon, radishes, and watercress.

For dessert, last year's apricot tart. The simplest tart you can make.



I needed to experience cooking and food in a practical way, not always needing to associate it to an emotion or a feeling.

But is that even possible?

Not sure I am good at that, especially when I end up photographing what I have cooked. Then, food takes another dimension once again as photographing means recreating the moment, the mood in which this dish was created. Photographing means creating an emotion.

I just cannot escape it.



Avocado and Apple Soup with Poached Salmon

Serves 4

8 oz salmon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

2 ripe avocados, peeled, pit removed and diced
1 medium green apple, peeled, cored and diced
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 cup diced yellow onion
Juice of half a lemon
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup thinly sliced radishes
1/4 cup sliced green onions
Watercress

Season the salmon with salt and pepper. In a small saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until warm. Submerge the salmon and let it cook slowly for 5 to 7 minutes until the outside is no longer opaque but center is still slightly pink.

Meanwhile, puree the avocados, apple, cucumber, onion, vegetable stock, salt and pepper in a blender. Adjust seasoning. It will be thick. Add more stock if desired.

Serve the soup at room temperature with the flaked salmon, radishes, green onions and some watercress leaves.

Roasted Tomato Tart, Rainier Cherries And Scenes From A Weekend

"The baby goats were born this morning" Robert texted me last Monday. We had just been to the farm with the kids a few days prior and we could see that the baby goat mamma Daisy was due any minute.

"We will stop by this weekend. I can't wait to see them" I texted back.



We had lots of plans for the weekend. It was C's 40th birthday after all and although he wanted to keep it quiet, we invited some friends over for dinner. We spent Sunday morning cooking and getting the house ready for our guests. C. even woke up at insane hours of the night to get his smoked brisket going. This man is obsessed with barbecue.



We planned a very relaxed summer menu. Just the way I like to eat. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Very similar to the summer parties we throw back home.

Our menus are always eclectic, but that seems to be what friends like about them. The unexpected, I suppose.

On my side I had planned to make a tortilla de patatas (a must have every time my friend Deena comes over). Also a fennel, zucchini and Rainier cherry salad, a roasted tomato and watercress tart, cherry and hazelnut gratin and chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. Not bad, I thought.



"I have to run to Robert and Paula's to get eggs for the tart and the tortilla before it's too late" I told C.

Jon was too busy playing with water balloons with the neighborhood kids, so I put Miren in the car and drove to the farm. I was excited for her to see the new babies, Peanut and Peabody.



It was early afternoon. The rain that had fallen the day before combined with the high temperatures made for a very humid day. The babies were hiding inside their crate while the rest of the animals found shelter under the trees. Not even the chickens wanted to come out. I didn't blame them.

Miren was mesmerized by the babies. Even at a week old they were playful around each other. What a beautiful sight.

We picked some tomatoes and purple peppers for the party. "They smell like they have already been roasted!" I told Robert.

Have you ever smelled purple pepper? So intense and smoky. I made the best salad with them the following day.



We came back home to finish cooking. Luckily the kids got to nap and rest before friends arrived, which always helps.

I managed to take a photo of the table with my phone.

A feast, no?



Roasted Tomato and Watercress Tart

Roasted Tomatoes

3 medium tomatoes (about 1 lb 4 oz or 560 g), sliced into 1/4" rounds
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 Tbs olive oil
bunch of fresh thyme

Pre-heat oven to 300F.

Drizzle the bottom of a sheet pan with 1 Tbs of olive oil. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper on top. Lay the tomato slices on the pan. Drizzle the remaining olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme.

Bake the tomatoes for 1 1/2 hours or until soft but still hold their shape. Reserve.

Tart Crust

2/3 cup (90 g) superfine brown rice flour
1/3 cup (45 g) quinoa flour
1/4 cup (40 g) potato starch
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp thyme leaves
8 Tbs (110 g) cold unsalted butter, diced (I used non hydrogenated shortening)
5-6 Tbs ice water

Combine the first six ingredients in the food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the diced and cold butter and pulse until the butter is cut into the flour into pea size pieces. Add the ice water and pulse until the dough comes together. It will not form a ball, just press it to see if it holds together. Add 1 Tbs of ice water if needed.

Transfer the dough t your work surface and press it together into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Dust your surface with superfine brown rice flour. Roll the dough to 1/8" thickness. Fill a 9" tart mold with the dough. Cut off excess dough. Chill the tart for another 30 minutes while preparing the filling.

Roasted Tomato and Watercress Filling

Bunch of fresh watercress, stems removed
Roasted tomatoes
2 eggs
1 Tbs plus 2 tsp cornstarch (12 g)
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
2 oz mozzarella (I used the cheese substitute Daiya)


Pre-heat oven to 400F.

Fill the bottom of the chilled tart with the roasted tomatoes. Add the watercress on top.

In a bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients. Pour over the tomatoes.

Bake for 30 minutes or until tope is golden brown. Cool for 20 minutes before slicing.