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.

Ivory Lentil Salad, Strawberries and Buttermilk

As I am sitting in front of the screen trying to write this post, my mind went blank.

I have been cooking and photographing so many recipes lately that it is hard to remember which recipe I was going to tell you about. "Wait, was it the snapper or the vegetable tart?... Wait, what was I going to talk about?". It gets confusing.

I also realized that most of my blogging has been set aside for weekend cooking and baking when mom and I spend time in the kitchen together. I hope you don't mind. I hope that our everyday simple meals are also interesting enough to draw you into the kitchen. I hope so.



So just as we have been doing every Sunday morning, yesterday we headed out to the farmers market. It was sunny, breezy and beautiful. We did our round and got our usual eggs, heirloom cherry tomatoes, radishes and strawberries. Also several kinds of greens and beets.



Do you ever get anxiety after you go to the farmers market? I do. A good kind of anxiety. The kind that makes me want to cook everything at once and photograph it as soon as we get home. The fresher the better.

"Wait, don't put those away yet" I told my mom. "I need to take photos of them". She shook her head.

While I was upstairs shooting, she cooked some ivory lentils for lunch. They cook in about 20 minutes and have the perfect texture for a salad. A little bite still left in them. Perfect with spicy radishes, peppery watercress, sweet julienne carrots and a chili and garlic vinaigrette.



Kai Kai Farms had beautiful tiny little strawberries. So sweet. Then I remembered this recipe and decided to adapt it to include buttermilk, millet and a little bit of corn flour for some extra texture.

It was so good. We had it after dinner while playing a game of "Go Fish".



I also wanted to tell you that I am honored to be listed in Babble's Top 100 surrounded by such great bloggers. Thank you Babble.com!

Spring Ivory Lentil Salad with Spicy Garlic Vinaigrette

Serves 4

1 cup ivory lentils, rinsed
3 cups cold water
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup radishes, thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and julienned
2 cups watercress, washed
2 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp chili flakes
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

In a medium saucepan, combine the lentils, water and salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain and cool for 5 minutes.

Toss the lentils, radishes, carrots and watercress.

To prepare the vinaigrette, heat the olive oil in a small saute pan. Add the garlic and chili flakes. Cook for 2 minutes or until it starts to get a bit of color. Do not burn the garlic. Add the vinegar. It will splatter so stand back. Turn the heat off and swirl the vinegar into the oil. Pour over the salad. Season wih salt and pepper. Toss and serve.

Sophie Dahl's Eton Mess and Watermelon Radishes

Sunday, we picked up our eggs from Robert. Three dozen to be exact. Oh yes, we go through eggs like crazy around here. M. loves her egg in the morning, oozing runny yolk and all. I have lots of baking planned for the week and the farmers market was my stop to get all my provisions.



We had a big dinner planned so lunch was simple. Roasted tomatoes, blue cheese and sliced watermelon radish with yogurt and dijon dressing. Something light and quick to keep us going.

But then came dessert.



Searching for inspiration, I laid out cookbooks and magazines on the living room floor. Sometimes just browsing through UK's Country Living and definitely Elle À Table, I get a surge of ideas coming through me. Then I glanced over to my right and I saw the back of Sophie Dahl's "Voluptuous Delights". There it was. The white and rose rhubarb eton mess with crushed up meringue, a wave of heavy cream and poached rhubarb. Such beautiful color.

I thought of the rhubarb I had in the fridge. The first rhubarb of the season. I had stewed it for breakfast that morning and still had some leftovers.

That photo was just too tempting.



Whipped the egg whites and slowly baked the meringue mounds until crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Served with lightly whipped cream and the stewed rhubarb.

It didn't even make it to dinner. A mid afternoon sweet snack. Just because.



Eton Mess with Rhubarb

adapted from Sophie Dahl's Voluptuous Delights

3 egg whites
3/4 cup caster sugar
pinch of salt

Whip the egg whites until light and fluffy. Slowly sprinkle in the caster sugar and salt while whipping. Continue to whip until stiff peaks form.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spoon out the meringue forming 6 mounds. Bake at 250F for 1 hour.

Stewed Rhubarb

8 oz rhubarb, diced
1/4 cup cane sugar
1 lemon, juice and zest

Cut the rhubarb into pieces and toss them with sugar, lemon juice and zest. Cook for about 5 minutes until soft. Do not cook it to mush and keep pieces whole.

Serve the meringue with whipped cream and the stewed rhubarb on top.