Cauliflower-corn soup

I love this recipe which is an altered version of  Anna Jones’ chowder.   Sometimes I find chowders too bland or too heavy-creamy or too coconutty, so I tweaked the original to our taste – a bit more of this, a bit less of  t’other – and am calling it a soup instead of chowder.
It’s quick and easy to prepare and has elicited several yums around the table when I’ve served it to friends.  Definitely my happy new recipe for 2024.

There are several herb and spice options, depending on your likes.   In this recipe I’m suggesting 8 crushed dried curry leaves and/or a generous tsp of ground garam masala in the cooking.
However, if you don’t fancy these spices you could just add chopped any-herb-you-love as a finishing touch with the rest of the topping; either coriander, parsley, basil…

Ingredients

Serves 4
Dollop of olive oil for the pot
1 leek, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
8 dried curry leaves
1 tsp ground garam masala
600g cauliflower, cut into florets (leaves removed and shredded for topping)
2 tins (260g each) corn, or frozen corn, or fresh kernels from 4 cobs of corn
1/2 400mg tin ie. 200mg coconut milk (you can cover the remaining 200gm in glass jar; refrigerate up to 3 days)
900 ml rich veg stock
juice of 1 lemon

Topping

4 spring onions, finely sliced
about 3-6 cauliflower leaves depending on size.  Stripped from the stem (or not, if the stem isn’t tough)
olive oil to drizzle
3 tbsp almonds, roughly chopped (& roasted if you have time)

Method:

Heat the oil in a large pot and add the leek.  Cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes until soft, but not charred.
Add the garlic, garam masala/dried curry leaves (crushed with fingers), a pinch of sea salt and pepper.
Pop in the broken-up cauliflower, most of the corn – save about 20 kernels for the topping -, the veg stock and coconut milk.
Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer for 20 mins until the cauli is soft.

Use a hand-held blender to loosely blend so it still has some texture.
Add the lemon juice, taste, then perhaps more pepper or salt or lemon, then taste again and adjust to your version of perfect.

Topping:

Add a little olive oil to the pan then toss in those 20 kernels, the sliced spring onion and as many shredded cauliflower leaves as will balance nicely with the rest (I shredded 6 small leaves but stripped them from the white stem as it was very tough!)
When the corn is charred and the greens wilted, add the chopped almonds. You can toast these first if you have time on your hands.  I used some delicious Spanish Marcona almonds because they were there.
Scatter this lovely green, nutty mix on top of the soup with a drizzle of olive oil.

Buon appetito!

Vegetable wraps

As wonderful and tasty as they are, not to mention a blessing for anyone who’s gluten sensitive or coeliac, the array of gluten free flours can at times be overwhelming.  Especially if you haven’t planned ahead and stocked up on the ones you need.  I love cooking with a variety of gf flours, have shared recipes here, but sometimes I just want to open the fridge and find an instant solution rather than start baking.  Something fresh, not ready-bought, which I can fill with salad, or delicious protein whether lentils, salmon, tofu, chicken or scrambled egg.  Quick, delicious and easy.

Cos or Romaine lettuce:

Filled lettuce leaves aren’t new in cooking but they may not be on your radar.  I love Cos or Romaine because it holds its form and therefore the contents, plus it has a delicious crunch which adds to the whole eating experience.

Here in the photo I cooked a filet of wild salmon in a fish broth, removed it, let it cool then flaked it, adding 3″ of cubed cucumber, 5 chopped cherry tomatos & radishes.  The dressing could be olive oil with lemon or a dash of apple cider vinegar but I wanted an Asian flavour, so I used juice of a lime, finely chopped lime leaf (easy to keep in the freezer),  1/2 finely chopped crushed stalk lemon grass (outer tough leaves removed), 1 heaped tsp tamarind paste, sesame oil, splash of water).
Easy to spoon into the Cos leaves and serve at room temperature.

Another time I filled the Romaine with a Greek-type salad and served it alongside the following…

Eggy Portabellino mushrooms:

We love scrambled egg with fried mushrooms, so when I saw these perfectly formed portabellino ‘cups’ in the photo below it seemed worth a try.

I filled the small ‘shroom cups with a beaten raw egg + salt,pepper,tumeric + spring onion.  A bit of a fiddle since these four tiny ‘shrooms didn’t even take a single beaten egg.

The trick to filling the ‘shrooms turned out to be filling them ‘en place’.  Put the empty portabellinos on an oiled oven tray, or matt (no heat yet of couse) then use a small jug to gently pour in the mixture.  A steady hand required, but a rewarding result.  I’ve been eyeing up lots of different mushrooms since then, looking for bigger ‘cups’!

In the end, two raw beaten eggs filled 10 small portabellinos.  Added to the plate of Cos leaves filled with a Greek-ish salad it was lunch AND dinner.
Cooking time for the shrooms with eggs was about 12-15 mins in a medium oven.  Just ‘tap test’ to ensure the egg has set.

The salad I served alongside was what I had at hand.  More chopped tomatoes, cucumber, chopped radish, avocado, cubed fetta (Violife vegan, or regular), chopped fresh fennel.  The dressing was our olive oil, lemon juice mixed with a dash of water, pepper and pressed garlic.

Wilted white pointed cabbage leaves:

Another easy wrap is to wilt cabbage leaves.  I made a very simple lentil-rice mixture to fill them.

Cook about two cups of mixed rice (black, red basmati – great texture, good fibre) in boiling water, then place a steamer attachment on top with one large cabbage leaf per person.  I usually cut away the thick end of the central vein before steaming if the cabbage seems especially tough.  You could use Savoy or Purple cabbage, any firm cabbage, although the latter has a more distinctive taste (which may improve your meal, so go for it!)  However, as the latter always reminds me of Christmas I tend to stick to Pointed or Savoy.

The leaves only need about 5-8 minutes to wilt.  Keep an eye on them as you don’t want them to overcook and tear. Remove and cool.

For speedy meals I buy Merchant cooked and vacuum packed lentils.  I mixed half the packet in the pot for the last few minutes of cooking time, to heat through. Then I added chopped fried onion, finely chopped coriander, roasted pine nuts, freshly ground pepper or a dash of dried chilli, for heat lovers.  If you have left overs it’ll keep in the fridge for a couple of days and add it to soups, to salads –  or put a few spoonfuls in some Cos lettuce leaves.

 

Green curry paste

It seems every spring my mind turns to green curry!  This is my Green curry paste recipe, Mark 2, lol.  More ingredients, more depth of flavour plus vegan friendly.  An upgrade of last year’s recipe with less chilli, more ginger and kaffir, a combo of citrus juices plus oils and the addition of delicious adaptogenic and anti inflammatory holy basil.  In fact there are loads of anti inflammatory benefits in this mix.  And just look at the amazing zingy colour!

I love the fact that this recipe is simply the sum of it’s parts. No complicated prep, just some slicing, grating and squeezing.   Saying that, if you want to use whole coriander and cumin seed rather than powder then it’s best to heat them first in a pan to release flavour and aroma before crushing them in a mortar.   I used the powdered forms and they still added their distinctive flavours to the whole.

Last week I made fish cakes with some of the paste, so scrummy we had a repeat yesterday when two friends came over for an early outdoor supper.  (Great to have some Covid restrictions now lifting here in UK.  Long may it last).

You could use the paste as part of a veg curry sauce, with or without coconut milk, or marinate chicken pieces in that luscious green.  Lots of options but I’ll post my fishcake version in the coming week.
It only took about 10 minutes to prepare the paste and 5 minutes to mix ‘n blitz.  It’ll keep in the fridge for a few weeks and is freezer-friendly, hooray!

 

Ingredients:

Makes 6 or 7 tablespoons (give or take the amount of coriander you choose to use)

1 tsp cumin powder (or seed)
1/2 tsp ground pepper ( ” )
1/2 tsp coriander powder ( ” )
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground turmeric (or 1 tbsp fresh, grated)
6 small or 3 large garlic cloves, crushed
2 stalks lemongrass (tips off, outer layer off as well if very tough.  Halve and finely chop)
2 tbsps chopped ginger
2-3 hot green chilli, halved, seeds removed and finely sliced, or 1/2-1 tsp dried
3 spring onions, green part only chopped
2 large soft kaffir limes leaves (the dried leaves are hard to blend and can ruin a paste unless you fully remove the leaf’s midrib (central vein) and then very finely slice the green parts, the leaf lamina.  If you can find soft leaves it’s so much easier!)
3 tbsp lemon juice
Zest and juice of a lime
a small bunch of coriander with some stem (about 15-20 leafy stems, give or take)
c 4 stems of holy basil, shredded leaves only
2 tbsp avocado or olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
A little water if it’s too congested at the end

Method:

If you want to use seeds for the coriander, cumin and pepper, toast these in a pan first until fragrant then crush with your pestle and add to the rest.

I used a hand-held blender to mix all the ingredients.  Coriander leaves and some stem, basil leaves, kaffir leaves, green chilli, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, spring onion, coriander, cumin, pepper, turmeric, sea salt, lemon and lime juice, lime zest, the oils, and then, right at the end, a dash of water to thin it slightly.
Do a quick taste test.  Add a little more salt or chilli for more kick if you want, or sesame oil or whatever flavours you’d like to taste more of.
The taste is supposed to be strong as it’s carrying most of the flavour for your veg curry or fish cakes.

Enjoy x

 

 

 

 

Asian-style soup

This is my wellness soup.  I’m such a fan of zingy fresh spices like lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves and ginger.  If I want a comfort soup this is it.  All the more so if adding chicken, with its high tryptophan, an amino acid that’s the precursor to our feel-good serotonin.
The soup can actually be anything you want.  Vegan, pescatarian or a good ‘ole chicken soup with an Asian swing to it.  Here are some options for you to try.

Ingredients

4 servings

Spices for the broth:

1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp grated or ground turmeric
1 heaped tbsp brown miso paste
1 crushed, then finely sliced lemon grass
5 dried kaffir lime leaves, crushed with stems removed
4 cms fresh ginger, grated or finely chopped
1.5 litres veg broth or water

*If doing a veg-only soup, ie. no marinade, add c4 tbsp tamari, 1/2 cup chopped coriander, 3 crushed garlic cloves and, if you want a kick, some chilli flakes to the above.  Also more veg broth to compensate for not having the fish/chicken liquid marinade to add to the pot.

The vegetables:

1/2 leek, sliced
150 g brussel sprouts, halved
200g broccoli florets
100g green beans, halved
100g mangetout or sugar snap peas
large handful spinach, shredded
another generous one of kale, finely shredded
4 mini bok choy (or 4 large if you can’t get minis)
olive oil to start the stir fry
sesame oil to drizzle at the very end
chopped coriander to decorate
1 lime, cut into 4 wedges

The optional chicken or salmon:

3 fillets free range or organic chicken, cut into chunks or thick slices
OR
3 wild salmon fillets, whole

Marinate the chicken or fish for at least 4 hours in:
1/2 cup chopped coriander
1/4 tsp dried chilli
1 tsp garam masala
3 crushed garlic
4-5 tbsp tamari
plus enough veg broth to cover the chicken/fish.

Method:

If I’m making my soup with either salmon or the chicken slices, I poach them first.  That way I can remove the fish skin easily and break it into smaller pieces, put aside and focus on the soup and veg.  You can of course poach whilst making the veg broth, whatever works for you.

Gently fry the leek in olive oil on a medium heat until soft.  Add all the spices, stirring well.
Pour in the vegetable broth plus the chicken/fish marinade [or the additions mentioned above for the  *veg-only].
Bring to the boil then simmer.
Add the vegetables to the broth, starting with the halved brussels which may take longer depending on size, then the beans and broccoli.  After simmering about 6-8 minutes (check the sprouts aren’t still rock hard), add the mangetout, bok choy, kale and spinach which only need a bat of an eyelid to wilt.  Now find room for the cooked chicken or salmon!

Serve in deep bowls, drizzle with sesame oil and top with chopped coriander and a wedge of lime, yumm!

Fava or split pea mash

Greek fava is delicious alongside a selection of meze or as a dip with bread or carrot sticks, or a replacement for your mashed potato.  Versatile or what!?
Made of yellow (or red) split peas, fava originates from Santorini where the peas grow well on the island’s rich volcanic soil.  These days we can find dried split peas in health food shops and most supermarkets.  Easy to keep in your larder and have at hand when you’re wondering what to cook that night.

I tend to soak the split peas for at least four hours even though they’re more easily digested than larger dried beans – just habit from working with clients who can’t tolerate pulses.
I love fava with caramelised onion on top or with capers – or both.  There are so many variations, it’s one of those taste-and-decide recipes, as you can tell by some of the options I’ve suggested below 🙂
You can blend it super smooth or mash it to whatever texture your taste buds like.  It’s a super easy & delicious recipe, so I hope you try it out.

Ingredients:
For 4

250 g yellow or red split peas (soaked min 4 hours if you want to play it safe)
1/2 red onion, peeled
another onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 peeled clove garlic, & an extra to add later if you like a garlicky taste
1 heaped tsp ground cumin
squeeze of lemon juice
a smidgeon or more (or less) of ground chilli
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
extra virgin oil
capers, if you like them

Method:

Sieve the split peas to remove any possible small stones then if you have the time soak overnight, but otherwise just wash well.
Put into a pot and cover with about 1″ water.
Peel your onion, chop in half and snuggle it, together with the peeled garlic clove, into the centre of your peas-in-a-pot.
Boil and skim off the white froth that will want to bubble over.  Then simmer with lid on.
When I used to try different versions of this recipe I’d often read, ‘cook for 40 mins’ but, to be honest, my split peas seem to get soft within 15-20 minutes.  This could be due to the soaking, or the peas.  However, once you’ve skimmed the scum and place on simmer, don’t head off to your desk or into the garden.  Stay close as they may be soft and ready sooner than you think, or they may need more topping up with water if they’re resolutely hard.

Meanwhile, finely slice the other 1 + 1/2 onion and gently fry in oil in a pan.  This will be your topping, so just put aside until you need it.

When the split peas are cooked and soft, blend or mash, add the squeeze of lemon, spices and taste.  If the garlic flavour has boiled away, add another fresh clove.
Make a small crater (ode to Santorini) in the middle and drizzle in some virgin olive oil and top with your caramelised onion and/or capers.
Enjoy!

Crossing Covid borders (or Our Road trip in tomato miles)

Last week we packed up the car, put on our masks and I took a very deep breath of courage.  A road trip across Europe was the last thing on my mind, I was still stuck in Downing’s street ‘Stay home’ slogan even though UK had moved on from there.
Travel was happening, flights were flying, but government recommendations were once again wobbling, erring on the side of caution after some viral clusters up north and spikes in parts of Spain.  I was quite happy staying in our Dorset cocoon, thank you kindly.

However I’m married to a braver human bean who was chomping at the bit to get out to the olive grove, to lop and clear and feed our trees for that wannahave opulent harvest.  Also to deal with any wildlife that had moved into the house, and yes, to swim in the Ionian and enjoy some summer heat.
He told me we could do the drive in three days, just had to exercise caution and common sense and keep washing our hands.
I wasn’t so sure, but the choices didn’t look good.  Fly out and join him when the virus had calmed down?  Well, planes were definitely not on my to-do list (yet!), and Covid-19 wasn’t showing any signs of exhaustion.
Husband Braveheart then assured me we didn’t have to book anything until the last minute.  He knew me well.  It gave me wriggle room to wait and see if the dreaded second spike would lock us down; time to check online if there were problems crossing borders.
Silly, of course, since problems could arise from day to day, minute by minute, but crucially it gave me time to get used to the idea and supplement my faith and wobbling courage with mega doses of brave thoughts.

Fear can really mess around with your mind.  That’s what this road trip has shown me.  Also, that the English, French, Italians and Greeks all look the same in masks (but tomatoes in each of these countries look quite different 🙂

We headed off on a Tuesday just after dawn, passing the most breathtaking gossamer mist lying on the fields around our village; sheep floating on clouds.  How I would’ve loved to have taken some pictures but I knew that a photo stop three minutes from home might be pushing my luck.  We were now on a mission, moving forward at speed.

We drove past the edge of a low-cloud New Forest, then onto a mist-filled empty M3 followed by a not-so-misty M25 with morning traffic moving smoothly, which was a first.  Needless to say we arrived at the Eurotunnel with oodles of time to spare, but no earlier trains were offered unless extra was paid.  That wasn’t going to happen since we’d already paid considerably more than in the past.

So many cars were lined up at the terminal!  Didn’t they know they shouldn’t be crossing borders or gallavanting off?  That hesitant see-saw was STILL happening in my head even after we’d packed up the house and given three peeps baby-sitting rights to our house and tomato plants.  Crazy, right?  Fear had definitely set up home in my brain’s amygdala.

The first interesting Covid change I noticed was that only Starbucks was open in the Eurotunnel building.  Leon’s restaurant and the other independant coffee/food outlet there were both shut, and that just about sums up how stupid some decisions have been in these times.  No real coffee to be had for Braveheart and no delicious Leon nibbles for me.
Luckily I’d made enough sourdough rolls to last the week so we didn’t bother, but we did use the loos; signs everywhere were warning us that toilets on the train were off bounds.
People came in and out of the terminal, lined up for their Starbucks, but they weren’t the crowds I’d dreaded.  Most of them were wearing masks and certainly all were keeping sensibly apart.

The border checked our passports and that was it.  No taking of temperatures, no forms to fill out declaring we were Covid-free, although I could’ve sworn the month before, online forms had been requested; go figure.

Whisked from Folkestone to Calais in 30 minutes we found ourselves on the autoroute with a  clear blue-sky above, and on both sides endless stands of ripening corn and dirt-brown fields where grains had been harvested.  On the horizon I could make out vast stands of sunflowers, blooms long gone but still tall and leafy with blackened seed heads gently bowed to the ground.   This was normally the low, flat landscape with sludge grey skies that would make me yawn into a neck-cricked car sleep.  Today a shining scene took hold of my attention.  Windows open, I breathed in holiday.

Before I go any further, and whilst in France, I have to mention the autoroutes here.  Who can’t wax lyrical about them after the bump and polluted constriction of the M25?   Why we can’t do the same in England is a mystery to me.  Can anyone explain?
In addition, the highway service stations in France are also more like destinations than simply refuelling spots.  Rows of shady trees, beds of tall swaying white gaura and cars separated by wide stretches of grass and picnic benches.  Not the concrete car landscape on most of the British motorways with their boxed-in plantings and scattering of reluctant saplings trying their best.  So, even with a stream of travellers arriving off the autoroute all the time, safe-distancing was easy.  Enough space and trees and greenery to separate us all.

We covered 891 kilometres that first day, the longest drive day of all.  We decided to bed down just outside Beaune, a beautiful medieval town in the centre of the Bourgogne wine region that we’d never seen before and hadn’t planned on seeing now  – we were on our mission etc – but the evening we arrived something changed.  We sat in the hotel gardens, trying the local wine and eating our sourdough sandwiches (the restaurant was closed), and as we watched guests soaking up the last of the sun and a family playing in the pool, a couple riding down the lane on bikes, I suddenly realised that we were watching people who were actually on holiday, not just passing through as quickly as possible.  So the following day we woke up to the idea that a drive into town and a wander around would be just the thing.  Braveheart’s mission could be put on hold for an hour.

Turned out to be three hours because Beaune may be small but it is really one of the prettiest towns.  Very vigilant too, almost worryingly so.  Masks were on indoors as well as out, with locals crossing the street when they saw us, hurrying along cobbled lanes armed with purpose and fresh baguettes.
When I look back, it was in Beaune where people seemed to be the most careful, taking ‘soyez prudent’ to a level that would disperse any fear of catching anything, not even a smile or a glance, which of course is another sorry downside of this distancing palaver and mask-wearing.  Not seeing facial expressions and smiles and people not making eye contact.

At the end of our wander we watched a small street market being set up (of course there’d be a market, we’re in France!)  This one was mainly selling trinkets but onetiny stall had a display of the most astonishing tomatoes which had nothing to do with the tomatoes in my veggie box back home, or the tiny firm buds of green cherry toms in our Dorset garden.
This Beaunian stall holder was selling heritage tomatoes in delightful small crates, denizens of the region I would’ve happily slipped into our car had there been room (sadly, like a time capsule, it was filled to the brim, ready for all countries, weathers and emergencies).  Just seeing these tomatoes made me so inordinately happy.  Look at them, aren’t they stunning!?

Leaving the town late morning we wound our way towards the foothills of the Alps and onwards to the chocolate-box mountains that would take us over the border to Italy.
Did it occur to us there might be long delays into the Mt Blanc tunnel?
When the road sign glittered silver bold type letters at us ‘Expect a wait of 90 minutes’, I was sure it was Covid-related, the testing I’d been expecting or at least something to do with checking forms and asking about our well-being.
But no, it was simply August, the main holiday month in France and Italy.  With most people staying closer to home there were more cars on the road – not that we realised until we got stuck in the tunnel queue.
Motor off, windows down and another sourdough sarnie as we waited for all the vehicles to inch up the last hairpin.  Snowcapped mountains above, a waterfall beside us, it was easy to take.

By early evening we reached Piacenza, a beautiful walled city in the Emilia Romagna region.  We’d stayed here a few times before, loved the Palazzo Gotico and Piazza Cavalli, and the hotel which had coped so well with our groundhog days two years before when our old car broke down and we stayed on and on.
Sad, but no surprise to hear the hotel was running at 40% capacity.  And the breakfast buffet the following morning was such a lonely experience, with us standing in a vast room at a distance to the buffet table, pointing to various foods whilst a young masked girl silently placed hot and cold bits on our plates.  Cold scrambled eggs by the time we reached our table, not a culinary delight.

Emilia Romagna was one of the four regions in northern Italy worst hit by the pandemic back in March.  The north was where Italy’s Covid-19 journey began.  In April about 70% of positive virus cases were reportedly from Lombardi, Emilia Romagna, Veneto and Piemonte here in the north.
Contrary to what you might be thinking, knowing about my wobbly start, this Covid fact hadn’t concerned me in the least when I was doing our last minute overnight bookings before the trip.  My brain must’ve been appeased by the fact that people here had been through hell and would be careful, they wouldn’t want it repeated.

We sat outside in the square, drank our beer and aperol spritze then moved to another outdoor restaurant for dinner at 8.  Most tables were empty, too early for the locals but not for us.  After 623 km, and with more dreary hours on the autostrada than we ha expected, we were exhausted and in need of a long sleep.

Day 3, the planned short drive (not) from Piacenza to Ancona.  We were catching our Anek lines vessel at 1500hrs for the overnight crossing of the Adriatic, landing the following morn at 8 (not!) in Igoumenitsa, northern mainland Greece.

What we didn’t take into account was that Italy, too, had crazy early morning work traffic.  Bumper to bumper for a couple of hours then some light reprieve for a few breaths before the turn-off to Ancona, with another slow crawl behind a stream of cars heading towards the port.  Luckily those see-saw thoughts of mine had stopped – the ones silently questioning why peeps were travelling and not staying home.  Fear had let go its white-knuckled grip as we waited in endless queues of traffic.

We’d talked about buying fresh food to take on board the boat since our sourdough sandwiches were long gone, and who knew what the ship’s restaurant would be like.

Following the huge check-in sign above the road, we parked and walked over to the terminal building where “Only car driver inside” handed over our precious declaration documents proving we were fit and symptom-free with no known Covid case contact (hooray, at last someone wanted to know!)
But with that we were checked into the system and unable to drive back to town to go food shopping.  Once checked in we couldn’t ‘check out’!

There was only a lone portacabin cafe by the terminal building selling limp pizzas; that was it.  So there was not much more for us to do than follow the signs to the expanse of boarding area, a concrete desert where hundreds of cars and trucks were already waiting in the midday heat.

Tucked on one side was a small white van that was selling food no one seemed to want.  Just one lone customer sipping on an overly bright-orange sparkling something.
I don’t know if this lack of food outlets was Covid related or not, but what a missed opportunity, given the hundreds  – thousands? – of trucks, cars and bikes waiting there for hours each day.

I walked over to check it out even though the bags of crisps, biscuits and fizzy drinks looked very unpromising.  Disappointment bubbled up again that we’d missed out on a deli purchase in town.
But then I saw them over on the right.  Through the glass display window I spied fresh rolls, ham…. and a pile of the juiciest red beef tomatoes, the only fresh veg I’d glimpsed since leaving Piacenza at crack of early.  Another moment of tomato joy in a sandwich!

Just before separating to go on board (‘only drivers in the car, passengers walk’), we clocked that we’d covered another 380 km.  We’d done the fastest zzzzzoom across Italy ever.

I could write a whole blog about the ship aka ferry crossing but I’ll spare you.
A quick list of impressions instead:
– All the crew wore small chin visors but most were cupped below the mouth looking more like some medical chin support.
–  I never saw a bottle of hand sanitiser on board but there were plenty of soap dispensers in all the public toilets so that was something
– A crew waiter or waitress was quick to clear up the huge mess of edible debris that was sadly abandoned by mainly young peeps (sorry, but true) who were maybe travelling together, or maybe not
– Every hour or so an intercom voice announced how the vessel was ensuring masks were worn and distances kept, and that this was the reason why ‘Anek lines was keeping us safe.’ But…I never saw or heard any crew member telling us to wear masks and keep safe.  Some travellers wore them when going into the cafe or wandering around the inside of the ship but I can’t say it was a masked sea journey.  Half and half if I’m being kind.
–  A big positive: it was easy to find secluded corners, quiet spaces to keep our distance.  Or to stay in a cabin – if you had one, which we did.  A super cozy one in fact with a large porthole window we’d never had before on these crossings.  Normally a black hole cabin, but this time Braveheart had booked us a ‘Pure’ cabin (which does beg the question what the rest of them were).
– The tables in the self-serve restaurant couldn’t be distanced as they were bolted to the ground, but there were only a few people dining and they were all using common sense.  We certainly enjoyed our Greek salads without strangers breathing all over them x

The following morn yet another shining day greeted us.  What a sunny road trip we were having!  However, our hearts sank when we realized the ship aka vessel aka ferry wasn’t going to be landing in Igoumenitsa by 8.  We hadn’t even reached the first stop of Corfu and given we had another ferry to catch which was a 3 hour drive south we were aware of time passing.

It was s-l-o-w progress disembarking.  Officials were checking documents and I have to admit I felt quite put out when we were told we had to leave our spot in the line of cars for the Covid testing (which I’d been waiting for all this time, but not now when we were about to miss connections!)
The chin-masked official pointed to a dead-end area in the distance, a normally forgotten, shabby corner of the port where around 20 cars were parked hugger-mugger.  I could make out clusters of people and a line of sorts forming the way Italians and Greeks do it, not the British-like queues.

There were 2 ‘patient’ chairs and just 3 officials in PPE but, oh my word, they worked quicker than I could’ve ever imagined.  I’m guessing they didn’t want to be in close contact for more than a minute with any of us viral foreigners.  Results, they told us, would be texted to us in 24 hours IF positive.
Luckily we never got that text.

The drive south to Patras was easy, partly because we’d done it before but also due to the fact it was a new highway, thank goodness, which was more than equal to the French autoroutes.  Breathtaking mountain scenery all the way, hardly any cars and the first spits of rain and grey skies, how funny, now we were in sunny Greece.

After Patras, there was the usual hair-raising 45 minute drive on the one-lane-pretending-to-be-three road to Killlini; this was the main port for ferries heading to the Ionian islands. We were speeding along with the others, dearly hoping we’d make our ferry connection.

Levante’s car ferry crossing turned out to be a totally different experience to the previous one.  Yes, only a 1.5 hour journey but it was full of rules and hand sanitiser and an official keeping us a metre apart as passengers boarded.
Masks had to be worn at ALL times we were told.  Inside, alternate tables and chairs had been cordoned off ensuring no one sat too close.

When I took off my mask to drink water, at our safely distanced table, I forgot to put it back on (ok,perhaps I forgot on purpose; suffocating in the heat).  A young woman at the table closest to us reminded me loudly to put my mask back on.
Even out on deck, with plenty of space and fresh air and hardly anyone about, masks had to be worn, which I thought was a bit ott (and that should be enough to tell you that 4 days of crossing borders had sorted out the fearful amygdala of my brain).

99.9% of the people on board were from Greece, one chatty official explained when I asked why the speaker annoucements weren’t in their usual English.
He told me the announcer was telling us that Levante ferries were keeping us safe.
And indeed they were!

We landed in Kefalonia, in the town of Poros and only had a short drive to our olive grove house.
Somehow those 35 minutes felt longer than the hours we’d travelled each day, but they did give me pause to think about the miles covered, and to feel grateful for the sun and blue skies that had made it all so easy, showing us so many landscapes at their best.  And also to take stock of just how empowering those four travel days had been.  I suspect fear had flown out the window the minute I realized it wasn’t just in UK – or in our cocooned Dorset – that people were using common sense and trying to stay safe.  All of us in this global mess together were doing our best.

Freshly picked tomatoes and chillis from our lovely neighbours awaited us, and a message from home that felt like a pat on the back, congratulating us on the journey.
They were definitely the best-tasting tomatoes I’d eaten.
Well…the best that day 🙂

 

Stats:

Left Dorset 0550hrs 4th August, arrived Kefalonia 1700hrs 7th August.
Kilometres driven:  2272 km
Ferry Ancona-Igoumenitsa:  723 km (390 nautical miles)
Ferry Killini to Poros:   50 km.

Phew!

Spiced carrot and red chard pancakes

This is a delicious vegan dish, a combination of shredded carrot pancakes with roasted spiced carrot – carrot upon carrot! – topped with a mint-garlic-lime juice df yoghurt.

Inspired by Nikki Webster’s scrummy recipe I added red chard to mine here below for extra colour and antioxidant goodness.  Spinach or kale, cavalo nero or even something like radicchio with its slightly sharp tang, would be delicious.  Really, the choice is yours.
Antioxidants are on my mind big-time due to my current auto immune and post-chemo clients not to mention the background noise of Covid-19, so I multiplied the antioxidant ooomph that spices offer and added lots of ginger, turmeric and garlic.

These gram spiced pancakes are a fabulous base for all sorts of other meals.  I topped them with a mixed rainbow salad last week and last night ate them with fish (cumin and garam masala rubbed on hake before grilling).
It’s so good to wriggle a recipe into the shape that suits your individual taste – and the occasion.
Have fun, and I hope you enjoy this dish 🙂

Ingredients:

Serves 2

Spiced carrots:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 – 1 tsp chilli flakes
1 large or 2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, pressed
4 cms knob ginger, grated
3 medium carrots, diced into small cubes
6 large red chard leaves (I finely sliced some of the stalks as well); or 2 large handfuls of young spinach or kale, roughly chopped
250ml filtered water
4 tbsp desiccated coconut, lightly roasted
sea salt and black pepper to taste

Carrot pancakes:

140g gram flour
1 tsp sea salt
2 garlic, pressed
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
pinch chilli flakes – optional of course!
80g grated carrots
handful fresh coriander, chopped
300 ml luke warm water
2 tbsp olive oil

Yoghurt Topping:

6 tbsp plain coconut- or almond-based yoghurt (I used Coconut Collaborative’s df)
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp virgin olive oil
1-2 garlic, squeezed
4 tbsp chopped fresh mint (about 5 medium leaves per tbsp) or 3 tbsp dried
sea salt to taste

Mix these together and your topping is done!

 

Method:

Carrot pancakes:

Mix all the dry ingredients, add the pressed garlic, olive oil and water.  Blend well then stir in the chopped coriander and grated carrots.  Set aside for 15-20 minutes whilst you start the carrot curry below.

To cook the pancakes, add some olive oil to your non-stick pan then use a soup ladel to pour in your mixture (you’ll figure out the size you want after the first ‘trial’ which is always a good tester for size and taste).
Once bubbles form in the pancake and the edge darkens a little, ease the spatula beneath it and turn.  After the first one your pan usually finds its mojo.
Cover with a cloth or place in a low heat oven whilst you make a total of about 8 small pancakes.

Meanwhile….

The carrot curry:

Heat the oil then add the mustard and cumin seeds. When they start popping add the other spices and stir before frying the chopped onions till they soften.  Then comes the garlic and ginger followed by the diced carrots and water.  Cover and leave to simmer for about 10 mins, adding your chopped chard or greens so they wilt but don’t get cooked to nothing!

Meanwhile….dry roast the coconut in a pan until it just colours then stir it into the carrot-chard mix and season with sea salt and pepper.

To serve, spoon a generous amount onto the pancake base and dollop the mint yoghurt on top.  Add extra mint for decoration (I forgot in this photo!)

Enjoy!