I have come by some chervil. Not by nefarious means (though I'd consider it), but not exactly direct. This delicious and desperately elusive herb turns out to be available via a veg box I've had sent to my parents. They had a minimum order, we were under it, I added two packs of chervil, and I collected them when I took over Thursday's allocation of clementines, dried fruit, lamb chops and so forth.
I really love chervil. Aside from its taste, which is light tarragon mixed with parsley, I think it's because it's so popular in Belgium, and one of my early favourite recipe books is an amazing one called Everybody Eats Well in Belgium (generational recipes; well worth tracking down for the prose and insights as well as the recipes). Full of chervil, and I couldn't get any then. When I did, I realised I'd had it often as a kid - my granny must have grown it, or the very similar sweet cicely, in her garden. She used to make soup with a potato, an onion, some stock, and a handful of garden herbs. Which is exactly what I've done. Sweat the veg, add the stock and boil a bit, chop the herb and add it when veg is pretty much soft. Couldn't be simpler, absolutely delicious.
On second serving I discovered I'd nearly finished a tub of creme fraiche, which went in nicely. I think Nonna used to put a bit of yoghurt in, but this is good too.
Meanwhile, I am continuing to power through New Kitchen Basics, a genuinely excellent recipebook addition. Despite the ridiculous fact I spent some time grating a cauliflower for this, it was incredibly simple. (Liz, I know you were planning this - how did you find it?)
Cauliflower cheese cakes
Half a cauliflower, made into small bits (food processor, knife, grater, whatever)
2 eggs
200g grated mature cheddar
2tbsps Dijon mustard
50g breadcrumbs
Thyme leaves
Grated nutmeg
Easy, if you can get eggs, which I now can. I didn't get the cauli until my supermarket shop the morning this was scheduled, which is now an exciting form of jeopardy. But there were plenty, right by the door, so my faint supermarket-entry anxiety was alleviated quickly. I love a cauli, especially roasted. Slightly overdosed on them before lockdown since it's just an excellent January vegetable.
Method is: put it all in a bowl, mix it, season it.
Oven on (Gas 6/200deg/180 fan). Then take a well-greased muffin tin and put about 2tbsps in each dip. (Recipe says 1.5 tbsps so you may want to start cautiously. I thought there was loads.) Into hot oven, 15 mins or so.
I think it should be a bit longer, partly because my oven was cold, but also because on Day 2 when I gave the leftovers an extra 10-15 mins which definitely cooked as well as warmed up, they were even better.
These are easy pleasing food, but they're pretty rich. I did them with courgettes (and chervil), but added a green salad with mustardy vinaigrette on reflection - definitely a plan. And adding Extra Salad made me feel inordinately virtuous, while being delicious, which is an excellent combination.
I really love chervil. Aside from its taste, which is light tarragon mixed with parsley, I think it's because it's so popular in Belgium, and one of my early favourite recipe books is an amazing one called Everybody Eats Well in Belgium (generational recipes; well worth tracking down for the prose and insights as well as the recipes). Full of chervil, and I couldn't get any then. When I did, I realised I'd had it often as a kid - my granny must have grown it, or the very similar sweet cicely, in her garden. She used to make soup with a potato, an onion, some stock, and a handful of garden herbs. Which is exactly what I've done. Sweat the veg, add the stock and boil a bit, chop the herb and add it when veg is pretty much soft. Couldn't be simpler, absolutely delicious.
On second serving I discovered I'd nearly finished a tub of creme fraiche, which went in nicely. I think Nonna used to put a bit of yoghurt in, but this is good too.
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| Best cuppasoup |
Meanwhile, I am continuing to power through New Kitchen Basics, a genuinely excellent recipebook addition. Despite the ridiculous fact I spent some time grating a cauliflower for this, it was incredibly simple. (Liz, I know you were planning this - how did you find it?)
Cauliflower cheese cakes
Half a cauliflower, made into small bits (food processor, knife, grater, whatever)
2 eggs
200g grated mature cheddar
2tbsps Dijon mustard
50g breadcrumbs
Thyme leaves
Grated nutmeg
Easy, if you can get eggs, which I now can. I didn't get the cauli until my supermarket shop the morning this was scheduled, which is now an exciting form of jeopardy. But there were plenty, right by the door, so my faint supermarket-entry anxiety was alleviated quickly. I love a cauli, especially roasted. Slightly overdosed on them before lockdown since it's just an excellent January vegetable.
Method is: put it all in a bowl, mix it, season it.
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| Cannot think of any way to make this sound complicated and pioneering |
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| Deeply unpromising |
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| Massively more promising |
Oh those cauli cheesecakes sound really interesting. I'm not normally a cauli fan, but I think I could get into these. Thank you for the idea!
ReplyDeleteThey do look good. I have this book on order from Hive.
ReplyDeleteThat all sounds incredible. Have never knowingly eaten chervil; clearly an omission to rectify at some point.
ReplyDeleteI did make the cauli cheese thingies - used mini muffin tins, and crumbs from the crust of a fresh loaf because I didn't have the dried ones available (I do now). I have a cauli in again - must try them again. I chopped the cauli rather than grating it, and I think it wasn't fine enough. They were still absolutely delicious though. I have to confess to eating all of them on the first night and neglecting to make anything else...
ReplyDelete