The non-recipe for soup

I've been cooking a lot of soup lately - it's getting on for winter, and it's a practical, warm meal that's also easy to freeze in portions for another time. I pondered the recipe, but there isn't really one to speak of.

Nevertheless, here is my attempt at instructions...

Melt some butter (or oil) in a very large pot. Brown up several chopped onions, a handful of chopped garlic, and a pound of beef mince or stir-fry (or any other meat really - or leave it out if you prefer).

When all that is cooked, you could put tomato sauce on it and serve over spaghetti if you like. But we're making soup here, so we'll add a kettleful of boiling water and a cup or so of barley (or lentils, etc.). Turn the heat down so that it is just bubbling gently.

While that boils, chop up your vegetables and add them in together with enough extra boiling water to cover them. I often use an orange one and a green one, such as carrot/silverbeet, or pumpkin/broccoli. Put in the harder one first as it takes longer to cook. No need to peel carrots or pumpkin as the skins do become very soft and edible when cooked. With broccoli, you can throw in the stalks and leaves and all, just take care to avoid the really woody bits that may be in the base of the main stem.

Oh, and the quantities don't matter. I just use whatever I have.

By the time you have your softer veg chopped and in the pot, the barley/lentils should be cooked through - test it out. Now you can turn the heat off and go do something else for a while.

When everything is soft and has cooled a bit from boiling, puree the lot. Salt your serving to taste, and add herbs if you like - oregano is very good with pumpkin.

I would have added a picture, but I ate it already! I'm sure you can picture it: smooth-ish, orange-greenish, thick and tasty... Might add a pic next time I have a bowl in front of me.

What the World Eats

This photo series has been around for a little while now, but I just came across it again and was newly fascinated. Each image shows a family and their food for a week. Spot the differences between America, Britain and Germany, then look at those who have far less. The pictures give glimpses of their homes as well. Some surprises, such as a huge amount of Coke in Mexico. Also, in Ecuador (above) they like black hats.

This gets me thinking about what my personal food for a week would look like, since I'm only feeding me. Well, and the cat. Maybe I'll have to put together a picture someday. But in the meantime, a list will have to do - as it currently stands:

- Seven black teabags
- 500g honey
- 2 litres milk
- 2 heads broccoli
- 600ml yoghurt
- 500g mixed nuts
- 1 doz eggs
- 4 oranges
- 1kg fresh meat
- 1 leek or 2 onions
- 1 aubergine or equivalent volume in mushrooms
- 125g butter
- Bunch of silverbeet or spinach or lettuce
- 2 slices grain toast
- 1 can soup
- Various spices and sauces
- Chocolate, variously...

Cholesterol Good, Carbs Bad? Yup.

I am coming more and more to the conclusion that much of modern nutrition advice is completely skewed. Consider, if you will, these facts which now shape my behaviour:

Saturated fats do not cause high cholesterol.
If my doctor told me to avoid butter, eggs and red meat in order to lower cholesterol, I would not comply. Ahem. This may have actually happened. But there is no evidence linking the one with the other.
In fact, eating saturated fat is the only way to reduce levels of Lipoprotein A (a risk factor for heart disease).
Trans fats such as margarine and canola oil, on the other hand, are harmful.

High cholesterol does not cause heart disease.
I have seen enough evidence to convince me that heart disease is caused by inflammation. If my doctor ordered statins to lower cholesterol, I would not comply. Cholesterol is needed to repair damage from inflammation, which can come from any kind of infection; historically, heart disease increased after flu outbreaks and the like. Statin use is like shooting the firemen who would put out the fire.

Eating carbs has the same effect as eating sugar.
Carbs cause a sugar rush and can lead to insulin resistance just as surely as sweets. I have eliminated most carbs from my routine, but at the same time I'm not guilty about a weekend indulgence - if it's all the same for my insides anyway, it might as well be chocolate, right?

Some of my sources:
Why Butter is Better / It's the Beef - M. Enig, S. Fallon
7 Reasons to Eat More Saturated Fat - M. & M. Eades
Does Cholesterol Really Cause Heart Disease? - J. Mercola
Cholesterol-busting medicines may do more harm than good - Daily Mail, UK
Consider carbs and sugar the same thing - The Cook and the Cardiologist

Meet Marcus Gavius Apicius

Marcus Gavius Apicius was a chef in first-century Rome, who liked to cook up weird and peculiar recipes. There is a cookbook attributed to him, and some of the recipes can be found here - with many sauces dependent on a kind of boiled and reduced wine. It's interesting to look at Roman recipes, but I don't know if I would ever try to make one!

Out on the Town

Went out last night to a local restaurant, The Postman's Leg. Now this used to be quite a run-down sort of establishment, but having been assured that more than just the name has changed, it was time to give it a go. The vibe is definitely quite upmarket now, while still managing to be cosy and homey. In keeping with the name, the décor is stamp-themed and the menus look a little like aerogrammes (anyone remember those?).

Not being particularly hungry, I chose a small plate for dinner: lamb wontons with aioli. Six perfect pieces were served on a wooden board and I found them to be just equal to my appetite.

For afters I chose the crème brûlée, which came with coconut ice cream and a cinnamon wafer. Yum!

Broccoli Salad

Food of kings. Or at least, it should be. I first discovered a variation on the theme in New Caledonia (thanks, Brenda!) and began making it myself earlier this year.

Now, I never used to be fond of broccoli. At all. Especially not raw - ew! But now I feel there's something missing if I don't have a bowlful every day.

So chop up as much as you think you can eat. Use the entire stalk, too - fabulous crunchy fibre. Chop 'em all fairly small, as you see above. Slice an orange into slightly larger chunks and mingle.

Then pour on a generous serving of plain yoghurt. I use the honey flavoured one above, but I've tried vanilla too and it works just fine. If you want to be really flash, use Greek-style and drizzle a little sweet chilli sauce over it.

Then the toppings: mostly a mix of nuts and seeds. Today I had approximately equal amounts of cashews, almonds, cranberries and linseed/flaxseed. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds are good too. I hear recommendations to add bacon and cheese - I'm not sure how that would work. My mix is perfect for me - it's really more sweet than savoury. If you took out the broccoli, it would be a dessert!

There's an art in the eating, too - make sure there is a bit of everything in every bite. Some green, some orange, some crunch of nuts. It's my new favourite lunch since capsicums got priced out of the market and since my frenzy for eggs has abated somewhat.

Raw broccoli takes a good deal of chew effort to get through. You really feel like you've eaten well!

...Oh, and yes, there are interesting things in my kitchen :P

Peaches

There’s nothing like a fresh peach, plucked from a laden tree, warm from the sun and so juicy we have to stand at a convoluted angle in order to drip only down our chins and not our shirts. It’s an old-time form of companionship, this standing around a tree, slurping the golden flesh of its reproductive cycle. And in such abundance! There were maybe a hundred peaches on the first tree, but at least five times that many on the second—globules of goodness clustered tightly around each limb for foot after foot, completely obscuring any sight of the bark. One branch even broke under the load, but its fruit was even too much for the bugs and it continued to ripen on the ground. I must have picked ten or fifteen pounds last Monday. Still the tree showed no sign of thinning out. There must be many pies in future, methinks, and alas that I’m not there to eat my fill. But I had a handful in my carry-on…and ate them somewhere high above the Rockies.

Tour de France: Carcassonne/Arles

We drove through to Carcassonne just in time for yet another three course dinner, including a delicious lasagne. In the morning I set to work on the translations for Germany, which left just enough time to grab a bite and meet the bus. In the old town I encountered a small green lizard in a narrow street, and a couple of comfy cats in courtyards. We went down into the main town and took a boat trip on the canal. Then I stayed in town to seek out an internet café in the form of an Irish pub. Mum came too, but the rest of the group were keen to get back and do their washing.

That night the hostel put on a dinner of local specialties for us - a salad with jezier, which is duck guts. The main course was cassoulet - duck with beans and pork sausages - and another apple tart.

The next morning after breakfast I went for a walk and enjoyed the relative quietness of the streets, which was a surprise after seeing it so busy all the rest of the time. Then I went into the castle with eight of the girls and spent some time wandering around alone after they all raced through. From the courtyard a window showed a basement below, with a cat sleeping on a cardboard box.

For lunch we went just around the corner - well, everything's round the corner here - and ordered the gizzard salad again and lasagne followed by chocolate mousse. The remainder of the day was spent walking around and around the Cité inside and out and on the ramparts. In one of the little shops in a narrow winding street I had the unusual experience of discovering a red chair exactly like the ones I owned in Germany. Sitting on it for a moment was quite singular. That evening we ate omelettes in the square.

The morning after that we left at eight to head for Arles, where we arrived around noon. First we ate salads at the Place du Forum near Van Gogh's Le Café La Nuit, then visited the amphitheatre, the church and cloister, and the underground crypt with most of a Roman forum intact under several streets. That night we went with the ladies to a restaurant recommended by the hotelier, and ate the most artistic meal I have ever seen - three petite but filling courses of delicately designed platters. I ate ratatouille with egg followed by salmon and veges, then a creation of gingerbread and ice cream.
















Salad in Arles















Arles: the Roman amphitheathre