Category: Zero waste

Minestrone with parsley root

more is more

My favourite way to eat this is with toasted pumpernickel or rye bread as a warming meal-in-a-bowl. My “smart way” to cook it is with a pressure cooker which retains more nutrients and saves on energy too.

Parsley and parsley root proliferate in this winter vegetable melange and imbibe the soup with startlingly high levels of Vitamin C and magnesium as well perhaps it’s mystical ability to transport the eater between earth and the spirit world (as the ancient Greeks believed)!

It is of course Italy that claims “minestrone” as its own and now Sardinia has claimed it as a “Blue Zone” healthy ageing staple but there are variations all around the Mediterranean, all with their own versatile and thrifty takes on a “cucina povera” vegetable stew.

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Roast Plum Compote

Easy roast plums with rosemary and cinnamon which bottle beautifully

This is a very simple way to relish end-of-summer plums and capture that dusky, rich flavour for darker days. Roasting seems to do something to concentrate the flavour as well as rendering the flesh creamy-smooth and the skins pleasantly chewy. I add rosemary and cinnamon, sometimes lemon or orange rind. Plums do vary in their tartness so the sugar quantity here is a guide. You can eat them all as simple roasted fruit or go on and bottle them – I generally eat some and bottle some!

Eat them cold or warmed a little with yoghurt, creme fraiche or good old custard. Make breakfast bowls with museli or serve them with syrniki – sweet cheese pancakes. Use as instant crumble, cobbler and pie filling – this compote really is super versatile and easy to use.

For bottling them you do need to create enough syrup (and allow for ahem…sampling!) I add some sugar and a little water to create a light syrup that is so heavenly I find myself drinking it “cough-medicine” style by itself! Roasting = lazy; I roast on a low heat slowly and gently and check occasionally in between doing other things.

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Cherry Negroni soft set jam

take one part VBF (Very Best Friend), one part FCB (Favourite Cocktail Bar – and I have one downtown Bucharest replete with home-made syrups, fresh herbs and burly bartenders) , add two Negronis and mix gently with the latest gossip – Voila! “Negroni Night”!

Cherry Negroni jam may just be the pick-me-up you need after such a soirée; spread on toast and butter with a restorative coffee it is just perfect.

Ingredients for 5-6 200ml jars

  • 1.0kgs de-stoned sour cherries ( buy 1.2 kgs)
  • 300g thinly sliced oranges (approx 1 large orange) A food processor is useful for this
  • 450ml water to boil the orange slices in
  • 1 .0 kg fructose (regular sugar also works fine)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 200ml bitters/ vermouth such as Cinzano Rosso or Ramazotti

How To

  • The night before, macerate the cherries in the fructose and refrigerate. A minimum of 8 hours is good. If time is short then bring to a low boil and switch the heat off – leave to macerate 2 hours. This allows the sugar to permeate the fruit and prevent “floating fruit” in the finished jam.
  • Boil the orange slices in the water with the lid on (you need that cooking liquid)
  • Day two: Combine all ingredients in your jam pan and bring the fruit to a boil starting at a low heat first.
  • Large bubble stage: Boil at a medium heat – the fructose has a lower melting point than regular sugar so it can burn on the bottom of the pan. At first it will froth and the pectin will create a scum – skim off as much of the scum as you can. Let it boil away because magical things are happening as well as some evaporation of liquids. Approx 30-40 mins
  • Small bubble stage: Boil at the highest heat until the bubbles are smaller and the jam has changed in appearance and looks “glassy” (in fact its refractive index has changed! as has it’s moisture content) Approx 10-15 mins
  • Test the jam for a soft set: on a plate in the freezer – remember this is a soft set jam.. If you have a jam thermometer , the jam should reach 102C (104-105C for a hard set)
  • Now add the bitters and turn down to the lowest setting. Cook for 2-3 minutes just so any harshness from the alcohol disappears.
  • Pot it into hot jars sterilised in a solution of bicarbonate of soda, the lids too.
  • Turn the jars upside down to sterilise the airspace or water bath them or process them in your dishwasher on the hottest setting – as you prefer.