Comfort-food Cornbread

I'm taking a cooking course. I go weekly, at least, or whenever I possibly can. I experiment, learn as I go and let food – and cravings – be my guide. The curriculum involves inspiration from fellow bloggers and challenges from cookbooks and food magazines, one in particular being Taste Magazine. The visuals in Taste are always beautiful, the products seasonal and luxurious. And, while I regularly feel intimidated by the sheer craftsmanship of the recipes, the results are consistently delicious. And the more I test and challenge myself, the more accomplished I become.

Mariana Esterhuizen, owner of her self-titled restaurant in Stanford, is one of my teachers. Her columns offer reliable, South African comfort food with a story. Her cornbread in a skillet (Jan/Feb issue 2011) went superbly with a spicy tomato soup – great for the upcoming chilly winter. But I can imagine it will be just as good a side with a summer braai.

Ingredients:

• Butter for greasing
• 1 cup maize meal/polenta
• 1 cup cake flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 cup sweet corn kernels
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup diced green pepper (I used yellow)
• 4 Tsbp chopped coriander (I couldn't find any fresh, so used fresh parsley)
• 3 large, free-range eggs
• 1 cup yoghurt/buttermilk (I used yoghurt)
• 3 Tsbp olive oil

How to make:

Preheat the oven to 180'C. Grease a (large) cast-iron skillet, with an ovenproof handle, very well with the butter. Sift the maize meal/polenta, cake flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the vegetables and coriander and stir into the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs lightly in a jug, then stir in the yoghurt and olive oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the mixing bowl and stir until combined. Pour into the greased skillet and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the top has browned and it feels firm. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing straight from the skillet.

Phyllo Onion Tartlets

I find translucent onion bathing in a hot pan of butter immediately awakens my senses – and appetite! The smell is incredibly evocative for me. It was the basis of so many delicious comfort foods when I was growing up, from Bubble & Squeak* on the weekends, to a wholesome vegetable soup or savoury mince for bobotie**.

On Saturday's City Bowl Market, I picked up an enormous bag of shallots. Inspired by a delicious-looking onion tart in the Eat-In magazine, I got to work caramelising the finely chopped shallots. When they were almost ready, I made a blue-cheese roux, which I poured over the softened onions in individual Le Creuset ramekins. Topped with a few layers of butter-kissed phyllo and baked until golden in the oven, the results are rich, layered flavours, and a combination of creamy cheese, sweet onion and crackling phyllo.

Ingredients:
Makes 4

• 100g butter
• 2 tsp sunflower oil
• 15 - 20 shallots (depending on size), finely sliced
• Half a glass of white wine
• 1 tbsp thyme
• 2 tbsp sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbsp flour
• 100g blue cheese
• salt & pepper to taste
• phyllo pastry
   

How to make:
On a medium heat, melt about a tablespoon of butter with the sunflower/canola oil in a pot on the stove. Once it's begun to smoke, add the onions and allow to sweat for about 10 minutes. When the onions begin to stick, pour in the white wine and deglaze, allowing them to simmer and soften in the wine for approximately another 10 to 15 minutes. Once the wine has evaporated, add the sugar, pinch of salt and thyme stirring well. Turn the heat to low, stirring occasionally. The longer the onions cook, the softer and sweeter they become. At this point, turn the oven on to 180ºC.

After the onions have been cooking for about 45 minutes, begin the cheese sauce. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a small pan on medium heat. With a wooden spoon, vigorously stir in the flour to form a paste. Turning the heat down a little, add the milk, little by little, stirring well after each addition to avoid lumps. Crumble the blue cheese in and continue to stir until it's melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Grease the the top edges of the ramekins with butter/cooking spray so that the phyllo comes away easily when you're eating the tartlets. Fill the ramekins with the onion mixture and pour the cheese sauce over the top. Unroll two to three sheets of phyllo. Following the instructions on the packaging, keep the phyllo moist so it's manageable as you cut it in half and then quarters. Drape, fold and tuck one of the quarter sheets in each ramekin on top of the onion-sauce mixture. Melt the remaining butter and gently brush each crumpled sheet (it's more like a dabbing action so as not to tear the phyllo), before repeating on the remaining layer(s). Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the phyllo is golden and crispy.

Serve warm from the oven with a glass of buttery wooded Chardonnay or Pinot Noir to compliment the tartlets' richness.

* Traditionally a British meal made of leftover vegetables, predominantly potatoes so it's a bit like one big rosti.
** A South African, traditionally Cape Malay, dish of curried mince meat baked with an egg-based topping.

Roast Tomato Soup

Something magical happens to ingredients in the oven as you roast them. Take the fiery, overpowering, pungent raw garlic clove that becomes sweet and yielding and caramelised after half an hour at a high heat. I adore how a tart, taught tomato relaxes and oozes when roasted, yielding a rich, full flavour.

This is a simple, rewarding soup that makes use of key flavours, gently roasted and blended, allowing the ingredients to do the work. It's a great basic: add chilli or bacon, lentils or onions.

Ingredients:

• 10-12 ripe tomatoes, halved with the seeds removed
• 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves (more/less depending on your garlic preference)
• 3 Tbsp thyme
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt & pepper
• 2 cups stock
  

How to make:

Preheat the oven to 200ºC while you prepare the ingredients. In a roasting dish or pan, place the halved tomatoes and garlic cloves. Coat liberally and toss with the olive oil. Sprinkle the tomatoes with sugar, torn thyme and salt, setting a sprig or two of thyme aside for garnish. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes until soft. Blend briefly if you want some texture, or longer if you prefer a smooth consistency, with a half to a cup of stock to liquify. Heat through with remaining stock on the stove top, adjust the seasoning and serve.

Easy Home-made Asparagus Soup

I was a very obedient and unfussy eater as a child (which is probably why I fastidiously finish all the food on my plate now). There was nothing that I wouldn't try or wouldn't eat, and my meals were always well balanced. My Mum was great on colour and presentation – making sure there were different colours on the plate (literally choosing carrots instead of peas to offset the green marrows), and occasionally shaping everything into a pattern or face. Despite that, I don't think I had a very adventurous childhood menu.

"Cold meats and salads" was a frequent weekend feature in musky Natal, and tinned asparagus was often on the menu. I loved their neutral, slightly salty taste and melt-in-your-mouth spongy texture, and used to count out the spears onto the plates so we all got a fair number. It wasn't until I was older that I tasted fresh, firm-but-yielding steamed asparagus.

And I'm a big fan. They are, for me, quintessentially foodie produce. Like artichokes. Why? Because they're a meal on their own. Because of their gourmet appearance. Because of their earthy green colour which is begging to be painted. Because of their simple flavour which responds so well to simplicity. Because they're seasonal and look so beautiful in a market basket. Because, maybe, I thought for so long they grew, colourless cream, in tins of brine not in the ground until I tasted a fresh one and toyed with their potential.

So here's an asparagus soup recipe I experimented with recently. (In South Africa, asparagus is officially out of season during our autumn, and back in June - the perfect, chilly time for soup!) I haven't used flour much in soups – I make a lot of tomato-based soups, fill the pot with veg, or purree the ingredients, so the thickness isn't a concern. But I wanted to make a creamy soup quickly and simply, with ingredients I had in my fridge and cupboard and, ideally for a "healthy" weeknight meal, without actual cream!

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp canola/grape seed oil
• 2 bunches/punnets of asparagus
• 1 white onion, finally chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 4 cups stock
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp butter
• Approx half a cup of milk
• 1 - 2 heaped tbsp smooth, plain cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

How to make:

Snap off the woody ends of the asparagus, chop them in half and set aside. Saute and soften the onions in the oil, then add the garlic and, as it gets fragrant, add the asparagus. Allow to sweat for about 10 minutes with the onion and garlic. Add the stock and allow to simmer until asparagus is cooked. Remove from heat.

In the meantime, on a low heat, melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour. It will go dryish, so add a few teaspoons of the stock from the simmering soup and stir vigorously till it becomes a gluey mixture. Pour some milk in slowly (about 2 tbsp) and continue to stir vigorously to keep the mixture smooth and elastic. Stir in the cottage cheese. Alternately add liquid – a little stock, then a little milk - to the roux (white sauce) until you have a creamy consistency. Melt the cheese into the sauce, reserving a little aside for garnish.

Keeping aside a few spear tips for garnish, blend the asparagus and remaining stock in a blender and add to the roux. Stir to combine and allow to simmer together for about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with fresh ground black pepper, a sprinkle or Parmesan and an asparagus spear floating on top.

Gardner's tip:

Tomatoes and asparagus have amazing synergy - and not just on the plate! The asparagus roots exude a chemical that kills many of the nematodes (round worms) that either feed off tomato roots or carry disease to the plant. And tomatoes repel asparagus beetles, so the one is beneficial to the other.