Parsnip Apple Puree or Soup

 

Parsnip Apple Puree or Soup

2 shallots chopped and sautéed (or half an onion)
1 tablespoon olive oil to sauté
1 pound parsnips peeled and chopped medium
4 cups spring water or chicken stock
2 honey crisp apples peeled, cored, and chopped medium
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground ginger
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream or milk if you prefer
salt and pepper to taste (I used white pepper)

Sauté shallots in olive oil, add parsnips and spring water or stock and cook till soft. Next add apples and cook till soft. Then add herbs and spices and cream to the consistency you desire. When slightly cool, mix in a blender till smooth. If you haven't tried parsnips you're missing out. Not only are they good for you but they are very tasty with a nutty flavor. And just look at the beautiful creamy color. I made the mixture thick because I have a plan. If you want soup just add more stock or water. Stay tuned.

Ajvar Finally Completed

Ajvar Finally Completed

If I was selling the ajvar condiment
it would have to be more than $50 a jar.
I'm not sure I'd be ahead, even to pay myself a meager salary.

Here I'm grilling and blistering the peppers on a mini weber.
Just enough room for all of them.
I used apple wood chips for flavor.
At first the lid of the grill would barely fit over.
But as they smoked they lost some girth.

Here are the grilled and  blistered peppers and eggplant.
I had grilled and blistered the eggplant separately.

Took some time to peel the skins and remove the seeds
As I said in my previous post, this is an all day project.

Here I'm cooking the peppers and eggplant.
I added minced garlic, salt, a bit of sugar, and some vinegar.
My whole house had the fragrance of the smoky peppers.
Of course I had to do a taste test.
Oh my, a days work but so worth it.
Stay tuned for how I use the ajvar condiment.
Some use it as a dip, or on bread, perhaps on meat.
Would be good no matter what.
Definitely a labor of love.

Macedonian Ajvar

 

Macedonian Ajvar

Ajvar (eye-var) is a Balkan peninsula roasted pepper delicacy.

A special local pepper, cow horn, is seared over an open flame,

peeled then cooked along with seared eggplant.

Sometimes other ingredients like garlic and hot peppers are added.
After the peppers and eggplant are seared they are placed in an
 air tight container to steam enabling the skins removed more easily.
I'm using bell peppers since the official peppers aren't available.

You might ask, why am I making this pepper condiment?
I came across a recipe with buckwheat ravioli
which was served with this pepper condiment.
Buckwheat, despite its name, is not a wheat and is gluten free.
This in turn led me on this wild culinary goose chase.
Today I'll be charring the peppers and eggplant on a
mini table top weber out of doors.
Of course high winds are predicted for today.

Be prepared to spend just about all day long on this recipe.
 Stay tuned, more photos and hopefully some good results tomorrow.

Double, Double Toil and Trouble

Song of the Witches Brew
William Shakespeare, from Macbeth

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the caldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt and toe of frog,

Wool of bat and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,

Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Cool it with a baboon's blood,

Then the charm is firm and good.

Meant to publish this on Halloween but it passed me by.