English Mushy Peas Hummus

English Mushy Peas - definition: "dried marrowfat peas which are first soaked overnight in water and then simmered with a little sugar and salt until they form a thick green lumpy soup. They are a traditional British accompaniment to fish and chips and sometimes mint is used as a flavouring. All over Britain, but particularly associated with Northern England they are commonly served as part of the popular snack of pie and peas (akin to the Australian pie floater, but with mushy peas instead of a thick pea soup) and are considered a part of traditional British cuisine. Mushy peas can also be bought in tinned cans. They are also sometimes served in batter as a pea fritter." (source: wikipedia)

Hummus- definition: (a transliteration of the Arabic: حمّص‎; also spelled hamos, hommos, hommus, homos, houmous, hummos, hummous, or humus) is a Levantine Arab dip or spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. It is a popular food throughout the Middle East and elsewhere. (source: wikipedia)

Today is Sunday. It's that time of the week when roast chicken tastes better than during  any other day. 

And because I went for Harry Eastwood's Best Roast Chicken Ever (free-range chicken pampered in wild mushrooms, chopped parsley, kaffir lime leaves & crushed garlic, among others), it was simply mind-blowing. The chicken turns out to be so amazing, that the author suggests that we should go for plain baby potatoes and a simple salade verte, "with almost no dressing" as a side dish, which is an ideal combination. But I had no salade verte under my roof and I had potatoes earlier in the week....so what could I do??? I decided to make the most of what I already had: a delicious-looking heap of organic sweet peas. 

I love peas any season. Fresh in summer, frozen during the rest of the year. But I love mushy peas even more.  To be honest, I love the word "mushy" so much that I'd cook mushy peas every day!  Sometimes we, non-native English speakers, cling to some (favourite) (buzz) words like crazy and we tend to overuse them ://

To me, mushy (as in  romantic, excessively sentimental) is a constant. So you have to bear with me...

Yet, in all seriousness and without being sentimental, I am giving you this delicious fusion side dish/dip inspired by my love for Middle Eastern cuisine and my craving to go back to London to have mushy peas *the original* :) in a quiet pub. 

English Mushy Peas Hummus

(perfect with roast chicken)

Type of cuisine: Fusion- British/Middle Eastern cuisines

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

500 gr fresh organic sweet peas

a handful of fresh mint leaves 

2 cloves of garlic

2 tsp of ground cumin

1 tbs of tahini paste

a tiny cup of low-fat single cream 

salt (to season)

lemon juice

Method

Boil the peas in mint for approx 25-30 minutes until they become soft, then drain the excess of water. Put the peas in a separate bowl with the cloves of garlic and blend them into a puree consistency. Add and mix the tahini paste, the single cream, ground cumin and the rest of the mint leaves. Season with salt and freshly squeezed lemon juice. 


Easy peasy (lemon squeezy)  :)

This dish/dip is indeed a cross between Northern European tradition and a staple of Middle Eastern cuisine, hummus. In this particular case, I cannot take sides and vote blindly for Middle Eastern (my favourite cuisine by far). When it's cold and grey, mushy peas with fish & chips seem the most natural option in that part of the world. However, a touch of sesame paste & cumin does wonders to this timeless classic. The unique taste will explode into your mouth literally. It is a great combination of ingredients and a pure example that fusion does work (and it is one of the most beautiful types of creative, original cuisines). 

It's so delicious it's already making a great impression for dinner parties with friends as well. :)

My Skinny Version of Aloo Mattar

I must confess that I haven't had chips, aka fries, in a very, very long time. Don't get me wrong, I adore potatoes, and especially new, baby potatoes, but the idea of immersing them in a bath of oil reminds me of the words of a respected Romanian doctor & dietician who once said: "fried potatoes are not...potatoes!" :// 

...so basically, I rarely fry potatoes, even though I love them so much that I'd give my kingdom for some golden crusted chips :)

A great way to cheat fries/chips is to boil them first and then to roast them in the oven in spices and seeds. I always make my Bombay potatoes in this barbaric fashion. 

Indian style potatoes are top on my list of sheer indulgences and the next dish is a new skinny take on a classic Punjabi culinary delight- 

Aloo Mattar (Potatoes with Green Peas)

This is one of the easiest dishes you can think of and it makes the most of the cheapest and most available ingredients of the season: baby potatoes and sweet peas. 

Type of cuisine: Indian/Punjabi/Vegetarian/Low-fat


Cooking time: 50 min (approx)

The Spices

(dry) curry leaves

1 cinnamon stick

freshly ground cinnamon

 mustard seeds

onion seeds

coriander seeds

cumin seeds

garam masala

turmeric

mild (or medium) curry powder

a small cube of peeled and diced ginger root

2-3 cloves of garlic

_________

1 peeled and diced ripe tomato

2 shots of green garlic

2 tbs of olive oil

Method

Boil the baby potatoes and the sweet peas separately in dry curry leaves and salty water. I use Camargue salt (fleur de sel) with crushed curry leaves. It's a great way to indirectly flavour and season Indian dishes.  Drain and set aside. 

In the meantime, skin and chop the tomato, dice the ginger & the garlic cloves, and crush the spices (onion seeds, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon).

Break the spices in a little olive oil: first fry the cinnamon stick, the garlic cloves and the ginger. Add the rest of the spices & cover. They tend to pop, stick to your hood and burn your skin (it's painful). :( Once they break and release their flavours, add the diced juicy tomato.

Place the potatoes in an oven-proof dish. Sprinkle some extra crushed curry leaves, turmeric, garam masala, cinnamon and curry powder and toss. Add the sweet peas and the mixture of spices, top with the green garlic shots and roast for 30 minutes in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius. 

tiny pea pod stranded on a potato island :)

As you may have noticed, for this recipe I didn't suggest any specific quantities regarding the spices, but generally, less is more. I believe it's better if they did't overpower the dish. Use your discretion, relish and sample, adjust the spices to your taste. 

A classic Aloo Mattar usually uses frozen peas and the potatoes are first fried in spices then simmered together with the peas, which makes it so much creamier. *thumbs up*

By using a different technique, I managed to cut down the middleman (i.e. compromise on the frying part) and keep the spices alive. After 30 minutes in the oven, the potatoes were deliciously crusty and the peas were simply .... sweet. 

If you ever feel like visiting Romania, a great place to tick would be the village of Horezu, in Co. Vilcea. Although I have never spent more than an hour in the town itself and I couldn't recommend any places to stay overnight or eat, I warmly recommend it for the great specialized shopping and the beautiful green nature. Horezu is famous in the area and in Romania for the quality of the pottery and the mastery of traditional crafts.

So on our way to western Europe, driving through Horezu proved to be a great opportunity to buy clay cooking pots for myself, my mother, and for some friends in Germany.  

Cooking in a covered clay pot is certainly healthier, tastier, and it brings us back to square one.  Ou sont les neiges d'antan?

source: primm.ro

source: http://0.tqn.com/d/goeasteurope/1/0/z/2/-/-/RomaniaHorezuPottery.jpg

Potage St. Germain with Strips of Chicken Marinated in Garlic & Coriander

It is a well known fact that, when under the weather, you feed a cold and you starve a fever. And rightly so, at least as far as feeding a cold is concerned. When it's cold outside and you have a cold, there is nothing better than a velvety chicken soup to tickle your sore throat and warm you up. 

Type of cuisine: French/European

Difficulty: easy peasy

Time: 10 minutes preparation time and 30 minutes cooking time

Traditionally, Potage St. Germain is made with the first fresh peas and lettuce of the season. Therefore, it heralds spring.  The site www.mahalo.com traces the history of this potage back to the time of Charlemagne, le roi des Francs.

"Charlemagne is credited with first bringing peas to France, but they were usually eaten dried. It was the Italians in the 14th century [...] who first grew “piselli novi”, “new little peas”, that were eaten fresh rather than dried. When Catherine de Medici married Henry II of France in 1533, fresh peas were [...] brought [...] to his court. [...] Within her lifetime France became known for “petit pois”. It wasn't long before someone thought of substituting the new green peas for the dried ones, and Potage St. Germain was born."

my version of Potage St. Germain

Since it was right after NYE and I hadn't seen the inside of a supermarket for a week or so, I made this soup with what I found in the cupboard/fridge/freezer. 

Here we go.

From the cupboard: garlic, onions, coriander, a handful of green lentils, a cube of chicken stock. 

From the fridge: 2 carrots, 1 pepper, a celery root (just a slice, for the flavour), parsley, and some cream

From the freezer: frozen peas and chicken breast (you'll only need a half)

Method

Fillet the chicken in very thin slices, Asian style. In a mortar and pestle crush the coriander seeds and the garlic. Mix and let it rest.

If there are any fatty bits, remove them and boil with more 2 slices of chicken breast to make your own chicken stock. Add the parsley for more flavour. 

Fill a pot with water and boil the vegetables.

When the vegetables are soft, remove them. Keep the peas. Sift the vegetable soup in a different pot. Add the natural chicken stock and dissolve the cube in this thin, clear broth. (Yes, the taste will be divine)

Mash half of the peas with the vertical blender or in the food processor. The rest of the peas will be added towards the end.

Now it's time to add the chicken to cook for 15 minutes or so. Add the mashed peas (and mix slowly) and then the rest of the peas. 

Before serving, add a spoon of single cream to make the soup smoother and softer.

chicken, green lentils, sweet peas

Mop it with a fresh baguette. And a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice will certainly chase the cold away. 

As a matter of fact, according to www.dukehealth.org, the expression "feed a cold, starve a fever is one of the many pearls of wisdom passed down through the ages by our well-intentioned but unscientific mothers." [...] "The rationale behind “feed a cold, starve a fever” may have been that eating food and drinking tonic helped the body generate warmth during a cold, while laying off the calories helped temper the inner heat during a fever."

chicken islets floating in a green sea

No matter where the truth lies, somewhere between myth and truth, there is no denying that this traditional French sweet soup is good both for the body and the soul.