flashfried

Ingredient of the day #12

mondojergens:

Tomatoes!

Health benefits of eating tomatoes:

• reduces cholesterol and protects your heart
• a single tomato can provide about 40% of daily vitamin C requirement. Vitamin C is a natural antioxidant which acts against cancer-causing free radicals. Also full of vitamin A, which improves vision, vitamin K which is essential in blood clotting and controls bleeding and potassium as well as iron. Potassium helps maintaining nerve health and iron is essential for maintaining normal blood health.
• coumaric acid and chlorogenic acid in tomatoes fight against nitrosamines which are produced in the body and are the main carcinogens found in cigarette smoke.
• keeps the digestive system healthy by preventing both constipation and diarrhoea.
• reduces the risk of developing hypertension.
• aids in maintaining healthy teeth, bones, hair and skin.
• prevents and can also dissolve gallstones.

Recipe!
Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup

Adapted from Tyler Florence

You will need:

• 2 1/2 pounds of tomatoes, mix and match whichever you like!
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 yellow onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 qt chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 tbs butter
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

First, preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Cut the tomatoes into halves as uniform as you can. Then spread the tomatoes garlic cloves and onions onto a baking tray and drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, or until caramelized.

Once that’s done, move the whole thing into a large stock pot and add 3/4 of the chicken stock, bay leaves, and butter. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the liquid reduces a bit.

Next you wanna get rid of the bay leaves and blend the whole thing until smooth. You can use a blender, food processor or an immersion blender if you have one — I don’t :( Move the soup back to the pot to low heat, add cream until its the consistency of your liking, if it get too thick you can thin it out with the rest of the chicken stock. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper!

Goes great with a grilled cheese sandwich :3

ENJOY!

What have poppadums ever done for us?

Bran and I went out for a dirty cuzza the other night. It wasn’t just any old curry house, it was the Sundarban Tandoori in Greenford, which might not sound like a very auspicious location to visit - and it isn’t - but it does happen to play host to the finest Anglo-Indian dining in North London, period. I will wax lyrical about this fantastic place in another post (I didn’t have my camera on me).

Anyhoos, it got me to thinking: what good are poppadums exactly? I mean, aren’t they just big crisps? I ask this because Bran had about four of the feckers, complete with the usual attendant pickles and sauces, and, although I have been quite partial to the odd spoonful of lime pickle in my time, I saw no need to load up on pre-carbs before we moved on to classics like prawn puri which comes on bread, not to mention the nan sides.

Of course, Bran was full up by the time the mains came, which he always is to be fair, and i cannot carp, being the main beneficiary of his useless staying power at the table. But I can’t help thinking that if we just eschewed the poppadums altogether, and moved straight on to the reason we actually came to the place, viz the amazing curries, he might have enjoyed the experience that bit more.

To wit: poppadums are vacuous, bland, uninspiring filler-food. Try passing on them next time you order, and notice how much more of the real stuff you want to try instead. Oh, unless they happen to look like the version snapped below, which is how they came in Rasa on Stoke Newington Church Street. They were quite cool.