Apple, Gruyere and Sage Muffins and a Childhood Soup

from Cannelle et Vanille by noreply@blogger.com (Cannelle Et Vanille)

When autumn and winter come around, I become even more nostalgic (is that even possible?) of certain smells and foods of my childhood. I remember clearly walking around my grandparents' garden puling fresh leeks right off the ground. We would take bunches and bunches home every Sunday. My dad's car smelled of leeks all winter long.



If there is one traditional soup in the Basque Country, it must be porrusalda or leek soup. It is peasant food and the soup all of us grew up eating. Believe it or not, I seem to have been a picky eater as a child. I do not remember much about it, but I often times hear it from my mom. "You despised vegetables", she tells me. Funny how life is. So my mom made sure to puree all soups for me to get me to eat as many vegetables as possible.

I have to admit that texture has stuck with me as I do love creamy and slightly chunky soups. When cooler weather comes around, I eat soup almost every single day.



I made this variation of porrusalda this week when the skies were dark and stormy. We were under a tropical storm warning for two days so we stayed in for the most part. A simple soup with leeks, garlic, potatoes and butternut squash. Slightly sweet so I decided to make some cheesy muffins to go with it.



I keep dreaming of my uncle's apple orchard where we spent so much time this late summer. Apple goodness everywhere. Eating them raw and preparing them in a million different ways.

I thought it would be great to have a savory kind of cake to go with the soup and I love the combination of apples, gruyere and sage. The muffins are moist, sweet and salty at the same time. Serve the soup with a little sour cream, black pepper and olive oil. Perfect comfort food.



Apple, Gruyere and Sage Muffins

makes 6 muffins plus a loaf

1 cup (150 grams) superfine brown rice flour
1/2 cup (75 grams)millet flour
2 Tbs (30 grams) potato starch
2 Tbs (20 grams) tapioca starch
1/3 cup (70 grams) cane sugar
1 tsp (8 grams) baking powder
1/2 tsp (3 grams) baking soda
1/2 tsp (5 grams) salt
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 Tbs fresh sage, finely chopped
1 cup (55 grams) shredded Gruyere
1 egg
1 cup (250 ml) buttermilk
1/4 cup (55 ml) olive oil
2 apples, peeled and small diced
Extra shredded Gruyere for topping

In a large bowl, whisk together the first 11 ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and olive oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined. Fold in the diced apples.

Scoop batter into molds. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes for the muffins and 40 minutes for the loaf.

Leek, Butternut Squash and Potato Soup

2 Tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup (1/2 leek), diced
2 cups butternut squash, diced
2 potatoes, diced
1 tsp salt
3 cups chicken stock (or water)
Black pepper
Sour cream, optional

In a medium pot, saute the leeks in the olive oil for about 2 minutes. Do not let them brown. Add the squash and potatoes and saute them for another minute. Add the chicken stock and salt. Bring it to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and cook them covered for about 20 minutes.

Puree the soup and taste it. Adjust seasoning if needed. Serve with cracked black pepper and sour cream.

Rebecca’s Table for Four – Part 1: Wine Actually, 100 wines 100 moments

from thenomadGourmand by rebeccasaw

Shaun Lee, of Wine Actually got me at ” I am a strong believer in marketing with a little bit of love, people and social media, & this campaign is probably just a direct manifestation of that” when I opened & read his email last month. A firm believer of the same principle, I was immediately supportive, & but I had to rack my brains for a way to “share ” this wine, since I generally avoid alcohol.

But I can stomach alcohol in food; as well as desserts so this provided the perfect opportunity to launch our monthly cookout idea that myself & cook-aholic friend Kevin has been discussing for months, but never got down to it.

I’ll let the video tell the story, it pretty sums up the whole evening.

White wine: sponsored by WineActually.com.
Sometimes chef: Kevin Tan.

Lucky diners: Rebecca Saw, Tian Chad, Keith Chong.

Honestly the video is pretty bad. Well, we did the best we could. Do watch it in expanded form (click the bottom lower right icon). It helps a lot.

Popout

Some pictures to save the day:

Tofu steamed with white wine…

…which was the Amuse Bouche.

The Butternut Pumpkin Risotto with white wine.

Pork tenderloin slightly season on the outside with pepper & herbs.

Which turned out beautifully pink & moist inside.

It was porky-licious with the caramelized onions & sauteed Dutch baby button mushrooms.

Slicing the pork tenderloin..

Dinner is served…

Nom noms!

Table for Four.

Sangria for dessert:

Concept: (as provided by Kevin)
g-RAPE-d tofu: Something that can showcase the extensive use of grapes, while maintaining the balance of flavors. Tofu can absorb any flavor, which works well with the multiple grapes- based liquids of the dish.

Pumpkin risotto: Standard risotto recipes have white wine as one of the ingredients, which was perfect to incorporate the white wine into. The choice of pumpkin risotto also shows progression from more grape (amuse bouche which used grapes juice & wine) to less grape (only wine in this dish) while maintaining the profile of using a lot of produce in the dish. Furthermore, the chicken stock which is generally classified as white stock gives the dish a hearty flavour, but not to overpower the white wine.

Pan-roasted Pork Loin: A white meat protein dish with more earthy flavors achieved using the light herb crust, and the mushroom ragout as the sauce. Kept the seasoning light as not to clash with the white wine, but rather to pair with the dish.

It was a fun dinner . We hope to do this every month! Any suggestions for the next Table for Four?

Note:

This is not a paid advertorial.
Objective is to help get the word out on WineActually & to humour a friend.
All expenses for the dinner is covered by Rebecca Saw except the bottle of white which was complimentary from WineActually.

PS: If you wish to join the next Rebecca’s Table for Four, drop me a comment & we may just choose you to join us. This little project is for fun & is based on both Kevin & my availability.