Bramboracka – Czech Recipe – Potato Soup with Mushrooms and Sausage

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Ingredients:

  • 3 Czech sausages
  • 5 large potatoes
  • 1 large onion
  • 4 medium carrots
  • 3 celery stalks
  • 500 g portobello mushrooms
  • 1/2 red bell pepper
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 2 tablespoons marjoram
  • salt and pepper to taste

Preparation method:

  1. Slice the sausages into 1 cm thick pieces.
  2. Cut the potatoes into small cubes.
  3. Chop the onion.
  4. Slice the mushrooms.
  5. Slice the carrots.
  6. Slice the celery stalks.
  7. Slice the red bell pepper.
  8. Crush the garlic cloves in a mortar and pestle together with the marjoram.
  9. In a large stock pot or dutch oven, add the onion and polish sausage and cook on medium for 8-10 minutes.
  10. Add the cubed carrots, celery and parsnips and cook for 5 minutes more, stirring often.
  11. The juice of the vegetables and the polish sausage should be enough to keep them from sticking, but if necessary, add 1-2 Tbsp of butter.
  12. Then add the mushrooms, water, caraway seeds and bay leaves and cover.
  13. Cook for 30 minutes. Serve hot.
  14. Melt the butter in a large pan, add 2 tablespoons of flour and whisk until lightly browned.
  15. Add one cup of cold water and whisk until flour makes a thick paste.
  16. Add this flour mixture to the soup, stir well and cook for another few minutes.
  17. Serve hot.

Roasted Lemon-Black Salsify – Belgian Recipe

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Ingredients (2 servings):

  • 500 g fresh salsify roots
  • 1 lemon
  • 100 ml dry white wine
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 bunch of parsley leaves chopped
  • 25 g butter
  • pepper and salt to taste

Preparation method:

  1. Rinse and brush the salsify because the roots can be very sandy and dirty.
  2. Peel the salsify roots using a vegetable peeler.
  3. Squeeze the juice of half lemon in a bowl with cold water.
  4. Add immediately the peeled salsify in this lemony water to avoid their oxidation, that would turn them yellow.
  5. Cut the salsify into 5 cm pieces.
  6. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the salsify pieces, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  7. Stir fry over high heat for about 5 minutes.
  8. Add the rest of the lemon juice and white wine and cook until most of the liquid is evaporated.
  9. Transfer the salsify to an ovenproof dish, season with some more freshly ground black pepper. Add some knobs of butter over the salsify.
  10. Roast the salsify in a preheated oven at 200°C for 40 minutes until golden brown and softened.
  11. Chop the parsley leaves.
  12. Add the roasted salsify in a bowl with the chopped parsley leaves and the juices from the roasting pan. Toss them around a bit.
  13. Serve them hot.

Arroz Negro – Spanish Black Squid Ink Rice Recipe

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Ingredients (4 servings):

  • 1 can squid in its ink
  • 200 g short grain rice
  • 1 litre hot fish stock
  • a few large prawns
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 onion
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon sweet pimenton (Spanish smoked paprika)
  • 4-6 tablespoons canned chopped tomatoes
  • a few tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 stalk green garlic (or green onion)
  • a handful of Spanish fried almonds

 

Preparation method:

  1. Chop the red pepper.
  2. Chop the onion.
  3. Chop the garlic.
  4. Slice the green part of the green garlic.
  5. Heat the olive oil and fry the chopped onions and peppers, over medium-low heat, for about 10 minutes until caramelised.
  6. Add the garlic and the pimenton, fry for another minute, stirring.
  7. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes.
  8. Add the rice, and stir to coat with the pan’s content for a few minutes.
  9. Add the fish stock and the canned squid with its ink.
  10. Cook, stirring from time to time, over low heat until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked, for about 20-30 minutes.
  11. Meanwhile, cook the prawns in a different pot in salted water for a few minutes.
  12. Serve the arroz negro, while hot, topped with cooked prawns, green onion slices and a few Spanish fried almonds.