• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MsMarmiteLover

  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegan
  • Travel
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Wine
  • Gardens
  • Supperclubs
  • About
    • Press
    • Books
  • Shop
    • Cart

Recipes for a heatwave

August 6, 2018 1 Comment Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

salmorejo Soup recipe pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover.com
Ingredients for Salmorejo

The last thing anyone wants to do right now is cook.

I’m living on slices of melon, olives, crisps and a serious amount of gin and tonic. Other no-cook options include salads, ceviche (fish ‘cooked’ by lime), and bright raw vegetables. But your best friend in the kitchen during a heatwave is your blender.

The blender will conjure up dips, fruit drinks and chilled soups – no need to approach the stove. A cold vegetable soup might not sound appetising but Spanish flavours are just what you need in this heat. I can glug gazpacho by the jug during hot weather. Plus it’s an effortless way of achieving your five-a-day.

From Madrid comes Salmorejo, very similar to gazpacho, but using bread. It’s a light pink colour and served in a bowl, whereas the darker-hued gazpacho tends to be served in a glass.

In my recipe I added a few drops of ‘liquid smoke’ for a hint of BBQ. Ideally you’d use cold smoked tomatoes, which, using gadgets like Heston’s gun smoker, aren’t difficult to make.

Finally, you can also do as the Greeks do: cook in the evening and save it for the next day’s lunch. This recipe for Mexican black bean soup, which works just as well in summer as in winter, rather like a cup of tea cools you down when it’s hot. Make it the night before and heat it up the next day.

Salmorejo Soup recipe

To turn this into Gazpacho, add skinned green and red peppers (roasted if you wish), cucumber, and either remove the bread or use one slice.

Serves 4

8 large very ripe tomatoes, chopped roughly
3/4 slices of stale baguette
2 cloves garlic
1tsp sweet smoked paprika
750ml approximately of freshly boiled water
200ml extra virgin olive oil
1tbsp Sherry vinegar
1tbsp sea salt
A few drops of liquid smoke (optional)

Garnish:
Fresh basil leaves

Put the tomatoes, bread, garlic and paprika into a large heat proof bowl. Cover with hot water and leave to soak.
Place into a blender along with the other ingredients and blend.
Leave to chill in the fridge and serve cold with fresh basil and a glass of fino sherry.

Crudités with Green Goddess dip

Here your job is to cut up the vegetables in an attractive way, and get the blender out again for the dip. The joy is in the crunch of the sweet raw vegetables and the soft savouriness of the dip. Choose a variety of rainbow colours: radishes, carrots, peppers, also baby sweetcorn, mange tout, celery sticks. I like to leave some of the leaves on the radishes and carrots for a fresh garden look.

Green Goddess dip

Use whatever green soft herbs you have.
One large ripe avocado
A small bunch of fresh chives
A bunch of fresh basil leaves
A small bunch of tarragon (optional)
A small bunch of dill (optional)
A small bunch of parsley(optional)
50ml natural thick yoghurt or kefir
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove of garlic
1tsp sea salt (or more to taste)
50ml olive oil
Put all the ingredients into a blender except for the olive oil. Once blended, add the olive oil gradually while the blender is running. 

Mexican Black Bean Soup recipe

This recipe does require stove time – best to make in the evening and reheat the next day. The mild spiciness will cool you down.
Serves 6

250g black turtle beans
1 poblano pepper
2 -3 avocado leaves
Mexican epazote
1tbsp sea salt
Olive oil
2 brown onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
250g tomatoes, chopped
3 tbsp coarse cornmeal
2L vegetable stock

Garnish:
1/2 cucumber, diced
1 avocado, diced
A small handful of fresh coriander leaves
Juice of 1 lime,
Avocado oil

Soak the beans overnight. Cover with water, adding the poblano, avocado leaves and epazote, and cook on a low heat for an hour or two until the beans are soft but not crumbling.
After the first hour, add salt.
Meanwhile in a deep frying pan, soften the onions in the olive oil until pale gold.
Add the garlic, tomatoes and simmer for ten minutes.
Scoop out half the bean mixture and whizz up in a blender and return to the stockpot.
Transfer the fried onions and tomatoes to the stock pot with the beans.
Add the cornmeal and the vegetable stock. Cook for half an hour or more.

Serve topped with the garnish.

Accompany with corn tortillas.

Mexican Black Bean Soup recipe pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover.com

Recent posts

tofu pic: Kerstin rodgers/msmarmitelover.com

Tofu recipes for the unconvinced

January 10, 2021

Food and drink books 2020 pic: Kerstin rodgers/msmarmitelover.com

Pick of the food and garden books 2020

December 6, 2020

A Christmas shopping wish list

November 30, 2020

Previous Post: « How to survive being fat: the bariatric surgery interview
Next Post: Here’s Jonny’s… vegan cheese! »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Pasta Bites

    August 8, 2018 at 2:22 pm

    I love salmorejo,. but that green goddess dip looks fabulous!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

Subscribe to my mailing list

msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
On the heath on Sunday. Must. Walk. More. #coronal On the heath on Sunday. Must. Walk. More. #coronaloner
Tonight’s lockdown dinner with my bubble. Proper Tonight’s lockdown dinner with my bubble. Proper pesto alla genovese with trofie, small boiled salad potatoes, steamed green beans (good tip: steam the beans in a colander plopped on top of the potatoes or pasta), good quality pesto sauce ( mine from local microbakery @seansloaf ), good olive oil (@pomoragoodfood), torn fresh basil, a few pine nuts. This turns this student dish into a balanced meal of carbs, veg and a little protein.  It’s cold outside, I’ve lit the fire. Covid rages in Kilburn high road in north west london. The rate is 1 in 30 london wide but I feel it’s higher in this poor inner london area. We have a high BAME population who are particularly vulnerable. It’s a little bit anarchic on my high street: cars perched on kerbs waiting for hijabi women, braving pound shops and Aldi . We are all covered up now. In winter masks keep your face warm, but you have a choice between safety and being able to see. I’ve not managed to prevent the inevitable steaming up of my glasses when wearing a mask. Nothing works.  #january #londonwinter #pestopasta #pestoallagenovese #vegetarian #pasta #trofie #supperclub #covid_19 #lockdownlife #lockdown3 #bubblegang
Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Mi Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Minus Crown and king as I cannot find either. This one is made with Tonka bean. Plus homemade puff pastry (well worth the effort). According to ike delorenzo at The Atlantic:  The tonka bean, a flat, wrinkled legume from South America with an outsize flavor that the US government has declared illegal. Nonetheless, it proliferates on elite American menus. The tiniest shavings erupt in a Broceliande of transporting, mystical aromas.
The taste of the tonka bean is linked strongly to its scent. "Scents," I should say, as the tonka bean has many at once. I register the aromas of vanilla, cherry, almond, and something spicy—a bit like cinnamon. When served cold—say, in tonka bean ice cream—the taste is like a vanilla caramel with dark honey. When warm, perhaps shaved over scallops, it moves toward spiced vanilla. Additionally, the aroma of the tonka bean shavings (it's almost always shaved) is so affecting that it seems like an actual taste in the way that opium, which has no taste in the traditional sense, "tastes" like its rich, flowery smoke.  Here is the recipe: 

Tonka bean galette des rois

Serves 8
Ingredients
* 140 g caster sugar
* 125 g salted butter, softened
* 100 g ground almonds
* 2 eggs, medium
* 1 tonka bean, grated
* 2 packs ready made butter puff pastry on a roll
* 1 yolk for brushing the pastry
Instructions
* Preheat your oven to 200c.

* Blend the butter with the sugar then add the almonds. Make sure it’s well mixed. Add in the 2 eggs one at a time, then add the tonka bean.

* If using a block: divide the puff pastry into two and roll out to 5mm thick. 
* Make two circles about 15 cm’s each in diameter. Lay one circle on a silicone mat/parchment paper on a baking tray and fill with the almond cream leaving a 3 cm border around the edge. 
* Paint the border with the egg yolk. Then lay the other circle on top, sealing the edges with a fork. 
* You could then carve designs into the top. Make a little slit in the middle to let steam escape then brush the top with the egg yolk
Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. T Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. This is a vegan version. ***

Ingredients:
- 400 g box of soft tofu not silken
- 5 soaked dried shiitake mushrooms, diced, keep water
- 1 red bell pepper, finely sliced
- 400 g fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced thinly
- 400 ml vegetable stock
- 1 thumb fresh ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 tbsps groundnut or vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp fermented bean paste
- 1 or 2 small red chillies, minced or a spoonful of Chinese chilli paste
- 1 tsp heaped sichuan peppercorns, finely ground
- 2 tbsps soy or tamari sauce
- 2 tbsp cornflour in 3 tbsps water, mixed into a slurry
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced
- large pinch fresh coriander leaves

Prepare the tofu by cutting it into one inch cubes and soaking it in hot but not boiling salted water. Drain after 15 minutes.
Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms, covering them in boiling water. Leave until soft, then dice the mushrooms. Retain the mushroom soaking water and add to the vegetable stock water.
Prepare the other ingredients so they are ready to stir-fry: red bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, ginger, garlic.

Using a wok or deep frying pan, add the oil and heat to frying temperature. Add the bell peppers,fry for a couple of minutes, then add fermented bean paste, chilli paste or chillies, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sichuan pepper.
Add the mushroom/vegetable broth and simmer on high for a couple of minutes.
Carefully add the cubes of tofu, taking care not to break them too much.
Add the cornflour slurry, stirring for a couple of minutes.
Serve with rice or noodles, garnishing with spring onions or chives and or coriander leaves.  #veganuary #mapotofu #sichuanfood #tofu  #shitakemushrooms #supperclub #londonchef #msmarmitelover #ham&highcolumn #eatplants #lockdown3 #selfisolation #coronaloner #cooking #recipe #cookingfromscratch
Macaroni cheese with odds and sods from the Christ Macaroni cheese with odds and sods from the Christmas leftover cheese board. I’ve used @paxtonscheese truffled brillat-savarin and a mystery hard cheese that’s lost its label. Plus cream and topped it with samphire fried in butter. Haven’t bothered with making a roux- this is the lockdown lazy version.  #lockdownlazy #lockdown3 #supperclub #macandcheese #macaronicheese #truffledcheese #leftovers #leftovercheeseboard #londonlockdown #breakfast #coronaloner
Another thing the Japanese are brilliant at is san Another thing the Japanese are brilliant at is sandwiches. They use the softest, whitest, fluffiest bread. Their mayonnaise kewpie is gorgeous I don’t know why. Perhaps someone here can explain? Here I’ve used sourdough as it’s what I have; kosho which is a Yuzu citrus and green chilli condiment and the aforesaid kewpie Mayo to make an egg 🥚 sandwich.  I’m not a big egg fan but I suddenly had the urge. Also I’ve noticed when I eat eggs it satiates my hunger for hours. All that protein.  #sandwich #sandwiches #japanesesandwich #kewpiemayo #kosho #eggsandwich #sourdough #supperclub #cookingforone #solo #londonlife #lockdownlondon #recipe #snack #sundaysnack #sando
Agedashi tofu for New Year’s Day. With a vegan d Agedashi tofu for New Year’s Day. With a vegan dashi stock, it’s perfect for veganuary. How to make dashi: put a piece of kombu seaweed in water. Soak for half an hour then simmer for half an hour (don’t let it boil). Then mix 2 cups of dashi with 2 tbsps of mirin and 2 of soy sauce.  For the tofu: press soft tofu with weights for half an hour, then cut into cubes. Dust all over with cornflour.  Then deep fry the tofu cubes in 180C veg oil until they float. Set aside to drain, then place say 3 cubes in small bowl. Pour the sauce around and top with spring onion and daikon and togarashi 7 spice.  #easypeasyvegan #veganuary #agedashitofu #tofu #japaneseveganrecipe #newyearsday #freshstart #supperclub #londonsupperclub #msmarmitelover #visforvegan #recipe
Writing about tofu which I think has an unfair rep Writing about tofu which I think has an unfair reputation in this country. It’s so flexible and is a brilliant flavour sponge. Here I’m preparing my soft tofu for a Japanese dish: agedashi tofu. I first pressed it in a clean tea towel with a weight on top to firm it up a bit but not too much. Then I dusted it with cornflour and I will deep fry it in oil. Then I will serve it in a broth of dashi/mirin and tamari sauce, sprinkled with finely chopped spring onions and togarashi pepper from Japan. I would usually add some finely mandolined daikon radish but couldn’t find any. It’s a subtle dish of texture: soft yet crispy. After Christmas I’m desperate for light zingy fresh flavoured food. #supperclub #tofu #vegan #vegetarian #agedashitofu #newyearsday #cookingagain #lunch #asian #japanesefood
Happy new year from my bubble to yours! Keep holdi Happy new year from my bubble to yours! Keep holding on...
#happynewyear #happynewyear2021 #supperclub #hootenanny
Some of my Christmas food 🥘 lots of veg includi Some of my Christmas food 🥘 lots of veg including mashed swede with cheese and butter. I put pomegranate seeds with my sprouts, and cooked my carrots in marmalade ( worked v well), the mushroom wreath fell apart as I was transferring it to a tray 😤, roast potatoes and parsnips, then a cheese spread with fruit nuts, quince cheese (homemade), Chocs @lindtuk 😍 @guylian_uk @disaronno_official @baileysofficial @taylorsportwine and Brazil nuts. Plus a pavlova wreath ready to be topped with whipped cream and persimmons. 
#christmasdinner #vegetarianchristmas #vegetarianchristmasdinner #supperclub #londonchristmas #liqueurs #christmasspread #grazing #cheeseboard #port #pavlova
Christmas has started! Home-cured smoked beetroot Christmas has started!  Home-cured smoked beetroot and aquavit salmon with homemade blinis, creme fraiche, dill, Prosecco.  The fire is lit 🔥, the tree is up, 🎄the presents 🎁 are wrapped, we have a #brexit deal- a Christmas miracle. Peace and harmony. #christmas #christmasinengland #homemade #christmaseve #blinis #smokedsalmon #prosecco🍾 #londonchristmas
Done some doorscaping, the latest trend in Christm Done some doorscaping, the latest trend in Christmas decorating. It might also cheer up passersby. #christmas #christmasdecor #doorscaping #doorsofinstagram #londonchristmas #doorwreath #doordecor #doorsoftheworld #doordecoration #exteriors #london #supperclub #covidchristmas
Look at my gorgeous Nordic pine Christmas tree 🎄 from @pinesandneedles with some family ornaments and beautiful foodie ornaments from @gisela_graham  it’s 7 foot high and no drop. My parents brought over the candle lights. I’ve also used paper ornaments (apples and pears cut from maps) from @dionne_leonard which I first commissioned for a supper club.  #christmas #christmastree #christmasdecor #foodiedecorations #glassbaubles #supperclub #christmasinlondon
More #fbmarketplacefinds I find meeting the seller More #fbmarketplacefinds I find meeting the sellers interesting. It’s often about moving on whether through death, a change of circumstances, moving country, loss of a job. Today I visited a gorgeously renovated Edwardian house where the owners, an antique dealer & a master decorator had died with 18 months of each other of cancer.  The sister was there emptying the house, an incredibly painful experience. The husband who died was an expert in putting up lincrusta wallpaper which I’ve pictured here. All that craftsmanship and knowledge lost now.  The piece I got on Sunday, the teal chinoiserie cabinet, was from a Spanish guy returning to Spain. He’d lost his job as a hotel manager, the hotel, a big one, has now closed. The marble coffee table and arepas grill was from a Spanish couple who’d had a restaurant here for 40 years. They are now returning to Spain. Other slides: green Edwardian fireplace tiles, William Morris wallpaper, 2 small scalloped coffee tables, a knife and fork cutlery hook set.  A fireplace for my bedroom if I can find someone to put it in. #lockdownstories #covidstories #movingon #decor #interiors #bargains #secondhandstyle #edwardianstyle #williammorris #tiles #wallpaper #scallopededge #teal #chinoiserie #whitemarble #vintage #kitchenalia #supperclubrefurb #london #lincrustawallpaper
Another #fbmarketplace find £30. I can’t afford Another #fbmarketplace find £30. I can’t afford proper chinoiserie so I make do with fakes. The gradual doing up of my flat proceeds apace. Need to start on main bedroom. Looking for a storage ottoman (velvet?) bench to turn into a horizontal filing cabinet.  Any ideas? Above is a map of london based on the A to Z map which a minicab office was tossing out. Remember when we all carried mini A to Z books in our handbags? Before google maps? #nocrushedvelvet #chinoiserie #supperclubrefurb #londonapartment #londonflat #norfweezy #decor #organising #storage #interiors
My new/old rise and fall light over the dining tab My new/old rise and fall light over the dining table. Found for £50 on #fbmarketplace  but originally from @thefrenchhouse.net_ one of my favourite shops. Every day, a little more progress. #supperclubrefurb #supperclub #londonflat #interiors #lighting #riseandfalllights #lightingisimportant #frenchstyle #vintagestyle #rusticstyle #turquoise #diningtabledecor
Two vegetarian meal kits, laksa and ramen, from @k Two vegetarian meal kits, laksa and ramen, from @kit.eats.uk. Took only a couple of minutes to cook(see stories) and very good. I’m trying a few meal kits of late to see how hospitality has adapted to the great reset. As a cook I’ve always thought why would I need these but now I get it: it’s like going to a restaurant- the pleasure of food prepared by someone else. Getting jolted off of your normal repertoire, so it’s teaching cooking too.  #mealkits #vegetarian #homecooked #hospitality #covid #takeawayfood #foodpackaging #laksa #ramen #supperclubchef
Still working on my glass cupboard. I’ve hung up Still working on my glass cupboard. I’ve hung up all my wine bottle openers and cork screws. My favourite is the zigzag bottom left. If you find them at a flea market in France, if you are lucky you may get it for around 35 euros.  #supperclub #londonflat #londoninteriors #corkscrews #frenchkitchenalia #zigzag #tirebouchon #oakcupboard #diy #diyprojects
My best food, drink and cook books 2020. Winter Wa My best food, drink and cook books 2020. Winter Warmers by @ginandcrumpets; Cook, eat, repeat by @nigellalawson; Red Sands by @edentravels; Scoff by @penvogler; Sunmer Kitchens by @oliahercules; Oats in the North, Wheat in the South and The Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook by @missfoodwise; Carpathia by @irina.r.georgescu; Jikoni by @cookinboots; Home Cookery Year by @5oclockapron; A Foodie Afloat by @dimurrell. All incredibly talented women, chefs, cooks, travellers, writers. Some are also artists and photographers and boozers. We have so much to be proud of in the UK food and drink scene. #womenwriters #cookbooks #foodbooks #lockdownwriters #puretalent #christmasbooks #christmasgifts #bookreviews #hamandhigh #msmarmiteloverblog #writing #cooking #travelling
Supper on Saturday night with my bubble. A b’sti Supper on Saturday night with my bubble. A b’stilla pie of potato, feta, pine nuts, sultanas soaked in sherry and ras el hanout. Butter or oil the dish, add 3 leaves of filo or brik, buttered in between. Tip in your filling. Fold up the sides. Brush on melted butter. Sprinkle poppy seeds. Cover with foil. Bake at 180c for half an hour, removing the foil for the last 10 minutes. Siege over some icing sugar with a tea strainer. Done and dusted(literally). #weekendsupper #b’stilla #bastilla  #pie #middleeasternfood #vegetarian #ovenready🔥 #supperclubchef #Novemberfood #lockdown2 #bubbledinner
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Archives

Copyright © 2021 msmarmitelover