Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Slow-Roasted Pork Belly - Gordon Ramsay

Slow-roasting really locks in the flavours, and the end result will be a delicious crispy delight perfect to share with family and friends.

5 Winter Dishes to Warm Your Cockles | Gordon Ramsay

Revisit some archive Ramsay classics from the channel, and be inspired to cook this winter. Recipes include a roasted tomato soup with cheese on toast, beef brisket, apple and cranberry crumble, shepherds pie and a spiced rice pudding

Friday, July 6, 2018

United Airlines Review - Business Class from Lisbon to New York City (and NYC Pizza)

On Day 28 of our Round The World Trip with Star Alliance we flew from Lisbon, Portugal to Newark (but going to New York City) on United Airlines business class. I wasn’t expecting that much from United Airlines, but it turned out to be a great flight, with amazing service, and surprisingly very good food. Here’s the full United Airlines flight review.

Friday, June 29, 2018

Sunchoke and Garlic Soup

  • 1/4 cup fruity olive oil
  • pound sunchokes (also called Jerusalem artichokes), scrubbed and chopped
  • small waxy potatoes (such as Yukon Gold, red or new potatoes), scrubbed and chopped
  • medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 to 5 cloves garlic, chopped
  • Pinch dried chili flakes
  • cups water, vegeable stock, or chicken stock
  • bay leaves
  • Salt
  • Pepper
Heat the oil in a large soup pot over high. Add the sunchokes, potatoes, and onion. Sauté about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and optional chili flakes, and continue cooking until the vegetables are lightly browned. Add the water or stock, the bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring the mixture to a boil then lower the heat to low. When soup settles into a simmer, cover and cook until the potatoes and sunchokes are tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
Remove the bay leaves and then process the soup either with an immersion blender, or in a blender in small batches (filling no more than a third of the container), until smooth. Check for seasoning. Add salt and pepper, as desired.

Sunchoke and Garlic Soup

It's hard to write about sunchokes without mentioning two things: the name is confusing, and they can cause embarrassing gas. So let's get those two topics out of the way. First of all, sunchokes are also known as Jerusalem artichokes. They are neither from Jerusalem (they are native to the Northeastern United States), nor are they artichokes. They are actually tubers of a sunflower-like plant. "Sunflower" is girasole in Italian (look toward the sun) and, well, girasole sounds a bit like Jerusalem. Try it out loud.
As for the gas issue, it's no joke. I wouldn't be the first person to say there's a third name for this root vegetable, and it's fartichoke. Some people believe that cooking them, rather than serving them raw, like in a salad, helps decrease the unfortunate side-effect. I also think diluting them with another root vegetable is a fine solution.
Here is a very simple soup that will come together in about 30 minutes. The combination of sunchokes and potatoes gives a very earthy and nutty flavor that I find very comforting in the winter. This week I had the soup with chili flakes and chili oil in a effort to scare away my lingering flu. It might have worked. In the recipe, I give a variety of topping options that can take this relatively blank slate and turn it into something quite unique.
Reporting from the front lines, I'll say that I didn't experience the usual, ahem — discomforts — associated with the fartichoke. I ate it as a small side soup with a few meals and I'm thinking moderation might just be the key.


Now that the leftover holiday roasts and sugar cookies have been polished off, and 2015 is officially underway, all I want to eat is soup. Big bowls of hot and satisfying soup that demand an oversized spoon. Soups that are so good you'll want to eat them all week long. Maybe even longer if you have a big freezer.
There's no need to panic over what's for dinner on Wednesday night when you have one of these leftover soups waiting for you in the fridge. Choose from one of these 17 hot bowls, including a red lentil soup that's easy to dress up, and a quick coconut chicken soup that will warm you up with ease.