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Beyond 50 Magazine
Winter warmers
Not only will these Stephanie Alexander recipes warm your insides on a cold winter’s night, they’re also full of garden-fresh goodness.
Jerusalem Artichoke Soup
Juice of 1 lemon
750g Jerusalem artichokes
2 medium potatoes
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
2 sticks celery
80g butter
1½ litres chicken stock
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
15 chives
1/3 cup cream or sour cream
Croutons to serve
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1. Fill large bowl with water and add lemon juice. Peel Jerusalem artichokes, cut into walnut-sized chunks, then drop into the bowl of acidulated (lemon) water. Peel potatoes, cut into chunks, then drop into bowl of acidulated water.
2. Cut onion in half lengthways, place flat sides on chopping board and slice into rings. Peel and slice garlic. Slice celery. Place onion, garlic and celery into medium bowl. Set colander in sink and drain artichoke and potato. Shake colander to remove excess water, then tip vegetables onto tea-towel on bench and dry well.
3. Melt butter in large saucepan over high heat. Add onion, garlic and celery. Stir to coat vegetables in melted butter. Add drained artichoke and potato and stir for one minute. Pour chicken stock into saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. In batches, ladle soup into food processor. Process to a smooth purée. Set coarse strainer over large bowl, tip soup through strainer into bowl. Use spatula to help push soup through. Repeat with remaining soup. Rinse out saucepan and put soup back in.
5. Reheat soup over low-to-medium heat. Add salt and pepper. While soup is heating, rinse chives, dry by rolling in tea towel, then finely chop. Ladle soup into bowls; sprinkle each bowl with chives, then top with dollop of cream or sour cream and croutons.
Serves 6
Indian Vegetable Curry from Goa
1 onion
2 carrots
2 medium potatoes
1 sweet potato
1 purple potato
12 green beans
2 tbsp vegetable oil
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
Salt
Juice of 1 lemon
Spice paste
1 onion
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 whole cloves
10 peppercorns
1 x 5cm piece cinnamon stick
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
½ cup desiccated coconut
½ cup water
1. First make the spice paste. Thinly slice onion into half-rings and place into food processor. Place coriander seeds and cumin seeds in a small bowl with cloves and peppercorns. Crumble in the cinnamon stick. Heat oil in frying pan over a low-to-medium heat. Add spice mix and cook, stirring with wooden spoon, for three minutes or until fragrant. Tip contents of the pan into food processor. Add mustard seeds, desiccated coconut and water. Turn on food processor to make a coarse paste.
2. Finely chop the second onion and place in small bowl used to hold spice mix. Peel carrots and potatoes, then cut each vegetable into two centimetre cubes. Place carrot and regular potato in one large bowl, and sweet potato and purple potato in another. Trim ends from beans and cut into four centimetre pieces.
3. Heat oil in frying pan over a medium heat. Add chopped onion and stir for a few minutes. Stir in chilli flakes and turmeric, then tip in spice paste from food processor and cook for five minutes.
4. Empty chopped tomatoes into pan and bring to boil over high heat. Add carrot and regular potato and stir to combine, then cook for five minutes. Add sweet potato and purple potato, cover with lid and cook for 10 more minutes. Add green beans. Cover again, reduce heat to low. Cook for 10 minutes or until all vegetables are tender. Stir lemon juice into the curry and serve in its cooking pot.
Serves 6
Top drop
Toast your good health this winter with any one of these fine wines from Australia and abroad.
Rock Paper Scissors Moscato $10
Moscato is a lightly fizzy Italian sweet wine, and this is a well-priced Australian version. It smells of grapes and pineapples and it’s fun and fruity, without being overly sweet.
Labeye Grenache Syrah Vin de Pays d’Oc 2005 $12
This elegant wine is from the south of France. It’s a modern style with bright red berry notes and wild herbs on the nose. It has a really juicy palate with racy acid and a dry finish. A fabulous food wine.
Robinsons Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007 $19
Sauvignon blanc is one of the most popular styles at the moment, and this one is from the Wairau River region of Marlborough, New Zealand. It’s more leafy than tropical, fruity on the nose, and is crisp and fresh in the mouth.
Gratien & Meyer Crémant de Loire NV A.O.C. $25
This French sparkler from the Loire Valley is a blend of 50 per cent Chenin blanc, 10 per cent Cabernet Franc and 40 per cent Chardonnay. It’s a refreshing, elegant wine with a fine mousse and aromas of apples and pears. Serve with pre-dinner nibbles.
Penfolds Bin 128 Shiraz 2005 $33
A generous, hearty wine, which is full of fruit. There’s lots to smell in the glass: blackberries, cinnamon, spice and liquorice, and there’s a big hit of sweet fruit on the front palate, followed by some spicy flavours, firm tannins and a fresh finish.