A Cook’s Holiday - Borscht, Lentils and Coconut Potatoes

Yesterday, I took the afternoon off and retreated into the kitchen for a cook’s holiday.

The friend whose London house I’m staying in while she and her husband dally overseas left an invitation to use anything I found in their cupboards or two fridges.

There’s nothing like someone else’s ingredients to initiate some spontaneous experimentation with food; it leads to all kinds of alchemical possibilities.

First, I spotted loads of delicious, sweet white onions that needed despatching before they sprouted.  French Onion soup came to mind.

I threw a generous slurp of olive oil into a stainless steel frying pan, and added half a dozen sliced onions when it began smoking a little.  When they had settled in, I left them to caramelise a little (vital for a good French onion soup) and looked in the first fridge.

Out came some beetroot from the allotment, already cooked but still in their skins.  Hmm, maybe Borscht instead of Onion Soup?

A packet of fresh dill came out, as well, and I chopped up several sprigs to add to what was definitely becoming Borscht in my mind. On consideration, I scooped out some of the cooked onions and put them into a stainless steel pot.

In the second fridge, I found red and yellow peppers I’d roasted the previous day, just waiting to be skinned and despatched.  They went into what was now the Borscht pot.

There were organic carrots in one fridge and celery in the other. Two chopped carrots went into the Borscht and three into the frying pan with the caramelised onions.  Three sticks of chopped celery went into that, too.

Then I slipped the skins of the beetroot and cut them finely.  I’d forgotten how different beetroot straight from the garden tastes, and had to hold back on eating a whole one.  This went into the Borscht pot, along with some finely chopped dill, a ham stock cube (a first for me), and a litre of boiling water.

It was tasting good but I do like a sweet-sour taste to my Borscht. Ha! Hidden behind some pesto, a 100g packet of Tamarind Paste. This went into the soup and it was perfect.

The ingredients in the frying pan were now well sautéed. I added a heaped teaspoon each of powdered Garam Masala and Cumin, ensuring they were well mixed into the onions, carrots, celery and the remaining oil.  This really is crucial for the flavours develop properly.

Then I topped up the pan with a litre of organic vegetable stock and, on afterthought, added a cup of French blue lentils, leaving it to simmer while I looked for new possibilities.

There was a packet containing two fresh tuna steaks and I had already observed there were loads of fresh limes.  Marinated tuna for Wednesday…

Slicing the tuna finely along the grain, I added the pieces of fish to a stainless steel container, squeezed the juice of two limes over it, and added some Teriyaki sauce from one of the cupboards.  I added the lid, and it went into the fridge.

There were three good baking potatoes in the first fridge.  I chopped them finely, sautéed them in olive oil, and added a teaspoon of fennel seeds to the mixture.  Then I tossed in some sliced black beans – also from my friend’s allotment. (Sadly, the black disappears in the cooking process).

It struck me that the spiced lentil dish would go well with potatoes and I fancied coconut, so a packet of dried coconut powder went into the potatoes, topped up with water and a chicken stock cube. Another time, I might try keeping the potatoes dry, adding grated coconut at the end.

The lentils and potatoes were sheer comfort food and tonight’s supper has been taken care of too.  First course, Borscht; second course, marinated tuna pan fried with a stalk of lemon grass, ginger and garlic, with fresh coriander thrown in at the end, and served with plain white rice.