Memorial Day & Cook- up with Dzintra

Memorial Day
May 31, 2010


To all of those who have served in the past,
and those who are serving now


We thank you for your selfless service to our country
We love you
and
We honor you today

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Its been awhile since I've done a cook-up with Dzintra

but finally here it is

Short but sweet!

A few posts ago I (well ok, maybe more than a few)...
I think I was chatting about my broccoli being ready to harvest
when Susan, over at Miss Maddie's suggested that
it would make a great cook up with Dzintra.
I couldn't agree more!

Dzintra is from the Great Down Under,
and I from the Big Up Over
(don't you love those country titles? (:

We've so enjoyed sharing food ideas,
Dzintra's recent graduation from TAFE (Technical and Further Education)
and so many scrumptious recipes from a mutually loved
magazine by Donna Hay
What a blast we've had!


My subscription to the magazine ran out
and I've had a doozie of a time getting a new one
(a story which I won't bore you with!)
Anyway, long story short...
its now reinstated and I hope it gets here soon!
Dzintra informs me that the current issue
focuses on Maple Syrup from the Big Up Over state of Vermont!
Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?

Back to today's cook-up

On this Memorial Day in the USA,
we usually have a big BBQ with all the trimmings,
but for circumstances beyond our control,
I'm on my own.

So I thought that today was a great time to do a cook-up with Dzintra!

Cream of Broccoli soup

Yep,
simple
but
DELICIOUS!

Since my new magazine isn't here yet,
I went hunting for a Donna Hay recipe that would fit the bill,
Here it is~

Lemon and Broccoli Soup

• 50g unsalted butter
• 1 leek, rinsed and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 broccoli, chopped
• 4 cups (1 litre) vegetable stock
• 100g baby spinach leaves
• 1 cup (250ml) single (pouring) cream
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• sea salt and cracked black pepper
• 80g fresh ricotta cheese

Heat a deep, medium saucepan over high heat. Add the butter, leek and garlic and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the leek is tender. Add the broccoli and stock, bring to the boil and cook for 8–10 minutes or until the broccoli is tender. Add the spinach and cook for a further 1–2 minutes. Use a hand-held blender to blend the soup until smooth. Stir in the cream, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and top with ricotta to serve. Serves 4.

I wandered out to the garden,
clippers in hand
and found this perfect broccoli head


and these perfect lemons
(grown just for me by our lovely Lemon tree outside our window)


And these tender sweet spinach leaves


Put them all together in the pot
along with one of my own additions to the recipe:

1 tsp of cayenne pepper (for a little zing)


And the indispensable glass of wine

...and voila...

Dinner alfresco!

Have a great week