Highlights - April 2013

Goan Fish Curry [Without the Fish Fraud]

Quick, easy and very tasty South Asian curry.

Belly Pork Stir Fry [Redux]

More curry - East Asian.

Andouillette Sausage

Not actually the worst thing I've ever eaten, but not far off ...

Pork & Mushroom Carbonara

What do you do when you have too many mushrooms, some sausages that need eating, a few spears of asparagus that are sorely wilting and a block of pecorino that really should be opened and eaten?

Easy! Carbonara!

Carbonara is an Italian pasta sauce based on eggs, cream and parmesan. I abhor parmesan, but, curiously, really like pecorino, a Sardinian sheep cheese.

Fattier, unpasteurized and fermented dairy represent the better end of the scale for ancestral eaters. If you simply do not "do" dairy in any form, this dish is not really going to work, but sausages and mushrooms fried up together with some good paleo fat will taste just as delicious.

As paleo eaters, we're also not bound by rules, so there is no reason why carbonara has to be put with anything that resembled pasta. No need to make courgette linguine, or such like, although that would be very nice, too.

I began by slicing some mushrooms and gently cooking them in a skillet with a generous amount of goose fat.

Meanwhile, I oven-cooked some 100% pork sausages.

I also made up the carbonara, which was three egg yolks (for two people), about 200ml of cream and sufficient grated cheese to make that into a thick paste. Ratios, weights and measurements are not too important - just make up an eggs, creamy, cheesy paste. You can hand-blend it for an extra fine carbonara if you like.

So, our sausages are about cooked, our mushrooms softening well and we've got the sauce ready.

Let's do some veggies ...

I had shredded cabbage and sliced carrots, both steamed, and some potato croutons, fried off in goose fat. You can tell, I like goose fat - if you have trouble sourcing this, just use your favourite paleo fat. An animal fat would be better than coconut here, for the flavour.

I also steamed the asparagus, ready to add to the carbonara.

Ready?

Plate up the veggies and turn your attention to the skillet.

Slice up your sausages and add to the mushrooms along with the asparagus, sliced. Raise the heat and stir in the carbonara ... the cheese will melt and you'll have a deep inviting creamy mushroom, sausage and asparagus mess to spoon into that bed of vegetables.

Beauty!

Wild Garlic Soup

Wild garlic! Spring has sprung!

Wild garlic emerges in woodland and sheltered areas, and for a couple of months you can pick this natural bounty, shredding a few leaves and folding into dishes for a heady garlic aroma. Make the most of it - it is a short season.

There are a number of species of wild garlic: Allium Tricoccum, or Ramp, in North America and Allium Ursinum, or Ramsons, across Europe and Asia are a couple of the more prolific species.

Do be aware, that in certain areas of the world, wild garlic is endangered! Allium Tricoccum is a protected species under Quebec legislation and are considered a species of "special concern" for conservation in Maine, Rhode Island, and Tennessee.

I collected a good handful of Allium Ursinum, a name related to bears (ursus) who, apparently, go wild for this stuff! I take care to pluck the leaves, leaving the presently young bulb underground. Once they have matured a little, I'll pull up some bulbs.

Just ready, these new, young leaves are now mature enough to have a good flavour but have not yet flowered, so remain quite sweet. What better way to celebrate the coming of this wonderful plant than with a simple soup?

Making up a soup is simple ...

The base for all good soups is onion and garlic, softened in butter. To this, I also added celery.

Once softened, I added some water, bouillon, celery salt and black pepper. Stir in.

Cube up some potato and drop that in, raising the temperature to a good boil until the potato is softened.

Blend ... roughly.

Amounts? I'm cooking for two here and used maybe eight large leaves of garlic, a couple of long stalks of celery, a small onion and half a potato that might be large enough to bake.

Serve out into wide-brimmed bowls and garnish with some superfluous leaf: parsley, in my case.