Black garlic dill dough balls

We went to the big Yayoi Kusuma show at Louisiana one evening last week. It was amazingly busy for a cold Wednesday night. But it was a super fun show. We'd seen some of her work at the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh and at Louisiana before, but I was only really familiar with her reflecting rooms and polka dots. Turns out there was a whole lot of other stuff I didn't know about, which was just as great if not better. I really enjoyed her nets, and her pumpkins (especially the large bronze ones). And her earliest work: colourful paintings and beautifully precise botanical sketches. Although it felt very much of its time, her 60s NY stuff - pasta handbags, cut-out dresses and nude happenings - was interesting to see too. I wasn't very familiar with that period of her work, and it was all very smart and humorous. S got inspired by a little footnote listing the performers at one of her happenings - someone called Dill Dough...

So on the train back we decided that we should buy some dill and experiment with Dill Dough recipes. At the weekend we bought dill from a shop in København NV. And last night I was in the kitchen making fritters and decided it was time for dill dough. We still had anytime dough in the fridge from our latest pizza efforts. I also decided to include some black garlic, which we had bought on a whim the other day and is really interesting. It doesn't really taste like garlic at all - sweet and tangy - perhaps more like miso? Somewhere inbetween yeast extract and miso? Anyway, I mixed some of that in too...

1/3 quantity of pre-made dough
2-3 tbsp chopped dill
4-5 cloves black garlic, chopped
1-2 tbsp flour, as needed
butter to finish

Take the dough out of the fridge and add the dill and black garlic. Mix and knead a little to combine. Shape into bread roll shapes (this made 4 but it's flexible depending on dough quantity / ball size preference). Space on a baking sheet covered with baking paper and prove in a warm place for about 30 min. Preheat the oven to 200C and bake the dough balls for 20-30 min, until they sound hollow when tapped on the base. Take out of the oven and smear a little butter on the top of each one to melt. Best eaten still slightly warm.

Salsify fritters

Our latest veg bag came with some charismatic roots (besides the usual tatties and beets): salsify and horseradish. I've never cooked salsify before, so it seemed like a fun challenge. A silver lining to having to leave work early to get the veg bag is that I arrive home with time to cook before S gets home / before I get super tired and hungry. So I got busy in the kitchen. These fritters were one of the first salsify recipes I came across. I had all the ingredients and it had been a while since I made a fritter, so I decided to go with it. Salsify has quite a subtle, slightly sweet flavour, so I wondered if it would be overpowered by the chilli, garlic and coriander. It wasn't though: it was fine.

300 g salsify (5-6 roots), peeled and coarsely grated
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 small red chilli, chopped
3 tbsp chopped coriander
1 egg
1 tbsp flour
salt+pepper
butter and olive oil for cooking

Wash, peel and grate the salsify. Melt 1-2 tbsp butter in a frying pan and cook the grated salsify until it is tender, 5-10 min. Transfer cooked salsify to a bowl and add garlic, chilli, coriander, egg, flour and seasoning. Shape into fritters - it should make 5-6. Heat 1-2 tbsp butter and 1-2 tbsp olive oil in the frying pan and fry the fritters about 4 minutes on each side until browned on the outside and cooked through. Eat right away.

Exciting pizza

S has a different approach to the kitchen than me. I tend to make different things all the time (as evidenced here), and get bored if I make the same thing too many times. He finds things he likes and makes them again and again until he reaches perfection. Like pasta. Or pretzels: he reaches a level of perfect replication in pretzel shapes that I have never achieved with anything. The latest thing to gain his attention is pizza. Since I discovered the speedy dough trick, we have developed a system: I make the dough and leave it in the fridge, then anytime he wants he can make pizza (and then I can eat it)!

Since we got back from Italy he's been getting awesomely adventurous. One success was white pizza with mozzarella and truffle paste, inspired by pizza we had in Rome and truffles we brought back in a jar. Another, which I guess was more inspired by Otto's in Boston, is pizza with spicy tomato sauce, white beans and potato. I cannot fully express just how well beans work on pizza: they get a little bit crispy on the outside: a bit of a falafel vibe? Very good! Both beans and potato are best cooked before putting on pizza to simplify matters.

Red lentil and pumpkin pottage

Pottage is a nice word, isn't it? It evokes thick, lovely, stick-to-your-ribs warmth. Which is exactly what this is. This is from my New Covent Garden Soup Company book. I am not sure I ever made before, perhaps I had dismissed it for its apparent simplicity. It is simple, but it is good. And simple can be wonderful on chilly winter nights.

Also, I just came back from Italy struck by how good simple food can be. Basically every pizza or pasta dish we ate there comprised just one main ingredient besides the pasta or dough, often something cheap and hearty: pasta and spinach; pasta and chickpeas; pizza with aubergine, pizza with zucchini... All so good. I remember the first time I realized what Italian food really is, when I first visited Italy: I ate a dish of spaghetti with oil and garlic expecting to be underwhelmed but instead I got it for the first time after a life of boring non-Italian Italian food.

This little kabocha squash was loitering around from our last vegetable bag before Christmas, and we returned from Italy to a cold, busy day of unpacking and sorting things out, and simple soup from good ingredients, all of which we happened to have at home, was exactly what fitted into the day.

For the soup:
2 oz / 50 g butter
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 medium kabocha squash (or butternut... 1 1/2 lb / 675 g), peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
red lentils
1 3/4 pints / 1 litre vegetable stock
salt and pepper

To serve:
yogurt or creme fraiche
chopped fresh coriander
toasted pumpkin seeds

Melt butter in a lidded saucepan and fry the onion, squash and bay leaf with the lid on until slightly tender but not coloured. Add the lentils and stock, bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 min until the vegetables and lentils are soft. Taste for seasoning, let cool a bit and blend until smooth. Reheat gently and serve in bowls with yoghurt swirled on top and sprinkling of coriander and pumpkin seeds. Those New Covent Garden Soup Company soups are endlessly great.