Marrow Mayhem

This weekend offered a glimpse into what must have surely been the reason for Mr. Poirot settling down to grow prize vegetable marrows in England. I gape with unrestrained awe as Farmer Menon enters the kitchen, laden with the most humongous courgettes I have ever laid eyes on. Granted, I do not lay my eyes on many courgettes as a matter of course, but I have come across a few in my life. These ones however, would not have been out of place in an akkhada, negligently being swung in ever menacing circles by the resident pehlwan. Apparently, courgettes can grow endlessly, morphing into other sorts of marrows....!!!

He had me at lunch. Scrumptious courgette soup accompanied by generous slices of toasted courgette bread....but the gauntlet was down. 'Make something with the courgette for dinner' and we stomped off to build the shed..... tea break, and we were treated to the sight of a diligent Jan chopping, assembling, reviewing recipes, protectively hovering over his pots and pans.... hmmm, this should be interesting....

A hot shower and I emerge smelling of fruit. I always smell of fruit in that house. My stomach nudges me down the stairs, and my senses are assailed by the exotic scent of spices. My flabber is absolutely gasted as the Chef elucidates;

* Courgette Daal
* Courgette Bharta with green chillies
* Courgette Curry
* Courgette Fry with Bengal gram

The gauntlet flung back with a careless flourish as Vinod and I goggle at Jan's mastery over the courgettes. The ruthless German efficiency decimating the once plump vegetables into objets d'art for our amusement. The fried courgette (which didn't turn out as it was meant to allegedly) with it's flavours of Bengal, waking the sleeping tiger in me (what can I say.... food bestows poetic license!!) is my favourite, followed by the zingy kick in the curry. I insist on full disclosure, and am rewarded for being such a cheap and easy house guest with 3 sheets of recipes and a hand picked, hand washed, organically home grown courgette to play with. Yes, you may think what you will..... I am going to have fun!!

Usually, I only ever put up recipes for stuff that I've actually tried, but how wrong can I get this one?? (and I have tried it!!)

Creamy Courgette and Dolcelatte soup (as shared by Dr. Menon)

Ingredients: 30 ml Olive oil * 15 gm butter * 1 medium onion, roughly chopped * 900 gm courgettes, trimmed and sliced (what's the deal with the 900 gm??? why not take the plunge and do a kilo??) * 600 ml vegetable stock * 115 gm dolcelatte cheese, diced * 300 ml single cream * 1 tsp dried oregano * salt and black pepper to taste

Method: Heat oil and butter in a large pan until foaming. Add chopped onion and gently cook till onion is soft but not brown, about 5 min. Add courgettes, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat for 10 min. stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Keep stirring! Lower the heat, half cover the pan and simmer for about 30 min, stirring occasionally. Add the dolcelatte, and stir till it melts in. Process the soup in a blender till smooth, and if you're super fussy, press through a sieve into a clean pan, otherwise, like me, ignore this bit and move on. Add 2/3rds of the cream and stir over a low heat till heated through, but not boiling. If it's too thick, add some more stock. Pour into bowls, swirl in the rest of the cream and garnish with fresh oregano and more crumbled dolcelatte if you have the patience ;-)

Dr. Paschkowski's handiwork to follow.....