everyday experiments with food
Here’s a remake of an old favourite. This is adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favourites – a must-have in every kitchen. I admit I tend to up the fat content at every opportunity though…
Before you start, make parmesan crisps. Grate some parmesan finely. Using a ring, make parmesan rounds on baking paper, or better still, a silicon mat, on a baking tray. Bake at 200C for 5 or more minutes until melted and just starting to brown. Watch carefully or they will burn. Allow to cool….
Here’s a soup that I made last night. we’re still eating it so I added some zing tonight with toppings and some bread. This recipe will work with pretty much any combination of similar vegetables.
Serves lots!
Ingredients
1 large brown onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed (not minced)
1/2 bulb of fennel, diced
2 sticks of celery, opeeled and piced
4 carrots, peeled and diced
4 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 large cauliflower, cut into florets
2 parsnips, outsides not cores, peeled and diced
1/2 leek, sliced
5 cm root ginger diced
400g tin of tomatoes
Small tub of tomato paste
Water or chicken stock
Spices
1 tbsp toasted cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp cardamom seeds
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp ajowan seeds (optional)
2 bay leaves
Cracked black pepper
Sea salt
Cook the chopped vegetables in olive oil and a little butter on medium to high heat until starting to brown.
Meanwhile, if you have cumin and coriander seeds, toast them in a dry pan. Add the mustard, cardamom and carway seeds towards the end. Grind these in a mortar and pestle.
Add just enough water or chicken stock to just cover the vegetables. Also add the tomatoes and tomato paste and bring to a simmer.
Add the spices and simmer for 90minutes.
Remove bay leaves. Use a stick blender to mix to a coarse puree. Season with salt an pepper.
I served this topped with yoghurt, red and green chilli slices (so people could determine their own level of heat), preserved lime from our garden, and coriander leaves.
The bread was topped with garlic oil, sea salt, cooked onion and nigella seeds.
Here’s a tasty and simple soup adapted from a recipe by Charlotte Binns-McDonald in Delicious magazine.
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 large brown onion or 1 leek, diced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic – diced
750g broccoli – chopped (but shave some tiny bits off the top and save them to top the soup at the end)
6-7 cups of chicken stock
1 large handful of spinach leaves – chopped
3-4 wasabi leaves – chopped (optional – but we have them in the garden!)
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2/3 cup grated cheddar
2/3 cup of cream
1 cup corn kernels
4 rashers good quality bacon – fried and diced
1 large chicken breast – cooked and shredded
Cook the onion or leek gently in butter for 5 mins, then add the garlic and potato cook for a few minutes.
Add the broccoli and just enough chicken stock to cover. Cook for at least 20 mins or until soft.
Add the chopped leaves and stir in for a couple of minutes.
Allow to cool, then blitz with a food processor.
Reheat soup and add cheeses, then cream. Be careful not to boil it.
Season with sea salt and cracked black pepper.
Serve sprinkled with reserved broccoli tops, corn, chicken and bacon.
Simple, easy and tasty.
I’ve just been reminded of this soup recipe that I made up almost a year ago. I’m posting it here so as not to lose it. This photo is from that week but it must in fact be a different soup as the following has tomato or pumpkin in it…
Cut these up and roast them in the oven on 180-200C for a while – 30-40 mins until going golden brown.
1 brown onion
2 cloves garlic
a heap of carrots
1/2 fennel bulb
1/2 red capsicum
8 small parsnips
Add to a large saucepan with
2 sticks celery, peeled and sliced
2 green apples, peeled and diced
1/2 cup sultanas
Cover (just barely) with either water, vegetable stock or chicken stock. Bring to a simmer.
Add the following. If you want to toast the spices a little in a dry frypan first, go ahead. If you want to use cumin seeds and coriander seeds, toasted then crushed, please do.
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tbsp brown mustard seeds
1 tbsp toasted black sesame seeds (or white)
1/2 long red chilli (or 1 tsp minced chilli)
2 knobs of ginger sliced (or 2 tbps minced ginger)
Simmer for at least 45 mins. Then blitz with a food processor.
At the end, add
zest of 1/2 lemon
salt
pepper