Delicious May 2012 - Tuscan Bean Soup

Okay, so I know I had a little rant about this issue of delicious magazine a couple of posts ago. Seems a bit hypocritical to be posting another recipe out of it. However my views still stand on what I said. I actually made this the day after I made the gnocchi recipe. I was looking for something to make to have for lunches and this seemed like it would be very easy and with the addition of the beans nicely filling without been overly rich. 

While I was making it I found that it was a little bit bland. However I resisted the urge to spice it up a bit knowing that there was a spoon of pesto to be put in when serving. I used some of the leftover cashew & lemon pesto that I made for the gnocchi recipe. Although I did end up putting a bit too much in. It was fine though. 

This recipe is kind of dependant on sizes of your vegetables too. I had some rather large sticks of celery so I think I could have easily used just one as two was a bit much. I also thought that 1/4 of a cabbage was too much and my cabbage wasn't all that big. I ended up having to add two - three cups of extra stock. It is not a soup that can be left a with a little be less liquid and made a bit stew like as you can do with some meat soups. Probably some of the loss of flavour happened when I added the extra stock. Perhaps it would have been better if I added some extra tomatoes and some stock. Would stick to my instincts next time and add less veg if I think it is too much. 

The recipe is here on the UK Delicious magazine website. I will mention a few things. That recipe is double what wast in the Australian Delicious magazine. It also has smoked paprika, which would have been a really nice addition. All ingredients have been doubled with the exception of the cabbage which has been quadrupled. I have no idea why. I found 1/4 was too much. Unless they are talking about those little mini cabbages that you can get now. It doesn't say that though. Oh well, it was good none the less. 

Chicken Noodle Soup with Lemon

It has been a long week. It is lateish but I am in the middle of doing the washing. I volunteered to be a venue and cook for a family dinner tomorrow night. Now I am wondering why since I have been extremely lazy about the housework for the past couple of weeks. Oops. So I figured if I got the washing done tonight I could focus on the rest tomorrow morning. I am sure that it will be an enjoyable evening though.

To be honest I am really just filling up some space. This recipe looked nice. Photographed really well but didn't taste very nice at all. It was so disappointing. The stock was bland and really when the only things in it are a chicken, a few slices of ginger, 2 spring onions and black peppercorns how could it be anything but bland. The addition of carrot, onion, more ginger, perhaps some coriander roots might have helped things along. Since the stock was sub-par the soup made from said stock wasn't really anything to write about. I will not be making it again and after searching the 'net hoping to find someone that had already made this or the recipe on some other site I couldn't find it and since I really didn't like it I am not going to post the recipe. I would suggest finding yourself another chicken noodle soup recipe and add a bit of lemon to it and see what you think. 

Delicious: July 2011 - Pea, Ham & Lemon Soup

I really should be in bed at the moment but isn't it always the way when you think that you are going to get some early nights other things get in the way. I was ready to go to bed over an hour ago now but have had non-stop phone calls. Strange how the phone never rings when I am sitting up until all hours but when I think that I will get an early night it just doesn't stop. I really shouldn't be complaining though,  it is good to hear from people. 

There is some wonderful recipes in issue #106 of Delicious magazine. In fact I have made several of them already this month. I will be posting all the ones that I have made. There is even more that I would like to make. Jamie Oliver has a feature on doing a roast chicken and what you can make with the leftovers. There are some wonderful ideas especially the chicken & pumpkin salad. The pumpkin is roasted with ground coriander seeds & dried chilli. There are toasted chickpeas & pumpkin seeds along with left over chicken and stuffing with leaves. It would make a perfect lunch time meal. 

I am also keen to make Jill Dupleix's Hot & Sour Noodle Soup with Minced Chicken. It just sounds like I wonderful revitalising soup full of all those wonderful Thai ingredients. It should be easy to halve the recipe as it is probably one of those soups that wouldn't keep as well as some. What I would be really worried about is how well the prawns would reheat. Better just to reduce it then risk having rubbery reheated prawns. 

The first meal that I decided to make out of this issue was Matthew Evans' Pea, Ham & Lemon Soup. Matthew said 'that it would be brilliant to enliven pea & ham soup with lemon to make it lighter and brighter'. I am not really sure how much it lightened the soup up, perhaps I needed to add a bit more liquid to make a thinner soup. Although the lemony flavour did come through and it was very good. I had the ham bone left over from my ham at Christmas time still in the freezer so I used that in place of the ham hock. I did go to the trouble of making the ham stock first before making the soup and I do think that it did make a difference. Although the problem with using the ham bone was that it was too long for my stock pot and it was mid afternoon on a weekend when I started so couldn't take it down to my butcher to cut in half for me so I had to use my giant braising pan instead. There was some meat left on the bone (on purpose) but I also had a small chunk in the freezer that I cut up and put in the actual soup after making the stock. I would definitely go with using a hock next time. I did really enjoy this soup and it has made for good lunches with some in the freezer for a later date. The recipe claims to serve 8, I have at least 10 or 12 servings from it. 

Pea, Ham & Lemon Soup 

Ham Stock Ingredients: 

• 1 kg ham hock
• 2 bay leaves 
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 2 onions, chopped 
• 2 carrots, chopped

Method: 

• Place all ingredients in a large stockpot with 4 L water and bring the the boil. 
• Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours or until meat pulls away from bone easily. 
• Strain the stock, reserve the hock but discard the rest of the solids. 
• Shred meat discarding skin & bones, set meat aside. 

Soup Ingredients: 

• 40 g unsalted butter 
• 2 large onions, roughly chopped 
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped 
• 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 1/4 c parsley chopped 
• 500 g split green peas 
• 1 lemon, sliced

Method: 

• Place onions, carrot & celery into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, alternatively very finely chop. 
• Heat butter in clean stockpot over medium heat. Add vegetables and cook, stirring until just starting to colour. 
• Add parsley & cook 1 minute. 
• Add peas and ham stock and simmer, stirring occasionally for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until peas fall apart. 
• Add shredded ham and lemon and simmer a few more minutes. 
• Taste and then season to taste with pepper. 

It was recommended to serve with crusty bread, I served mine with chilli & cheese cornbread muffins (recipe to come). 

Puy Lentil Soup with Parmesan Toasts

I will admit it, I love winter. I am much happier layering up with clothing with the heater going. I also love winter food. All the stews, casseroles, pies and soups. All the lovely winter produce that is available. Such warming and hearty food. I had been looking forward to winter getting here so that I could make this fabulous looking soup recipe. The picture in Sydney Food just looked so warming and delicious. 

Now, this soup was a bit of a conundrum for me. It has all the right things in it to make it full of flavour but tasting it during cooking I was less than impressed. It seemed quite bland to me. I decided not to wait and see and added some extra chilli, a couple of tablespoons of tomato pesto and some dried Italian mixed herbs. I was very pleased with it after those additions and some further cooking. I made the parmesan toasts my way rather than Bill's (mine is easier). 

Puy Lentil Soup with Parmesan Toasts 

Ingredients: 

• 2 tbspn olive oil
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped Spanish onions
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 small red chilli, finely chopped (original recipe had one)
• 2 x 400 g tin chopped Italian tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato pesto (my addition)
• 2 litre vegetable stock, or water
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 tbspn chopped fresh oregano
• 1 tbsp dried Italian mixed herbs (Masterfoods brand) (my addition)
• 1 cup lentils du Puy
• 1 tspn salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Method: 

• Heat oil over medium heat. 
• Add carrots, onions and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add celery, garlic and chilli and cook for a further 5 minutes. 
• Add chopped tomatoes, pesto, stock, bay leaves, herbs and lentils and bring to the boil. 
• Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
• Season with salt and pepper. 

Parmesan Toasts (my way) 

sliced bread (I like pasta dura but anything will do really)
Butter one side and toast under a grill. 

Turn over and top with piles of finely grated parmesan and then back under the grill until melted and browned.

Delicious May 2011 - Tomato Soup with Melting Bocconcini

Hmmm, I have been on holidays. I went away for a few days. I had planned on doing a lot of blogging throughout my two weeks off but it just didn't turn out that way. Oh well, I guess that is just the way that things turn out some times. 

I really couldn't go past the cover recipe from this issue. Valli's Tomato Soup with Melting Bocconcini just looked so inviting. I also love making tomato soup as with the leftovers use it to make a lovely tomato risotto. I just loved this recipe it was relatively easy to make. It was rich and wonderful. Make sure to take the bocconcini straight from the oven and into the soup. Mine sat for about a minute and they were a bit rubbery. Oh, and next time I would roast the cherry tomatoes later too as they were cold by the time I served the soup. I think it would have been better to have been much better if they were hot. Although I have a recipe for tomato soup that I have made several times I think it will definitely be replaced with this one. I served it with the Parmesan & Garlic Bread recipe that followed.

Tomato Soup with Melting Bocconcini 

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg roma tomatoes, halved
• pinch caster sugar 
• 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle 
• 12 vine-ripened cherry tomatoes
• 50 g unsalted butter 
• 2 each, onions, carrots, celery & garlic cloves, chopped 
• 400g can chopped tomatoes 
• 2 tbsp sundried tomato paste (I used tomato pesto) 
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 basil sprig, plus extra leaves for garnish 
• 1 L (4 cups) vegetable stock 
• 12 baby bocconcini

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 160 C. Place roma tomatoes, cut side up, on a baking tray. Sprinkle with sugar, drizzle with oil and season. Roast for 30 minutes until softened.
• Add cherry tomatoes to the tray, drizzle with a little more oil and season. Return to the oven for a further 10 minutes or until lightly charred and softened. Set aside. 
• Heat butter and 1 tbsp oil in pan over a medium heat. Cook onion, carrot, celery and garlic, stirring, for 2 - 3 minutes or until softened. Add canned tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf, basil, stock, roasted roma tomatoes and any cooking juices. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 - 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender. (I cooked about 40 minutes) 
• Discard basil sprig & bay leaf, cool slightly, then blend the soup in batches. Pass through a sieve into a clean pan, then cook over low heat, stirring, for 2 - 3 minutes or until warmed through. Adjust seasoning. 
• Place the bocconcini on a baking try lined with baking paper and bake for 2 - 3 minutes until just warm and lightly melted (do not overcook or the cheese will melt completely). Ladle the soup into serving bowls and scoop molten bocconcini into each one. Garnish with the roasted cherry tomatoes and basil leaves.

Parmesan & Garlic Bread

Ingredients: 

• 3 garlic bulbs (skin on), halved horizontally
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 250g unsalted butter, softened (I used 150 g)
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley 
• 2 sourdough baguettes (I used regular) 
• 1 1/4 c finely grated parmesan 

Method: 

• Pre-heat oven to 170C 
• Drizzle garlic with oil and roast for 40 minutes or until soft. 
• Cool and then squeeze from the skin and mash together with the parsley & butter. 
• Cut baguettes diagonally, but not all the way through. 
• Spread with butter and then stuff some parmesan in and then sprinkle the rest on top. 
• Bake for 15 minutes or until crisp. 

Corn & Ginger Soup

I didn't manage to get my picnic in today but I did get a bunch of stuff done around the house. Plus I started to sort through my dvds, cds, books and previously unpacked boxes in preparation for a garage sale. It has been almost 2 years since I moved house. In my previous house I had so much stuff and oodles of storage. I am now in a slightly smaller house with little storage space. There is so much stuff that I just don't need or use so it is time for it to go. I have been saying that I would have a garage sale for about a year now but finally decided to do something about it. 

I remember a soup recipe in a Nigella book that she referred to as 'my body is a temple' soup although I don't remember now anything about the actual recipe. It was my first thought when I saw this recipe though. A very quick and simple recipe. Full of flavour and almost restorative. It was so easy to whip up for a quick lunch. I think this will end up being a regular in my house. 

Corn & Ginger Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
• 1/2 cup green onions, finely sliced, plus extra to serve
• 1 tbsp ginger, finely sliced 
• 2 cups corn kernels, cut from cobs (or frozen) 
• 4 cups chicken stock (I used vegetable)
• 1 tbsp shao hsing wine
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil, to serve

Method: 

• Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat.
• Add green onions and ginger, stir for 1 minute. 
• Add corn, stir for another minute (or longer if corn is still frozen).
• Pour in stock, bring to boil.
• Season with wine, salt, pepper, sugar, soy sauce.
• Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with green onions and drizzle with sesame oil. 

July 2006 - Baked Beetroot & Apple Soup

I seemed to whiz through doing recipes for this month but I have been really slack with blogging about them. It is not really a loss of words, just a bit of a loss of motivation. However I have had a bit of a loss of motivation in most areas lately. On days when I don't have a clearly defined cooking plan I have tended to be eating fairly average food. I guess that I am just going to have to start making some clearly defined menus for a while.

There were a couple of options from this issue. I really liked the look of Tobie Puttock's Roasted potatoes with milk, rosemary and garlic. It is basically a potato bake but without the cream of a regular recipe. I am sure it would be very nice but I was looking for something a bit lighter and something that didn't require making a bunch of other stuff with it.

I did quickly consider making Valli's Lentil & vegetable cottage pie. I have, however, made it before. It is very good and I would highly recommend it for a meat-free meal. I also considered Bill Granger's Spicy Tomato Soup. I do make tomato soup, I have a tomato & basil soup that I got from a Taste Cook's Club Challenge that is terrific. This soup uses canned tomatoes. I think that canned tomatoes are great for a lot of uses but when the tomato is the star of the dish like this soup I am firmly of the belief that fresh is best and mid-winter is not an ideal time to be attempting to locate quality fresh tomatoes for making soup.

In the end I decided to make Valli Little's Baked Beetroot & Apple Soup. This was a fantastic soup and so easy to make. I would suggest having a pair of gloves on hand for the peeling and grating of the beets or they will stain your hands and pretty pink colour. The apple adds a bit of sweetness and the lemon juice a bit of tang. It is made nice and rich by the cream. I actually think that this would be even better if creme fraiche was used instead of cream. This would make a wonderful starter but also made a very nice meal with the addition of a soda bread.

May 2008 - Homestyle Minestrone

Belinda Jeffery's Roast Lemon Chicken with Sicilian Olives on the front of issue #71 looks really good. It is quite a simple recipe using thigh cutlets. Sicilian olives are quite nice, even though I am not normally a fan of green olives. I have bought them previously in one of the local supermarkets however they were sold out when I went looking.

I was then going to make Jamie Oliver's Spaghetti with pan-fried prawns and tomatoes. It sounded nice and different since I don't normally eat prawns I thought that it would be something different. The supermarkets here do have prawns, sometimes though you cannot get green prawns and the night I wanted to make this I could only get already cooked prawns. I have used already cooked prawns in meals previously but they always end up tough so I just decided to make something else.

Since it has started to get cold here I had been wanting to make soup to have for quick meals and lunches. To this end I decided to make Valli Little's Homestyle Minestrone. The recipe said that it made 6 serves so I decided to make half the recipe but I still ended up with a huge amount of soup. It was very nice though so I was not overly concerned. I didn't have any small tubular pasta so I just used risoni in it. It was a nice filling soup. I serve with some slices of garlic bread for a nice meal.