Is this the best carrot soup ever?

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/soups/carrot-and-coriander-soup.html

As I think I've already mentioned I get carrots a lot in my veg box and frankly, there's only so many ways to cook carrots, usually boiled as a side dish.

Now don't get me wrong, I like carrots and I know they're good for you, in particular they keep your eyes healthy, but I do not find many opportunities for boiled carrots on the side. Perhaps once every 2-3 weeks when I might cook a roast or griddle a piece of meat.

I often shave them with a peeler and add to salads (more 'classy' than grating!). Mainly in summer. Very tasty with feta, seeds and lots if other ingredients.

No matter how often I try to use them, I still always have a big bag in my fridge which I never get through. After a while I decide they're too old and there are too many and they all get dumped in the compost bin. What a waste!

Oh and they come covered with earth making the fridge filthy. Not that I mind the earth, I just hate having to clean the fridge so often!

Anyway, I brought a large bunch of coriander from the corner shop last week so it made sense to mix it with the carrots and make carrot and coriander soup, using up both before they went off.

Hmmmm.... carrot and coriander soup... Not something I ever crave for frankly. However, this recipe of Delia's was different to the others and I know Delia can be a stalwart for 'traditional' recipes - no short cuts which is funny from the woman who told everyone it's ok to use ready chopped onions, etc. So why not give it ago? Especially as I even had creme fresh which also needed eaten up.

As with pretty much all soups it is effortless to make and it's blatantly a naughty soup as you soften the carrots in lots of butter.

I had 1.5kg carrots so divided everything into 3/4. This made enough for two greedy people like Ken and me, or three small appetites.

And it was absolutely delicious!! Creamy, flavoursome, wholesome, spicy.

I'm now a covert to carrot and coriander soup.... as long as it's done Delia's way please.

Shame I didn't have any more carrots!

06.02.13

Ps. Congratulations to another amateur cook in the family - Flora - for getting into senior school AND being awarded the art scholarship.

A touch of Mexican?

Spent 30 mins in dental hygienist chair yesterday running through the ingredients in the fridge trying to decide what to make for supper... Kept coming back to butternut squash which we had the night before, or soup which I had for lunch...

Decided to pop by Whole Foods for a loaf of their tasty sourdough and check out their ready meals... Only it transpired they don't really do ready meals... Still no closer. Did spot some cooking chorizo which was reasonably priced and always good to have in stock to bring flavour.

Headed home in a torrential rain storm. Not good when you're wearing jeans on the bike!!

Hot bath to warm up and time for some inspiration from the web... Finally I recalled the tasty Mexican dish Huevos Rancheros - phew! A little more research and up popped this recipe http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1959651/potato-pepper-and-chorizo-stew-with-fried-eggs. Simple, tasty sounding and I had all the ingredients except parsley (as too wet to go outside to pick), but had coriander instead.

True to its description this took no effort and cheered me up nicely after my soaking. However, Riverford's chorizo is much better as this one which I felt was rather bland. Even the one I brought in Sainsbury's was better.

The winning supper streak continued tonight as my chunky veg soup was full of flavour and great textures.

1 red onion, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 very large carrot, sliced into 0.5cm rings
1/4 large butternut squash, cut into large chunks
1/4 broccoli, cut into medium florets, including some of the stem (I like the flavour of the stem best)
1/2 red pepper, cut into chunks
2tbsp coriander, chopped
Veg stock, enough to cover veg
1/4 Savoy cabbage, shredded into 1cm slices
1/2 400g tin cannelenni beans, rinsed

Heat oil. Gently cook onions for few mins, then add garlic and chilli and continue to cook over low heat until soft, stirring often

Add veg except cabbage and cook for a few minutes.

Add stock and bring to boil then turn down and simmer for 10-15 mins, till veg cooked.

Add cabbage and beans and check seasoning. Cook for a few more mins till cabbage beginning to wilt and warmed through.

Add coriander and serve.

29.01.13

Comfort with a twist

Good ol' cottage pie (beef I think is cottage, whilst lamb would be shepherds'). Waitrose had their lean mince on 50% off per kg so 400g cost less than £3, fitting in with the post Christmas pinch feeling.

But I did parsnip mash and cheddar cheese on top to give it something a bit out the ordinary and suitable for a weekend dinner... plus I got to use the parsnips in this week's veg box. Haven't had parsnips yet this year in the box, so a nice new flavour.

Served with yet more Savoy cabbage... Had a lot of it over the last two months... But judging by the tiny wee size of this one, they may be coming to an end. I might miss it though as its nice to have something bright green on the plate, and its always very tasty and versatile.

Need to think up some more uses for carrots as supply growing again!

26.01.13

Chocolate chip banana cake take 2

Since it was SO delicious last time and I had two black bananas needing to be used up, I thought I'd make it again.

This time with muscovado sugar (light version) as Nigel suggests in his recipe. I expected it to be darker in colour, but I think it's too strong.

The cake is not as light and moist as last time, although this might be partly due to the 75g of bananas I didn't put in (don't ask why as I have them!), and its much sweeter. Cooking time was about the same.

I think I'll stick with light brown soft sugar in future!

Hey ho... It's still cake and cake is always good, partly because it seems greedy to eat cake in the middle of the afternoon in between meals.

26.01.13

Nigel Take Two

Tonight's challenge was to turn the leftover chicken noodle broth into something tasty, resembling what I think it's meant to...

Took meat off bone, warmed stock, added sliced mushrooms and the leftover cooked Savoy cabbage along with the pieces of meat.

Simmered noodles rather than left them to sit in hot water.

Drained noodles and put in a bowl. Poured broth mixture over the top.

MUCH tastier and edible, but still lacking a bit of flavour. Did forget to add the Thai basil though (what am I going to do with it now?).

Even got a thank you peck on the cheek from Ken!

Note: Nigel definitely didn't test that recipe. I think he meant to tell you to strain the broth after cooking it. Next time I'll know what to do eh!

21.01.2013

What was Nigel thinking?

Healthy chicken noodle broth turned into a cold, tasteless and very awkward to eat dinner...

For many weeks I have been looking forward to this chicken broth with its cinnamon, star anise and Thai basil flavours: expecting to feel healthy and cleansed after. Only the surprisingly tasty Daylesford Organic chicken softened this disaster. Another silver star to Daylesford for producing quality produce (there eggs were really tasty too).

Not sure how Nigel does it, but meat on the bone in a watery broth was never going to be easy to eat. Maybe my choice of chicken pieces wasn't correct (he did say wings though which I included), and/or my spices were not quality enough or too old. I admit I only had thick rice noodles rather than thin ones, but surely that's a minor detail and its not going to affect taste is it?

He said to take the broth off the heat and leave to sit whilst you cook the noodles and greens, which meant it went cold. Not helped as the noodles asked to be cooked by soaking in hot water for 15 mins by which time the water was cold.

Hmmm... I might try again, but would take meat off the bone to serve and mix the greens with the broth, reheat and serve OVER the noodles. I will try this with the leftovers.

Otherwise, all I can think is I'm not meant to serve the meat, just use it for flavour, but what a waste!

Perhaps I should ask Nigel.

However all was not lost today as Hetti and Stuart came over for tea. In opposition to last week they brought the goodies - wholesome butternut squash soup which we had with some sourdough bread I had, lightly toasted with lashings of unsalted butter, finished Hetti's signature chocolate chip cookies🍪. We ate them all, of course.

Chorizo time & veg boxes

I get a small veg box from Riverford every two weeks. This forms the basis of what we eat and I love the challenge it brings deciding what to cook / how to cook the mix of veg. I also have enjoyed learning about new veg I wasn't very familiar with (some of which have become my favourites, like celeriac and garlic leaves) and discovering new ways of cooking common veg. Surprisingly we don't eat lots of soup, but I believe I have come quite adept at making soup and have a few more unusual soup recipes in my repertoire using up certain veg.

Riverford also do a great cook book and a pretty handy app which is where tonight's dinner came from: cabbage, chorizo & potato hash served with a poached egg on top.

Another reason for singing the praises of Riverford is that whilst the recipe called for 'cabbage', they really mean you to use kale as it would work best, but it's flexible and any cabbage or greens will do. I used Savoy cabbage. This is a great lesson in learning to look beyond the ingredient and understand how they come in families and can be interchangeable.

Oh, and I cooked this because chorizo always gets lots of appreciation from Ken!

Btw, yesterday I threw together some penne, fried chorizo, what was left of a jar of pesto together with a few glugs of olive oil, topped with crumbled feta. Gotta say that the chorizo / feta combo was a treat, both smoothing out the other's potential for bring too strong. Might be onto something....

For our tired bodies last night we had comfort food in the shape of Riverford's very tasty pork and apple sausages, cauliflower cheese and baked potatoes. Riverford also do great meat.

14.01.2013