Healthy summer gazpacho!

Ok so after 2 months of complete blog abandonment, I am back! I'll just quickly fill you in on what's been happening (excuses excuses!) before returning with a lovely summery recipe!

Since my last post, I have written over 20,000 words of essays (including my dissertation), finished my final exams and had a few fantastic restaurant experiences (another trip to One-o-One, the Chancery and the White Swan's tasting evening as well as a good find in Plymouth called the Fish Market).

I am now back in Cornwall, having a much needed rest (and detox) and I think it’s only right to kick off with this healthy summer gazpacho.

 Admittedly, cold soups are not everyone's idea of a perfect supper, but I was reminded of their charm in my visit to One-o-One last month, where we sampled an amuse bouche of a cold soup of halibut, salmon and fennel. It went down a treat but I decided to stick to the traditional Spanish recipe of gazpacho.

Gazpacho

• 1 long red romaro pepper
• 500g of tomatoes, I used one beef tomato for sustenance, and 2 packs of sweet sunstream tomatoes for extra flavour.
• Half a cucumber
• Half a bulb of fennel (ok so not that traditional but I love the refreshing kick it gives!)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Day old bread (I used a white baton from tesco)
• Plenty of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar (most recipes call for sherry vinegar but I didn't have any, this worked a treat!)
• Salt and pepper to season

The preparation, you'd be glad to know, is minimal. Remove the crust from the bread and soak the rest in some water and drizzle with some olive oil. Meanwhile, peel your cucumber as the skin would add unwanted bitterness to the soup, slice your tomatoes (and peel if you wish) and deseed, cut and remove ‘the white bits’ from the red pepper. Chop up your garlic cloves and fennel. Put everything in a food processor until smooth then add the bread (use a sieve to drain it first), about 75ml of olive oil and the white wine vinegar. Season generously to taste! You can either put it in the fridge to chill or if you are not happy with the consistency, put it through a fine sieve for a smoother, more liquid soup. I tried the latter option first but felt I was wasting all of the nutritious pulp, so mixed it all back together in the end!

I enjoyed this soup with a few slices of parma ham, garnished with parsley and a generous drizzle of ‘Cinque Foglie’ extra virgin olive oil which I purchased from Borough Market!

Or you can serve it in a glass, a traditional way of serving Gazpacho!

Curried butternut squash, sweet potato and coconut soup.

A while back, I promised to update my thai butternut squash soup post  but as I finally came round to doing so, I ended up tweaking the recipe so much it became a completely different soup altogether!

I was really pleased with the outcome of this soup as my spices came from a mix of Spice Mountain’s mild madras and vindaloo blends. Of course not everyone is as lucky as me to have access to borough market every weekend to get these, so experiment with different curry pastes and powders yourselves!

·         One large sweet potato (approx. 500g)

·         One medium butternut squash (approx .800g)

·         1 medium onion

·         500ml of coconut milk (I used the naughty powdered stuffed mixed with water!)

·         1 and ½ good stock cubes (chicken or veg)

·         1 garlic clove

·         A thumb sized piece of ginger

·         1 tablespoon of chilli flakes or 1 hot chilli

·         2 tablespoons madras powder (I used 1 tablespoon mild madras, 1 tablespoon vindaloo blend)

·         2 tbsp vegetable or olive oil

Bring 1.3 litres of water to a boil and cut the sweet potato and squash (no need to peel but wash thoroughly!) into medium sized chunks, scraping out the seeds from the squash. Add to the pan of water and simmer for 20 minutes or until cooked through and the skin peels off easily. Drain using a sieve over a large bowl or other container, then add the stock cubes and mix well.

 Peel the sweet potatoes and squash once cool enough to handle then return to the pan. Roughly chop the onion, ginger and garlic before frying in a separate pan with some oil on medium heat. Once the onions are starting to turn golden, add the curry powders and chilli to form a paste, adding more oil if required. Add to the pan of squash and potatoes, before pouring over all the coconut milk and simmering for 10 minutes.

 Leave to cool for several minutes before pouring half the stock and half the coconut and veg mixture into a blender or food processor, repeat the process with the rest of the batch. Season if needed. Serve hot with some naans or warm bread of your choice!

Hint: If your pan is not big enough, try roasting the veg instead for a lovely smoky flavour before blending with coconut milk and 1.2 litres of hot stock.

Honeyed parsnip and celeriac soup

The roads are getting icy, snow is predicted and central heating is the only thing keeping me from turning into a human icicle. But I found another way to keep myself happy and warm, and it’s this soup.

Serves 2-3

·         2 parsnips

·         Half a celeriac root

·         Half a medium onion

·         3 tablespoons of butter

·         600ml of chicken/vegetable/ham stock

·         2 tablespoons of honey

·         3 garlic cloves

·         10g of root ginger

·         A pinch of nutmeg

·         Salt and pepper

·         Pancetta cubes to garnish

·         1 tablespoon of single cream to garnish

·         Croutons to garnish. I made my own by cubing some slightly stale bread then frying in some olive oil on all sides until golden and crisp.

(I also used some frozen chicken and saffron stock that I had leftover from my risotto, all that did was give the soup a slightly golden tint and a tiny hint of earthy saffron)

Start off by peeling and chopping the veg. Size doesn’t matter as it will all go into a blender anyway but nice 3cm cubes would be perfect. The onion should be finely chopped so it sweats and caramelizes more quickly. Heat a deep pan of 2 tablespoons of butter until melted and put in the onions. Leave on medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the parsnips, celeriac, ginger and garlic and stir for a few minutes before adding the rest of the butter, coating the contents of the pan in it as it melts. The ginger will give off that delicate heat that we like to taste in a true winter warmer! After around 10 minutes, add the honey and stir to coat all the vegetables. This will also help the onions caramelize further. Reduce the heat slightly and cover with a lid for a further 5 minutes. Meanwhile you can prepare the stock (I use chicken concentrate mixed with boiled water for an intense brothy flavour), then add the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Add this to the pan and leave to simmer for a further 15 minutes. Once the vegetables are soft and can easily be crushed with a fork, take off the heat and cool before putting in a blender and pulsing.

Serve with some crispy pancetta cubes along with home-made croutons and a drizzle of single cream.

  

Some left over? This is what I did with my leftover soup.

 Boil some pasta in hot water, once al dente, drain and return to the pan. Pour over 5 tablespoons of the soup, some grated cheese and single cream before mixing in some basil pesto. Add some cooked bacon or chicken for an easy lunch and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil!

Ooh la yum! French Onion Soup!

Ok so I realise I've gone a bit soup mad but bear with me. This French classic is well worth a try, not only is it incredibly cheap to make but its super indulgent! If you're struggling to think of an elegant veggie dish for your ethical friends, this might be the one for you (but remember to substitute the beef stock for vegetable stock and check that the wine you use is suitable for vegetarians!).

This recipe makes enough for two big bowls, so remember to vary your recipe accordingly!

·         4 medium red onions (Obviously you are free to substitute for regular white ones but I find the red onions have a delicate sweetness about them as well as giving the soup that pretty, colourful look.)

·         1 garlic clove (plus extra for rubbing on the bread)

·         200ml red wine

·         1 pint of beef/vegetarian stock

·         50g butter

·         1 tbsp of Demerera/brown sugar

·         Fresh thyme leaves (a small handful)

·         2 bay leaves

·         A medium baguette

·         100g hard cheese i.e gruyere or cheddar

First, wash and peel the onions. Why wash, you ask? It reduces the risk of tears, and makes the chopping you are about to do a lot more bearable! I love variation of texture in my soup, so I choose to cube one onion, coarsely chop another and slice the last two into ring shapes. Making the soup your own is what makes it so special so try experimenting with various shapes and sizes! Put aside the chopped onions and melt the butter in a pan over a low-heat. Once melted and hot, drop in the onions and stir quickly to cover all onions in the butter juice. Crush and chop the garlic and coarsely cut the thyme leaves before adding into the pan along with the bay leaves. Stir for 5 minutes before adding the sugar. Cover with a lid and leave on a low heat to sweat for 20 minutes, stirring very occasionally.

 Warm up a grill (or oven to 220C). Turn up the heat on the hob to medium and pour in the wine and simmer and reduce for 15-20 minutes before adding the stock.

Simmer for a further 5-10 minutes while you grate the cheese, slice the baguette into individual slices, lightly toasting it before rubbing with a crushed garlic clove.

Once the grill/oven is hot enough, top the baguette slices with cheese and cook until crunchy and melted. Serve soup in warm bowls topped with the individual cheese ‘croutons’ and a garnish of fresh parsley.

 Tres Delicious!

Soups continued... Ssssh top secret recipe!

In case you do not know, I was born in Russia, and at the risk of sounding like an eskimo, Siberia to be more precise. I remember getting wrapped up very warm in -20C temperatures and craving a steaming bowl of borsch. Despite everyone thinking there’s a t at the end of this traditional Russian beetroot soup, there really isn’t. Today I am going to give away the authentic recipe but be warned, only a true Russian can actually master it (I guess that’s why mine doesn’t taste as good as my mum’s!).

If you’re up for the challange, however, this is what you’ll need:

·         A can of stewed beef or beef goulash

·         Half a medium cabbage

·         2 medium potatoes

·         1 raw beetroot

·         Half an onion, chopped

·         Half a carrot

·         1 medium tomato

·         1 beef stock cube

·         1 tablespoon of tomato puree

·         1 medium chilli pepper- deseeded

·         1 or 2 garlic cloves

·         1 teaspoon of vinegar

·         1 cup of juice from a jar of pickled gherkins (that’s what makes it authentic and so delicious!)

·         1 teaspoon of cinnamon

·         1 teaspoon of sugar

·         Dry herbs: 1 teaspoon of basil and 3 bay leafs and some peppercorns!

·         Sour cream and fresh dill to garnish

(I never said it’d be easy!)

If that list hasn’t scared you off, first thing you have to do is boil half a pan of water. While that’s doing, de-skin the tomato and peel and cube the potatoes. When the water is boiled, add the can of stewed beef to the pan and leave until simmering. Cut the cabbage into strips then put in the pan with the potatoes. Leave to simmer for 20 minutes and while that’s cooking, chop the tomato, grate the carrot, peel and grate the raw beetroot, chop the onion, garlic and chilli. Fry onion, garlic and chilli in some oil then separately fry the rest of the veg until soft. Mix all together and add the sugar, cinnamon, tomato puree and herbs. Add to the large pan of beef mixture and add gherkin juice and vinegar, followed by the stock cube. Simmer for 10-15 minutes before serving in a bowl with a dollop of sour cream and fresh dill. This soup can be reheated and actually tastes better the next day once the flavours have had the chance to develop fully! Na zdorovye!

Burrr means soup time!

Wow, it’s really got cold recently! My coat is out and so is my food processor! As winter is looming upon us, I want to share with everyone some of my favourite winter warmers. Starting with my all time favourite, thai-style butternut squash soup!

This soup warms you up in more than one way, yes it’s a steaming hot delight but it also packs a punch with its spicy Asian nature. Everyone loves it, and I know you will too!

You will need the following to make enough for 6 servings:

·         700g-1kg butternut squash (one large squash)

·         1 medium onion

·         3 tbsp thai red curry paste

·         1 can of coconut milk

·         1 medium chilli

·         2 cups of stock of your choice (chicken works great!)

·         2 garlic cloves

So you should begin by roasting your squash in the oven, this takes about 30 minutes at 200C in plenty of oil! To do this you have to peel and then cube the squash. Yes, it’s labour intensive but it’s worth every sweat droplet, trust me, plus it’s one more way to warm up, eh? After doing this, place it in a roasting tray for half an hour or so or when the edges begin to darken and the squash is nice and soft on the inside. Meanwhile,drop some oil in a frying pan and add all the curry paste to release the flavours. 30 seconds of frying and it’s time to add the chopped onions and garlic, followed by the chilli, very finely chopped. After about 2 minutes, take it off the heat and set aside. Once the butternut squash is well roasted place in a pan and pour in the stock also adding the curry mixture from the frying pan. Simmer for 10 minutes to combine the flavours before pouring in the coconut milk. Stir and wait until boiling then take off the heat. If you see some separation of oils, don’t worry, they will mix fine in the blender. Once slightly cooled, pour in the blender and season with salt an pepper and pulse until a smooth soup! Serve with a spoonful of sour cream and coriander! I feel warmer just thinking about it!

(Sorry about the photos! I will take better ones as soon as I can and update this post then!)