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Showing posts from July, 2011

North Sea Fish Soup

Shaun Hill is the author of today's soup, North Sea fish soup, and he advises that as the seafood must be "just cooked", dense fish should be cut into small pieces or added earlier. It was a simple soup to make as there was no frying or whizzing. The only panicked moment or ten that I experienced was when I couldn't find the cod loins the spouse had bought. I am terrible when it comes to finding things and can usually rely on the spouse to find whatever it is I'm looking for. It's the main reason I married him. But even he was almost as useless as I was. I could remember riffing on the topic of cod loins earlier in the day. The older offspring had asked: "Why cod loins? Do cod have loins? Do they walk?" Fair point. I remembered asking was it a spelling mistake? Had the packager meant to write "cod lions", and so it continued.All very silly. North Sea fish soup: final addition of the tomato and parsley Ready to eat The ingredient
Double Delight This weekend Minnie's kitchen has been a hive of activity. I've made two soups: cotriade (a Breton fish soup) and French onion soup. The recipe for the cotriade is by Marie-Pierre Moine and I made it for the family dinner yesterday. It contains potatoes, onions, light fish stock, thyme, parsley, bay leaves, and mixed fish (the spouse bought a mixture of salmon, haddock, smoked haddock and cod). It was quite simple to make but, as usual, took longer than stated in The Soup Book . The onions are softened, then the stock, potatoes and herbs are added. The fish is put in later when the potatoes are almost cooked. While the fish is cooking, you prepare a dressing to spread on thick slices of country bread. The dressing (oil, Dijon mustard, seasoning, vinegar and parsley) is spread on the the bread and placed in the soupbowls. The soup is then ladled on to the bread. The three older members of the family really enjoyed it, with the bigger offspring saying he'd

Cannellini Bean and Carrot Soup

Cannellini Bean and Carrot Soup It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't made a soup from the Pulses and Nuts section of The Soup Book for a while, not since March in fact. The recipe is by Livia Firth , wife of the actor Colin ( Pride and Prejudice - great series!), who uses leeks as the base of her soups because they are sweeter than onions. The ingredients are leeks, olive oil, butter, canned cannellini beans, carrots and curry powder (optional; I used garam masala). It took me over two hours to prepare, what with slicing, chopping, simmering and whizzing in the blender, rather than the hour and ten minutes stated in the book. The final soup is tasty but bordering on bland. A reasonable warmer-upper on a cold winter's day rather than a meal for a mild summer's day. Where the Bee Sucks While I was away, the oregano and/or marjoram in my back garden flowered and I have noticed bees buzzing around. Meanwhile in the front garden the lavender is also a-buzz with b

Honey Holidays

Well, no soup-making for me this week as we're on holidays in west Co Cork. The spouse, younger offspring and I are enjoying a break on Heir Island. The weather has been glorious so far, but is due to change tomorrow. Walking around the island in the evenings, we are inhaling the heady scent of wild honeysuckle. The house we're staying in has piles of books around the place, one of which is C J J Berry 's First Steps in Winemaking . This was first published in 1982, shortly before the spouse and I bought our own copy and began our own venture into making country wines. There was ample space in the hot press in the house where we were living at the time, and we duly filled it with demi-johns of rose petal, clove and ginger, and other wines. One wine we definitely didnt' get around to making was "bees" wine. Berry explains it thus: "You used to stand it in the window, and the bees used to go up and down in the liquid ... it made quite a pleasant drink

Cucumber and Dill Soup

Cucumber and Dill Soup   I have been making good progress through the Summer Vegetables section of  The Soup Book this year. By the end of 2010 I had made twelve of the fifty-eight recipes. We're just over halfway through 2011 and I've made another fourteen. As I mentioned last month, there are five recipes for cucumber soup in the book. Today's is cucumber and dill soup by Marie-Pierre Moine . You need cucumbers, seasoning, milk, fresh dill and bio natural yoghurt. You don't have to cook as this is a chilled soup - just allow yourself plenty of time for full chilling. You'll be peeling, slicing, sprinkling, stirring, chilling, rinsing, blending and sieving. When I got up this morning the sun was beaming down, hence my decision to make this soup. By lunchtime, however, the sky was grey. The younger offspring and his father arrived home for lunch and as I put the finishing touches to the soup I wasn't too impressed. Moine's introduction to the recipe des

Tomato Borscht

Tomato Borscht Sofia Larinua-Craxton , the author of this recipe in The Soup Book , promises that you will love the rich colour and fantastic taste of this unsual version of borscht. With cinnamon among its various ingredients, it certainly smelt fantastic while being cooked. The other ingredients are onion, garlic, beetroot, ground toasted cumin seeds (I cheated and used pre-ground), fresh tomatoes, tomato juice, sun-dried tomatoes, vegetable stock (I inadvertently used chicken), soy sauce and seasoning; it's served with soured cream or creme fraiche and more toasted cumin seeds.  Delicious tomato borscht served with yoghurt and ground cumin. I made the borscht for lunch and three of us (the older offspring is out touting for work) have just eaten it. It lives up to Sofia's promise. I am hesitant about beetroot, but this is a soup I would definitely make again. The spouse and I agreed it was the spices and the richness of the tomatoes that have made it palatable. There