Aubergine and Red Pepper Soup
Today was a double effort as this aubergine and red pepper soup comprises two separate soups. In her introduction to her own recipe in The Soup Book, Sophie Grigson sums it up as "a two-in-one" with the "mild and gentle aubergine cream yanked into high gear with a swirl of the sweeter, hotter red pepper." The aubergine soup ingredients are olive oil, onion, carrot, parsley, coriander seeds, aubergines (obviously), risotto or pudding rice, and chicken or vegetable stock. The first seven ingredients are sweated together before the stock and seasoning are added. Similarly, the first few ingredients for the pepper soup (olive oil, garlic, red chillies and red peppers) are sweated together before tomatoes, tomato puree, sugar, seasoning and stock are added. The two soups are whizzed in a blender and reheated separately, of course. The aubergine soup is divided between the soup bowls and then a ladleful of the pepper soup is added to each bowl and swirled in lightly.
 |
| Pepper and aubergine soups: pureed. |
 |
| The finished soups: aubergine at the bottom and pepper swirled on top. |
Buzzing About
 |
| Minnie's lavender: my bee-friendly garden on a sunny day. |
- Since my last blog I have come across a few bee references and links. Here's one to a textile wall panel entitled Tim's Bumble Bee by Anne Kiely.
- Further to my notes on urban bees in Paris, here's a link to a related story on a blog called Honey Bee Suite - A Better Way to Bee. You'll also find an entry entitled Mischievous Proliferous: The Scoop on Bee Poop!
- Last night I watched most of Who Killed the Honey Bee? on BBC4. Very interesting. A key point was that bees seem to be doing well in urban areas because of the diversity of plants in gardens and parks. I recognised a couple of people from The Vanishing of the Bees.
That soup sounds good - I can imagine the taste. The pics are nice too, both soup and the lavender - it looks better than it should after all that rain and dull weather! I presume you also know that Buddleia (Butterfly Bush) is also loved by bees?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThanks, MH. I've learned that bees prefer blue/purple, white and yellow flowers, but I won't be planting Buddleia because it takes over the place.
ReplyDelete