Jane Grigson's Melon and Wine Soup
When I dip into The Soup Book I can sometimes spot which soups are worthwhile sharing with guests. Sophie Grigson's take on her mother Jane Grigson's soup is one such soup. As I flicked through the book last weekend, the melon and wine soup caught my eye and I read through the ingredients (a melon - charentais or canteloupe -, sugar, dry white wine, lemon juice and creme fraiche). "I could make that for my book group," I thought. The instructions looked reasonably straightforward. Timing was the tricky part. The spouse bought the canteloupe last Saturday and I wondered if the melon would last for five days. Isn't that where a fridge comes in handy? The next timing hurdle was how to get the soup ready in time for my book group as the recipe involves making and chilling syrup. The book group was meeting on Thursday evening so I made the syrup on Wednesday evening while I was preparing ginger shortbread with chocolate cloaks (good old Gill MacLennan!).
Melons. My favourites are water, charentais and canteloupe but if I get the slightest inkling that they're on the turn I can't bear them. So, I took my canteloupe, de-seeded it and put the chopped flesh into the blender with the white wine. This mixture tasted good. Next in was the syrup and the result was another tasty mix. Similarly the addition of lemon juice brought about another luscious concoction. Finally, in went the creme fraiche. Lovely. I served the soup in wine glasses with amaretti biscuits as suggested by Sophie Grigson, but they were superfluous as the soup was quite sweet. Note to self: less syrup next time and a different brand of amaretti.
Bee is for Book Group Buzz
Our chosen book - well, it was my choice actually, as the hostess - was Julian Barnes' The Sense of an Ending. Everyone enjoyed it, despite a few quibbles. Somehow we strayed from the book to bees and intentions to keep bees and the possibility of being poisoned by rhododendron honey. "Sounds like the perfect murder," quipped "Nuala". We chuckled at the thought of bodies found encased in bees wax. Very Roald Dahl.
When I dip into The Soup Book I can sometimes spot which soups are worthwhile sharing with guests. Sophie Grigson's take on her mother Jane Grigson's soup is one such soup. As I flicked through the book last weekend, the melon and wine soup caught my eye and I read through the ingredients (a melon - charentais or canteloupe -, sugar, dry white wine, lemon juice and creme fraiche). "I could make that for my book group," I thought. The instructions looked reasonably straightforward. Timing was the tricky part. The spouse bought the canteloupe last Saturday and I wondered if the melon would last for five days. Isn't that where a fridge comes in handy? The next timing hurdle was how to get the soup ready in time for my book group as the recipe involves making and chilling syrup. The book group was meeting on Thursday evening so I made the syrup on Wednesday evening while I was preparing ginger shortbread with chocolate cloaks (good old Gill MacLennan!).
Melons. My favourites are water, charentais and canteloupe but if I get the slightest inkling that they're on the turn I can't bear them. So, I took my canteloupe, de-seeded it and put the chopped flesh into the blender with the white wine. This mixture tasted good. Next in was the syrup and the result was another tasty mix. Similarly the addition of lemon juice brought about another luscious concoction. Finally, in went the creme fraiche. Lovely. I served the soup in wine glasses with amaretti biscuits as suggested by Sophie Grigson, but they were superfluous as the soup was quite sweet. Note to self: less syrup next time and a different brand of amaretti.
Bee is for Book Group Buzz
Our chosen book - well, it was my choice actually, as the hostess - was Julian Barnes' The Sense of an Ending. Everyone enjoyed it, despite a few quibbles. Somehow we strayed from the book to bees and intentions to keep bees and the possibility of being poisoned by rhododendron honey. "Sounds like the perfect murder," quipped "Nuala". We chuckled at the thought of bodies found encased in bees wax. Very Roald Dahl.
Comments
Post a Comment