Dhal Soup
On Friday 3rd January (the older offspring's birthday, by the way) I went through The Soup Book and made a list of the thirty-two soups I have yet to make. Will I get through them this year? Let us see.
Following the post-Christmas cull of moss-clad cookery books, I cast my eye over the kitchen book shelves this morning (Saturday 4th January) in search of soup recipes. Rose Elliot's Not Just a Load of Old Lentils was first published in 1972 and the spouse and I bought our copy in 1984. We went vegetarian that year in an effort to lose weight and be healthy. It didn't last. We missed meat and we found that preparing truly tasty vegetarian meals was too time consuming and not always worth the effort. That said, we gained a lot from the experience.
The ingredients for this dhal soup: red lentils, a bay leaf, sliced onions, crushed garlic, ginger (I used fresh rather than ground), turmeric, garam masala and lemon juice.
Cooking: I simmered the lentils, bay leaf, half of the sliced onions and crushed garlic, ginger and turmeric for an hour. Meanwhile I fried the remaining onion and garlic with the garam masala. I tipped the fried ingredients into the tenderised lentils, seasoned the mixture and squeezed in some lemon juice.
Verdict: There were three of us initially but the older offspring joined us. I thought the soup was a little watery and the flavours weren't intense enough. I probably was expecting the soup to taste like proper dhal. The three gentlemen all liked it and thought it should be made again.
What's the Buzz?
Here are a couple of news stories about bees:
Killer chemicals -
Irish Times, 4th January 2014
Artist uses dead bees to create mathematical patterns - Wired, 21st November 2013
Traffic fumes make honeybees unable to recognise flower scent - Guardian, 3rd October 2013
Wishing you all the best in 2014!
Minnie
On Friday 3rd January (the older offspring's birthday, by the way) I went through The Soup Book and made a list of the thirty-two soups I have yet to make. Will I get through them this year? Let us see.
Following the post-Christmas cull of moss-clad cookery books, I cast my eye over the kitchen book shelves this morning (Saturday 4th January) in search of soup recipes. Rose Elliot's Not Just a Load of Old Lentils was first published in 1972 and the spouse and I bought our copy in 1984. We went vegetarian that year in an effort to lose weight and be healthy. It didn't last. We missed meat and we found that preparing truly tasty vegetarian meals was too time consuming and not always worth the effort. That said, we gained a lot from the experience.
Cooking: I simmered the lentils, bay leaf, half of the sliced onions and crushed garlic, ginger and turmeric for an hour. Meanwhile I fried the remaining onion and garlic with the garam masala. I tipped the fried ingredients into the tenderised lentils, seasoned the mixture and squeezed in some lemon juice.
Verdict: There were three of us initially but the older offspring joined us. I thought the soup was a little watery and the flavours weren't intense enough. I probably was expecting the soup to taste like proper dhal. The three gentlemen all liked it and thought it should be made again.
What's the Buzz?
Here are a couple of news stories about bees:
Killer chemicals -
Irish Times, 4th January 2014
Artist uses dead bees to create mathematical patterns - Wired, 21st November 2013
Traffic fumes make honeybees unable to recognise flower scent - Guardian, 3rd October 2013
Wishing you all the best in 2014!
Minnie
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