Minnie's Soup Kitchen

Nearly Nettled Yes, it has been a long time since I last blogged. No, I didn't make any soups in that time but I was on the verge of making soup at Easter. The younger offspring and I were in Norfolk as guests of the sibling J-Zo and sibling-in-law G-Cro. They have a large garden that provides them with apples, rhubarb, figs, herbs and other vegetation, despite the only sporadic attention they give it. The main crop that I could have used was nettles! I offered to harvest and cook; I even found recipes on the internet. I was quizzed by my various relations and in-laws. All I could say was that I made nettle soup last year and it was tasty enough. I could sense their reluctance. I didn't make nettle soup but I did bake: rhubarb crumble, gooseberry tart, and asparagus and cheese flan. I have eaten soup in the intervening weeks since my last blog. While in Norwich J-Zo and I ate a delicious red pepper soup in a quaint cafe. Yesterday I ate a really good carrot and mint soup ...

Creamy Pistachio Soup I have yet to be disappointed by any of Roopa Gulati 's recipes in The Soup Book  and today's effort was no exception. It's been an erratic day weather-wise on this May bank holiday - heavy rain interspersed with lovely sunshine. We had most of the ingredients in the house: pistachio nuts, cardamon pods, mace, coriander seeds and leaves, garlic, spring onions, root ginger, garam masala, vegetable stock and cream. All I had to do was dash out between showers to buy a green chilli from Young Stephen. This was not a soup to be hurried as there was a lot of preparation involved. I got the younger offspring to to shell the nuts for me - he only really got into when I handed him the meat tenderiser so that he could bash open the more reticent shells. I then cooked the shelled pistachios in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then spent more time than anticipated removing the skins. Sensing fiddliness, the spouse volunteered his skinning skills. Th...