Roast Capsicum Soup

Yes, another soup! But it is that time of year, and this is a delicious and easy soup, & as it is dairy free (the yoghurt is just a garnish), it freezes very well.

This is from the massive 'Marie Clair - Kitchen' cookbook. It was a gift to me from my friend Kitty, in a round about, amusing way. My friend Nat & I had given Kitty this book as an engagement present. When Kitty left the firm where we worked a few months later, they gave her this same book as a farewell present .... a fact Kitty quickly & loudly announced as she unwrapped it!

So the book found its way to me as an early Christmas present. I use many of the recipe's in here. Its 'cocktail' section is particularly good. The recipe for blinis is very good, as are a couple other of the 'canapes' that I have tried (pan-fried mushrooms w/ pancetta on sliced french bread - yum!).

I have made this soup several times. It always turns out well, it always tastes delicious, it is great in winter w/ its chilli kick, and it looks a little bit impressive. Win, win, win in my book!

In the picture above I served it with a dollop of Maggie Beer's salsa / pesto thing. This works fantastically well, but this isn't a required part of the recipe: yoghurt and fresh mint are the traditional garnish.

Roast Capsicum Soup

4 red capsicums

4 tomatoes
olive oil
500ml vegetable stock (as good a quality as possible)
1 tsp chilli powder, or 1 dried chilli, sliced (more of course it you want!)
1 tsp cumin
yughurt (to serve)
fresh mint (to serve)

Preheat the oven to 200'c.  
 
Put a few good glugs of olive oil into a roasting tin, add the whole tomatoes & capsicums, and use your hands to make sure each veg is has a good coating of the oil.
 
Put into the oven (I also turn the oven's fan on), and roast for 25 - 30 minutes or until the caps have started to blacken. then remove from oven, and when cool enough to handle, remove the skins & seeds from the capsicums, and put into a blender with the still-whole tomatoes, & blitz till smooth.
 
Put the vegetable stock in a saucepan, add the tomato/capsicum mix, and stir to mix well together. Taste, and season w/ S&P as necessary.
 
Add the chilli & cumin, stirring well into the soup, then bring the whole thing to a boil. After you've had a rapid boil for a couple of minutes it is ready to either serve, or you can keep on a low heat (or take off the heat), and just warm it up again when you are ready.
 
Serve w/ a dollop of thick yoghurt & some crushed/sliced fresh mint leaves.
 
 
 
 

Soup-a-Doup-a! Roast Pumpkin Soup!

I love cold weather. I appreciate that may see me in the minority! One of the reasons I love cold weather is the wonderful, warm hearty food.

This soup is insanely easy: you need a handful of ingredients, and it can be made relatively quickly. Enjoy!

600g pumpkin (I use butternut)

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 or 3 sprigs of rosemary

500ml -750ml good quality vegetable stock (depending on how thick you like your soup)

olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180'c. 

Cut the pumpkin into chunks. I prefer to keep the skin on when I roast pumpkin, I think the flavour is better that way, obviously it is totally up to you. Douse the pumpkin, garlic cloves & rosemary in olive oil, and then spread across a baking sheet. Roast in an oven for 25-30 mins or until golden, and soft. 

Put the stock into a saucepan & bring to a gentle boil. 

Remove garlic & rosemary & discard. The skins from the pumpkin & discard. Put the pumpkin into a blender & pulse until smooth. Add ladelfuls of the simmering stock, until you get the deisred consistency, stirring well each time to combine. Taste & season w/ S&P according to your taste. I had some cream in the fridge, so I added that to the pot too, but it isn't necessary.   Serve w/ toasted bread.

Wine Match!

This is lovely w/ a dry white wine or even, if your taste head in this direction, a dry sherry.

It has been a long, long time, but here I go again!

An out of the blue email from an old friend who is hosting a dinner party, combined with successful Madeline & chocolate-mousse-cake making over the weekend has inspired me to start paying more attention to my blog again.

I promise at least one post a week.

My friend (shout-out: Mel T!) is having 3 foodies over for dinner, and wondered if I had any menu-suggestions.

To start:

Gordon Ramsay's Broccoli Soup.

This is just the yummiest soup in the world, and amazingly healthy. The most important thing is to buy the best, freshest broccoli you can. This should make 2 very generous serves, or up to 4 serves as a starter.

    * 1 large or 2 medium broccoli heads
    * Salt
    * Ground black pepper
    * water
    * olive oil

For a slightly fancy version:
    * toasted almonds slivers (to garnish)
    * 2slices goats cheese (per bowl, to garnish)

1) Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add a large pinch of salt. Add broccoli and boil rapidly.


2) You will want to slice your goat cheese at this point if you’re making the fancy version. Dip the knife into the boiling hot water before each slice for even smooth cuts. Cut two slices of goat cheese per bowl being served.

3) Your broccoli is finished cooking when you can pierce it with little or no effort. Remove the pot from the stove burner. DO NOT POUR THE WATER OUT! Use a slotted spoon to put broccoli into a blender.  Pour enough of the water left over from cooking the broccoli to fill the blender half way. Add a pinch (or more) of salt.

***Before you start to pulse, wrap a tea-towel around whatever hand is touching the blender jug itself (even the lid): the contents are SCOLDINGLY hot (painful experience talking here!). ***

Use several pulses on your blender to break the broccoli up and then puree for a few seconds, until you get a nice, creamy consistency. Add more water if necessary (shouldn't be).
4) If you are making the 'fancy version', place some almond slivers to the bottom of a bowl and then place pieces of goat cheese on top of them.

5) Pour the soup into the bowl. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and serve at once: Yum!

If you look on youtube (just search 'Gordon Ramsay Broccoli Soup) you will see a video of him making this (or try this link):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvc8Au4YO60