Curried Parsnip and Apple Soup

Autumn has well and truly set in round my way, with cloudless blue skies overhead and masses of alternately crisp and soggy leaves underfoot. Edinburgh certainly knows how to do autumn well.

This time of year brings both a glut of wonderful root veg in my weekly organic box, and the desire to really spice things up in an attempt to keep warm from the inside out. To me, parsnips are the king of the root veg, and I love them in any form - roasted, mashed, even in cakes from time to time - but there is something about their savoury sweetness that makes them ideal to transform into velvety smooth soups. And they happen to go particularly well with curry spices. So the other day I came up with this delicate soup, both to warm me up on a cold Wednesday afternoon and to serve as my entry for this month's No Croutons Required competition over at Lisa's Kitchen. It's a real winter warmer, sure to brighten even the dullest, wettest day.

Curried Parsnip & Apple Soup
Serves 4

Ingredients:
3 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp flour
800ml vegetable stock
1 large cooking apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil and 25g butter
salt & pepper
50ml milk (optional)

Method:
1. Heat the oil and butter in large saucepan. Saute onions until soft, add garlic and parsnips and cook gently for a few minutes.
2. Add curry powder and flour, stir to coat the veg and cook for no more than two minutes to prevent the spices from burning.
3. Add the stock and apples and stir well. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the parsnips and apples are tender but not mushy.
4. Blend the soup into a velvety puree. Add a splash of milk if desired and more stock/water if the soup is too thick.
5. Serve with crispy garlic croutons, toasted pumpkin seeds or a swirl of creme fraiche.

Hearty Tuscan Bean Soup

I found myself pottering around my kitchen on Saturday afternoon, feeling slightly fuzzy round the edges after one too many glasses of wine the night before, but blissfully happy in the knowledge that I had no plans, nowhere to be, and that it was just horrible enough outside to justify my staying indoors all day.

So instead of reaching for the frozen pizza - as I am wont to do on such occasions - I began flicking through a few of the blogs I like to follow, and I came upon this month's No Croutons Required competition, hosted by Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes. In the spirit of our recession-hit times, the theme this time is frugality, and the aim is to create a vegetarian soup (or salad) using only storecupboard ingredients, plus whatever you can find in the fridge. That got me thinking - hey, I've got a tin of tomatoes in the cupboard, and a tin of butter beans, plus there's all that veg from our weekly organic box that needs using up ...

And so, with an added dash of inspiration after watching Nigel Slater's new programme the other day, I set about creating my competition entry. A kind of autumnal, warming bean soup with hints of our holiday in Italy earlier this year, I'm calling it my Hearty Tuscan Bean Soup. It's truly one of the most delicious things I've eaten in a long time - far better than that frozen pizza I'd had my eyes on...


Hearty Tuscan Bean Soup
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 stick celery, 1 carrot and 1 red pepper, all coarsely chopped
tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
tin chopped tomatoes
500ml vegetable stock
squeeze of tomato puree
the heel of a chunk of parmesan or pecorino, if desired/available (thanks to NS for this idea!)
pinch oregano
a few sprigs fresh thyme, chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:
1. Saute the onion and garlic in some olive oil for a few minutes, until soft but not brown. Add the chopped veg and continue to saute, covered, for a further 5 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, stock and tomato puree, stir well and bring to a simmer. Throw in the end of a chunk of parmesan or pecorino, if you happen to have one hiding in the back of the fridge.
3. Add the herbs and seasoning, along with the butter beans, and simmer a few more minutes until the flavours have melded together and the cheese is meltingly soft but not broken up.
4. Remove the cheese from the pot, check the seasoning, and serve the soup with some rustic Italian bread and maybe a drizzle of olive oil.

Sigara Boregi

These cheese pastries are very common on Turkish mezze plates, and although not exactly friendly on the arteries, in small doses they are delcious, smile-inducing and just a little bit exotic. It can't hurt every now and again...

Cheese Pastries
Makes 30

Ingredients:
8-10 sheets yufka pastry - or filo pastry would work just as well
4 eggs
450g Turkish cheese such as beyaz peynir - or feta
large bunch of fresh mint, parsley and dill, chopped
sunflower oil for frying

Method:
1. Mash the cheese, eggs and herbs into a paste in a large bowl.
2. Lay the pastry on a flat floured surface and cut into long strips, 8cm wide by 20cm long.
3. Take a strip at a time and place a teaspoon of the cheese mix onto the end nearest you. Fold the corners over the mixture to seal it, then roll away from you to create tight, cigar-like rolls. Seal the pastry shut with a dab of water.
4. Heat the oil in a shallow pan - enough for deep-frying. Fry the boregi in batches for approx 3 mins until they are golden brown and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and serve warm.

50 ways with an aubergine?

This was the first dish we made at the Istanbul cookery class, and I reckon it was the biggest hit. Apparently the Turkish have about 50 ways of cooking aubergine, and if you've ever eaten at a Turkish restaurant - at home or in Turkey - you can see that this is likely!

Aubergines with Onion & Tomato
Serves 2 as a side dish

Ingredients:
2 aubergines
1 green pepper, chopped
1 large onion (or 3 shallots), finely sliced
3 large tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and chopped
Squeeze of tomato puree
6 cloves garlic, finelly chopped
bunch parsley, dill and basil, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
150ml olive/sunflower oil
60ml water
Slices of green pepper and tomato

Method:
1. Remove bottom inch of each aubergine, but leave stalk intact. Peel skin in strips, leaving some on to allow aubergine to retain shape.
2. Gently fry onion, garlic and peppers until cooked and soft. Add the tomatoes and puree and stir well.
3. In deepish (one inch) hot oil fry the aubergines gently until brown all over (about 5-8 mins). Drain on kitchen paper.
4. Add water and salt to the tomato mix to make a soup-like consistency. Simmer until this has cooked down.
5. Arrange aubergines in a tray or oven dish and pack the veg and tomato mixture all around. Arrange slices of pepper and tomato over the whole tray.
6. Cook in the oven (180C) for about 15-20 minutes and serve with a squeeze of lemon juice and some warm, fresh pide bread.

Risotto with Leeks and Spring Greens

The Monkey and I have recently joined a veg box scheme from the wonderfully groovy Phantassie Farm (what a fantastic name!) in East Lothian. With all sorts of options available to us, we plumped in the beginning for a small mixed fruit'n'veg box, excluding potatoes as we don't eat so many of them these days. In the first delivery was an abundance of seasonal produce - plump cauliflower, fat, dirty carrots, juicy leeks, green pepper and some small red onions - along with a large mystery bundle of greenery that I struggled to identify. Not a problem: a quick email to the farm and the mystery was solved. Turns out these were the first of the early spring greens, which I was told should be sliced thinly and cooked quickly - much as you would kale or cabbage, I suppose.

Inspired by this bounty I rustled up this tasty risotto for a quick midweek supper - a total experiment, but then often the best dishes are.

Leek & Spring Green Risotto
Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 leeks, trimmed and sliced
half a red chilli, de-seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
120g risotto rice
glug (ablut 100 mls) of white wine
1.5 litres of vegetable stock
bundle of spring greens, stalks sliced and leaves shredded
butter, olive oil

Method:
1. Heat a little oil in a heavy based pan and add a handful of the chopped leeks along with the garlic and chilli. Saute for a few minutes.

2. Add the rice and stir round to mix with the other ingredients. Splash in the wine, savour the wonderful smell, and stir well. Turn the heat down and simmer until the wine has been absorbed.

3. Throw in the chopped spring green stalks as they will take a while to cook. Add the stock bit by bit, letting each addition absorb into the rice before adding the next.

4. Meanwhile, in a wok or frying pan, saute the remaining leeks until they are soft and golden. Add the green leaves and stir-fry quickly until they are just cooked but not mushy.

5. When the risotto has absorbed enough stock it will be rich and creamy, the rice still slightly al dente. Stir in a nob of butter and season with salt and pepper.

6. Mix the leeks and greens into the risotto and serve in large bowls with a few shavings of parmesan and a glass of chilled white wine on the side.

Buon appetito!

In the Bag - March

Fellow food blogger Julia runs the wonderful and super-successful A Slice of Cherry Pie, on which every month she holds a competition to come up with the best recipe using seasonal ingredients in an appealing and tasty way. Since the ingredients in the bag for March are leeks, cheese and eggs, I thought I would face up to one of my culinary nemeses: the souffle.

Leeks, eggs and cheese are good friends, and I thought about going for a quiche or a pie or perhaps a Spanish omelette, but then I admitted to myself that it's time I got over the Collapsed Souffle Incident of 2005 and begin afresh with the deceptively tricksy egg dish. So here goes...


Blue Cheesy Leek Souffles
Makes 2 individual large ramekins (or 4 small ones)

Ingredients:
1 large leek, finely chopped
25g butter + a bit more for the leeks
25g plain flour
200ml milk
2 eggs
25g blue cheese, crumbled
salt & pepper

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease the ramekins with butter. Separate the eggs, keeping the yolks in reserve and placing the whites into a large mixing bowl.

2. Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan. Saute the leeks for a few minutes until golden and tender.

3. Melt the rest of the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook for one minute. Add the milk bit by bit and bring to the boil, stirring until the bechamel sauce is blended. Simmer for two minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

4. Stir the cheese and leeks into the sauce, then beat in the egg yolks.

5. Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Stir 1 tbsp whisked egg whites into the sauce to lighten it and then slowly fold in the rest.

6. Spoon the eggy mix into the prepared ramekins, place on a baking tray and bake until well risen and golden - about 20 minutes. Serve straight away with a big green well-dressed salad.

And it worked! Not scary at all. What on earth was I so worried about?

Bon appetit!

Potato, Roast Garlic and Thyme Soup

Ah, the humble potato. So often overlooked, or treated as a mere side dish in relation to its glitzier meat, fish and veg counterparts. Pure carbs, it gets a bad rep in these low GI times, but isn't it time we put it in the spotlight and treated the lowly tattie with the respect it deserves?

I created this simple soup for a competition called No Croutons Required, held monthly by Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa's Kitchen. The theme for February was simply 'Potatoes', and in this recipe they are allowed to shine...


Potato, roast garlic and thyme soup
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
Knob of butter and splash of olive oil
Whole head of garlic
1 onion, sliced
4 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 pints vegetable stock
Handful fresh thyme, stripped from the stems and chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:
1. Cut top off head of garlic. Wrap in foil and roast in oven (200c) for about 45 minutes until soft.
2. Fry onion in olive oil and butter for five minutes until soft. Add potatoes and stir around to coat thoroughly.
3. Add stock, cover pan and simmer for about 15 minutes until potatoes are soft. After ten minutes add the chopped thyme.
4. As potatoes are simmering, take roasted garlic and gently squeeze out the soft pulp from the cloves. Add to the soup pan and stir thoroughly.
5. Blend soup well using a hand blender or liquidizer. Add a knob of butter to make the soup glossy.
6. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of chopped thyme and some lovely fresh bread.

Delicious! Fingers crossed for the competition...

Hot and Sour Noodle Soup

Sometimes, when you're feeling under the weather - stressed, over-worked, hungover or just plain old tired - you need food that actively makes you feel healed with every mouthful. Something fresh, zesty and spicy enough to make your tongue burn just a little.

I found myself in such a position last night - a big weekend full of friends, gigs, pizzas, work and late nights had left me feeling a little jaded and it was only Monday. A whole week still to get through. Drastic food action was needed, and so this delicious bowl of health was called into play. It was mainly made up as I went along, using all the flavours and ingredients I craved - whatever I had in the house. It did the job: the warmth of the chilli defugged my brain, at least temporarily, and the fresh umami of the broth seemed to undo all the bad work of the pizza and chips from the weekend. That's what I'm telling myself anyway...

Try this next time you're feeling in need of a restorative lift.


Hot and Sour Noodle Soup with Tofu
Serves 2

Ingredients

For the broth:
1 litre vegetable stock
2 tbsp soy sauce (more to taste)
1 tsp chilli flakes
Juice of 1 lime
Dash fish sauce
Dash sweet chilli sauce
Dash sesame oil
Sprinkling dried ginger

For the stir-fry bit:
Mix of sunflower and sesame oil
1 sliced onion
3 cloves garlic, crushed
A good mix of sliced veg - carrots, peppers, courgettes, mushrooms, baby corn - whatever you fancy really
1 pack marinated tofu chunks (the kind that doesn't need additional cooking)

Garnish:
3 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
4 tsp lightly toasted sesame seeds
1 block of dried noodles per person

Method:
1. Place all ingredients for the broth in a large saucepan, cover and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, until the flavours are good and mingled.
2. When the broth is almost ready, heat the oil in a wok and fry the onion and garlic for a couple of minutes until soft. Add the vegetables and tofu; stir-fry for about 5 minutes until cooked but it still has bite.
3. Meanwhile, boil the noodles as per packed instructions. Place each serving in individual bowls. Place stir-fried veg on top, followed by generous ladles of the hot and spicy broth. Garnish with a sprinkle of spring onions and sesame seeds and serve immediately.

Notes:
1. This could work equally well with stir-fried chicken or even pork instead of tofu.
2. If saving leftovers to trasnsport to work next day, store all components separately and construct and reheat at the last minute to avoid soggy noodles.

Dal Makhani

When I first made this dish I declared it to be the best thing I'd ever cooked - an overstatement, perhaps, but certainly an indication of how deliciously moreish it was straight out of the pan. Creamy, comforting and with just enough spice to warm but not burn, it goes perfectly with some rice, poppadoms and mango chutney. It's another Ballymaloe creation, and so so easy to prepare (provided you have a supply of muslin on hand to construct a bouquet garni. My top-cheat tip: the foot of a pair of (clean) tights works just as well!)

Unlike a lot of Indian food, I found this doesn't stand up to second-day munching, so best to make just enough of to feed people on the night - plus a good bit extra for chef's tasting rights, of course...


Dal Makhani (Spiced Lentils and Kidney beans)
Serves 4

6 cardamom pods, 3 bay leaves, 2 cloves garlic, small piece of peeled fresh ginger, 2tsp coriander seeds, 1 cinnamon stick - all tied up in muslin to create a spice bag like a bouqet garni
175g Puy or green lentils
75g tinned kidney beans
1 onion, finely sliced
2 tbsp cream
25g butter

Dressing:
25g butter
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, peeled, de-seeded and chopped
1 green chilli, chopped

1. Put lentils, onion and spice bag in a deep saucepan with double their volume of water and bring to the boil. Simmer for about an hour until soft but not mushy, adding more water if necessary.
2. When the lentils are soft, stir in the butter, kidney beans and half the cream .
3. Make the dressing by melting the butter in a small frying pan and frying the cumin seeds and garlic until the spices start to colour. Add the onion and fry for a few more minutes, then add the tomatoes and chilli. Simmer for 1-2 minutes.
4. Combine the dressing with the pulses and the remaining cream. Season to taste.

I can't wait to make this again.

Ballymaloe's Spiced Chickpea Soup

Every time I visit my friend Kate in Dublin I spend a good portion of my time poring over her copy of the Ballymaloe Cookery Course. Not that she's boring or bad company, and not because I'm trying to avoid talking to her - quite the contrary - it's just such a beautiful and interesting book that I find it hard to tear myself away. It even makes great bedtime reading, fuelling my dreams with images of briny oysters, pretty salads and perfect biscuits. It's an inspiring read, and the cook school that bears its name is firmly on my list of foodie places to visit one day - along with El Bulli, The French Laundry, The Fat Duck ... the list, predictably, goes on and on.

It is probably one of my favourite cookery books of all time, which is why I was so delighted to be given a copy of it as a birthday gift by my lovely friend Kay, and why I was so impatient to get into the kitchen and get cooking. Here's what I decided upon first...

Spiced Chickpea Soup with Coriander Cream & Pitta Crisps
Serves 6

2 cans chickpeas, drained
800ml vegetable stock
3 tsps coriander seeds
3 tsps cumin seeds
50g butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 small red chillies, deseeded and chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric
75ml cream
salt and ground pepper
freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Dry-roast cumin and coriander seeds over medium heat for 2-3 mins, then crush in pestle & mortar or spice grinder.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan, then fry the onion, chillies, garlic and spices gently for 4-5 mins. Add the turmeric and cook for another minute.
3. Remove from the heat, add the chickpeas and mix well. Season.
4. Add the stock and cream, and liquidise all together until smooth.
5. Gently heat the soup, then sharpen with lemon juice and serve with chopped coriander leaves, a swirl of cream and some toasted pitta pieces.

Smooth, creamy, warm with spices, this is like a pureed channa masala - a delight.