winter soups

it's been too long between food posts. i could post about the Orange Duck I cooked the other day (lip smacking good), or the quail (which were for yet another Exodus worship thingy - I'm thinking of touring as the "Quail and Sand" guy...), but i thought I'd mention a couple of soups from this week's eating instead.

Cauliflower Soup

This is adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favourites - a must-have in every kitchen. I admit I tend to up the fat content at every opportunity though...

Fry 2 cups chopped onion over medium heat in some olive oil for 10 minutes.
Add 1 cup peeled and chopped carrot and fry for another 5 minutes.
Add 3 cups diced potatoes and fry for 2 minutes.
Add 1 cup chopped celery and fry for 2 minutes.
Add 5 cups of chicken stock and bring to the boil (you can use water, but I pretty much always use chicken stock instead in soup recipes)
Add 1 medium or half a large cauliflower, chopped.
Add 1 teaspoon dried mustard, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon of caraway seeds.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer for 15-20 minutes until carrots are tender.
Puree the soup (let it cool a little first).
Add 1-2 cups of milk to suit the consistency that you'd like. You can use some cream or buttermilk.
Add 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese. Reheat and stir until cheese dissolves.
Top with thinly sliced spring onions.

This tasted great. The carrot gives it a nice golden colour.

Creamy Asparagus and Bacon Soup

This started out as a somewhat different recipe in the Zuni Cafe cookbook and I changed quite a bit.

In a big saucepan....
Fry 2 cups of chopped onion in 1/4 cup olive oil - medium heat for 10 minutes.
Add 5-6 medium potatoes - peeled and diced - for another 3-4 minutes.
Add 4 cups chicken stock, salt and pepper, and 1 teaspoon thyme.
Simmer for 15 minutes or until potato is very soft.

Meanwhile.....
Fry several bacon rashers - I work on less than one rasher per person. eg. 3 rashers for 5 people. Chop the bacon.
Take 3 bundles of asparagus. Cut off the woody ends. Slice the rest into 1cm pieces diagonally, or you can slice longways and then cut diagonally into slightly longer pieces.
Fry the asparagus in the bacon fat.

Puree the onion-potato-stock mix. Add the bacon and potatoes. Add 1 cup milk and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. And more cracked black pepper (you can never have too much).

Heat on medium until the cheese melts. Don't go away and do things on the Internet and end up boiling the milk!

This was pretty good. One of the girls said that this one has to go into the Mitchell family cookbook.

Tonight we're having my favourite pork marinade (4 tbsp teriyaki sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp light soy sauce) on spare ribs (minus the rind). I'm baking them then slicing them into small pieces, and serving them on top of an Asian chicken soup with lots of fresh veg in it - a garlic-ginger-soy base. This is adapted from Lemongrass and Lime, a great Vietnamese cookbook. well, actually, it was worth the sale price for this recipe.

you're always welcome to drop by for a meal....

Comments

[Mike]

I've been substituting Coconut milk for milk in the Cauli recipe... mmm... Also, I do my initial softening using an extravirgin coconut oil. Adds a subtlety which I quite like.

[Mike]

I should say, that I don't use the other dairy products with the coconut milk... could get wierd.

[craigmitchell]

sounds tasty. I'll have tto give it a try!

[darren]

i made lamb and potatoes and carrots and zucchini with basil and rosemary in my brand spanking new slow cooker tonight...

woah baby...

loved every second of eating it.