Hara Shorva (Green Soup)

I’d be planning on making some kind of pea soup for a couple of weeks, and when I stumbled upon the recipe for Green Soup in Madhur Jaffrey’s Illustrated Indian Cookbook, it sounded well worth a try. My only complaint with Madhur Jaffrey’s book is that many of the ingredients are measured by weight, and personally, I don’t tend to weigh anything (including myself), instead, I tend to go by rough volume for the various ingredients. So in choosing the potatoes to use, rather than going by the kilo weight that was suggested in the recipe, I just chose two huge baking potatoes, that I decided would take less time peel and cube for the soup.

I also skimped slightly on the amount of salt, and added some black pepper, as there is very little that I don’t add black pepper to.

The only other deviation I made from the recipe was with the Ginger. I put the thumb-sized piece in without a hitch. However, the recipe said to remove it after the first 30 minutes of cooking, something I forgot to do, and so it got blended with the other ingredients a bit later on. To be honest, I don’t think it spoilt the flavour at all. There was definitely a noticeable Ginger flavour, but it didn’t overpower the others. I suppose it depends on how much you like Ginger, and of the people who tasted it, nobody seemed to be complain.

Recipe for Green Soup (serves 4-6)

• 2 huge Baking Potatoes (peeled and cubed)
• 1 large Onion (roughly chopped)
• 2 inch thumb of Ginger (peeled)
• 2 pints of Chicken or Vegetable Stock
• Half teaspoon Ground Coriander
• 2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• Half a Hot Green Chili, finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons of Fresh Coriander, finely chopped
• 1.5 cups Peas (fresh or frozen)
• Half teaspoon of Salt
• 1 teaspoon Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
• Half cup of Double Cream

Put the Potatoes, Onion, Chicken Stock, Ground Coriander and Ground Cumin into a large pan, bring to the boil, then simmer for 30 minutes, so that the potatoes are cooked. Add the Chili, Fresh Coriander, Peas, Salt, Pepper and Lemon Juice, bring back to the boil, then simmer for a further 5 minutes. Once the peas are cooked, remove from the heat, then blend until smooth (personally, I used my usual hand-blender). Stir in the Double Cream while gently reheating and serve immediately.

Carrot and Coriander Soup

This is another one of those recipes that I've wanted to make for a long time, but have somehow never got around to it. A few times, I've gone to the shop with the express reason of getting the ingredients, only to find there wasn't any nice looking Fresh Coriander, and so have ended up buying a couple of Leeks and Potatoes and making that soup instead.

I don't ever remember having this soup as a child, so couldn't just steal my mum's recipe on this one. In fact, I think the first time I ever tried this soup was when a friend had a carton of the Covent Garden Soup Company version in the fridge. Searching for a recipe on Google revealed lots of different variations on ingredients and preparation methods. A lot of the more 'British' sounding recipes seemed to keep things relatively simple, and just have the one clove of Garlic and relatively small quantities of Fresh Coriander (obviously from people who buy their Coriander in the Supermarket, rather than getting big cheap bunches from alternative retail outlets). Recipes from sites with a more Asian flare seemed to go for a lot more Garlic and Coriander, plus a few additional ingredients and in some cases, a much more complex preparation method.

There were also versions which included Tomatoes, others used Sweet Potatoes instead of Potatoes (and some no potato at all) and lots which called for the addition of Single or Double Cream, something I would maybe do if cooking it as a starter for a meal where health factors are not an issue, but as I predominantly made this Soup to take into work in a Flask for a healthy lunch, it was left out this time. However, I did add a little Semi-Skimmed Milk at the end as the soup was quite dark in colour and I wanted to lighten it up a bit.

With so many variations, I decided to try and go somewhere in the middle of them with my version, but with Coriander being one of my favourite herbs, there would definitely be a lot of it in there. I did think about using Sweet Potato rather than normal Potato, but I didn't want to make it too sweet, so for this first attempt at this soup, they're just normal white potatoes (in this case, a few small Vivaldi Potatoes).

Recipe for Carrot and Coriander Soup Serves 4

• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 large Onion (chopped)
• 1 rib of Celery (finely chopped)
• 6 cloves of Garlic (chopped fine)
• 5 medium Carrots (chopped)
• 3 small Potatoes (cubed)
• Half a cup of Fresh Coriander Stalks (finely chopped)
• 2 teaspoons Ground Coriander
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• Half teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
• Half teaspoon of Black Pepper
• 1 litre Swiss Marigold Vegetable Stock
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 1 cup Fresh Coriander Leaves (chopped)
• Half cup of Semi-Skimmed Milk (optional)

Heat the Oil in a heavy based pan, then fry the Onion, Celery and Garlic on a medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the Onion is translucent. Next add the Carrot, Fresh Coriander Stalks and Potato and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Add the dried Spices and stir into the vegetables so that they're all nicely coated, then add the Stock and Bay Leaves, bring to the boil, then simmer for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

Let it cool down a bit, then blend until you have a nice smooth soup. Add the remaining Fresh Coriander Leaves and gently reheat the soup (without boiling). My soup was darker than I'd like, so added about half a cup of Semi-Skimmed Milk at the end to lighten the colour a little, but this is definitely optional.

Chicken, Bacon and Vegetable Soup

This recipe came about because I had bought 10 very cheap chicken drumsticks, plus had promised I'd bring Rich some soup into the office once I had a flask to bring it in. It possibly wasn't the best soup to take to work in a flask, but it did go down well.

I had simply roasted the Drumsticks in my new combination oven for 30 minutes or so, then stripped the best of the meat off them, and put the remains and bones into a large pan of water with some celery leaves, onion, carrot and bay leaves and simmered for a few hours to make a stock. Half the chicken I used a Pasta Bake, saving the other half for this soup.

I pretty much did exactly what I did with my Leek and Potato Soup Recipe, only adding Celery and more Carrot than I would normally use, plus the Home-Made Stock, Chicken and Bacon. The Bacon was a bit of an afterthought as I discovered a few rashers which needed using up, but it definitely added nicely to the flavour.

Recipe for Chicken, Bacon and Vegetable Soup (Serves 4-6)

• 5 Roasted Chicken Drumsticks (Skin and Bone removed, or equivalent amount of Chicken Breast)
• 4 Thick Rashers of Smoked Bacon (Cut into small pieces)
• 2 Leeks (Chopped)
• 2 Stalks of Celery (Cubbed)
• 3-4 Carrots (Cubbed)
• 2 Potatoes (Cubbed)
• 2 Bay Leaves
• Salt and Black Pepper to Taste
• 1 Pint Chicken Stock
• 0.5 Pint Swiss Marigold Vegetable Bouillon

Melt a little butter in a pan and add the vegetables, keeping the heat low so that they soften without burning. After about 15-20 minutes add the Stock, Chicken, Bacon and Bay Leaves and bring to a simmer. Personally, I like quite a bit of Black Pepper, so I add quite a bit at this time so that it gets time to flavour the soup. Cover and let simmer for about 40 minutes. Taste the soup and season with more Salt and Pepper if necessary.

Spicy Red Lentil and Bacon Soup

Lentil soup is definitely a family favourite, and after getting my mum's recipe recently, I decided to vary it slightly. I remember that my mum always used to add chopped frankfurters to the soup to make it a cheap meal for the family, although she stopped doing that during my time as a vegetarian, and with my youngest sister also turning veggie, they have never made a reappearance. Still, it doesn't really need anything like that added, but I do find that having some bacon in there, is definitely a nice addition.

Today, I didn't have any nice Smoked Bacon in the fridge, but did have some Pancetta which needed using up. Normally, I would chop all the excess fat from the Bacon and add it to the soup after the stock, but with the Pancetta, I first fried it in its own fat, then, poured it out into a colander before starting on the vegetables. So it might not have been as fat free as my mum would like, but it was still fairly lean. I would have also added a stick or two of celery, but what I had in the fridge had seen better days. Also, instead of Bacon or Pancetta, I think this could also work well with some small pieces of Chorizo in it, although I would probably put far less Paprika in.

Recipe for Spicy Red Lentil and Bacon Soup (serves 4)

• 1 cup of Red Lentils (washed)
• 1 medium Onion (finely chopped)
• 2 cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 Red Pepper (finely chopped)
• 3 Carrots (finely cubed)
• 1 tin of Chopped Tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon Spanish Smoked Paprika
• Half teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• Half teaspoon Black Pepper
• Half teaspoon Ground Coriander
• 1.5 Pints Swiss Marigold Vegetable Stock
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 200g Cubed Pancetta (or some Smoked Bacon Rashers, very trimmed)

If you are using Pancetta, first fry it off in the pan in its own fat, then remove and drain off the fat. Then add a little olive oil and cook the Onion, Red Pepper, Garlic and Carrots until the Onion is transparent and the Carrot is beginning to soften.

Add the dried spices and ensure that everything is nicely coated, and then stir in the Red Lentils and add the Chopped Tomatoes. Mix the ingredients, and when it’s up to temperature, add the stock and bring to a simmer. If you are using Bacon, you should add it to the soup at this point so that it cooks with the Lentils. Simmer for about 30 minutes until the lentils are cooked. Finally, puree half the soup before serving. If the soup is too thick for your liking, add a little more stock.

You could serve this as a starter, but is a pretty filling and hearty soup, so I tend to have it as a main meal instead. If you are having it as a starter, then the amount here would probably serve about 8 people.

Sesame Fish Balls

As I already had all that groundnut oil from deep-frying the Potato and Pea Pasties I decided to try out this tasty looking fish ball recipe. It was very cheap to make as I just used odd shaped Pollock fillets as it's all getting blended anyway. Really quick to make too.

My sister reckoned they would taste even better with some sweet chilli sauce, but we didn't have any, and by then I was busy with the Thai Red Curry and so didn't get around to making any. Definitely a tasty snack, hot or cold, but should be eaten the same night as otherwise they're likely to go soft, although they taste fine the next day, they're nothing like as nice.

Recipe for the Sesame Fish Balls

• 250g White Fish Fillets
• 2 cups Breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons Plain Yoghurt
  
• 1 clove of Garlic, crushed
• 1 small Red Onion
  
• 2 tablespoons of Fresh Coriander, finely chopped
• Half to 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• Half to 1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 2 tablespoons Fish Sauce
• 2 Large Eggs, white and yolk separated
• Quarter cup Sesame Seeds

Cook the fish, either by steaming or microwaving. Then throw into a blender and blend until finely chopped, but not a paste. Then in a bowl, mix the fish, 1 and a half cups of the Breadcrumbs, and all the other ingredients except the Egg Whites and Sesame Seeds. Once thoroughly mixed, with wet hands, form into small balls. You should get about 20-24 from this size batch.

Lightly whisky the Egg Whites in one bowl, mix together the rest of the Breadcrumbs and Sesame Seeds in another bowl, the coat each Fish Ball in first the egg white, then the Breadcrumb and Sesame Seed mix so that they are well coated. You should then deep fry them in hot oil for about a minute or two, until they're golden brown.

Waiter, there's something in my ... Spicy Potato and Pea Pasties

There's something about the "who's eaten all the pies" expression which somehow puts me off making and eating pies. Plus the total lack of space or equipment to properly make a pie. However, for a few days this week, I'm looking after my nephew at my sister's place, and she's got a much bigger kitchen, gas hobs and more pots and pans. Plus she likes having food on the table when she returns from work. Still, she's not a big pie eater either, so I figured I'd have to do some mini pasties or something along those lines, so that the quantity of pasty didn't seem so great. These deep-fried, potato and pea pasties seemed to fit the bill, and made a good starter, but would also make excellent finger food.

There is also the added bonus that my sister has two cameras that are better than mine, and is a professional photographer, so I could utilise not just her kitchen, but her photographic skills, even if she's more accustomed to portraits than food photography. Even without using her tripod, she takes a much better photo than I do, so well worth getting her to completely take over the photo duties (hence the number of pictures as I'm lucky to get a couple which I like when I'm doing the photos).

Sandra, the original source of my Lamb Meatball Curry, has lent me a book of easy curry recipes, and one which caught my attention was one for Potato and Pea Pasties (well, they call them Potato and Pea Pastries, but they look like pasties to me, even if they are deep-fried). The recipe looked simple enough, although, once again, wasn't made totally to the letter.

Recipe for the Pastry

• 1.5 cups Plain Flour
• 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• A quarter cup Water

Sift the flour into a bowl, then make a well in the middle and add the oil and water, mixing, then kneading to make a firm but slightly elastic and smooth dough. You may need a little extra oil or water, but add early in the process, and only very small quantities. Cover the dough and leave it in the fridge for at least an hour.


Recipe for the Filling

• 1-1.5 Baking Potatoes, peeled and finely diced
• 1 cup Peas or Petis Pois
• 2 tablespoons Currants
• 2 tablespoons Fresh Coriander, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• Half teaspoon Hot Chili Powder or Cayenne Pepper
• Half teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• Juice of half a Lemon
• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Fish Sauce (omit if cooking for vegetarians)
• Groundnut Oil for deep frying

Boil the cubed Potato until softening, then drain, put in a bowl and mix with the Peas, Currants, Cumin, Chili Powder, Cinnamon and Fresh Coriander. Then add the Lemon Juice and Light Soy Sauce and stir in so as not to bread any ingredients up, but ensure that all the spices have evenly covered the other ingredients.

It's probably best to divide the dough into two before rolling it out on a well floured surface. The dough should be quite elastic without breaking so that you can get it just over a millimetre thick. Then use a circular pastry cutter, or other round implement (a bowl with the assistance of a knife in my case) to cut circular pieces of about 10cm in diameter. Spoon about a heaped tablespoon of the filling in the centre of each round, and fold in half, using a fork to seal the edges. You should be able to make about 20 or so from the above ingredients.


Next, they need to be deep-fried in batches in the hot oil, turning occasionally, until they turn golden brown. Then transfer to some kitchen towel to drain off the excess oil.

They tasted good hot and cold. Slightly spicy, but with the slight tang of the citrus from the lemon juice. My nephew loved them and probably ate more than he did of the rest of the dinner. My sister will be taking the leftovers in her packed lunch tomorrow.

Spicy Guacamole

With the stew sorted, I left producing the dips until closer to the time the guests were arriving, especially as guacamole has a tendency to go brown if made to far in advance. The hummus recipe was pretty well as before, only with the addition of fresh coriander. For the guacamole recipe, I got my inspiration from The Mens Cookery Club website and pretty well made it the same way they did, although with a couple of differences.

Guacamole Recipe

• 3 Avocados
• 4 Gloves of Garlic (crushed)
• 3-4 tablespoons of Olive Oil
• Up to half a teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
• Small handful of Fresh Coriander
• Juice from 1 Lime
• Salt and Pepper

Like them, I did it all in the blender. You could use a fork, but throwing everything in the blender for a quick spin just seems to make sense. However, with the garlic, I tend to crush it, then leave it for a minute or two before continuing the blitzing, as I do with the Hummus. Then add the rest of the ingredients, blitz together, taste and re-season if necessary. Then after putting it into the bowl, squeeze over the last bit of juice from the lime.

I made this just as people were showing up, as I didn't want it to turn brown, but to be honest, I think the lime juice prevents that pretty much as although the bowl was out and had some dregs left in the bottom, it didn't turn brown all and tasted great.

Still, I really like their website. Great fun, and some useful tips and recipes. Definitely worth a read.

Broccoli and Stilton Soup

I made this soup as a starter for a Shepherd's Pie. I have always wanted to try and make this soup, and although it's not as cheap to prepare as Leek and Potato, the results were pretty good for a first attempt. Marisha said that if she had been served it in a restaurant, she would have been very happy with it, especially as I didn't go too over the top on the Stilton. Still, it was a bit filling for a starter.

Recipe for Broccoli and Stilton Soup (serves 4-6)

• 2 medium Onions, chopped
• 2 Small Vivaldi Potatoes, cubed
• 2 heads of Broccoli
• 1 pint of Vegetable Stock
  
• 1 pint of Water
• 200g Creamy Stilton Cheese
  
• Splash of Single Cream
• 30g Butter
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Preparation of this is very easy. In a large heavy pan, soften the onions in the butter, then add the potato and broccoli and cook for a couple minutes. Next add the stock, cover, and simmer for about 20-25 minutes. You should then let it cool down for about 15-20 minutes and then blend the mixture until smooth.

Then gently heat the soup up again, and add the cream and Stilton, stirring until all the cheese has melted. Add a decent amount of black pepper and serve immediately. If dinner guests never turn up on time, like in my case, leave this last stage until they arrive as it doesn't take long to heat the soup to get the Stilton melting.

Leek, Potato and Carrot Soup

I can't get enough of this soup. With only about 10 minutes of preparation time, and then about 40-odd minutes of cooking time, it's got to be my favourite soup. I grew up on Leek and Potato soup, and the addition of a carrot or two just adds a little more flavour. In a restaurant, they would probably put a drizzle of cream on the top to improve the presentation, etc., but I'm just as happy to put even more freshly ground black pepper on the top.

I always make enough for about 4 or 5 people as, even if there aren't that many people eating, it keeps for a few days, and I can easily reheat it. Plus, it's something I can never get bored with. You can buy the canned stuff, but it just isn't anything like as nice as cooking it yourself. It such an easy and inexpensive dish.

Recipe

• 3 or 4 Leeks
• 1 or 2 Potatoes
• 1 or 2 Carrots
• 1 pint of Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon
• 0.5-1 pint Water
  
• 1 tablespoon butter
• A couple of Bay Leaves
• Salt and a generous amount of Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Preparation is the same as with the Leek and Sweet Potato Soup, and then served with some cheese and onion bread.

Still Hungry?... Okay... Hummus and Pitta

Dave and Mark turned up late, and after a fairly ample portion of Spag Bog, still wanted more food. So, as I tend to ensure I have a spare can of chickpeas in the cupboard these days, I blended up some more Home-made Hummus, only as I didn't have red pepper, I used yellow pepper. Still tasted good, but I think red pepper is better for me. I know pepper isn't necessary, but I think it definitely improves the flavour if you have one.

Served with toasted Pitta bread, bread sticks and some carrot julienne. Definitely going to make some of the red pepper variety at the next poker night, along with some guacamole. Still undecided on the main course.

Leek and Sweet Potato Soup

I love Leek and Potato soup and make it fairly regularly, but I had this soup at a meal a couple of weeks ago and loved it, so tried to make it myself. Just as easy to make as the other variety, but more filling if anything, and just as good tasting. Just butter, leeks, sweet potato, vegetable stock with salt and pepper really, then blended with the new blender.

Recipe

• 3 Leeks, chopped
• 1 Large Sweet Potato, cut into cubes
• 1 Pint of Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon
• 0.5 Pint Water
• Salt and Pepper
• A Couple of Bay Leaves
• Tablespoon of Butter or Olive Oil

Heat the butter or oil in a sauce pan, then add the leeks and cook until softened. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for about 45 minutes. Depending on how you like your soup, blend either all or half the mixture with a hand blender.

You could also add some cream or milk at the end of cooking.

Homemade Hummus

I couldn't find any tahini in the shop, so decided to just get a load of sesame seeds and make my own. Also, I put small red pepper in there to sweeten it up. I got given a new blender for Christmas, and wanted to try it out, so this went down will with some cheese and onion bread. Really easy to make with a good blender.

Recipe for the Tahini

• 2 tablespoons Sesame Seeds
• Half teaspoon Sesame Oil
• Few tablespoons Tepid Water

Blitz the sesame seeds in the blender, then add the other ingredients, adding the water until you have a thin paste.

Recipe for the Hummus

• 400g can of Chickpeas
• Juice of a Lemon
• 2-3 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 4 cloves of Garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• 1 small Red pepper, de-seeded, de-veined and chopped
• Salt and Pepper

Add the Chickpeas to the tahini in the blender and blend until a paste. Then add the other ingredients and continue to blend until the hummus starts turning a bit redder in colour. You can use right away, or store in the fridge before using.