An apology, and an autumn cracker of a soup

Yes, it is more than a year since anyone last thought of this poor neglected blog, myself included.  I’ve been cooking, some, but a year full of travelling and music and movies (both watching and helping to make one!) and various other life changes have conspired to prevent me from spending much time writing outside of work, or being home much to do the kind of culinary experimentation that I so enjoy. 

However, as the winter nights draw in and thoughts turn to wrapping up warmly, getting home earlier and eating comfort food, it seemed like the right time to share a recipe I only just discovered but which I think will become a firm favourite.  It started life as a carrot soup on my very favourite blog of all time, but since I am not too fond of carrots but very enamoured of sweet potatoes and butternut squash, I decided to play around and make it my own. 

The real draw for me was the chili.  After buying a chili plant in the summer and nurturing it on my balcony, my obsession with fiery food has only increased. It elevates this soup into something special, and gives it a kick of heat that is very welcome on a cold day.

Autumn Sweet Potato-Squash-Coconut Soup with Chili and Lime
Adapted from Orangette

50g unsalted butter
800g sweet potato and butternut squash, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped

1 chili, chopped (and de-seeded if you prefer less heat)
4 cups (950 ml) vegetable stock (or chicken, if you like it better)
1 ½ to 2 (13.5-ounce) cans unsweetened coconut milk
Lime wedges, for serving
A few tbsp of crème fraiche to stir into the soup (if desired)

Chives, chopped (for garnish, if desired)

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes, squash, chili and onion, season with a few pinches of salt and some pepper, and cook for about 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

Stir in the stock and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very soft and the liquid is slightly reduced, which should take about 45 minutes. Puree in a blender or in the pot, using a hand mixer, and do a final taste test to get the seasoning right. 

Garnish with anything you like (I went for a swirl of crème fraiche and some chives) but don’t leave out the lime. A few squeezes of lime juice absolutely make this soup.

Asparagus and Barley Soup

This recipe happened entirely as a result of me going into a daze in the supermarket and stumbling across the last bundle of half price asparagus - right next to some heavily discounted, lightly wilted spring onions.

I chopped them up with some garlic and chucked them in a saucepan - spring onions and garlic first...

...and then once they'd softened, the asparagus.

Once that had started to break up, I added a small handful of flour and stirred vigorously.

I then added strong stock - two cubes in a kettleful of water - filling the pan most of the way up. Once it came back to the boil, I turned it way down to simmer on low.

The my fear of vegetables kicked in. I'm always convinced a primarily vegetable dish just won't fill me up. I happened to have some barley in the cupboard, and I decided to stick that in. As instructed, I boiled it and rinsed and drained it before adding it to the soup. I left it for the requisite hour and a quarter, by which time it was halfway between soup and risotto. I added a teaspoonful of mustard, because I add mustard to everything, and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper, because, well, ditto.

It was yummy, and kept well in the fridge for three days although after sitting overnight it really was more like risotto. Barleyotto?

A real pea souper

I've always been cautious when it comes to devising my own recipes.  My rule of thumb is to make the recipe as written the first time, and then play around with it after that.  But somehow I rarely get to the experimentation stage where I start substituting most of the ingredients and thinking about what would work better.  This is part of why I started the blog: to develop my own style of cooking that isn't just cribbed from someone else.  So yesterday I devised my own cookies (coconut, maple and chocolate chip - they need some refining, but I'm sure will show up in a future entry).  And today, an improvised pea soup from the ingredients I could find in the house.  Adapted from a recipe I found in the Saturday Times a few years ago, but different enough that I'm going to claim some of the credit for it!  Very easy to make, but so delicious.

Pea and basil soup

2 tbsp olive oil

2 shallots (or one red onion), sliced

450g frozen or fresh peas (I think frozen probably work best, unless you have an hour to devote to shelling pea pods)

4 tbsp torn basil

2 tbsp dry white wine

400-450ml vegetable stock

80g pea shoots (go substitution crazy here - the recipe called for spinach, but I had pea shoots in the house and thought it would enhance the flavour of the peas nicely.  I think rocket would also work)

salt and pepper, to taste

200ml creme fraiche 

2 slices parma ham

To make the soup, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan.  Add the shallots, and cook over a medium heat until soft but not browned.  This takes about 5-7 minutes.  Add the peas and the basil, and cook for another 2 minutes or so.  Then pour in the wine, and cook until it has bubbled and reduced.  Pour in enough stock to just cover the peas, and then bring to the boil.  Add your salad leaves of choice, and cook until they have wilted.

At this point you can either blend your soup in a food processor, or using a hand mixer.  I would recommend adding one of the latter to your kitchen inventory, if you don't have one already.  They are so useful, and save you having to wash up all the fiddly bits attached to a proper blender.  The original recipe suggested that you sieve the mixture after you have blended it in order to remove the lumps.  But I like a bit of texture in my soup, so I stopped at this point.  To finish it off, add the seasoning and the creme fraiche, and stir until mixed.  Toppings are entirely up to you - I fried some parma ham slices and added some fresh basil which worked well, but I'm sure there are other things you could add.  Or just eat it unadorned.  It's certainly good enough for that.