Tom yum yum yum

All this wintery weather has given me the most hideous cold I've had in years. I rarely get sick and that's probably why I hate it so much. I can't be bothered doing anything, my appetite disappears, I can't taste anything and all this makes me very grumpy indeed.
My spirits were lifted when my very excellent husband made me this delicious Tom Yum soup. The perfect antidote to whatever ails you - it has enough punch to penetrate snotty sinuses and I'm convinced it has super magic healing powers.

Tip: I usually keep a jar of tom yum paste (check the ingredients for absence of shrimp) in the fridge for a quick soup base, as getting all these ingredients can sometimes be a bit of a mission, especially if you're a bit under the weather.
You could also add tofu and/or noodles to make a meal of this soup and any veg will do, broccoli, baby corn, mangetout or capsicum would all be great additions.

Tom Yum Goong
Makes about 4 entree-sized portions or 2 big bowls

What you need
1.5 litres of marigold vegetable bouillon or any other good veg stock. Mix it up strong enough so it tastes good on its own
1-2 stalks lemongrass, tough outer layers removed and sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 whole kaffir lime leaves (available fresh or frozen at Chinese food stores, or dried in supermarkets. Use double if they're dried)
1-2 red chilies, sliced. Add less or more according to preference
1 thumb-sized piece ginger, sliced into thin matchstick pieces
3 portabello mushrooms, chopped into bite-sized pieces (enoki or shitake would be good too)
2 bunches baby bok choy cut into 3cm pieces (or broccoli, spinach or chard would work too)
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
a mini can of good-quality coconut milk
1 teaspoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
juice of a lime
a big handful of basil (roughly chopped)
a big handful of coriander (roughly chopped)

The do
Pour stock into a soup pot. Add the lemongrass, lime leaves, chili, garlic, and ginger. Bring to boil and continue boiling for 5-10 minutes.
Add the mushrooms. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5-8 minutes, or until mushrooms are soft.
Add cherry tomatoes. Gently simmer 1-2 more minutes.
Reduce heat to low and add the coconut milk, sugar, soy sauce, and lime juice. Finally, add the bok choy and gently stir. Keep on the heat until the bok choy is cooked, and then it's ready to go.

Do a taste test, and give it a tweak - add more chili if it needs more kick. If it's not salty enough, add more soy sauce or salt, add a little sugar if it's too sour and if it's too salty or sweet, add another squeeze of lime juice.

Serve in bowls with fresh basil and coriander heaped on top.

Post-Halloween gloopy soup

Mental note: don't use sticky Charlotte potatoes for Potato and Leek soup, tastes great but ends up looking like a beige Ghostbusters slime

FROZEN DIN DINS

So I've finished up at work and the nesting instinct has kicked in big time. When I'm not wolfing down cakes and chocolate, I'm reorganising the kitchen cupboards, cleaning out the oven and making frozen dinners. All the pregnancy books say to do this, and I think it's probably a good idea. I decide to make my favourite pumpkin curry and two easy soups, which I know will provide comfort in times of no sleep and stress.



PUMPKIN CURRY

What you need
2 big butternut squash
peanut oil (olive oil is OK too)
1 big tbsp mustard seeds
4 cloves garlic, crushed
bunch of basil
1 can of coconut milk
salt
sesame oil

The do
Chop the pumpkin into large chunks (I prefer to leave the skin on because it adds a nutty quality and helps the pumpkin keep its shape).
Pour a good lug of peanut oil into a baking tray and toss the pumpkin until well coated, season with a decent sprinkling of salt then roast for around 30-45 minutes until browned and soft. Remove from oven and set aside.
In a wide pot or deep fry pan, heat a few tablespoons of peanut oil on a medium to high heat, and add a tablespoon of mustard seeds. When they start popping, add the garlic, fry for a minute, then empty the contents of the baking tray into the pan. Continue frying on medium heat for a few minutes, taking care not to manhandle the pumpkin too much as it will break down a lot as it cooks. Add the can of coconut and turn the heat down to a simmer. Add sea salt to taste. Cook until desired consistency is reached; if it is too thick add some boiling water. Stir through a bunch of ripped basil leaves and a drizzle of sesame oil. Serve with rice or roti. You can also add crushed peanuts on top for textural difference.




PEA AND MINT SOUP

What you need
1 bag of frozen peas (approx 800-900g)
a handful of mint
1 onion chopped
2 teaspoons of marigold bouillon powder
walnuts
1 tablespoon double cream (omit for dairy-free option)

The do
In a pot, fry onions for a few minutes in some olive oil. Empty peas into the pot, add water until just covered and add stock powder. Bring to boil, then simmer for 5-10 minutes. Turn heat off. Add mint and walnuts and blitz in the blender. Stir in the cream (you can leave this out if you like) add salt and pepper to taste.



CARROT AND CORIANDER SOUP

What you need
1 kg of carrots, chopped in 2cm chunks
1 tablespoon coriander
2 teaspoons cumin
2 onions, diced
2 teaspoons of marigold bouillon powder

The do
Fry the onions in a pot with some olive oil for 3 minutes then add the spices and fry on low heat for 1 minute. Throw in the carrots and add boiling water until carrots are just covered. Add stock powder. Slow boil until carrots are soft then blitz with hand blender or blender. Serve with fresh coriander on top.

Home sweet potato soup

My very dear friends Kristi and Paul have moved in around the corner from us. To celebrate, I'm cooking them a quick and easy soup - and would be quite happy to do so every night if meant cooking on their amazing stove!

What you need
4 sweet potatoes
1 pear
A handful of small brown or green lentils
A fistful of Coriander
1 brown onion chopped
Half a pack of feta, crumbled
1 stock cube or 1 tablespoon of bouillon
Salt
Pepper
A hand-held blender, or food processor

The do
Put the kettle on.
In a big pot, sweat the onions in a glug of olive oil. Add the lentils and sweet potato.
Fry for a few minutes then add boiled water until the sweet potato is just covered. Add stock. Slow boil with lid off until sweet potato and lentils are soft. Take off the heat and very carefully blitz with the hand-held blender until smooth adding milk or soy milk to get it to your preferred consistency. Put back on the stove for a few more minutes then serve in bowls. Garnish with copious amounts of feta and coriander.

Chowing down on chowder

Celeriac has been a regular in my market shopping bag for the last few months. So far, I've been making Lily's celeriac soup, or mashing it up as a side, but now I feel the need to do something different with it. Here is a hearty chowder that will fill your belly on those cold lonely nights. And it's great for lunch the next day too.

CELERIAC, SWEETCORN AND BUTTERBEAN CHOWDER
The celeriac gives the chowder a lovely light earthy flavour, the corn adds a sweet textural difference while the potato brings everyone together for a big group hug.

What you need
1 can of butter beans, drained and rinsed. (Or if you have time soak some dried beans overnight and use those)
1 celeriac, peeled and cut into cubes
3 potatoes, washed and cut into cubes
1/2 a pint of soy milk
2 heaped teaspoons of Marigold bouillon powder
2 big leeks sliced
2 medium sized onions, finely diced
1 sprig of rosemary
Fresh parsley

The do
Put a kettle on the boil. In a big pan over medium heat, fry the leeks, rosemary and onions in some oil until soft. Add the celeriac and potato, fry for a few minutes then pour boiling water over the veg until just covered, add the bouillon. Keep at slow boil without the lid, when you can just stick a fork through the celeriac, throw in the beans. Turn the heat down and simmer until the beans become plump and take on the flavours of the soup. Do not allow to boil at this point or else the beans will split and breakdown into mush. When the beans are done, add the milk and simmer for a further 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with some crusty bread and fresh parsley.

block rockin rhu-beets

I've said it before and I'll say it again: beets are beautiful. Earthy, sweet and bright as a blast of sunshine on a crisp and frosty winter afternoon. They are also ideal after a Sunday spent wandering through Highgate cemetery (home to reposing souls as diverse as Karl Marx and Titanic riders).

This recipe is a peculiar one. My interest was piqued when I read about rhubarb and potato soup a while back. When my research uncovered a Nordic dessert, I decided to take it into a different direction and go for something savoury instead, bringing beets into the mix. The result was delicious, fresh and tangy: potato held the rhubarb's creaminess while the beets tempered their tart ways and added some resistance to the mush. Lest it was a one-off fluke, I made it a second time. Once again, I enjoyed a gorgeous combination of mellow beets pushing against the barb's tongue lashing.



What you need
A bunch of small beets for 1/2 a bunch of rhubarb (twice as many beets for your barb is a good ratio)
1 med-large potato
Handful of fresh parsley
Handful of fresh sage (not essential)
Veggie stock
Splash white wine
Olive oil

Making it
Wash, peel and chop your beets and potato. Mix them through a couple of tablespoons of heated olive oil with your rhubarb (washed and chopped). Add some fresh chopped parsley and sage if you have them handy. Let it all heat through on medium for about ten minutes, stirring regularly. Add the wine and cook for another few minutes. Fill the pot with veggie stock and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for a good 20-30 minutes, until the rhubarb and the potato have disintegrated into mushy pieces.

Take your red hot soup off the stove and let it all calm down for a good five minutes. Blend in batches if need be (this is the last thing you want to send spinning round your kitchen walls). Divide between bowls. If you want to add a little creme fraiche, go right ahead. One thing I would advise is to accompany this soup with your favourite toast: its intensity warrants a small serving rather than a whopping plate. If you want to reduce the intensity, bring a little more potato into the mix.

2-way parsnip

The Christmas Cooking Frenzy has put me off the kitchen for the last few days, but today I feel like I'm back on board.
In our fridge there's an obscene amount of parsnips that needs addressing, due to a Christmas Shopping Frenzy miscommunication. Roasting them is not an option as I have absolutely done my dash with roasted parsnips (at least for the next few weeks anyway).
I have been loosely inspired by the format of the 2-way Peking Duck - where the skin and top layer of meat is served with the pancakes etc, then the rest of carcass taken back to the kitchen to make soup.
My 2-way parsnip consists of chips (like the Tyrrells ones) and a spicy soup.

What you need
10 Parsnips, peeled
sea salt
black pepper in a grinder
sunflower oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 small brown onion, diced
1 tablespoon marigold swiss vegetable organic bouillon powder
Pastry brush
fresh coriander



Parsnip chips
Preheat oven to 200c
Using a vegetable peeler, work your way around the fat end of the peeled parsnip taking off about 3-4 slivers at a time. Repeat with the other parsnips.Brush some sunflower oil then grind some black pepper onto a metal baking tray, evenly lay the strips down flat, lightly brush with some more oil and season again with a little bit more pepper and salt. Bake in the oven for around 8 minutes on the top shelf, give them a toss at around 5 minutes with a spatula and return to the oven. When golden remove from oven and cool on some paper towel.

Parsnip soup
Chop what's left of the parsnips into 2-3 cm chunks. Put a full kettle on the boil. Heat a few tablespoons of sunflower oil in a big saucepan over medium heat then fry the onion, curry powder and cumin - when the aroma begins come out of the spices throw in the parsnip chunks and fry for a few minutes, add enough boiling water from the kettle to cover the parsnips. Add stock powder and stir. Bring to boil, cover and turn flame to low. When the parsnips are soft, then blend in the food processor until smooth and serve with some chopped fresh coriander.



Now what I need is ideas on how to cook the 500 brussel sprouts sitting in the fridge.
Happy New Year!

Tomyummy

A few Saturdays ago, I was hanging with the ladies on a hen do. We spent most of the day at a Burlesque afternoon tea, sipping daintily on champagne and chowing down on sandwiches, scones and cakes.
Fast forward to dinner time.
We stumbled over to Bam-bou for more cocktails and amazingly enough, more food. While I was probably too drunk to give an accurate account of the feast that was laid out before me. I will say that it was delicious, and one thing that did stand out was the spicy tomato soup...
...which I tried to recreate as a main for Sarah and Nat when they came over for dinner later that week.




What you need
Half a big red chili, sliced
One stalk of lemongrass, pounded and tied in a knot
1 onion, chopped in half then sliced thinly
a few teaspoons of vegetable bouillon
half a thumb of ginger, thinly sliced
1 bunch of coriander, chopped
1 bunch of Thai basil (or normal basil), chopped
a handful of Vietnamese coriander
a few spring onions, chopped
12 normal sized vine tomatoes, chopped into small cubes


The do
In a big pot, heat a few splashes of oil and fry chili, onion, ginger and lemongrass. When onion begins to brown, add tomatoes, fry for a few minutes. Boil a kettle of water (approx 2L) and pour into pot. Add bouillon, taste and add more if required. Turn heat down and allow to simmer for about half an hour to an hour.
Just before serving, add all the chopped herbs and stir. Season with a little soy if needed and serve with your favourite noodles. I choose superfine white Chinese noodles. Vermicelli would work well too.


During dinner, Nat showed us the form she had to fill out at the police station about how her leg got squashed between two cars. One requirement was to draw the accident scene, which we all found so hilarious we almost choked on our extra-fine noodles.



P.S For another variation on tomato soup, check out Lily's Spicy roast tomato soup

Ugliest root ever

My plan to make leek and potato soup went tits up this arvo when I realised I only had one spud for about 6 leeks. Reinforcement came in the form of celeriac, a root vegetable that looks like a gnarly earth tumour.

As is often the case in life, a festering pikey by appearance can mask a delicate heart. And this is true of the celeriac, which has quite a subtle flavour. It resembles its stalky cousin, celery, but with a lot more personality (especially when teamed with other veggies.)

Combined with the leek, it gave the soup a slightly tangy flavour and it creamed up a treat with the spud. If you're going for a traditional potato and leek, you might not dig the citrusy effect. But for something a little different, I reckon it works.

What I used
A bunch of medium sized leeks
One large potato
One large celeriac
Garlic
A veggie stock cube (I use the organic marigold cubes)


Making it
Slice the leek and garlic and soften in olive oil in your soup pan on med/low (keep the lid on so the leeks don't dry or brown -- add a little water if necessary)
Peel the potato and celeriac and chop into cubes
Add them to the softened leek and let them fry up together for a bit
Pour in enough stock to reach the top veggies without drowning them
Cover and simmer until soft -- preferably the potatoes disintegrate when pushed and the celeriac is squishy
Wizz until it's thick and creamy

beet me, beet me

Adam and I were in Berlin for New Year and one of the yummiest parts was the fact that, wherever we went, we could grab an instant hit of nourishing love for around 2 euros a bowl. But try and tempt Londoners with beetroot soup and you can't give it away. I know. I've attempted to share my lunch at work. People look at me like I'm offering them the carcass of their pet cat in a bowl of warm piss.
But back to Berlin. We stayed with our mate Hugo and he kept a massive pot of beetroot soup refrigerating on the balcony alongside a couple of slabs of beer. Whenever we needed a bowl of sweet beet warmth he'd drag the pot inside and throw it on the stove. It's the simplicity of it that I love, that and the bloody redness. And it costs bugger all to make.



I make it the way Hugo did, with mountains of freshly ground pepper, then leave it sitting on the stove for a few days and just keep reheating it till it's done.

What you need for about 4 bowls:
A medium to large onion
Thyme sprigs
Bay Leaves (What do they do exactly? And is it possible for them to stop working if you've had them too long? I have often wondered this upon reaching for a bag that has been in my cupboard for months... and months)
Salt’n’pepper
Veggie stock
One large (or half a dozen small) beetroots
Same for potatoes
A few carrots
Undrinkeable red wine (no point wasting booze you can use)



Making it:
Peel the beetroots and admire your bloody looking hands.
Chop all the veggies into mouth-manageable sizes.
Using your soup pan, soften the chopped onion in olive oil on a low heat (Don’t be tight with the oil.)
Chuck in a bay leaf or two and let them work their inexplicable magic.
Pour in some red wine if you fancy, and reduce it. It adds a little something but is not essential.
Throw in the veggies and stir fry them for a good five minutes.
Add shitloads of pepper, a little salt and some sprigs of thyme.
Pour in your stock.
Bring it to the boil then simmer it as long as you like (an hour at the very least.)

After about the third reheat there’s virtually no colour left in the beetroots. But I love the way they keep their firmness while the carrots and potatoes go soft. If I run out of liquid, I just add more water, a bit of wine and maybe a little vegemite.

I just ate a bowl while I was writing this and I am full of beety warmth. Plus I was listening to a sunny Lionel Hampton song that I'm sharing below because it was such a lovely accompaniement to the sweet, red beets. Beats for beets. Ha ha.

Lionel Hampton - On the Sunny Side of the Street mp3 download