Spiced Parsnip & Carrot Soup

 

Sorry to disappoint you if you came here looking for lentil soup today.  I was gifted with a bag of parsnips from someones garden and I need to use them pronto, so today you are getting Spiced Parsnip & Carrot Soup.  I hope you don't mind too much!  

  

Parsnips are a root vegetable which greatly resemble really pale, ghost-like carrots!  They actually belong to the same family as carrots and parsley.  Left in the ground to mature until the first frost, they get really sweet.   They are a delicious vegetable.  At least I think they are!  Even pre-frost!

 

My mother hated parsnips.  I can remember her cooking them for us once.  She had hated them since she was a child.  She fried them in butter. I thought they were gorgeous. She still did not like them so that was the end of that!  I, however, had fallen in love and it is a love affair which I carry on right up to this day.

  

Parsnips make wonderful additions to soups or stews and are unbelievably delicious when roasted with some honey and butter along side of your Sunday lunch.  Christmas dinner would not be half as special were it not for the inclusion of honey butter roasted parsnips!

 

This soup recipe I am sharing today is an adaptation of a carrot soup that I used to make when I worked down South at the manor. The original recipe uses all carrots, but I really love the taste that comes from the inclusion of parsnips.

 

In fact I like it even better when parsnips are used in addition to carrots.

  

It is flavoured as well with onion and celery  . . .  delicious aromatics . . .

 

Garlic and grated fresh ginger root  . . .  mmmm . . .

 

Curry powder for a bit of a bite.  I use a medium curry powder.  Todd longs for me to use a stronger curry powder  . . . but alas, I don't think my insides could take anything much spicier than this!

  

This is also lovely with a spoonful of sour cream swirled in the top.  Simple, delicious and easy to make.  What more could a person want? 

Spiced Parsnip & Carrot Soup

Yield: 4

Author: Marie Rayner

Sweet and nutty with a bit of a bite! Very nice.

ingredients:

• 1 TBS light olive oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 3 sticks celery, washed, trimmed and chopped
• 1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 TBS finely grated fresh ginger root
• 1/2 to 1 TBS curry powder (depending on your taste)
• pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 500g parsnips, peeled and chopped (a generous pound)
• 250g carrots, peeled and chopped (1/2 pound, generous)
• 1 litre of vegetable stock (abut 4 1/2 cups)
• Additional hot stock as needed

instructions:

How to cook Spiced Parsnip & Carrot Soup

1. Heat the oil in a large deep saucepan.  Add the chopped onion and celery, garlic, and grated ginger root.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, without allowing to brown.  Stir in the curry powder and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the chopped parsnips and carrots.  Stir to coat well in the aromatics.  Season lightly with salt and pepper. Pour in the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook over low heat for a further 30 to 35 minutes, or until very soft.  Remove from the heat and puree, using an immersion blender, until smooth.  Return to the stove and add additional stock as needed to give you the right consistency.  Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper and a pinch of cayenne if desired.  Serve immediately in heated bowls.  Alternately you can pour this soup into sealable freezer containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

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No worries, I will do the lentil soup next week.  Up tomorrow is a Back to the 60's Prawn/Shrimp Cocktail.  They call large shrimps prawns over here in the UK!  Go figure!

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Stuffed Zucchini with Toasted Walnuts & Feta

  

We used to have some really good friends when we were living down South and I was working at the Manor.  If you have been reading my blog for a while now you will probably remember me mentioning them.  They were two sisters called Hazel and June. They were quite a bit older than myself, being Todd's age approximately, but we were quite close the whole time I lived there.  They were my visiting teachers and we often got together outside of church when I had time off.  I remember going on a picnic with them up on Beachy Head in Eastbourne one Saturday afternoon in the summer.  We had a great time!  One of my favourite memories and two of my favourite people from when we lived down there.

 

They were always so kind and used to include Todd and myself in their Christmas Celebrations.  I used to invite them to ours for Thanksgiving and birthdays. One year for Christmas June gave me this cookbook.  365 Dish a Day published by Parragon Publishers. It contained a recipe for each of the days of the year and an extra one for a Leap Year.  Its a great little book, although I haven't actually cooked much out of it.  I took it out and was looking at it the other day and decided to cook a recipe from it. In my efforts to reduce my cookbook library I have been going through my books one at a time and seeing if I use them or not.  This was the recipe for the date of June 29th. I know  . . .  but I had everything in the house and I had some feta cheese leftover from the other day that I wanted and needed to use up!

 

I thought about June and Hazel while I was preparing this dish.  They were such wonderful gals.  I really miss them.  We did go down the first summer after we had moved up here for a visit, but then money got tight and we have never been able travel down since then.  But I still think about them a lot and we are in touch on facebook.

 

This recipe makes a really delicious Vegetarian Course and is very simple to make. Most stuffed Zucchini recipes will call for a meat stuffing.  I am not overly fond of minced meat mixed into other things and so the fact that there was no meat in them really appealed to me.

 

You blanch the zucchini first just to soften enough that you can hollow them out. I use my melon baller which makes short work of the job, but you could also use a teaspoon. You want to leave a shell all around about 1/4 of an inch in thickness.

 

The chopped flesh gets sauteed along with some onions and garlic, just until the onion begins to turn golden brown, and then (after cooling it for a bit) you stir it together with some soft bread crumbs, toasted walnuts and feta cheese.

 

It is lightly flavoured with chopped dill and salt and pepper.  Dill goes very well with feta cheese and with zucchini!  And walnuts also!  Believe it or not!

  

They turned out crispy tender  . . .  with a deliciously flavour filled stuffing  . . .  the tangy saltiness of the feta cheese goes perfectly with the zucchini which have one of those mild flavours that really go with everything . . .

  

The nutty crunch of the toasted walnuts added another depth of flavour that we both really enjoyed.  I liked that it was a non-tomato, non-meat stuffing.  I highly recommend! 

Yield: 4

Author: Marie Rayner

Stuffed Zucchini with Toasted Walnuts & Feta

A light vegetarian dish which is simple to make and quite delicious.  Perfect for when the zucchini glut starts in the garden. I like to use smaller zucchini to make these. Mine were each about 6 inches in length and about 3 inches in circumference.

ingredients:

• 4 medium zucchini
• 3 TBS olive oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 55g feta cheese, crumbled (2 ounces)
• 25g toasted walnuts, chopped (1 ounce)
• 55g fresh white bread crumbs (1 cup)
• 1 medium free range egg, beaten
• 1 tsp chopped fresh dill
• salt and black pepper to taste

instructions:

How to cook Stuffed Zucchini with Toasted Walnuts & Feta

1. Bring a pot of water to the boil.  Place the zucchini into the water, bring back to the boil and then cook for 3 minutes.  Drain, rinse under cold water, drain again, and set aside to cool.  
2. Cut a thin strip off the top side of each zucchini.  Using a melon baller, and leaving a shell about 1/4 inch thick all round, scoop out the interior of each zucchini.  Chop the flesh from the insides into bits.
3. Heat 2 TBS of the oil in a skillet.  Add the onion and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes until beginning to soften.  Add the zucchini flesh and cook for 5 minutes longer, at which point the onions should be golden brown.  Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.  Have ready a baking dish large enough to hold the zucchini in a single layer.
5. Beat the egg and add to the cooked vegetables along with the bread crumbs, chopped walnuts, crumbled feta cheese, salt and pepper.  Use this mixture to stuff each zucchini and place them into the baking dish, stuffing side up. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil. 
6. Cover tightly and bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Uncover and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown.  Serve hot.

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Just a little peek at the insides.  You could use a whole grain bread and they would have an even nuttier flavour and I think that would also add more fibre to your diet. These were crispy tender, crunchy and totally delicious! 

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Hearty Vegetarian Chili

 

One of my friends was recently in hospital, and when she got home she wasn't in any state to go shopping or  do much cooking.  I wanted to make a few meals to take over to her that she could just warm up.

 

She is Vegan so that presented a certain challenge, but you know me, I am always up for a challenge and I think I rose to this one really well!

 

When my family was growing up, I used to make a Vegetarian chili every now and then. It served two purposes. One it was fairly economical and I had a fairly large family, and two, I don't like minced meat mixed with things  . . .  so it was a way that I could enjoy chili. 

 

This is a slight riff on that.  The one I made for my children was more soupy with larger chunks.  This one is a lot thicker.

 

It has a really meaty, hearty appearance.  I have found that chopping the vegetables into smaller bits, not only decreases the amount of cook time, but it does kind of resemble chopped meat.  

 

Funny how that goes!

 

There are two cans of undrained kidney beans in this, plus a large bottle of Tomato Passata.  Tomato Passata is strained tomatoes, and is somewhat thicker than North American tomato sauce.

 

Garlic also adds some flavour, plus I used cinnamon and cumin . . .  both ground. Did you know that toasting your spices before using them increases their flavour?  Its true! 

 

Once you bring everything to the boil, you reduce to a simmer, pop a lid half on it and then let it simmer for about half an hour.  Easy peasy.

 

This is so thick and quite luxurious . . . I stirred in a square of dark chocolate at the very end, which added a special depth of flavour.

 

I served it with some sour cream and guacamole.  Of course if you are a vegan, you won't want to use the sour cream, honey or chocolate (unless designated vegan), but a simple vegetarian would use it.

 

Just look at how thick and delicious that looks! 

  

Some crisp Tortilla Chips were the perfect accompaniment!

Hearty Vegetarian Chili

Yield: 6

Author: Marie Rayner

This delicious vegetarian chili is so thick and tasty you won't even miss the meat! A food processor/chopper will come in handy as the veg needs to be chopped fairly small.

ingredients:

• 2 medium onions, peeled cut into quarters
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and trimmed
• 1 green pepper, trimmed
• 1 green chili, trimmed and deseeded
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled (about 300g/10 1/2 ounces)
• 2 fat cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 TBS mild chili powder, or to taste
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 (400g) tins of red kidney beans, undrained (2 X 14 oz tins)
• 1 600g jar of tomato Passata (about 6 cups) (strained tomatoes)
• 1 tsp liquid honey
• a handful of coriander leaves (cilantro)
• 1 square of dark chocolate

To serve:

• dairy sour cream
• guacamole
• tortilla chips

instructions:

1. Chop all of your vegetables fine.  I use my electric food chopper. Does a really great job.  (a few larger chunks are okay) Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the vegetables.  Cook, stirring occasionally over medium low heat for 8 to 10 minutes until they are beginning to soften.  Stir in the spices and season to taste.  Cook for about half a minute, then add the kidney beans, honey, and passata.  Half fill one of the cans of beans with water and add that.  Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about half an hour, partially covered, stirring occasionally.  Taste and adjust seasoning as required.  Stir in the coriander and the chocolate.  Serve in heated bowls along with some sour cream, guacamole and tortilla chips.

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It makes a nice big pot of chili.  We each had a bowl of it for our dinner and I have three plastic containers to take over to my friend once Todd gets up from his nap.  I think she's going to really like this! (Or at least I hope she does!)

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Broccoli Cheese Pie

  

This tasty Vegetarian Pie is actually something I baked way back in December.  I can't believe it has taken until now for me to share it with you!  My oven has been on the fritz again, and so I have been somewhat limited in what I can cook until it is fixed.  This time it is the thermostat.

 

It just keeps heating and heating and heating, without any shut off when the temperature you have it set to is reached. Not very ideal when it comes to baking anything!  They are supposed to come sometime today and sort it out.  Finger's crossed!

 

So, this is why I am showing you this recipe today.  I had forgotten all about it, and while I normally wouldn't share two recipes with broccoli in them two days in a row, this time it can't be helped! 

 

Hopefully I will be back tomorrow with something really new!  I have plans!  In the meantime, meet Broccoli Cheese Pie, which is a version of the Cauliflower cheese pie and is sure to convert even the biggest broccoli hater in your home to someone who at least is willing to tolerate it! 

 

And, if you are a person who happens to LOVE broccoli, as I am  . . .  then you are in for a real treat! 

 

This is kind of like a Broccoli Pot Pie, with a short crust bottom, and a puff pastry lid . . .  the filling is so simple to make.  Its just steamed broccoli mixed together with some herbed cream cheese, a tin of soup. You could use a a cream/bechamel sauce in its place if you wanted to.  I have a wonderful tutorial on making one of those here.

  

It works well either way.  Just stir the cream cheese, sauce and cheddar together and then fold in the broccoli.  Filling done.  Pop it between two crusts and bake.  Bob's your Uncle! 

Yield: 4Author: Marie Rayner

Broccoli Cheese Pie

If its between two crusts, I am in love with it.  I am a real pie lover and this is such a tasty pie the meat lovers in your house might not even miss the meat!

ingredients:

• 1/2 of a 250g tub of Herb & Garlic Cream Cheese (1/2 cup)
• 1 tin of  condensed cream of mushroom soup (10 ounce)
• 125ml of hot chicken stock (1/2 cup)
• 2 broccoli crowns, trimmed and broken into florets
• salt and pepper to taste
• 120g of strong cheddar cheese, grated (1 cup)
• 1 sheet of all butter ready rolled short crust pastry
• 1 sheet of all butter ready rolled puff pastry
• 1 small free range egg yolk, beaten with a touch of water
• flaked sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper

instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Put a baking tray in the oven to heat.
2. Cook the broccoli in a pot of lightly salted boiling water for about 5 minutes until crispy tender. Drain well.
3. Return to the saucepan. Stir together the stock, soup and both the cream cheese and the cheddar. Pour over the broccoli and gently stir to combine.
4. Line an oval pie dish with the short crust pastry, leaving an overhang. Pour the broccoli mixture into  the lined dish.  Brush the edge all the way around with a bit of the egg wash. Cover with the puff pastry pressing the edges together and sealing the filling inside.  Brush the surface of the pastry with the beaten egg.  Snip a few slits in the top with a pair of kitchen scissors to vent.
5. Place onto the heated baking tray and bake on the bottom shelf of the oven for 30 minutes, until heated through, the bottom crust is cooked,  and the top pastry is puffed and golden brown.
6. Spoon out  onto heated plates to serve. 

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While I am perfectly happy to eat this all on its own, Todd likes any pie better if it is served with a pile of mash.  He is so, so, so British.  Chips are also a favourite!  Bon Appetit! 

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