Archive for the 'soup' Category
Well. I must say, I just had an extraordinarily long day that culminated with a 5 hour class and drive home from Red Deer, and I was feeling a little like I had to get my homework done before getting to crawl into bed, but seeing all these fantastic posts has revived me. Somewhat.
Tonight my excellent friend Nik and I drove to Red Deer to teach a private Asian cooking / tea class / dinner at The Cooking Room. I made hoisin pork lettuce wraps, Vietnamese rice paper rolls with peanut sauce, Thai coconut soup with lemongrass and chicken/shrimp (two varieties), pork potstickers, chicken fried rice, teriyaki beef satay, curried peanut orange shrimp, and green tea crème brulée.
Yikes, that really was as much as it felt like.
Thai Coconut Noodle Soup with Chicken or Seafood
This ingredient list may seem exotic, but everything can be easily located in most grocery stores. If there’s something you can’t find, a trip to an Asian market is always worthwhile. This recipe easily halves or doubles, or you can make the whole batch of stock, freeze half, and add chicken or seafood to the rest for dinner.
1 stalk fresh lemongrass
4 cups (1 L) chicken or vegetable broth
1 14 oz. (398 mL) can light or regular coconut milk
1/4 cup fish sauce (nam pla)
1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. - 1 Tbsp. curry paste or curry powder
2-3 tsp. red chili paste, chili-garlic sauce or 1 small Serrano or jalapeño chili, minced
thin or wide rice noodles – enough as you’d like for each person
1-2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into small strips, and/or 1/2-1 lb. (250-500 g) raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, or raw scallops
1/4 cup lime juice
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil or cilantro, thinly sliced
Remove the tough outer leaves from the lemongrass and cut the stalk into two or three pieces. In a large saucepan set over medium heat, combine the lemongrass, chicken broth, coconut milk, 1/2 cup water, fish sauce, mushrooms, ginger, sugar, curry powder and chili paste. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, soak the rice noodles according to package directions.
Add the chicken or seafood and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until cooked through. Fish out the chunks of lemongrass, which aren’t meant to be eaten. Stir in the lime juice, green onions and basil or cilantro. Put a small pile of noodles into each bowl. Ladle the soup over top. Serve immediately.
Serves 6.
Curried Peanut Shrimp
Throw the shrimp and marinade into a baggie in the morning and you’ll have dinner almost ready when you come home from work. Sometimes I simmer the whole lot, sauce and all, in a large sauté pan and serve it over rice to catch the sauce.
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1/2 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
1 tsp. curry paste (or to taste)
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp. chili sauce or sambal olek
pinch salt
pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined, with the tails left on
Combine everything but the shrimp in a bowl or jar and whisk or shake until smooth. Pour over the shrimp in a container or zip lock bag and marinate in the fridge for an hour or overnight.
Now you can proceed one of two ways: pull out the shrimp and cook them quickly in a skillet, just until cooked through, and simmer the reserved marinade in a small saucepan for a few minutes to serve alongside the shrimp for dipping. Or pour the whole lot into a larger skillet set over medium-high heat and cook until bubbly around the edges and the shrimp turn pink; serve over rice.
Serves 4.
Per serving: 159 calories, 5 g total fat (0.8 g saturated fat, 1.8 g monounsaturated fat, 1.8 g polyunsaturated fat), 13.2 g protein, 16.5 g carbohydrate, 86.2 mg cholesterol, 0.4 g fiber. 27% calories from fat.
Potstickers
1 cup finely shredded bok choy or napa cabbage (optional)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 lb. lean ground pork
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 pkg. wonton wrappers
canola oil
chicken or veggie stock, or water
If you’re using it, toss the cabbage with salt in a medium bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. Pick it up in your hand and squeeze out the excess liquid, draining it as well as you can. Add the pork, green onions, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sugar and sesame oil and mix it all up with your hands.
To fill wontons, place a small spoonful of filling in the middle of each wrapper; moisten the edges with water (just use your finger) and fold over, pressing the edge tightly to seal. Place seam side up on a cookie sheet, pressing lightly to flatten the bottom. Cover with a tea towel to prevent them from drying out. (Dumplings can be prepared up to this point, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 24 hours or frozen.)
When you’re ready to cook the potstickers, heat a drizzle of canola oil in a largeish skillet set over medium-high heat. Place half the dumplings at a time in the skillet and cook for a minute or two, until deep golden brown on the bottom, shaking the pan a few times to keep them from sticking. Don’t crowd the pan too much.
Pour about 1/4 cup stock or water into the pan. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes – this will allow them to steam, cooking them through.
Makes 2 - 3 dozen potstickers.
Each: 45 calories, 1 g total fat (0.2 g saturated fat, 0.4 g monounsaturated fat, 0.3 g polyunsaturated fat), 3 g protein, 5.9 g carbohydrate, 5.2 mg cholesterol, 0.4 g fiber. 20% calories from fat.
Green Tea Crème Brulée
6 large egg yolks
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. matcha powdered green tea
2 cups heavy (whipping) cream or 18% coffee cream
½ tsp. good-quality vanilla
sugar, for sprinkling on top
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Dissolve the tea in a little bit of water or cream to get rid of any lumps; whisk the cream, tea and vanilla into the egg yolks and sugar.
Divide among 6 small ramekins, and put them into a roasting pan or 9?x13? pan; pour water in so that the water comes about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. This will sort of insulate them so that they cook gently and evenly. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the custards are set but still just slightly jiggly in the middle (you’ll get a feel for this!). Take them out, let them cool and then refrigerate for a few hours or overnight, until nice and cold.
Sprinkle an even layer of sugar over each dish and caramelize with a torch or transfer to a cookie sheet and place under the broiler in the oven for about 2 minutes, just until the sugar is caramelized and golden. Turn the sheet around if you need to to help them caremelize evenly. Refrigerate again, or just let them sit on the countertop while you eat dinner, just until the sugar is set like glass.
Serves 6.
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April 08 2008 | appetizers and soup | 4 Comments »
I have never been so happy to see the arrival of daylight savings time. Sunlight at dinnertime! This is going to make documenting these dinners much easier.
Last week I lugged home the bone from the roast ham we made on It’s Just Food (in case you haven’t figured this out already, I can be cheap) and yesterday threw it in a pot of water to coax the remaining meat off and make a stock.
Having opened up a can of black beans to make quesadillas for lunch (still one of my favorite things ever) I decided that the ham stock was destined to be black bean soup. I’m sorry if I’ve black bean souped you to death already; turns out we eat a lot of it.
This one was a bit of a soup yukaflux: half a leftover can of diced tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, red pepper, jalapeno (this is something I never would have had in the fridge even a year ago, but I have discovered that even one chopped into my soup makes all the flavor difference), the half can of black beans, a shake from the bag of frozen corn, and the meaty ham stock. Scooped hot over a pile of leftover brown rice that was in the fridge. Done like dinner.
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March 10 2008 | beans and freezable and soup | 1 Comment »
At this point in the program I have to pause and ponder how much detail I should divulge when it comes to relaying the events that occur in my life over dinnertime. Suffice to say that today there was a crisis; everyone is OK, more or less, but at dinnertime we converged at my sister’s house to do some damage control. My other sister brought roast chickens from Safeway, a loaf of sourdough bread, some oranges and a salad. I brought coffee.
To be honest, in the late afternoon I made another batch of chocolate covered hazelnuts, and ate enough to qualify calorically as dinner. When it became apparent I had to leave the house quickly, with Willem, I put on the pot of chickenoodle soup (I have to say it like that now, since reading it in Nigella’s Feast) that I made yesterday from the chunky, chickeny stock Mike made from a roast chicken left over from shooting a few days before. I poured out most of the stock into freezer containers, leaving all the shredded chunks of chicken in the bottom, brought the rest to a simmer, and threw in a handful of frozen peas and wide egg noodles. Salt and pepper to finish once the noodles were tender, and that’s it.
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March 08 2008 | chicken & turkey and soup | 1 Comment »
I suppose I should have made something special to commemorate Day 50, but I was too cold and tired after walking home from a downtown meeting, at which I bombed an important presentation. This was not planned (the bombing nor the walking); Mike was going to come pick me up, but he had the cel and there are no pay phones left in this city since everyone and their dog has a cel phone! So I was without a hat or mitts or even a proper coat, and it quickly turned from nice to freezing.
To make things worse, since I was not at my best at said presentation, which was a big deal, I talked to myself as I hunched down the sidewalk in the cold. Or rather, tried to shut my brain off. Stop. Stop it!! My mind is so relentless with its barrage of dispiriting accusations I have to use my own voice to drown it out. I started to notice people leaving a wider boundary as they passed, lest my obvious insanity leap out and grab them.
So when I got home I was in no mood to make dinner, but needed something hot immediately. Luckily I had made a pot of soup earlier in the day for an article I was working on for What’s Up Kids Magazine in Toronto; a thick chowder made with canned sweet corn, diced potatoes with their skins, cheddar cheese and a spicy Italian sausage instead of the chicken I’ve used in previous batches.
It worked, but the giant glass of Shiraz that accompanied it helped.
Sausage, Corn, Potato and Cheddar Chowder
1 spicy Italian sausage
canola or olive oil, for cooking
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. cumin
3 cups chicken broth or water
1-2 potatoes, unpeeled and diced
1 can sweet kernel corn
1 cup milk or 1/2 cup half & half (or to taste)
1 cup grated old cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
Squeeze the sausage out of its casing into a medium saucepan that has been drizzled with oil and set over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, breaking the meat up, until onion is translucent and the sausage is cooked.
Add the flour and cumin and cook, stirring, for another minute. Stir in the broth, add the potatoes and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
Stir in the corn, and the milk or cream if you’re using it, and allow the chowder to return to a gentle simmer. Don’t let it boil, or the milk may curdle. Add the cheese and stir just until it melts. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serves 4.
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February 19 2008 | soup | 2 Comments »
I actually planned dinner tonight. We were going to have salmon and roasted vegetables with couscous and feta (one of Mike’s favorites, and something W scarfed down an entire bowlful of when he was about 9 months old, although I’m certain he won’t be as enthralled with it now). But the thing about planning ahead is that it is on those days you will open the trunk of your car and find two giant bags of mushrooms leftover from that cooking class on the weekend that must be used, even though they are now frozen solid.
Mushroom soup it is. I adore mushroom soup, but rarely make it, unless I am for some reason stuck with a surplus of mushrooms that are beginning to dry up. I wish I had a bit of ham, but I didn’t. That’s OK. I pulled out my favorite mushroom soup recipe, then thought perhaps I should do a little more sleuthing, just in case there’s something more interesting that could be done with them.
A quick search on epicurious came up with a highly rated recipe from Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook that was an almost identical combination of onions, butter, button mushrooms, stock and cream. See? I’m not so dull after all. The only differences are, I use a clove of garlic; Anthony simmers a sprig of parsley (and removes it before pureeing), and I add a spoonful of flour to the cooked mushrooms before adding the stock. I also generally opt for less butter, a combination of butter and oil (1 tablespoon of each, vs. his 6 tablespoons of butter - yum) and half and half over full-on cream. If you add it at the very end, which is typical anyway, but even if you add it at the end of mashed potatoes or other things, you can get away with using less, and the flavor is more predominant.
Creamy Mushroom Soup
Button mushrooms are fine to use in a cream of mushroom soup, and it’s a great way to use them up if they are starting to dry out. Try meatier portobello mushrooms and exotic varieties such as shiitake, oyster and cremini to give it more substance and an intense flavor. To make a vegetarian soup, leave out the ham and use vegetable stock.
3/4 lb. mushrooms (button, shiitake, cremini, oyster, portobello, or a combination)
1 Tbsp. canola or olive oil
1 - 2 Tbsp. butter
1 onion or 3 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup diced ham (optional)
3 Tbsp. sherry or brandy (optional)
1 Tbsp. flour
3 cups chicken, beef or vegetable stock
1/2 cup light sour cream, half and half or whipping cream
Salt and pepper
Clean the mushrooms and slice half of them. Finely chop the other half. Heat the oil and butter in a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat, and sauté the onion, garlic and mushrooms until the moisture evaporates and the mushrooms begin to turn golden.
Add the ham and cook for a minute. Add the sherry and cook until it evaporates, then add the flour and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the sour cream or cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serves 4-6.
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February 11 2008 | soup and vegetarian | 1 Comment »
Remember that day we bundled pork, ginger, garlic and green onions into little wonton (or gyoza) wrapper packages and froze them? Today, I can hardly think of anything I’d rather eat, simmered in a steaming bowl of chicken broth (actually turkey, leftover from Christmas, but who can tell?), spiked with soy sauce and the teensiest squirt of red garlic-chili paste to help lift this fog.
This is like the hot soup version of that party mix you can buy that is made up of bits of cheezies and pretzels and taco chips, that I imagine are the sweepings from the snack food factory floor. You can sweep out your fridge and freezer right into the pot, throwing in mushrooms, frozen shrimp, broccoli, bok choy, pea pods, green onions, carrots, baby corn (you can buy packages of these frozen, which I did thinking W would think they were fab - he did not), bits of leftover roast chicken or pork, noodles (cook or soak them first, then divide among bowls and ladle the soup overtop so that the broth doesn’t get starchy) or any or all or none of the above. The wontons themselves only take 3-4 minutes to cook thrown straight from the freezer straight into the simmering broth; then allow the veggies only a minute or two, so that they blanch and brighten but retain their crispness. This is real fast food.
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February 06 2008 | leftovers and soup | 2 Comments »
Wor won ton soup is one of Mike’s favorite things. From King’s in particular - there was that one time, when he was working for a helicopter company out by the original King’s in the northeast, when he went for the Friday wor won ton soup run and bailed down the icy slope right outside the front door, dumping 6 large (about 1L) containers of the soup version of pure gold all over himself and producing a chunky, icy soup slide as it instantly froze on the grass. On a happy note, King’s graciously replaced them all for him, but he now frequents the southeast location.
I had pulled a package of won ton wrappers from the freezer awhile ago in order to make chips - to do this, cut the wrappers into triangles or strips, brush them with a little oil or water to help any seasonings adhere, and sprinkle them with any number of flavorings: lemon pepper, sesame seeds and Parmesan cheese, curry powder, or some of that powdered ranch dip mix. Toast them in the oven on a baking sheet until golden, and you’ll have crunchy, low calorie crackers that are able to structurally tolerate loads of chunky dip.
But a package of wonton wrappers will produce more chips than you’ll need for even the biggest bash. Fortunately, there are other uses for them. Wontons, for example.
(Note: When they are round, they are referred to as gyoza wrappers, and the square ones are wonton wrappers. Same thing, different shape.)
Making wontons by hand, to drop into simmering stock or brown on the stovetop and steam to make potstickers, are far simpler than you might think. All you require is a pound of ground pork, turkey, chicken or a combination (chopped shrimp or scallops are divine too), spiked with a little ginger, soy, green onion and sesame oil. Fill the wrappers, moisten the edges and seal them. While you’re at it, make a lot, and freeze them on a cookie sheet; this will prevent them from sticking to each other when you transfer them to a freezer bag.
The frozen wontons can be dropped into simmering stock with some broccoli, carrots, bok choy, and even whole shrimp or leftover slices of roast pork for wor won ton (or just won ton, if you don’t want to accessorize) that almost makes it unnecessary to do soup runs anymore.
(I said almost.)
Wonton Soup
For the wontons:
1/2 lb. ground pork, or half pork and half ground turkey
2 green onions, finely chopped, or some chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
salt & pepper
About 30 wonton wrappers, thawed if frozen
Chicken, beef or shrimp stock
Bok choy, chopped spinach, sliced carrots, broccoli, pea shoots, baby corn, fresh or frozen shrimp, sliced cooked pork tenderloin, or anything else you like in your soup
To make the wontons, stir together all the filling ingredients just until combined – as with any meat mixture, don’t overwork it or it could end up tough.
Put a little water into a small bowl. Put a couple wonton wrappers on your work surface, keeping the rest covered so that they don’t dry out. Place a small spoonful of the pork mixture in the middle of each one, dip your finger in the water, and run it along two edges to moisten. Fold the wonton over to make a triangle, and press to seal. Now you could leave them like that, or moisten the tips and fold them closed, like a tortellini. Or, you could moisten the edges and then just squish them all up in a bundle, pressing them together so it doesn’t pop open. You’ll get the hang of it.
To freeze, lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze solid; then transfer to freezer bags and store for up to 4 months. To make soup, drop fresh or frozen wontons into simmering stock; add bok choy or any other veg you like, and simmer for a few minutes, 3 or 4, to cook the wontons through – the veg should cook along with them, but still stay fairly crisp. If you want to add shrimp, add them at the end and cook just until they turn opaque, or if they are already cooked, just until they heat through. If you want to add bits of cooked pork, add it at the end as well.
If you like, soak some Asian noodles and divide them among bowls; pour the hot soup overtop. If you like, sprinkle with some torn cilantro. Put bottles of soy sauce and chili sauce on the table so everyone can season their own bowls.
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January 30 2008 | freezable and pork and soup | 4 Comments »
We ate the last of the pot of black bean soup today, and I’ll miss it - the soup silently helped meet our daily vegetable quota all week. It was pretty fantastic, actually, despite being completely vegetarian - vegan, even (no offense to meatless meals, but I usually prefer a bit of smoky ham or spicy sausage to flavor my black bean soup). Despite this shortcoming, it was absolutely delicious, due in part to the lone fresh jalapeño, and to the fact that it had had so much time for the flavors to really get to know each other. I am never going to feel the need to add meat to a black bean soup again. Since I had already eaten several bowls of it this week, today I felt experimental, and crumbled a bit of feta overtop.)
We ate it before going to my nephew Ben’s birthday party, as insurance against the plethora of fifth-birthday-party-food that was sure to be there. Not that hunger has a lot to do with it in the presence of cheesies, chicken wings and cupcakes, but being starving upon arrival doesn’t help. Plus, a bowlful of veggies and beans acts as a sort of nutritional ballast against all that yummy junk.
Black Bean Soup
This soup improves in flavor and spiciness after a day or two in the fridge. To make a meal of black bean soup a little more substantial, put a scoop of rice into each bowl and ladle the soup over it. A crumbled spicy Italian sausage or bit of diced ham is also delicious - sauté either along with the onion at the beginning - this will of course cook the sausage, but adding either at the beginning will allow it to flavor the entire pot of soup, something that wouldn’t happen if it was thrown in at the end.
A drizzle of olive or canola oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped, including the leafy parts
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced, or 1 Tbsp. chopped canned chipotle chilies
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 19 oz. (540 mL) can black beans, drained
1 can sweet corn niblets (optional)
1 14 oz. (398 mL) or 28 oz. (798 mL) can diced or stewed tomatoes
1-2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
Sour cream, chopped cilantro, chopped green onions and/or crumbled feta cheese (optional
Heat the oil in a large saucepan set over medium-high heat and sauté the onion, carrot and celery for about 5 minutes, until they begin to soften. Finely chop the jalapeño, removing the seeds first if you don’t want your soup to be too hot – the seeds contain the most heat. Add them to the pot along with the garlic, red pepper, and cumin and cook for another minute. Add the beans and tomatoes, without draining either of them, and the chicken stock. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, until the carrot is tender.
If you like, you could use a blender, food processor, or hand-held immersion blender to process about half of the soup until smooth, then return it to the pot. Process as much or as little of the soup as you want to make the consistency as chunky or smooth as you like, or leave it all chunky, which is what I did. Turn the heat down and simmer the soup uncovered for half an hour or so to allow it to thicken slightly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. You could eat it right away, but I like to cool it down and then stash the whole pot in the fridge for a day or two to allow the flavors to improve. Reheat in individual bowls as you need it, or pull the pot out of the fridge, set it back on the stovetop, and heat it through.
Serve hot, with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro, green onions and/or feta cheese on top to add a cool and creamy relief to the spicy soup.
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January 25 2008 | beans and soup and vegetarian | 4 Comments »
The remains of our Christmas party ham (really just the bone with a few scraggly bits hanging on for dear life) is taking up altogether too much real estate in our freezer. Outside I have another problem altogether - the warm weather has thawed the 4 L of turkey stock I had out on the patio. So, the obvious solution when paired with too much stock and a ham bone: make soup.
This is also a good idea because the house has become quarantined; Willem has had a nasty cough for days that landed his 2 year old cousin, Hugo, in the hospital, and we spent last night nursing W’s high fever. So today we’re cold and tired, and a big bowl of soup with ham and potatoes and spinach, topped with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, was a very good thing.
I made two kinds: Ham and White Bean with Vegetables and Spinach, and Ham and Pea. (It’s amazing how far a carcass will go.)
All I did was throw the ham bone in a bit pot and covered it with water, threw in a few green onions that were about to go slimy, and some black peppercorns (just because it makes the whole thing look British chef-y). Simmered the whole lot, then pulled out the bone and cut off any meat that was still on it and poured the rest through a colander into another pot. Voila, ham stock.
To half of it I added the remains (probably 2 cups) of a bag of frozen peas, simmered it, then pureed it with a hand blender. These are the best - you stick them right into the pot - no need to transfer hot liquids to a blender and back. For the more involved soup, I got Mike to chop an onion and a couple carrots and celery stalks, sauteed them with a few smashed cloves of garlic, then added the stock, a little chicken stock too, a few small, unpeeled, diced potatoes, a can of drained navy beans (any white bean will do) and the ham. I let it be until the potatoes were tender. If you have spinach, throw a couple handfuls into the pot, cover it for a few minutes to let it wilt, and serve the soup hot, with crusty bread and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top, on the couch while you watch the news.
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January 09 2008 | pork and soup | 2 Comments »
Not the best start to my year, is it? But this is what happens in real life.. some days you get to ditch your husband and 2 year old and go play grown up at JAROblue for a couple hours while your friend is in town from St. Louis.
Fortunately I already made that curried yam & red lentil soup, which Mike and Willem are devouring now with some chewy, crusty bread I baked this morning. The no-knead stuff, naturally, which I will post again someday when this site is properly up and running.
As I mentioned yesterday, Nigel Slater intended this soup to be made with a fresh pumpkin, flavored with chilies and turmeric, and topped with onions sauteed with a few more chilies. His photo is astronomically more appealing than mine, but this is what I’ve got. For the next few months, the fact that it’s pitch-dark at dinnertime is not going to bode well with my need to photograph food.
Curried Yam & Red Lentil Soup
Canola or olive oil, for cooking with
1 onion, chopped
a few cloves of garlic, smushed
a good grating of fresh ginger
2 handfuls of dried red lentils
1 medium yam, peeled and cut into chunks
1 small spoonful of curry paste - powder would work too
salt
a few glugs of half & half
In a medium pot, saute the onion, garlic and ginger in a drizzle of oil for a few minutes, until the onion softens. Add the lentils, yam, curry paste, salt to taste and about 1 1/2 litres of water (that’s 6 cups), or chicken or vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down, cover and simmer for half an hour or so, until the yam chunks are very tender.
Add as much half & half (or 2%, or evaporated milk, or even heavy cream) as you like, and use a hand-held immersion blender right in the pot to puree it. Taste and adjust seasonings if it needs it. Serve right away, or keep it in the fridge (or the barbeque) for up to a week to reheat when you want it.
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January 03 2008 | beans and freezable and soup and vegetarian | 3 Comments »
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