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Spiced yoghurt
– 255ml/9fl oz natural unsweetened yoghurt
– 1 small Spanish onion, finely sliced
– 1 medium tomato, finely chopped
– 1 green finger chilli, finely chopped
– ¼ tsp salt
– 1 tbsp vegetable oil
– ¼ tsp brown or black mustard seeds
– 4 curry leaves
– 10 unsalted skinned peanuts (optional)
spicy chorizo and cannellini bean soup
My sister-in-law Ann mentioned chorizo soup yesterday and listed off a few ingredients. Here’s a stab at it without tasting. Proportions may need adjusting:
Ingredients:
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 level tsp each of coriander and fennel seed
1 level tsp chilli flakes
shredded zest of 1/4 small orange
1.5 chorizo sausages
2 cans tomatoes
1 can cannellini beans rinsed
3 cans (1.2l) stock
Just cook like you’d expect to.
OK, I’ve tasted it now …
The Verdict:
Tastes pretty good, nice and smokey/chorizoey. It could do with upping the bean proportion, so 2 cans of cannellinis. I used one can of cherry tomatoes and one of crushed, forget about the cherry toms and go straight for 2 of crushed. You’ll taste the fennel coming thorough and the occasional coriander seed which complements the orange zest nicely. Overall pretty good as a winter soup. Might be nice chilled for the summer, but we’ll just have to wait to see …
Caught on the hob
My sister-in-law Ann mentioned chorizo soup yesterday and listed off a few ingredients. Here’s a stab at it without tasting. Proportions may need adjusting:
Ingredients:
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 level tsp each of coriander and fennel seed
1 level tsp chilli flakes
shredded zest of 1/4 small orange
1.5 chorizo sausages
2 cans tomatoes
1 can cannellini beans rinsed
3 cans (1.2l) stock
Just cook like you’d expect to.
OK, I’ve tasted it now …
The Verdict:
Tastes pretty good, nice and smokey/chorizoey. It could do with upping the bean proportion, so 2 cans of cannellinis. I used one can of cherry tomatoes and one of crushed, forget about the cherry toms and go straight for 2 of crushed. You’ll taste the fennel coming thorough and the occasional coriander seed which complements the orange zest nicely. Overall pretty good as a winter soup. Might be nice chilled for the summer, but we’ll just have to wait to see …
music: East Africa In Binaural
Some fantastic stuff in here:
Smoked red pepper pesto
We were having a cook-in the other night and I’d had a hankering after some red pepper pesto. Luckily for me, my daughter Kaytlin is pretty enthusiastic about getting involved in cooking and I got her to make a batch while I did some other stuff. It was fab.
This has a wonderfully nutty, slightly burnt flavour which will brighten up your darkest winter evening. Great with fish or flesh, with fantastic peppery, smoky notes and a robust colour which looks great spread across a white plate.
Ingredients:
3 large red peppers (capsicums), quartered
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 heaped tbsp pine nuts, toasted
50g Parmesan, grated
Best olive oil, a few splashes
Method:
Roast the quartered red peppers on a hot skillet until charred on both sides, especially the skin side. After a few minutes, put them in a plastic bag and seal, leave them cook a little longer in their own steam and ultimately cool off a bit. While this is happening, toast the pine nuts in a dry pan, being careful not to burn them, because they’re very easy to burn. Back to the peppers: peel/scrape off the skin and discard because it is somewhat indigestible. Put the flesh in a liquidiser, chuck in the pine seeds, garlic and cheese and liquidise, adding enough oil to lubricate the process but not so that it’s too runny. It needs to be thicker than cream but thinner than nutella.
Bottle up and refrigerate.
Some people recommend adding basil and walnuts, paprika and other spices, but I think it over-complicates the recipe. I think the fact that I have such a high percentage of toasted pine nuts is enough to satisfy the palette.You can find more of these on http://www.cookdinnerfaster.com
Know that feeling
Spiced Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup
toothsome mince
If mince can be toothsome, then this is your recipe.
Ingredients:
2 medium onions
1/2 kg lean mince
3 fat garlics
2 hot red chillies, de-seeded
400g chopped tomatoes, from a can or analogue
2 hefty squirts of purée
a handful of raisins
a handful of coriander, very finely chopped, stalks included
350ml stock of your choice
1 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp (optional) caraway seed
2 tsp curry powder, the strength of which you can decide
1 small diced carrot
1 handful of frozen peas/soya beans/whatever takes your fancy but it needs to be green
Method:
Fry the onions in a splash of whatever oil is au courant. Add the garlic and chillies and fry a bit more. Then add the mince and break up into chunks and brown off. Add the tomatoes, stock and everything else except the peas and coriander. Cook for about 30 minutes on the hob until it looks edible. It should smell divine. About 10 minutes before you eat, chuck in the coriander and peas. Serve with steamed rice.
Carnivore
Just staggered out of a restaurant called Carnivore here in Nairobi, Kenya. Stuffed, ate seven kinds of grilled animals: crocodile, pork, ostrich, lamb, beef, chicken & turkey. Will be digesting for a week.
