Pea and Mint Soup

          Pea and mint is a marriage made in heaven. I have heard about it an enormous amount of times and I do not have any reasons to disagree with this statement. On the contrary, it is a combination of flavours that I use quite often in my kitchen. I mix peas and mint to make a simple stuffing for tomatoes, I garnish zucchini and pea omelette with fresh mint, I blend the two ingredients together to make a creamy puree (which is a perfect side dish for honey glazed salmon) and, finally, I use them to make a healthy and flavourful soup. It is quick and easy, light and refreshing. In February when peas were in great abundance, I made sure that I always have a bunch of mint in the fridge: it meant that I could rustle up a lunch in a jiffy! A bowl of this delicious soup (which can be served both hot and cold) and some salad or a toast or any other small appetizer (I usually go for seafood as, in my mind, it beautifully compliments the flavours of the dish) – and I’m in heaven; in that gastronomic heaven where the marriage of pea and mint was formed!

Mushroom Cappuccino

        A couple of weeks ago, as I finally made the recipe catalog for my blog, my husband – on looking at the page with the soups – frowned: “And where is mushroom cappuccino?!” There was a good reason for his bewilderment: I cook this dish pretty often, probably, even once a week, because, first of all, my husband really loves it and, second, it’s very easy to make. This second reason in fact has always stopped me from putting the recipe in the blog: it seemed to be too simple and too ordinary.

         On giving it a thorough thought, however, I came to the conclusion that this soup can’t but appear in the blog. It is a fool proof variant of a beautiful dish that can be served as a starter at a very formal dinner party or as a light yet nourishing lunch on an ordinary week day. It is the dish that can be found on the menu of most of the restaurants – whether you will go to a small eatery or a posh place at a five-star hotel. It is the meal that is cooked in almost all home kitchens – experienced grandmothers and even not very strong amateur cooks manage to nail it. It is a creamy treat with earthy aroma that is enjoyed by lots of people around the world – both by unpretentious foodies and demanding gourmets. Does it mean that I can’t put a recipe of “yet another mushroom soup” here? I don’t think so! On the contrary, I feel obliged to share the recipe of one of my favourite soups – and a warm garlic and parmesan toast – that always accompanies mushroom cappuccino at our home!

Master Stock Poached Chicken Breast

          If you compare European and Asian culinary traditions, you will see that they differ a lot in the use of ingredients and in cooking techniques. Even preparing a piece of lean meat by one of the simplest methods – poaching – will yield to different results if accomplished by chefs with dissimilar backgrounds: one will most probably use court-bouillon as a poaching liquid while the other one will go for something that is called Master stock.

            Master stock originated in Chinese cuisine and, no wonder, it has all the typical Asian flavours: soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, ginger, citrus peel and a number of spices – cinnamon, star anise and black peppercorns being the main ones. No wonder, in winter I prefer this aromatic broth with a very strong, sometimes even pungent taste, to a more subtle European style consommé. There is something very comforting in such a stew; and what I love most about it is the fantastic aroma from the mélange of spices that fills the whole house when the stock is simmering on the stove.

Recently I read that theoretically master stock should not be transformed into a soup: it is strained and kept refrigerated for future use as a poaching liquid. They say, some stocks in China are hundreds of years old and are highly praised as they have been accumulating the flavours and developing their rich and complex taste for such a long period of time. For me, however, the temptation is way too big: I can’t imagine leaving such an aromatic substance out of the plate! Believe me, it makes a perfect treat: light and fragrant, with a sweet note of cinnamon, a spicy touch of ginger and tangy undertone of a citrus peel. What else do you need on a winter day?

Red Onion Soup with French Country Bread and Gruyere Soufflé

 Our Daring Bakers Host for December 2011 was Jessica of My Recipe Project and she showed us how fun it is to create Sour Dough bread in our own kitchens! She provided us with Sour Dough recipes from Bread Matters by Andrew Whitley as well as delicious recipes to use our Sour Dough bread in from Tonia George’s Things on Toast and Canteen’s Great British Food!

            Frankly speaking, it was my first Daring Bakers challenge and since I got registered last month I was anxiously waiting for the beginning of December. I anticipated some sort of a beautiful gateau or a stunning dessert waiting for me at the forum of the Daring Kitchen (it would have been great to create something outstanding right from the beginning of my “daring” journey!). So, can you imagine my surprise and, frankly speaking, frustration when I opened the website only to find out that the task for December is to bake bread? Bread! And not even a usual one, but with sourdough which means using only three ingredient: flour, water and salt to make the batter. It sounded so boring to me! – and, at the same time (let me be honest with you) intimidating because I have never ever made a bread in my life. I seriously thought of skipping the first challenge, but when I told my husband about it (it was right after we had stuffed quails for dinner) he said: “But you’ve never deboned a quail before as well, have you?” And I realized that he’s actually right: it is supposed to be a challenge and, in the long run, what’s the point of the whole thing if you just cook something you’ve always been good at? The idea is to learn, to get new skills by pushing yourself in the kitchen and facing unknown without any fear, but with enthusiasm. I realized that I shouldn’t even think of skipping this month task; on the contrary, I should be grateful to Jessica for the opportunity to learn how to work with sourdough and …to overcome the kitchen fears.

Cauliflower and Blue Cheese Soup

          When I dine out and go for buffet instead of a la carte, I seldom come to the counters where soup is served. Having an access to a lavish spread, I would rather prefer to try as many options of appetizers and main course as possible (not forgetting about dessert, of course!) so filling up with some soup first, whether it is rich velouté or light consommé, does not seem to be a good choice for me.

            However, once I was having a lunch with my friends and since everyone were praising the soup, I decided to go against my own rules and get a bowl for myself as well. And that was a right decision, I should say! The dish had a delicate taste of cauliflower and a pungent hint of gorgonzola (oh yes, one of my favourite cheeses!), so I felt that I could actually forget about all the other dishes in the buffet. Indeed, the soup was insanely good, and I couldn’t but remember this stunning combination of flavours.

Beetroot Soup with Coconut Milk

         

     

         Last year after vocation spent in Moscow I eventually brought my blender here, to India. Immediately I developed a mania to blend all possible and impossible things and, as you may guess, creamed soups were often on a menu in our house. It was then that I remembered about a beetroot soup I’d once tried to make a year before during the Lent (I got the recipe from a website featuring vegan food). I was impressed by the flavors and an interesting, really unusual combination of beets and coconut milk but chunky vegetables in the stew made it more like “I’ll probably (rather than certainly) make it again” type of a dish. But since I had eventually got that necessary piece of equipment in my Kolkata kitchen, I decided to give the soup another try and to blend it! And oh….that was a vivid (bright-pinkish) example of how a texture can change the whole dish!

So, go ahead – indulge! Even if the whole place will look like a Barbie house (with funny pink slashes on the tables/stove/sink/wall) you won’t regret it – the soup is really worth it!