"Ummmmm ... Is winter long enough for 100 soups? Isn't that more than a soup a day?"
He's right of course, (unless you live in Scandinavia), but I was just being poetic. Besides, it's something to aspire to.
With the first chill breath of winter (ignore your travel agent, people: nights get cold in subtropical Queensland - very, very cold.) my thoughts turn to soup-making. A decent homemade soup, served at just the right moment, can cure flu, fatigue, crankiness, boredom, strained relationships, existential angst ...
And so, with a glut of organic pumpkins thanks to a hyperactively fertilizing pig, soup number one had to be: Pumpkin Soup (in 2 versions).
1. Pumpkin Coconut Curry Soup
Step 1: Chop pumpkin into large chunks. Massage with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and roast in a hot oven until cooked through.
Step 2: In a heavy based pot gently fry 1-2 chopped brown onions until soft and golden. Then add your favourite curry spices (see Tips below). After stirring spices into the onion, sweat a minute or two (the onion, not you), then stir through a can of coconut milk.
Step 3: Pour all of this into a blender and give it a whizz. Now add roasted pumpkin a few chunks at at time and keep right on blending. (Naturally you can do all this in the pot if you have a fancy-pants Bamix-style mixer).
Step 4: Season with salt and white pepper (white seems to work better with curry). Warm through, stirring tenderly. Don't boil! This is the therapeutic bit, the Zen of soup, so go slow. Serve with crusty bread to tumultuous applause.
2. Pumpkin and Rosemary Soup (a more Mediterranean vibe)
Similar to above, just add copious amounts of fresh rosemary, smashed cloves of garlic (no need to peel) and chunks of onion all over the pumpkin pre-roasting. When all is cooked to a squidgy, caramelised goodness, blend with a litre of chicken stock (or milk/cream if you want a creamy soup). Heat through slowly and meditatively, as for all soups. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with crusty bread. Feign modesty during standing ovation.
Tips
- I use Jap or Kabucha pumpkin because: we grow them (how's that for low food miles?), they're delicious, and they're easy to peel.
- Roasting the pumpkin rather than steaming makes all the difference.
- Speaking of food miles, Australian olive oils have the best green grassy flavour, and these days cost the same as decent Italian ones.
- Same with sea salt. Give Olsson's (Australian, family-owned) a go.
- Generic curry powder works fine, as long as it's a quality blend - and you can always ramp it up with whatever you fancy. I love cumin - so I chuck in a tablespoon extra of that. I'm also partial to garam masala, so I chuck in some of that too. Experiment.
- I'm a big fan of Ayam organic coconut milk. When you open the can it's like someone just macheteed open a fresh coconut. Some bronze-skinned, muscle-bound, Hugh Jackman-esque ... And I love the tin. And it's Oz-certified.
- Extreme slow-fooders can make their own coconut milk, and/or their own stock. I'll stick with the Ayam milk, but I have made stock. I felt quite smug. And the flavour was unbelievable.
5 comments:
I've given them both to Jules!
Bugger feigning modesty. The pumpkin soup was to die for. Entree last night. Lunch today. Applaud applaud. The Bloke rose to the occasion, sept he kept calling the 'fancy pants' Bamix a 'smart arse' Bamix.
Weeeeee... I've got marine biologists whipping up my recipes.
Is this what it feels like when people knit your tea cosies?
Stay tuned for Soup 3.
Time for a blog name change: QUEEN OF THE SOUPS!
oh yeah. J wants to know if Soup No.3 is zuppa di pesce?
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