GOOD SOUP RECIPE FROM MY PAGES
I put this easy soup recipe in the 'Pages' section of this blog, but in case you missed it, here it is again, and it is a good winter soup, devised by 'him indoors'
RAY'S SPECIAL SQUASH SOUP FOR WINTER
HOW TO COOK THE SOUP - MAN TYPE RECIPE
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| SQUASH SOUP FOR WINTER |
1 Put at least 2 pints of water into a large saucepan
2 Add 2 crumbled vegetable stock cubes (preferably low salt kind)
3 Put saucepan on hob to get very hot
4 Prepare the squash, peeling off hard outer skin, removing seeds and cutting squash into small chunks
5 Put squash chunks into the pan to boil till soft, then
6 Prepare 3 medium onions plus 3 medium potatoes. Cut into very small pieces.
7 Fry onion and potato pieces in hot oil until soft, in a frying pan
8 Crush and chop 2 to 3 small red chillies, add to onion and potato in pan
9 When vegetables are soft, tip all of them into the saucepan of squash
10 Add some more boiling water if you think there is not enough liquid (or you want a lot of soup)
11 Add to the saucepan a dessert spoon of dried mixed herbs, plus a teaspoon of Tomato Paste
12 Add one tin of chopped tomatoes
13 After simmering for say 40 mins check to see that the ingredients are cooked and assimilated
14 Take out from saucepan 1 pint of the mix of veg and liquid, put on one side (use a jug)
15 Blend the remaining soup (you can use a hand-held blender stick thing)
16 Return the 1 pint of unblended veg to the saucepan (to give chunky bits)
17 Add pepper and salt to taste.
18 To serve, you can add a bit of single cream, grated cheddar or parmesan cheese, sausage.
19 Or add Worcester sauce or tomato ketchup. One could use a combination of all of these.
GOOD THINGS HAPPENED IN 2013 - AND THE SUN SHONE
One of my best experiences was the Wild Food Walk which I participated in, at Petersham Nurseries, near Ham Common.
It was in December (which is now so last year!). Here is a link to my two blog posts about
PETERSHAM NURSERIES and
THE FORAGING WALK WITH CLAUDIO BINCOLETTO
The Petersham Nurseries also produces a Blog and there is an interesting post on 1st November, which I think is written by Claudio, he is writing about truffles 'Truffles - Myths, Legend & Reality". Here is a link November's Wild Food Walk
THE ALLOTMENT SITE IS MORE OR LESS COVERED IN FLOOD WATER!
The winter vegetables I have grown are still standing. Some brassicas: sprouts, kale and winter sprouting broccoli, which is not yet sprouting, of course.
Today I went up there, wearing wellies, and had to splash my way along the path to cut some brussell sprouts. I also dug up some more parsnips, it was a job to lever them out of the soggy mud, I can tell you!
To wash them I doused them in a puddle on my plot, not very hygienic I know! But have you ever tried to wash sticky clay of parsnips, or other roots, with no running water? The water supply on the allotment is turned off every winter, and is not back on again until April.
About half the plots on our site now have areas which are under water. One or two are almost 80% flood, very disheartening for the plot owners, that is if they bother to come over a look.
This time of year it is not usual to see more than one or two other people there, and the main task is to lug bags or barrow loads of soggy manure - the kind that is mixed with wood shavings - we do not usually have the better horse manure mixed with straw. Apparently stables now economise by bedding their horses on sawdust.
