Winter Season's Soups for Thought

If you lisp the title is totally alliteration!

I love Chowder, so today's test recipe is from the Seafood Bounty cookbook. It's probably safe to say I didn't follow the recipe.

What I used:

250g of mixed seafood (you can just buy the generic marinara mix from Coles/Woolies)

150g of snapper fillet (chopped to approx same size as fish in marinara mix. I like fish so I put more in, could've used salmon... or any other white fish)

1 small brown onion
30g butter
300g milk (low fat)
100g thickened cream or double cream
1/2 tblspn of TM Vegetable paste
2 medium carrots (cubed/roughly chopped - can do in TM or hand chop)
3 baby potatoes (cubed, ensure larger than chopped carrot size)
Pepper & fresh Parsley (garnish/taste)

Method to my madness:
1. Add Onion to bowl, chop Speed 5, 5 seconds.

2. Add chopped carrots, and butter. Fry on 100C, Speed1 for 3 minutes.

3. Add cubed potato, TMstock paste & milk. Cook on Varoma temperature, Speed 1 reverse, for 10 minutes.

4. Place seafood in steaming basket. Varoma temperature, Speed 1 reverse, 6 minutes.
5. Use spatula to remove basket ingredients into Thermoserver. Pour on soup.

Serve: Add hand chopped fresh parsley for garnish, and a dash of cracked pepper upon serving to bowls. If you made breadrolls - perfect. If you had left over bread? grill / bake it a bit and have homemade croutons! I put garlic butter on mine and oven bake it bit before adding to soups.

You can also cook shell pasta al dente in the mix - I'd recommend add extra milk (100g-200g) Add your pasta in the bowl and steam your seafood in the Varoma (like the cookbook suggests). Pasat measure, 100g is plenty! Your chowder already has potatoes and carrots to buff it up.

Taste test - I used penne pasta (gluten free for it) - absorbs the soup better. It's not as thick as restaurant chowder but then again I didn't use flour or anything that contained gluten to thicken it. To thicken can also use the garlic croutons I mentioned? make that into crumbs and add to soup in Step 5.

I used low fat milk because I had it on hand and also thougth if I used 200g of cream I'd have to declog my arteries afterwards.

This recipe made me nearly 5 bowls of soup. Imagine what the full recipe in the Seafood Bounty cookbook makes?

Asian Meal for 4 (Pt2) - Miso & Tofu Soup & Steamed Kailan

You should have plenty of spare Tofu left from the Tofu & Mince dish in Pt1.

To make Miso Soup:

Add in 1 Ltr of water

Add 2 Tbspn fo Miso Paste (white or brown)

Add some wakame or dried seaweed (you can find this at local Asian grocers)

Add your left over tofu.

Stack your cleaned kailan on the Varoma Tray. You can spread the vegetables out onto Varoma Receptacle as well.

Turn on your TM for Varoma, Speed 2 for 15 mins. For a nice soup.

Pour a dash of oyster sauce & a sprinkle of sesame oil over your kailain to serve!

Even better if you have left over spring onions from your previous dish, sprinkle some on for garnish.

Ok, so I sort of threw it altogether and the timing ... and steps will need further refinement. But this is pretty much the way to serve 4 dishes in under an hour. I use my rice cooker on the side to make rice at the same time.

Dessert: See my Hei zhi ma hu (黑芝麻糊), my final recipe version is here on teh Recipe Community: Black Sesame Paste/Soup

If you already prepped this, just add into a clean TM bowl and cook for 7 mins with the appropriate amoutn of liquid.

Tomato soup try-outs!

I hate tomatoe soup. After a team meeting where we talked about how to not be prejudiced against a recipe (roughly) and try things out and have a new perspective, I went home to try this out. I bought a whole bag of tomatoes and thought this can't be hard. It is soup season, and I can't just keep to potato and pumpkin. Exploration was called for.

Followed the EDC Tomato Soup recipe somewhat. Added my own twists: I thought it would be too slim and sour, so I added risoni (rice shaped pasta) and a can of white beans to padd it up. The beans I blended in with the cooked tomatoes and then added the risoni. I served it with soft Greek feta cheese. Have to say, it wasn't as sour as I had expected and the melted feta was delicious. But then again cheese always is!

What I do look like about this dish is that it's heartier the next day. The Risoni absorbs the flavours thoroughly and also reduces the acidity, extra sugar at the cooking stage will help too if you like a "sweeter" soup. I had my own milled pepper and put that in as well so it was quite spicy & peppery.

This works really well with the Five Seed Bread or a nice cheese scone!

Would I cook it again? Maybe not... I'm still a Potato & Leek Soup girl no matter how many I've tried. Maybe I'll take a crack at the new "purple" cauliflower - and make that into a creamy soup next time!

Scones and Soup!

I love a hearty soup with the right breads. After a hint from a work colleague about a favourite soup being Potato & Bacon, I took a look in the cupboard and fridge on the weekend and decided that's a pretty hearty one to make.

The soup is pretty simple, follow the normal Potato & Leek (take out leek), maybe use some spring onions instead. Add a few slices of bacon with onion to fry up at Step 1 and of you go!

I had made the staple of 5 seed bread but it's really so yummy to eat by it self I didn't want to use it with soup! So I made scones! Cheeze and chive ones! Added dash of pepper and about 80 g of cheese or so.

A couple of different decent butter / dairy cheese replacement can be found at PAWS. Careful when you pick out margerines from the regular stores, a couple of the brands are actually not vegan-friendly.  

I shook out a Rochelle Adonis recipe and used the tip of flouring my "cookie cutter" before cutting my scones. The don't stick as badly and look prettier.

Before & After photos:

Absolutely delicious and quick meal on a Sunday winter's afternoon!

Before you start the soup, mix the dough for scones and set up for oven baking.

By the time the soup is done in 17 - 25 mins. You will have the scones piping hot (cooling down enough not to burn yourself). Watch out... cause I did burn my tongue on these.

I absolute adore easy meals. Feeds 4 to 6. In my family, that only went enough for 3. Too bad my stomach only allowed me to have 2 per bowl of soup! (But I managed to sneak in seconds and trick my tummy!)

Yum Cha for Dinner

I don't have to go out for yum cha now - well, maybe. There's only one restaurant that does yum cha at night in Perth: The New Moon on James Street.

I sometimes have a craving for mini siu (烧麦). I used to buy this specific brand of pre-made frozen siu mai. Basically, you snip the package corner & just microwave for 2-4 minutes. 12 instant mini siu mai as a snack! Easy much simpler than driving out for one bamboo basket of 4 pcs.

Ok not the healthiest snack: there's probably additives and very little actual meat or prawns in the pre pack.

Tuesday nights are my non-TM work night. So I cheated with what I had on hand to make this! It's not restaurant standard pretty... But I can work on that.

The Taste of Asia has the recipe p. 72. I didn't have prawns on hand, so my variation contains:

350g pork mince

4 spring onions (white & green bits all chopped finely)

1 tspn of Massels vegetable concentrate powder

1 tspn of chicken stock powder

20-30g of soy sauce

2 eggs

Wonton skins (used 1/2 a large packet)

Some Chinese cabbage (inner heart leafs roughly broken/chopped)

Method:

- you can use the TM to mix but I found it pretty easy by hand.

1. Boil 1ltr of water in TM bowl (7mins, Varoma temp, Sp3-4) cover lid w measuring cup.

2. Meanwhile, spoon mince mixture on to sheet of wonton add small pinch of leaves to cover top of siu mai. Squeeze tight flatten bottom. Place in Varoma tray/receptacle.

3. Repeat 2 until mince all used or receptacle filled.

4. Remove measuring cup.

5. Place Varoma receptacle set on TM bowl, cover with wet clean towel. (18mins, Varoma temp, Sp3). Chinese steamers always 'seal' so less steam escapes. Wonton skins are sometime dry so if not enough steam soaks in it will be chewy!

6. Sides:

I roughly chopped 1 bunch of bakchoy and added that to the bowl's remains water (3mins on 100C), removed vegetables as side dish/garnish. You can add some oyster sauce on top of the vegetables but I like the plain which went well with my siu mai.

I had the left over liquid as a clear soup :) what you might call "short soup" in restaurants. The flavor/oils from the siu mai had dripped down. If you had left over mince you could add to this with left over Chinese cabbage for a delicious 'longer soup'.

If you followed the steam rice recipe in EDC, you can definitely have this & vegetables with the rice. If this is the case and you want soup left - consider adding more water in the beginning (start with 1.5 ltr).

Tips:

1. Lightly greasy the Varoma receptacle.

2. Don't pack the siu mai too tightly!

3. If using soy sauce either use only the chicken stock or Massel. Both I found to be too salty to eat without rice or soup.

Pumpkin & Parsnip Soup (Asian Style)

Soup is one of the easiest things to make in the TM. I mean, what could go wrong? Too much soup for too little people.

I had 1 parsnip and 1/2 a medium butternut pumpkin in the fridge, so I thought to myself on Thursday night, I could just change the EDC Pumpkin Soup recipe, a little.

Ingredients:
1 medium parsnip (peeled, chopped into 4 large pieces)
1/2 medium butternut pumpkin (peeled, chopped into large pieces)
1/2 Spanish red onion
1/2 red chilli
1cm piece of ginger (more if you prefer the taste - it's really hard to get me to eat heavy ginger flavoured dishes)
60g olive oil
1 tbspn of TM Vegetable Paste
Water (enough to fill up, up to under max mark, you can use less - depending on thickness)
2 MC of cream
Some coriander leaves (leave a few sprigs aside for presentation, should you be plating properly)

Method:
 1. TM minced and then fried: onion, red chilli, ginger (Sp 6, then fry - 3 mins, 100 C, Sp 1 to fry).
 2. Scrape down sides with spatula. Add parsnip & butternut pumpkin. The two vegetables added to about 600g. I peeled them because the butternut had been sitting in the fridge for a while, if you buy fresh leaving the peel on is fine after a good wash. (Sp 6)
 3. Add water and TM Vegetable Paste.
 4. Follow the EDC recipe for cooking time + additional 20% for the volume.
 5. Add coriander - to taste.
 6. Add 2 MC of full cream.
 7. Whiz/puree (up to Sp 9, 30sec to 1min, depending on the consistency you would like).

I added cream but if you like to make a vegan version just don't use cream. Sadly, I did this and forgot and brough a cup for Vegan Boy. LOL he didn't drink it of course, but it didn't go to waste - someone else at his work drank it.

It was quite spicy, the ginger and chilli combination really hit the throat and opens up your sinuses. I was so glad I didn't use the birdseye chillies I bought and only put 1/2 a chilli in. I also recommend to either up the speed on Step 2 to chop finer before cooking OR add additional puree time. The TM can actually create quite a smooth soup without the cream. I just love creamy soups. Coming to winter, I can see myself soup-ing a lot more.

Food vs Study...

Ok, procrastination hat on - Soup Sunday! And to be precise, mushroom soup. TM recipe aside, I added extra mushrooms (only 100 g more), extra cream and refrained from adding parsley. There's almost parsley in every recipe! Hmm I think I shall call it - Soup Sunday! Yes corny I know, but I bow before many a greater rhymers before me or alliteration advocates - e.g. Meat Free Mondays! (which by the way I do not observe).

Oh and I made hearty pasta with zucchinis and a chilli tomato sauce for dinner. It's not a recipe in the book and I only did it becuase I had spare zucchini and I bought chillies intending to make Red Curry Paste from the EDC and forgot shrimp paste (yes, my Asian household doesn't have shrimp paste). So I couldn't do the Curry Paste but I could make pasta - again!

Method:
1. Chop 1/2 a medium onion & 1 small red chillie (suggestion, if you don't want too spicy avoid the bird's eye sized red chillies - ahhh the voice of reason/experience) - speed 6, 2-5 seconds
2. Add 50g of oil & saute the usual way (2 mins, 100 C, Sp 1)
3. Add large cubed zucchini, don't worry this will cook down and soften but give texture. Add TM vegetable paste 2 tbspns & 700g of water.
4. Cook for 7 mins, 100 C, Sp 1 Reverse. Reverse because you want the zuchinni cubes to remain intact as much as possible to add colour and a taste explosion when you bite into it.
5. Add pasta, 300 - 400g, zucchini gives out a lot of water and could mean that you will need to add more pasta than you originall thought.
6. Cook for 10 mins, 100 C, Sp 1 Reverse. Add Salt & Pepper to taste.

To serve: Place some baby rocket in the bottom of the TMServer. Pour in pasta - if very saucey, don't panic, the pasta will soak up more of the sauce and you can also add parmesan or chopped cheddar to it if you like.

I served it with Catalano's grilled crumbed sardines and green salad (optional).

Photos are on my i-Phone which I'll upload soon.

Later at night I did try to practice the recipes. Hummus & Sorbet... I didn't remake custard, it never gets finished in the house and I hate wasting food. I invited a girl friend over to eat the sorbet and try the hummus. It was too garlicky and a bit too gluggy - shall add more oil in future. Also found out the inherint 'goodness' in tahini. I shall not be making many hummus dips for home eating in future. LOL as if the cream cheese one is much better for my wasitline. Delicious on my lips, deadly (if I keep eating in this quantity) on my hips.

Oh and it took me until today to realize the blog time was set to PDT instead of WST (Aust). WOW... where have I been? No wonder I felt like the weekend just ran away like a Herbie race.

Friday night didn't go according to plan...

It's not much to look at in
the TMServer

Borscht - generally following TM recipe.
Sadly I added 1 carrot & 1 parsnip so the soup probably wasn't as 'fine' / smooth as it should have been. Also added less water as the vegetable weight increased.

Dash of cream upon serving
& maybe a green garnish?

I only had two beetroots and that was quite enough. The carrot wasn't a great addition and was quite earthy as well. I shall remove this in future. The parsnip sweetness was drowned out, so sadly this didn't work as well as I hoped. But mom loved it. She says it's not as smooth as the one she remembers but the taste is almost there!

Yippee! so a few more tweaks and this could be the Russian Borscht of her memories! Guess what she's going to have on Mother's Day dinner? *sniggers*





Instead of planned risotto, I bought some mussels at Coles. These were fresh enough - tasted delicious. Yes there's a recipe in the EDC but it wasn't very tomato-ey, so I varied the recipe from the Recipe Community:


Chilli sauce:
4 cloves of garlic
1 red chilli (parents not into spice)
1/2 red onion
1 small brown onion, quartered
100g tomato paste
1/2 tbspn TM vegetable paste
1 can Roma tomato (whole, skinless)
300 mL of Chardonnay

Method:
1. Fine chop onions, garlic & chilli (7 seconds, speed 8)
2. Use spatula to scrape moisture off sides of bowl. Add 50mL of olive oil.
3. Sauté the mixture (3 - 4 mins, 100 C, speed 2)
4. Add tomato paste, TM veg paste, Roma tomatoes & wine. Close lid.
5. Place cleaned/de-bearded mussels in Varoma receptacle. Place on top of TM with lid. Steam (15mins, Varoma, speed 2).
6. Serve mussels in TMServer, pour in sauce.

Tip: works best if mussels can be cover or stirred & left to rest in sauce for a little while before eating.

I'm not big on the loads of fresh herbs like parsley and basil Or dried oregano - this drowns our the natural sweetness of the mussels. I thinks properly done chilli tomato/garlic sauce is the cleanest way to go.

Borscht soup recipe

Mom always told stories of her childhood days and I recall one story where she talks about the "Old Russian" restaurant in Beijing - the borscht being her favourite dish.

The EDC has a TM Borscht recipe and I bought some beetroot and parsnips, but I have a feeling it's not so traditional so I searched for a few recipes:
http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/5075/russian-cabbage-borscht.aspx
http://www.cookuk.co.uk/ethnic/russian/borsch.htm

I don't have all the beef bones etc, but I'm thinking I'll try my hand at it - instead of the Pumpkin & Parsnip soup plan for tonight.

I'll try to keep to the TM recipe this time and then explore the other options.

TM Minestrone

This should've been posted earlier - I didn't really think this could be filling enough for a main dish so I made this thinking 'entrée' like how you would get watery minestrone at local cheap Italian restaurants - this is why I don't usually order minestrone. I'm not a huge fan of the sour tomato taste.

I used extra veggies, it seemed a waste to only put less than 1/2 a zucchini in and same with just 1 carrot. I doubled the vegetables. Lessened the pasta amount to about 100g.

The result was more delicious than expected but then again I was also using one of best friends and her husband as guinea pigs. Sadly, he was already traumatized by bad meatloaf before. I'm afraid this didn't change his mind. Might have moved his opinion a bit towards the positive side ... By an increment of a small inch.

I think it tastes a bit dry, but the original TM recipe was meant to have a watery sauce. No butter or dairy products were used, however, I accidentally left in some mince...

So the TN bowl was contaminated by meat... Otherwise this recipe would definitely be vegan friendly!

Must work on presentation/playing a bit more.

Rating: 4.5 Stars - I'm usually not a fan of minestrone but this was heart and full of flavour.

TM potato & leek soup

This is my favorite soup and despite the fact I was due to go out for dinner I still made it.

200 g of leek means 1/2 a leek, what was I suppose to do with the rest of it? So I used the whole one (whites only) and ended up with double the leek. Luckily remembering the TM bowl capacity, I did not double the water'

I doubled the potato but didn't double the onion or oil (butter). I had run out of butter - it all went into the red velvet cupcake, I had thought I'd make butter & buttermilk - leaving extra butter for soup... But due to time restrictions with the cupcake I didn't make buttermilk, so I was short butter. Used virgin love oil instead.

I forgot to +20% the cooking time for the 'frying' part. But it turned out ok.

I did +20% for the boiling/cooking time and blended for a little bit longer. I think I put a little extra TM vegetable stock paste, as mine was little less on the salt. It seemed to add quite a bit of parsley & celery taste to the end result. Must really watch out for that next time do the TM vegetable paste.

I added cream in end after blending, the mixed a little on Speed 1 to stir through the cream. You could do this to taste, depending on what you like in the texture.

Overall the soup was more leeky than usual, but still creamy and tasty! I think I shall 'fry' the leeks & onions a little more til caramelised before adding the potato & stock.

If not catering to Vegan Boy, then definitely use butter instead of olive oil, and as liquid use 1/3 to 1/2 milk instead I just water. This will help cream the potatoes and make the soup extra rich.

I forgot to buy chives for garnish - but remember people, presentation/plating is very important to the palate! If servin guests always remember to garnish and add a few drops of truffle oil ;) or truffle butter or sprinkle truffle salt on top with freshly cracked pepper.

Rating: 5 stars (despite the heavy leeky flavour, it's my favourite soup!!!)

However, I do need to work on camera skills. (iPhone 4 camera is just not enough... this is possibly the worst point to start a hobby in photography - time commitment-wise).

Pumpkin, sweet potato & carrot soup

The basis was the TM recipe. I didn't have a full 500g of pumpkin, only 1/2 a butternut pumping. So I added 1 medium sized sweet potato. 2 medium carrots instead of one.

Since I made the TM veggie paste, I just used the left overs in the TM jug and kept going with the soup. That was plenty. Vegan Boy liked it. I'd say 'Loved' it but he really didn't express the level of enthusiasm that would allow me to use the word "Loved". Maybe veganism does take away your taste buds... sends them on a long march away from the taste zones and into concentration camps in the midst of no-where...

For the meat lovers, I also had a Mondo's steak pie. Which was luckily just in the fridge and ready to oven bake. Really nice but sort of not relevant to the TM blog, but I'll post a small photo anyways.

The soup was enough to feed 6 (serving full bowls each time).

Rating: 4.5 stars