A recipe or two....

Firstly I'd like to say hi to Frugalmummy and Frugal in Bucks. Thanks for reading and I hope that occasionally I can make you smile. I've followed your good selves for a while, mostly lurking in the background to be fair. 
Now Frugalmummy asked me to give the recipes for the soups which got me thinking about cooking and my relationship with food. I love food and cooking, and watch some cookery programmes on TV. However what I am not is a fan of celebrity chefs per se. For me a chef has to be firstly and primarily a chef and only secondly a celebrity. Back to that in a minute but first a couple of recipes....

Carrot, orange and ginger soup

6 individual portions of  this soup ready to freeze!

 

This is so easy to make and the actual amounts of the constituents can be varied according to what you have in and how you prefer the balance of ingredients, so if you use this recipe feel free to amend it to suit yourself. I'm not sure where I first found the recipe so if anyone recognises it I'm more than happy to give credit for whereever it came from. It's now hand written in a cookery notebook which goes back to Domestic Science lessons at secondary school!

Melt 2 oz butter in a large pan and fry 2 medium sliced onions gently until soft. Add 1 lb diced carrots and fry gently for another couple of minutes. Stir in a pint and a half of home made chicken stock,  half a pint of orange juice, 2 tsp ground ginger and simmer covered until the carrots are very tender (about three quarters of an hour). Liquidise, add salt and pepper to taste and if you have any cream or creme fraiche in the fridge stir in some of that to serve.

Like I said, simple and yet really flavoursome.  

Cauliflower and Taleggio soup

This is my variation on a BBC Cauliflower soup recipe.

Heat a small amount of oil in a large pan, add a chopped onion and 2-3 chopped garlic cloves and fry for 2-3 minutes to soften. Add 1 tsp of both ground cumin and ground coriander and fry gently for a further couple of minutes. Add about 800gm of cauliflower and a litre of chicken stock. I guess you could use home made, bought or vegetable stock according to personal taste.  Bring to the boild and then reduce to simmer until the cauliflower is tender. When I cut the florets off I leave quite a length of stalk on it so for me it has to simmer for probably 30-40 minutes, but if only use the very top of the florets they will soften in 10-15 minutes. Let it cool slightly and then liquidise (or in my case use my stick blender - a fabulous pressie from hubby a couple of years ago for me to make smoothies with!). Then add about 150mls of creme fraiche - again you could use fresh cream but with the cheese as well it becomes a bit too rich - and bring back to full heat. Season to taste but be light handed with the salt as the Taleggio will give it more flavour. Drop cubes of taleggio cheese into the bowls of hot soup to serve and if you are feeling posh add croutons - or cubes of bread which have been dried to a crisp in the oven. 
No photos of this I'm afraid as I got it into the freezer before thinking about pictures!

Anyway back to my feelings on celebrity chefs. The chef's I respect and like are those who have truly mastered their craft, who obviously love and enjoy food and who have a full understanding of flavours and who are almost humble in their craft. I really can't stand "celebrity chefs" who rely on either bad behaviour (you can guess who I mean) or some sort of marketing ploy to become popular. My favourites are Raymond Blanc and Michel Roux junior I think. I just wish I could cook like they do!! I also love almost all Nigel Slater recipes!

So who's your favourite chef? Or what's your favourite recipe?

It's funny, but I never thought I would talk food on my blog! Next time something textile relate I think....

KJ x