Well, thank God in all sincerity that
my left hand is recovering well now although I did put in a night of it last
night. I had to have a bowl of iced water on my bedside locker that I dipped my
hand into every now and then when the throbbing pain started and, then today, I
was putting on anything that could possibly help including lotions and potions
recommended by friends and loyal readers to this blog. However, the star
products had to be aloe and lavender oil – two things that I now believe every
house should have. They worked wonders! With that said, I was just about
operational once again and, this evening, I picked a type of recipe which I like
on a number of levels – soup.
I love making soups for a number of
reasons which include (1) they are usually quick enough to make; (2) I can
batch freeze them; (3) they are great for taking to work in a food flask; (4)
there are many varieties including lots of vegetarian versions; and (5) a study
proved that soups actually have a high satiety level so they keep you feeling
fuller for longer. So, with those five very good reasons in mind, I decided on Parsnip soup with porcini oil.
I began by making the porcini oil which
was extremely simple. All I had to do was add porcini mushrooms into olive oil
and let it simmer. Once the mushrooms had infused into the oil, I drained off
the mushrooms and disposed of them. That was the porcini oil made.
Next, I got on with the main soup so I
started by adding butter to a large saucepan and, once it melted, I added in
chopped onions and parsnips. I then placed a piece of parchment paper over the
veg and let them sauté for about 8 minutes. At that point, I added in vegetable
stock and brought it up to the boil before letting it simmer for about 10
minutes. Once the parsnips were soft, I used a hand blender to give it a whiz
and then added in cream and seasoning. I served up the soup in a bowl and
drizzled it with a teaspoon of the porcini oil.
The verdict…
Well, this recipe was a delight – 8 marks
out of 10. Without the porcini oil, I’d give it a 7 but the porcini oil is
worth a mark on its own as that’s what really makes a basic soup recipe
into something far nicer. Even Baby Daughter had a small bowl of it too. However, apparently
it wasn’t appetising enough though for Dear Son. I really enjoyed this soup as the parsnips gave it a lovely sweetness but the porcini oil gave the recipe a more savoury taste. I'm definitely going to make it again and I was also able to store the remainder
of the porcini oil in a small Kilner jar also so I already have that made for
next time which is great.
Overall, it was a super easy soup to
make and the biggest task I had was sourcing the dried porcini mushrooms –
three supermarkets and I just about managed to get the last packet on the
shelf. I was also able to batch freeze three portions so I now have a nice
store of homemade cooking built up in my small chest freezer which I invested
in after Baby Daughter was born. They really are a great thing as I save so
much time by not having to pull out drawer
after drawer in my other fridge-freezer looking for things. It was definitely worth
buying. Anyway, back to the recipe and what I’d say is that for all the reasons
mentioned above, I’d highly recommend you try this recipe and, for me, it was a
lovely change to the soups I normally make and it required the least amount of
ingredients and effort. You really couldn’t go wrong with this one and I am
glad to say that, in the process of making it, I got to the end of this recipe
with no new injuries. Phew!
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