Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Parsnip and Baked Apple Soup

I came across this recipe last week when looking through Tamasin Day-Lewis' book "Good Tempered Food" and tried it out on the Husband. He raved about it and said it was really delicious and when was I going to make it again. Soon, dear. It is easy to make too.


Parsnip and Baked Apple Soup
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
750g parsnips, peeled and diced
1 large cooking apple
2oz butter
1.2 litres chicken or vegetable stock
6 sage leaves
salt, pepper, parsley leaves

1. Score the apple around its circumference, core it and bake it in a dish with about 1/2 inch water and NO sugar. Bake in a hot oven until tender right through.
2. Sweat the onion and parsnips in the melted butter for 10-15 minutes with some seasoning. Then pour on the stock and sage and simmer until tender. Fish out the sage leaves. Peel the baked apple and add it to the mixture. Liquidise until smooth. Check the seasoning and add some chopped parsley and a little cream if you wish. Serve.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Interesting Mashed Potatoes

Now the term "Interesting Mashed Potatoes" is one that personally I consider somewhat of a contradiction in terms as I find mashed potatoes generally somewhat boring. We do have it at home with some meals. For example the Husband is very fond of them with sausages with onion gravy for example and when he dishes it up I do eat it. Anyway, I have recently treated myself to a new recipe book called "The Kitchen Diaries" by Nigel Slater. The book is big, about 400 pages and basically is a record of what he has cooked each day over the course of a year, with recipes and comments on foods. It is really fascinating and well-worth reading. As the book is very fat and covers a whole year I am trying to read the entry for the day I am living though, to get inspiration, etc for future meals.

Anyway, browsing through the book over the last couple of weeks I came across a couple of entries for mashed potatoes. For the entry for 31st October to have with sausages he suggests "Mustard Mash": this is mashed potatoes flavoured with Dijon mustard and grain mustard - he suggests 1 tablespoon of each in enough mash for two people. The Husband did this with the aforementioned sausages and onion gravy last weekend and it was delicious, Well worth remembering for the future.

The entry in the book for 9th November included "cheese mash", which is basically 125g of grated mature cheese like Cheddar, Lancashire or Wensleydale in enough mashed potatoes for four. Now I haven't tried this yet but I think it well worth considering for the future. Interestingly the entire meal comprised a roast chicken with garlic gravy served with roast potatoes and no other accompaniments then followed by the cheddar mash with the gravy. I must admit that I am not too sure about this meal with no green vegetables and two lots of potatoes. But the cheese mash itself sounds promising.

Obviously one could vary the amount of mustard or cheese that one added to the mashed potatoes, according to personal taste.