Dutch Pea Soup

Here Hans and Shyama love this soup, just make this for them and they are really happy.

Especially on winter, but I must admit I make this other seasons too as they will be going on asking me when am I going to make pea soup.
Actually I don't remember whenI made this soup, and latley I have not been baking so much or cooking something new, that I have been taking from my file pictures to post things here.
Fes days before while skyping to sis, she asked why haven't you not poasted anything new and I replied to her, I have not been making anything special these days other than the Jaffa Cakes which I posted last week. And yeah i did make a Rum Drenched Vanilla cake for this weeked :-)

Good thing about making this soup is it is such a huge quantity , that I freeze them in portions and they can have it when ever they like.

Ofcourse this is not a traditional recipe, the one my MIL makes is with pigs trotter etc.... and that is a little bit too much for my delicate Indian stomach to handle or make it.
This is much more my version of Dutch Pea Soup were they will add smoked Sausages in the soup which I didn't hace so I just used normal sausages  to serve them with.
So please I hope the traditionalist would not say you have to add this or something else as I mentioned before this is my adaptation.

400 gm Dry split peas ( soak the night before and wash it again before cooking )

2 onions chopped

200 gm bacon chopped

2 leeks chopped

3 celery sticks chopped

1 carrot chopped

3 large whole potato

1 bay leaf

3 liter of vegetable broth / Chicken broth

Handfull of parsley

1 tsp of dry thym

Pepper and Salt to taste

Few sausages sliced for serving

Few tbsp of oil

In a huge pressure cooker ( I always use pressure cooker for my soup, you canuse a pan but then make sure you increase the cooking time accordinly) add the oil, and when it is heated up add the bacon fry for 2 minutes then add all the chopped vegetables, except for the potato, fry for some 6 minutes till all the vegetables are lightly colored.

Add the soaked and washed peas and rest of the ingridients and clost the pressure pan and cook for 13 minutes ( well that is how long i cook mine inmy pressure cooker)

When everything is cooked, open up the pan,I take out the potatoes and then mix everything else with a hand mixer. Slice the potatoes which will be very soft and add to the mixed soup.

Serve with sliced sausages and croutons.

If you think the soup is too thick you just have to add more broth to make it thinner.



Black & White Wednesday - Chocolate Dress

Mostly I forget to join in Black & White Wednesday and I only remember when I see the beautiful pictures from my blog friends and then I am like that I forgot again.

I would have forgotten again but then with the time difference with us and India, I saw this one in Siri's place yesterday evening and then I said oh yeah I should join up this week.

So as you can see here I am with my B&W picture.

This was taken few months back , when I went to France for a Chocolate Exhibition and as you can see it is a dress made with Chocolate.

I was remarking to my daughter if I had to model this dress and come to the stage, before I reached the stage I will be half Naked as I would have eaten most of the dress.
Thankyou Susan for doing all the hard work.

The picture in Color too.

Jaffa Cakes

I have noticed again and again, that I usually don't do bloghopping on weekends, sometimes I think it is unfair to the bloggers who blog on weekend ( even i do sometime post on weekends) as each monday morning when I open up my google reader and se so many blogs to read I usually delete all of them as I did today morning as I know if i have to catch up with all that blog I will have to sit in front of my computer for few hours. I know i know it is unfair, but then that is me beeing lazy and inconsiderate.

Now to the recipe, I accidently came across this blog while I was searching for Jaffa Cakes, and the moment I saw the picture in the MojeWypieki blog with these cakes I knew I was going to make, the minus point was it was in Polish and as I don't have no knowledge of the this language, I used google translator which as you all know sucks, but still I could use my little brain cells and make them.

Just that I didn't used the home made jelly method which i would have loved to do as that looked so good, but with translation dificulties I thought I will just use jam.

But have to say we loved it,I think the first day itself we ate few with our coffee, but have to say it is a tad too sweet maybe becaus I used for filling jam.

3 eggs seperated

80 gm sugar

75 gm flour

Couple of big tbsp of any kind of jam.

For the chocolate glaze

180 gm dark chocokate

one and a half tbsp of oil ( tasteless)

Beat the eggwhites,stiff, Slowly adding the sugar ( don't pout all the sugar at the same time). Add to this mix the egg yolks, blend. Slowly sprinkle the flour and foil in. Making sure you mis it all gentley.

Add the mix into a pipping bag with a thick round cap and pipe them it round size leaving space betweek each of them.

Preheat the oven to 180° c and bake the small cakes for 10 minutes.

Melt the chocolate with the oil in the MW  mix well making sure all teh chcolate is melted and leve it aside for ( the recipe said 15 minutes I cooled it for some 7 minutes)

Cool on a wire rack.

When the cakes are cooled; add a tsp of jam on top of each cake and using a tbsp pour melted chocolate one top of each cakes and leave the chocolate to hard on top.

Enjoy this sweet Jaffa Cakes.
I do have step by step ocures of the making the cakes, will add them when I finish editing the pic.



Cream of Mushroom Soup

I think soon my blog is going to be over flowing with soups, here the weather has really truned cold, today it was 2°C which is so cold that I am happy to stay inside home if I don't have to go out, which is what I did anyway today, Hans came back home saying it is so cold, his face was even reddish.

Summer or Winter we have a cup of soup for lunch before the main dish. That is a must for Hans, it is like if there is no soup he would say given me tinned soup, which I think is not good at all.

I don't need soup for summer etc.... but when the weather is so cold I am always happy to have a cup of soup.

This is a easy soup and we love it here well H and I love Shyama dislike mushroom but then she is only comming on weekeds from her colleage so there is no need to think if she likes it or not when I make this soup.

When you make this soup just make sure you make it in a big pot as when thesoup starts bubbling up it boils up like milk as there is flour , so if you use a small pot it will over flow.

250 gm Crimin Mushrooms choped ( you can use the normal white ones, but i think this one has much more flavour)

1 medium onion finley chopped

65 gm butter

65 gm flour

1500 ml vegetable broth

200 ml cream

pepper and salt to taste

Heat in a big pan the butter and when it is melted add the onions fry for few minutes, then add the  flour and stir for 2 minutes , so that you remove the flour taste, add the broth mixing vigorously so that you don't get any lumps, then add the chopped mushroom and bring everything to boil, when it starts to boil, lower the heat and let it bubble for 10 to 12 minutes.

Add the cream, pepper and salt and serve with a sprinlikling of parsley.



Spanish Rice Salade

It has been a very busy week, and health wise not good too.

Have been having such a severe Migraine, I think I have taken so much pills in this last week and on top of it, had a Memorial Concert here for WW1 so feeling good or not had to be busy for that.

Must admit had bad days and good days.

Have been trying to keep away from the computer, I don't think that was possible as temptation to check facebook was there so I did go there to see what is happening with friends and family :-)
So as I mentioned we had a memorial Concert for WW1 so

Posting a video of one of the music piece Shyama and Hans performed for the concert on Friday.

Now to the recipe, I think I must have made this dish atleast a year ago.

I have noticed latley I don't take any pictures of the dishes, I make so I had to go and look into my old file to see if I can post something, which is not a worry as I have so many pictures and recipes to post in my map.

This is a easy recipe, It is nice to serve this when you have a party as a salade etc.....as this dish is served cold. I mostly serve it when i do meat fondue or you can do when you have a barbacue.

250 gm cooked cold rice I used basmati
3/4 cup spring onions chopped ( didn't have so added red onions)

1 red paprika finley diced

225 gm tomatoes , skin removed, and seed removed chopped fine.

1/4 cup cooked corn

2 tbsp fresh corriander leaves chopped
1/4 cup pomegranate

For the dressing

5 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp vinegar

1 to 2 tsp Djon mustard paste

Salt and peper to taste

Add the rice into a large bowl, then add the spring onion, capsicul,tomatoes,corn, popegrante, and corriander.

Mix all the ingridients for the dressing in a small bowl and pour the dressing into the bowl with rice and veg.
Cover the salade for 1 hour in the fridge and then serve.



Kerala Chicken Curry

I think if you are from Kerala and you love Chicken Curry I am pretty sure that you have had this kind of curry. As most of the home make some curry like this , ofcourse recipe might be a little different.

Even if you think the ingridient list is long it is a pretty easy Curry to make.

And personally I think the curry is much better the next day, just make sure you keep the curry in the fridge if you want to use next day.

The good think aobut the curry beeing good next day is, you can prepare the day before you have some guest or even if you want to have something delicious foe a weekend you can cook this ealy and chill on weekend, only thing you will have to do is heat up the curry when you want to use it.

I am sure just looking to that sacue of the Chicken Curry you all are drooling.

I can imagine hundreads of ways of eating this chicken curry.

You can eat with rice, roties, bread, idiyappoms, dosa ( first time I ate Dosa and Chicken was in a Mall in B'lore few years back )



I medium whole chickencut int small pieces.

Oil 1/4 cup

Shallots 250 gms thinly slices

8 to 10 garlic cloves sliced

Ginger sliced thinly tbsp

Green Chillies halfed 6

Corriander powder 3 tbsp

Chillie powder 2 tbsp

Turmeric powder 3/4 tsp

Garam masala 1 tbsp

Coconut milk 400 ml. In a traditional kitchen they will use frehsly squeezed coconut milk and use the thin milk and the thicke milk, I use tinned one. And when the recipe as for thin milk I just dilute few tbsp of thick milk with water and then add.

Fennel seeds dry roasted and powdered 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Curry leaves, few sprigs



Method:

Heat the oil in a pan/wok add the garlic and ginger, fry for few minutes.

Add the sliced onions, fresh chillies and saute till they are lightly browned.

Now mix with a few tbsp of water the trumeric, corriander powder,Chillie powder and add this mix to the onions and fry atleast 8 minutes till the oil seperates from the mix, this step is really important.

Now add the chicken pieices and fry for few more minutes.

Add the garam masala, fennel powder and salt and fruther fry for few more minutes.

Take few tbsp of coconut milk dilute with 1/2 cup of water and add to the chicken mix.

Cook for some 15 minutes more or till the chicken is done.

Now add the rest of the coconut milk boil for few minutes add the curry leaves, and close the pan with a lid.

Serve with steamed rice, roties, bread etc....



Cherry Macaron With Heering Cherry Liqueur

I know What you all are thinking, she is back again with her Macarons.

The truth is I can keep off making them if I don't make them for a while but then I start to make them I am like crazy, I want to try with some other flavour soon. So this is something I made after a week of making this one.

Ok I have to agree It was a expiriment, I wanted to have something boosey and fruity.

So as I had fry cherries and in our booze shelf we had Heering Cherry Liqueur i thought why not try a new taste.

But have to admit I used dark chocolate so the taste of the pieces of dry cherries and the Liqueur were dimmed by the dark chocolate ( lesson learned next time i will used white or milk chocolate)

never the less it was finished in my place.

As always I stick to my Ottolenghi recipe , you can see the step by step pictures there too.

And for the filling, I chopped few dry cherries and  melted some dark chocolate with little cream and mixed with the Cherry liqueur.

And wallah these Macarons were born :-)



French Onion Soup With Gruyere Crountons

When I was living in Indian we never ever had soup, I think the first time I had soup was when I was a teenager and that too in Chinese Restaurant. And that time my favourite soup was Sweet Corn Soup, then later I jumped to Wonton Soup then I got married and came here and Hans loves soups.
Here we have a small bowl og soup every afternoon , if there is no soup I think I would go as fas as saying Hans would get depressed :-)
So I do make soup a lot at home, I make them in a whole bunch and keep in the fridge in a tupperware for three days and when I make  certain soup a bigger portions I freeze them in small portions so that there is always soup at home.
This Soup is totally different that the older Easy onion soup  I have posted. which I do make often as I always have onions at home and that one is so easy to make when I hav eno other vegetables to make soup.

But this one is a real luxury Onion Soup. And don't make it if you don't have enough time, as this one takes a while to make but sure worth it.It does take time to chop the onions, caramalize them etc..... and also a luxury one with wine and cognac etc... but the taste is just superb. Not to mentions the slices of bread with melted cheese.



Ingridients:
50 gm butter
2 tbso oilive oil
2 kg onions ( yellow/white ones, don't use the red onions)
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Sherry Vinegar ( I didn't have so i used raspberry vinegar)
1500 ml good beef broth ( I don't like beef broth so I usee good chicken broth, ofcourse you can use vegetarin broth too)
1 1/2 tbsp of flour
150 ml of dry white wine ( optional but it adds to the taste)
1 tbsp Cognac
Salt and balck pepper to taste

For the croutons
6 to 12 slices of thick baguttes ( if it is one day older it is better too)
1 clove garlic
1 tsp french mustard paste
125 gm grated gruyere

Heat the butter and oil in a big pan.
Add the onions and stir so that all the onions pieces are coated with butter and oil.
Fry them for 5 to 8 minutes  in a medium fire; till they get softer. Stir in between twice.
Add the thyme.

Non tirn the fire to low. And fry the onions for 20 to 30 minutes covering the pan with a lid, and inbetween making sure to stir otherwise you will burn the onions.

After 20 to 30 minutes remove the lid turn the fire a bit higger , add the sugar, and fry them for 5 to 10 minutes, till the onions turn brown.
Add the Vinegar and turn the fire huget. Fry the onions till they are dark brown. Stirring them regularly.
This wil take aprox 15 to 20 minutes.

In the mean time bring the broth to boil.
Add the flour to the onion mixture and bake for 2 minutes so that there is no flour taste.
Pour the boiled broth into the onion mixture and also add the cognac, peper and salt. Let the soip simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes.

For making the croutons.
Preheat the oven to 150°C.
Lay the slices of bagutte in a baking plate and toast them till they are brown.
Rub them with garlic , spread mustard paste and scatter with the chees and grill till the cheese is melted.
Ok that is what the recipe said in the book, for makign the croutons, but I just slices the bagutte, rubbed the garlic, spread the mustars and then chesse and staight grilled them till the cheese was melted.
For serving the spup, pour the soup in cups , topping up with 1 or 2 slices of the grilled baguttes and serve.