WWDH - Potato Bacon and Leek Soup

This week, Margaret chose Donna's potato, bacon and leek soup from p24 of Modern Classics I for Wednesday with Donna Hay.  You can find the recipe online here.

This soup was really, really good.  This is high praise from a person who feels rather lukewarm about soup.  I substituted the bacon for prosciutto (because I had some left over from the pumpkin pizza last week), and I used the cream.  Yum!

To see what Margaret, Kayte, Chaya and Sarah thought about this soup, visit their websites.

FFWD - Chestnut and pear soup

For French Friday with Dorie this week, we were set a challenge that is difficult to achieve on the verge of summer (though you'd never know it with the crappy weather in Melbourne at present) - chestnut and pear soup.  Chestnuts are not common in Australia, even in winter, so to obtain some at this time of year would have required some serious detective work.  However, I did have a can of chestnut puree in the cupboard that I had had forever, bought at a time when every second Tuesday with Dorie recipe seemed to require it.  So, I reasoned, given that the chestnuts had to be cooked until they were mashable, let's skip that and use chestnuts that are already mashed.

I made a half recipe and cooked it for only 30 minutes, given that I didn't have to worry about cooking down the chestnuts, and added a dollop of yoghurt to the top of the finished product.  The soup looks like  all the other soups I have made out of this book - brown and thick with black flecks.  It tasted good, but given the scarcity of chestnuts here, and the fact that I am not a huge soup fan, it probably won't be a repeat.

To see what all the other Dorie cooks thought, visit the LYL section of the FFWD website.

WWDH - Lemon, Lentil and Yoghurt Soup

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay pick is Lemon, Lentil and Yoghurt Soup, chosen by yours truly, from p16 of Modern Classics I.   The recipe has also been posted online by a Donna Hay fan here.  When I picked this, I wasn't sure I'd even like it - I had some lentils (albeit brown, not red, as called for by the recipe), so this seemed like a logical choice to use them in.  I included baby spinach rather than English spinach and I added the yoghurt garnish (because I already had some yoghurt), but I skipped the coriander as I was out of that.

The end result pleasantly surprised me - the soup is lightly spiced, textural from the lentils, and with a winning flavour coming from the lemon zest, which made the soup for me.  It took the soup out of pea and ham territory into something much lighter and breezier.

To see what Kayte, Margaret, Chaya and Sarah thought of this dish, visit their websites (tomorrow Oz time).  

FFwD - Asparagus Soup

... asparagus, tinged with ultramarine and rosy pink which ran from their heads, finely stippled in mauve and azure, through a series of imperceptible changes to their white feet, still stained a little by the soil of their garden-bed: a rainbow-loveliness that was not of this world.

Marcel Proust

It has been an asparagus-tinged week for me - first asparagus in the Savoury Brioche Pockets, then Rigatoni with Peas, Asparagus and Ricotta, and now, Asparagus Soup for French Fridays with Dorie.  Phew!  Luckily I like asparagus. 

I found the steps involved in making this soup a little fiddly - peel the stalks; place the trimmings in cheesecloth and boil with the asparagus etc etc.  The recipe calls for 2 1/2 pounds of asparagus, so peeling all of those spears would have sent me potty.  However, due to the price of asparagus here (end of season) and the fact that I didn't want six serves of soup, I only had to peel six spears, and bulked up the asparagus content with some leftover tinned asparagus that I had in the fridge.   

As expected, this soup tasted predominantly of - well, asparagus.  There's a hint - if you aren't a fan of asparagus, don't make this soup.  It was OK, but didn't light any fires for me.

To see what the other Doristas thought of this soup, visit the LYL section of the website.

Vale Hazel Hawke, who passed away yesterday aged 84.  Hazel was the wife of one of our prime ministers, Bob Hawke.  She reminds me of being a child in upper primary school, when Bob was elected PM, as one of our teachers told the class that if you didn't know the answer in the social studies test, write "Bob Hawke".   I think our teacher was encouraging people to "have a crack" (to use a great Australian colloquialism) rather than to leave the answer blank; however, some students took him literally and wrote "Bob Hawke" as the answer to questions they didn't know, much to the amusement of our class.  Good times!

WWDH - Smoky roasted gazpacho

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay is Smoky Roasted Gazpacho from Modern Classics Book I, chosen by Chaya.

This gazpacho contains roasted tomato, garlic and onion combined with paprika and water to make a cold spicy soup.  It was easy enough to make, and interesting to learn, but not something that I fancy enough to make again.

To see what Chaya, Margaret and Kayte thought of this soup, visit their websites. 

FFwD - Steamed Lemon Spinach + Orange Scented Green Lentil Soup

It is Good Friday, and it is also French Friday with Dorie.  I am home with my family for a visit, which is nice and relaxing after a crazy few weeks.

This week's FFwD recipe is Steamed Lemon Spinach - I made this at the start of the month to go with the Chicken Diable, and it is really easy and really good.  I feel deprived if I don't get greens with my meal these days - as a child I couldn't abide them!

I also caught up on the Orange Scented Green Lentil Soup:

I didn't mind this soup, although I did find the orange flavour rather strong (from orange peel that is boiled up and pureed with the other ingredients.  I didn't strain the soup - I like the "chunky" consistency.

To see what the other Doristas thought of this week's recipe, visit the LYL section of the FFwD website.

Enjoy your hot cross buns and fish and some quality time with your nearest and dearest this Easter.  Ciao!

FFwD - Cheating-On-Winter Pea Soup and Herb-Speckled Spaetzle

This Friday, Dorie has us cheating on winter with Cheating on Winter Pea Soup - but it ain't winter here, so I couldn't demonstrate my infidelity to the seasons.  The day that I made this soup (well, the Thursday night before reveal) was 32 degrees (86F) outside. 

I was a little reticent about this one - as you know, I am not a soup fan.  But again, this soup surprised me, and I quite liked it.  I made a half recipe using half frozen and half canned peas (because that is what I had about the house).  I had no issues with blending the soup because I just blitzed it in my little-used blender - I had more technical issues with the blender's safety lock than with the soup.

It isn't easy being green, especially this olive hue, but don't be fooled - this plain Jane soup is quite delicious.

I also finally got around to making the herb-speckled spaetzle from early January:

I enjoyed this dish but without a spaetzle maker, it is a real pain to make - I thought my left arm was going to fall off as I pressed the dough tediously through a colander-spoon with my bare hand (which worked better than using a spoon).  I served my spaetzle with beef stroganoff and green beans: 

This was a pretty awesome meal.

To see what the Doristas thought about this week's soup, visit the LYL section of the website.

WWDH - French Onion Soup

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay is hosted by Kayte, who chose Donna's French Onion Soup from Modern Classics I.

Now, y'all will know that I am not much of a soup fan, and I was kind of hesitant wth this one. I made a quarter of a recipe on Sunday night, enough just for two serves, and put it in the fridge for another day, as I was already really full from late brunch with friends.

On Monday night, I reluctantly trotted out half a serve and reheated it for a minute or so in the microwave.  Then I had a spoonful - and then another - and by golly, I really liked this soup.  Who knew - and especially onion soup??

To see what Kayte, Margaret and Chaya thought of this dish, visit their websites.  And if you want to join us on our Donna journey, just contact any of us - we are cooking from Off the Shelf and Modern Classics I by Donna Hay.

FFwD - Creamy Cauliflower Soup sans Cream

This week's French Friday with Dorie challenge made my heart sink.  Soup? Cauliflower soup?  This did not sound promising on either count.   And unfortunately, making it did not change my mind.

I looked at someone else's photo of this soup and noticed that it was (a) off white and (b) liquid.  My soup looks like mashed apple.  And it tasted, sadly, like mashed cauliflower.  You can see where this is heading, right - I am not a fan.  Soup is not one of my favourite things unless it is Campbells or Heinz Chunky out of a tin, and this soup did not change my mind.  Sorry.

To see what the other Dorie participants thought, visit the LYL section of the website.

WWDH - Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay has a distinctly Asian flavour in the form of Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup from page 30 of Modern Classics 1.  Chaya is our host this week and selected this dish.  Chicken and sweet corn soup is a Chinese classic, on the menu as a starter at most Chinese restauarnts, and is a good choice for its light but flavoursome qualities.

This was rather lovely soup - nice enough to take to work for lunch.  It is also relatively simple to make.  I substituted the Chinese rice wine for sherry, which I read has the closest flavour to the rice wine.

To see what Chaya and Margaret thought of this soup, do go visit them.

FFwD - Spur-of-the-moment Vegetable Soup

This week's FFwD recipe is Spur-of-the-moment Vegetable Soup.  Basically, you fry up some onion, carrot, garlic, ginger, celery and thyme, then add chicken stock and a cubed potato, simmer it for a while, puree it and then bingo - soup.

I don't think this looked or tasted much different to the Paris mushroom soup, but hey, that's just me.  I won't make this again - it just didn't grab me.

To se what other Dorie fans thought of this soup, visit the LYL section of the website.

Wednesdays with Donna Hay - Cannellini and Fresh Tomato Broth

This week's WWDH pick is Cannelli and Fresh Tomato Broth, chosen by Chaya.

I found that I got a lot of froth when I made this that I skimmed off, leaving not much soup, and the soup itself was quite thin - tasty, but thin.  The soup in the photo in Off the Shelf was much redder and thicker than mine - not sure what happened, but there appears to be quite a difference.

To see what Chaya, Kayte and Margaret thought of this soup, visit their websites.

Cheese-topped onion soup

This week's French Fridays with Dorie called on me to make something that I would never have made on my own - onion soup.  Yes, it's called cheese-topped onion soup, but the cheese is actually on a slice of bread that sits on top of the onion soup.

First you caramelise some onions:

then you had some chicken stock and spices and boil it all up to make soup:

then you grate some Gruyere, slap it on a slice of toast, grill it to melt the cheese, then float it on top of your soup.

Surprisingly tasty!  I lied it.  If you hate onions, this recipe is a bust, but I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Check out some more onion soup at the LYL link on the FFwD website.

Wednesdays with Donna Hay - Potato and parmesan soup, sans parsley pesto

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay recipe was selected by Kayte of Grandma's Kitchen Table.  She chose Donna's potato and parmesan soup with parsley pesto.

I am not really into pesto, so I skipped that and just made the soup.  The soup is pretty easy to make - the hardest part is peeling and chopping the vegetables.

The end result was a very thick soup that is quite tasty, but reminded me of cheesy mashed potatoes. 

Go see Kayte to see what she thought, and Margaret and Chaya.

Next week:  Beef and Cashew Stir Fry

Moroccan quinoa soup

Although I confess to not being a huge soup fan, there are definitely some soups that I enjoy, particularly those of the thick, hearty variety.  The soup in this  post, Moroccan Quinoa Soup, came about because I thought I had lentils, chickpeas and cannellini beans to use up in the pantry. The recipe is from All Recipes, at this link. As it happens, I was wrong about the lentils - I went to make the soup and found that the lentils I thought I had were not there.  By that stage, I had mentally committed to making this soup, so my brain immediately went to the red quinoa that I have had in my pantry since a French Fridays with Dorie recipe called for it.  Why not substitute quinoa for the lentils?

I made the recipe exactly as stated, except that I used quinoa in place of the lentils.  The end result was a thick, rich, texture-ful soup that was hearty and filling.  I loved it!

FFwD - Spiced Squash, Fennel and Pear Soup

On my walk into work from the station this morning, I saw the loveliest little girl walking with her Mum.  She had brown curls, the longest ever eyelashes, silver sandals, pink leggings trimmed with lace, a long white spaghetti strap dress trimmed with silver sequins, and a white T-shirt underneath, and she was twirling just like the dancing man.  It made me happy just to look at her carefree abandon, which was such a contrast to her well-dressed but harried-looking Mum beside her.

This week's French Friday with Dorie recipe allowed me to recycle ingredients from a couple of weeks ago when we made Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good.  Even using just half a pumpkin, I had a lot of pumpkin to use up, so I was delighted when I saw that this week's recipe, Spiced Squash, Fennel and Pear Soup, could also be made using pumpkin instead of squash.

This soup is really different to anything I have ever tried before.  It is quite thick, and has fruity, citrus overtones from the orange peel that you cook with the soup.  The spices give the soup a pleasant zing, and overall, it is a rather delicious soup:

This from a girl who isn't a huge fan of soup!

To check out what the other FFwD members thought of this soup, visit the LYL section of the website for this week.