Summer Prawn and Cucumber Soup

Here is the recipe for the Prawn and Cucumber soup M made last week.  Serve it chilled for lunch or dinner and enjoy.  It is a delicate soup, yet crisp of flavour and delightfully herby, with the mint adding an extra zing to the palate.

Ingredients: Serves 4

25g/1oz/2tbsp butter

2 shallots, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 telegraph cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

300ml/1/2pint/1,1/4 cups milk

225g/8oz cooked, peeled prawns (shrimp)

1 tbsp each of finely chopped fresh mint, dill, chives and chervil

300ml/1/2 pint/1,1/4 cups whipping cream

salt and ground white pepper

For the garnish:

30ml/2  tbsp creme fraiche (optional)

4 large prawns, peeled with tail intact

fresh dill and chives

Method:

Sweat the shallots and garlic in the butter over a low heat, until transparent. Do not brown. Add the cucumber and cook gently till tender.  Stir often.

Add the milk, bring almost to boiling, then simmer gently for about 5 minutes.  Take off the heat, cool slightly, then process with a stick-blender till smooth.

Pour into a large bowl and allow to go cold.  Add the peeled prawns, the chopped herbs and cream.

Cover and place in the frig to chill for at least 2 hours.

Serve in individual bowls.  Add a dollop of creme fraiche to each bowl and hang a prawn over the edge of each dish.  Sprinkle with extra chopped herbs and some chives.

NB:  I found the cream we used too heavy.  When we make this again, we will either use more milk and less cream, use a lighter cream, or use skim milk, not full fat.  Otherwise, the recipe is well recommended for simplicity of preparation and its good flavours.

We are told that this recipe was first found in the "The New Soup Bible", so thank you to them!  We are looking for a copy!

All About Momos.

Our recent stay in Australia gave us several opportunities to taste the local cuisine, mainly cafe food, and we found it a delight.  The ingredients are always fresh and have wonderful flavour. The breads are crisp and light - no doughy white sandwiches where we ate - just Turkish bread, thinner that ours here in NZ and covered in sesame seeds that positively crackle with flavour when toasted.

Where ever we chose to eat, in a shopping mall, or in a little sea-side bar, the standard was the same - generous portions,  fresh flavours and a minimum of mayo - just enough to add  interest  and to hold the ingredients together.  In the Robina Shopping Mall near Burleigh Heads, we had lunch at one of those cafes that are sited in the middle of the concourse.  The noise was abysmal and the crowds were huge, but we decided to eat there anyway.  We were so glad that we had done so.  We each ordered a "melt",  one with grilled chicken and basil pesto, one with chorizo, red onion and tomato and one with bacon, tomato and onion.  Naturally, each came with a topping of melted cheese and a small salad garnish.  Each was delicious,  with plenty of well-cooked topping and just the right amount of soft, tasty cheese oozing over it all.  Accompanied by a reasonable coffee, they were just right for a light lunch and in fact, we returned for the same a few days later.  So - hats off to Australian casual eateries.  They are great!

Making momos at Eumundi Markets in Queensland, Australia.

One of the most interesting new tastes for me was that of momos -  the dumplings of Tibet and Nepal.  We ate these at a large and extremely interesting  market we visited while up in North Queensland.  This market comes highly recommended and is held twice weekly in a small town called Eumundi.   This new food experience consisted of a  plate of Tibetan dumplings, stuffed with, among other things, organic tofu, carrot and cabbage. (You can see the complete list of ingredients on the board in the photograph.)  They were steamed or deep-fried (no residual oil, either) and were bursting with clean, uncomplicated flavours.


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Try making momos using the ingredients above.
They taste great!


Served with thick slices of crisp cucumber, soy,  and chilli dipping sauce they struck just the right note, in the heat,  for a casual lunch under the trees.  These are basically quite simple to put together and are a lot of fun make with your family. They can be made with any meat or as a vegetarian dish and each has its own charm. So suit your momos to your audience!  The video below, shows the basic method of making these tasty treats.

Lemon and Yoghurt Cake

This is one of two lemon cakes that were really popular in our household when the children were growing up. The other was a recipe (one of many) given me by my wonderful mother-in-law, Anita when she used to come out from Leeds in the UK and stay with us in NZ. She is, I am sorry to say, no longer with us, but I am sure she would have liked this one, too.

This is good served with creamy yoghurt or as here, clotted cream.

It is so long since I have baked a cake - around 3 years, I think and unfortunately I miscalculated and slightly over baked this one.  You will see that the oven was too hot so the cake rose too quickly and split.  It is also a little sun-tanned around the sides. Never mind, it tastes good and the syrup that soaks it prevents it from being dry.  I will know next time and I promise to do better!  It is such an easy recipe though that it is well worth a try.


                                                         Lemon and Yoghurt Cake

Ingredients


Cake
1 cup caster sugar
finely grated rind of two lemons
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup rice bran or grapeseed oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups plain unsweetened yoghurt
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups self raising flour

Syrup
1/2 cup lemon juice, extra
1/2 cup caster sugar, extra
Greek yoghurt to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C and grease a 22cm ring tin.
2. In a large bowl mix the sugar, rind, eggs, oil and salt together with a wooden spoon until well combined.
3. Add the yoghurt and lemon juice and mix, then sieve the flour into the bowl and fold in.
4. Spoon into the tin and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
5. Stir the lemon juice and caster sugar together.
6. After the cake has cooled for 5 minutes, pour this glaze over the cake. Serve with Greek yoghurt
Notes

• I  use a micro-planer for grating where-ever possible.  It is less messy, you do not grate pith and you do not risk having slices of flesh added to your recipe! 
• When grating rind, add it straight away to your sugar if the recipe allows.  Any oils that seep out will soak into the sugar and you will not lose the precious flavour.
• Always use a metal spoon for folding and you will lose less air from your mixture.

                                                

Masala Beans with Fenugreek.

This recipe is another one that used to be a favourite with our family but which has not had much airing in the past few years.  Again, I do not know why.  It is easy, has great flavours and is easily modified for "burn" intensity.  It comes from  book called "Hot and Spicy Cook Book"  which I bought cheap in a book sale (as one does!)  It was edited by Linda Fraser, so "Thanks, Linda"!

Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 onion

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp chilli powder (room to play with this. It is quite hot and I use a bit less.)

1/2 tsp garlic pulp (here I use a bit more)

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tomato, quartered

225 grams French beans (or any available green beans)

1 bunch fresh fenugreek leaves (no stems)

4 tbsp chopped, fresh coriander

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (or lime)

Method

·         Roughly chop the onion.

·         In a bowl, place all the spices, salt and garlic.  Add the onion and mix well.

·         Blend for around 45 seconds. ( I use a stick (immersion) blender, but you

could use a standard blender or food processor if yours will take a small
quantity of ingredients)

·         In a medium saucepan heat the oil and fry the spice mixture for about

5 minutes, stirring it from time to time.

Beans, tomato, coriander and spice mix

·         Add the quartered tomato, beans, fenugreek and coriander.

·         Stir fry for about 5 minutes, then sprinkle over the lemon juice and serve

immediately.

Notes

·         About the beans.  This leaves the beans really crunchy.  I mean almost raw! This is fine,

maybe,  if the beans have just been picked, or if you like the taste of raw beans.

I don't mind chomping on the odd  bean I have just picked off the vine, but in a recipe like this, I prefer a bit more softness and a more  "cooked" flavour.

So - I steam my beans for a few minutes first, taking them from the steamer  while they are still  "al dente"  and then I continue with the stir frying.  It's up to you.

·         Fresh fenugreek is not always available, so use 1 tsp seeds instead. If I do this, I add the seeds to the spice mix before processing. 

Spicy Carrots


Having such a good time at the Diwali Festival nudged me to break out a few Indian recipes that I used to make when our family was still at home.  Don't know why I stopped making them, actually! Could it be the calories that seem inherent to so much fabulous Indian food? Everyone loved this cold salad of spicy carrots and it is very easy and quick to make, although it does improve with being kept over-night.  You can adjust the "spicy" to suit your taste and a few of the ingredients may be played with, e.g. lime or lemon juice works well and smoked paprika adds a little twist too.  Also, fresh chilli may be replaced with chopped chilli from a jar, or dried chillis. Finally, I steam my vegetables, so no boiling in water for me,  although if that is your thing, feel free! 

So - here we go......
                                                  

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 lb/450 gms carrots

water for steaming or boiling

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin seeds

red chilli to taste

1 or 2 large garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp olive oil

 tsp paprika (smoked if you like)

juice of 1 lemon (or lime)

flat leaf parsley to garnish  - actually, we prefer coriander (cilantro)

Method

Slice the carrots about 1/4 inch thick on the diagonal as they will cook more quickly that way.

Steam over salted water until just tender. (or boil if you must)

Drain and put to one side.

Grind or crush the cumin and add the paprika.

Crush the garlic.

Chop the chilli - remove the seeds if you do not want a lot of heat.

Warm oil gently in a small pan, add the garlic and chilli and cook gently for about a minute, taking care not to brown the garlic.

Stir in the cumin, paprika and lemon/lime juice.

Pour over the warm carrots, coating them well and garnish with the parsley or coriander.

Notes:

·         Great cold the next day and will keep up to a week in the fridge.

·         Pouring the liquid over food while it is still warm, allows it to better absorb the flavours.

·         Be careful handling the chilli as you may irritate your eyes and skin.  You could wear light-weight rubber gloves and discard them when you have finished chopping the chillis. No accidental rubbing of eyes and manic screams then!