The last of the parsnips

 
I dug up the last of the parsnips from the allotment last week and had just enough to make some parsnip soup.

A few years ago, out walking near Settle we stopped for a soup and sandwich lunch at a pub.I didn't realise until after the order had been placed that the soup was curried parsnip. This did not appeal to me at all as I am not a fan of curry, but by then it was too late to cancel the order. I was very pleased to find that the soup was really delicious.

I have since found a recipe for curried parsnip soup and it has become a favourite in our house. With just a hint of spice it is a very warming winter soup.

Curried Parsnip Soup

40g  butter
1 medium onion skinned and sliced
700 g parsnips, peeled and finely diced
2 or 3 small potatoes (optional)
5ml curry powder
2.5ml ground cumin
1.4 litres chicken or vegetable stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 fl oz fresh single cream (optional)

paprika to garnish

1. Melt the butter in a large pan, add the onions, parsnips and potatoes, stir round to coat in the buttery juices and cook very gently with the lid on for about 3 minutes.
2. Stir in the curry powder and cumin and cook for a further 2 minutes.
3. Add the stock, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for about 45 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
4. Cool slightly then whizz in a blender until smooth
5. Return to the pan. Adjust seasoning, add more stock if it is too thick. Add cream if using, reheat very gently. Serve sprinkled with paprika.

NB. The potatoes help to thicken the soup, but if you like a thinner soup you can leave them out

Soup

I seem to be spending a lot of time making soup at the moment. Cold weather is soup weather. It's warming, comforting and healthy. I like to have a few packs of it in the freezer for an easy lunch or  dinner with crusty bread or dumplings. Some time ago my daughter and I had lunch out and I had a lovely celery and mushroom soup. I thought I would make some myself. I've made celery soup before but not with mushrooms. So I looked up some recipes and adapted them to suit what ingredients I had in at the time. This is good and easy to make.  I'm sure I'll be making it again.

Celery and mushroom soup

1 head of celery cleaned and chopped
250g  white mushrooms, chopped
1 medium onion chopped
1 clove of garlic crushed
a knob of butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock

Melt the butter in a large pan, add the onions and garlic and fry gently for about 5 mins.
Add the celery, stir round. Put the lid on the pan, lower the heat and allow the onion and celery to sweat gently for about 5 mins.
Add the mushrooms, season and cook until all the mushroom juices disappear.
Add about half a litre of the stock, bring to the boil, then simmer for about 30mins until the celery is cooked.
Turn the heat out and allow  to cool slightly, then put the soup into a blender or liquidiser.
Return the soup to the pan adding more stock if it is too thick.
Reheat and add the parsley before serving.

NB
I found I needed a litre of stock.
You can also add chopped fennel with the onions, but I didn't have any.
Fresh thyme could be used instead of parsley.
You could add cream  before serving too if you like.

Jam

I made jam last week, for the first time ever-- rhubarb and ginger. So I'm feeling quite pleased that I have achieved something I've been wanting to do for ages.  I'd like to say that I've learnt a new skill, but I don't think I'm very proficient in the art of jam making yet. I  got quite stressed about it. I know some of you will be thinking 'what's the problem? Making jam is easy'. You can probably rustle up a few jars of jam in less than an hour. I haven't got to that stage yet.

I had to plan this event well in advance, because the fruit was in the freezer and it also had to be left to soak in the sugar and ginger for at least 2 hours. So the fruit was taken out of the freezer the night before, then in the morning all the ingredients were put in a bowl and left. We went out for the day, so I cooked the jam later in the evening.

The recipe was quite easy, but being a novice I read it at least half a dozen times to make sure I knew what I was doing. Then there were the things the recipe didn't tell me. Like how to sterilise the jars and how to seal them properly.  So I had to look elsewhere for that information. There was plenty of useful information  on the Internet on how to make jam, but there was so much that I got worried about doing the wrong thing and ending up with mouldy jam. And trying to remember all the useful tips was difficult.

It all got very messy with jam all over the worktop. I now know that I need to buy a jam funnel.  In the end it worked and I now have several jars of rhubarb and ginger jam which taste pretty good, although I should have cut the rhubarb up into smaller pieces. I think it will get eaten before it has chance to go mouldy.

The recipe is from the  BBC Good Food site. If you're interested here it is:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1091639/rhubarb-and-ginger-jam