I told you I'd be back with more soup! I couldn't resist. I made this Tikka Tattie Soup last night so that I've got some nutritious lunches that just need to be reheated this week. I wasn't sure whether I'd like the texture but I think it's okay. It's not as nice as the other soup I made but it was still good.
I think the addition of milk was interesting. It made for a creamier texture and the soup was very satisfying. Absolutely delicious.
I love to give people home made treats as gifts. I like to be able to say "I made that" and I also like feedback from them too. I made small gift bags of treats for a few friends that came over on Christmas Eve. Along with a large chunk of the tea loaf featured in this post, they got small bags of chocolate fudge and coconut ice.
I love fudge. The chewy and sweet squares of extreme dairyness never fail to comfort me. Having done a little research it seems that in the US fudge is made with chocolate whereas over here in the UK fudge is generally flavoured with just a little vanilla or left plain. Scottish tablet is also plain in flavouring but doesn't have the chewyness of fudge. It's a crumbly sweet treat that is traditional and holds fond memories for many people.
This fudge is none of the above. It's a simple combination of icing sugar, cream cheese and chocolate and while it doesn't really resemble the dairy filled fudge of my dreams it is still quite delicious. It's very simple and this batch made enough for 5 small gift bags with a little left over.
Coconut ice evokes similar warm feelings within me. My dad loves coconut ice and it reminds me of him so much. This simple super-sweet confection has a good coconut flavour and a lot of texture from the coconut. It's really easy to make and again makes enough for about 5 small gift bags.
I found the following recipes in a book called "Chocolates and Sweets to Make" by Rebecca Gilpin. It's a kids book but that just makes things more fun!
Easy Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients:
75g full-fat cream cheese
350g icing sugar
1tbsp cocoa powder
75g plain chocolate
40g butter
Method:
1. Grease and line a 15cm square tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Put the cream cheese into a bowl and sift in the icing sugar and cocoa. Mix together well (Note: this can tak a while but persevere!)
3. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler and stir in a tbsp of the cream cheese mixture.
4. Pour the chocolate into the the cheese mixture and beat them together until creamy.
5. Spoon the mixture into the tin and push it into the corners (you may need to use your fingers). Smooth with the back of a spoon and place in the fridge for 2 hours or until firm.
6. Turn the fudge onto a chopping board and cut into squares. Let the squares harden in the fridge for a further 2 hours and store in the fridge in an airtight container.
Coconut Ice
Ingredients:
2 egg whites mixed from dried egg white (according to package instructionss)
450g icing sugar - sifted
175g desiccated coconut
4tsp water
Food colouring
Method:
1. Grease and line an 18cm tin with greaseproof paper.
2. In a large bowl, stir the egg whites with a fork until frothy. Stir in 2 tbsp of the sugar.
3. Add the rest of the sugar a little at a time until all combined.
4. Add the coconut and water and stir to mix everything well.
5. Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and press down with your fingers.
6. Add a few drops of food colouring inti the rest of the mixture in the bowl and stir until coloured evenly.
7. Spoon the dyed mixture on top of the white layer and leave to set overnight. Cut into squares and leave those to harden for two hours. Store in an airtight container.
Today I had a revelation. Today I realised that soup is good.
I know, I know, it's a ridiculous idea. Everyone knows that soup is good and hearty and healthy. As a child, I never really liked soup. I always liked my mum's chicken broth made from the boiled carcass but I never liked soup. Later I quite liked some shop bought carrot and coriander soups and the odd cup-a-soup would pass my lips but they don't really count.
I made my first soup today and it was delicious. It was very simple and after a call to my mum to check out exactly what I was doing (although I pretty much knew) I decided to just see what happened.
I had a friend on his way over and after checking that he liked soup (he did, luckily) I decided to make it. We stood in the kitchen chatting while I chopped up some vegetables and he stirred the pot from time to time. It was quite therapeutic to have good company in the kitchen as I do a lot of cooking alone.
The following recipe is very basic and pretty much relied on the stash of root veg I had at the bottom of my fridge. It is endlessly customisable and would taste good no matter what veg you have kicking about. It was very easy to make and took about 25 minutes to make.
Ingredients:
1 large red onion - roughly chopped
1/2 a small swede - diced
2 carrots - cut into chunks
3 small parsnips - cut into chunks
2 generous teaspoons of madras curry paste
A knob of butter and a little oil.
1 generous litre of chicken or vegetable stock
Method:
1. In a large pan, place a bit of oil and a the butter and turn on the heat.
2. When the butter has melted, add the onion and swede and allow to soften slightly. Then add the rest of the vegetable and sweat them for a few minutes.
3. When the onions are are cooked through, add the stock to the pan followed by the curry paste.
4. Bring the soup to the boil and leave to simmer for around 20-25 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
5. Blend the soup to your preferred consistency. Taste and season as necessary. Serve with bread and butter.
This was really delicious. There is still a good couple of servings in the pot and I cannot stop thinking about them. I'd happily go and eat the lot but I don't think I should. I think this is the start of a new love. This warm and smoothy soup had a nice spicy kick that lingered and added to the warming effect (most definitely needed at this time of year - it's freezing!). Look out for more soup recipes in future. This is certainly the first of many.
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