Tuesday 21 August 2007

End of Summer Spring Clean!

Here are a few pics that I’ve cooked recently, with no particular link, except that I’ve cooked them! I’ve decided to blog them altogether, as they might get forgotten soon with all the new books due out, and the corresponding new pictures. These are all worth a mention though…

Firstly there are a couple from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop.

Matled Milk Ice Cream, very rich but so good!


Orange Popsicle Ice Cream with wine poached apricots from Crazy Water Pickled Lemons by Diana hendry


and again with Dorie Greenspan’s chocolate sauce from Baking From My Home To Yours. I liked the second pairing best, but this is no surprise with my chocolate and orange tendancy!


Prawn Fra Diavlo
A yummy light pasta dish from Giada De Laurentiis’s Everyday Pasta. It should have been lobster, but prawns are more readily available here.


Mushroom, Leek and Tarragon Risotto
This one is a vegetarian dish from The 30 Minute Cook by Nigel Slater. I thought it was an unexpected pairing (or I suppose that would be trilogy?) but it was really inspired and really good.


Rigatoni and Asparagus au Gratin
Delia Smith’s Summer Collection is the home of this recipe, which spins out a small amount of asparagus into a tasty and delicious supper. The recipe is here as well as in the book.


Pea and Coriander Soup, this soup in real life is a real vivid just-cooked-pea-green, I just could not get it to come through in the pictures I took...

Lastly one of my most favourite fast soups from Rachel Allen and Rachel’s Favourite Food. My little one loves this soup. I think she wanted initially because Primrose on Fifi and The Flowertots made pea soup, but now she asks for it because she likes it so much. If you haven’t a clue about that last bit don’t worry – kiddies TV programme! Anyhow here is the recipe for this gorgeous soup.

Pea and Coriander Soup
From Rachel’s Favourite Food by Rachel Allen. I have varied this only slightly by omitting a chilli from the recipe, and I’ve also made it with parsley in place of the coriander - which was also lovely.

50g butter
150g onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped
½ tsp salt and pepper, or to taste
850ml chicken stock or vegetable stock
450g fresh or frozen peas
2 tbsp chopped coriander
Melt the butter in a large saucepan, and add the onion, garlic and chilli. Cover with a greaseproof paper and a lid, and sweat over a low heat for 3 or 4 minutes, or until the onions are soft. Pour in the stock, and bring the soup to the boil. Tip in the peas and boil rapidly, without the lid, for about 2 or 3 minutes, or until the peas are tender. Add the coriander to the soup, and blend in a liquidiser until smooth.

14 comments:

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

Boo hoo, is it really the end of summer? Ah, well... All of these dishes look wonderful.

Anonymous said...

I have some peas in the freezer! That soup sounds delish! :)

Brilynn said...

I think you'll be seeing a round up like this on my site soon too, I've got a bunch of pictures with no writing attached.

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Great title on this post! You're raising a foodie - this is an adult taste in that soup.

Anonymous said...

I could just dive into that bowl of ice cream and raspberries...! YUM!

Maria xx

Nora B. said...

wow...ok, can I please have the pea soup as a starter, then the risotto and for dessert I would like the malted milk ice cream with choc sauce. :-)

I love your end of summer spring cleaning. You should do it more often :-)

KJ said...

Yum, these all look so good. I love your ice creams, they look delicious. I just got a copy of The Perfect Scoop. I can't wait for summer. I am going to go ice cream beserk.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, can I come over and help you clean that up. All of them are so drool-worthy!

Patricia Scarpin said...

As much as I love ice cream, I can't take my eyes off that risotto, Kelly-Jane!

Cynthia said...

Hi Kelly-Jane, thanks very much for taking the time to stop by my blog. Thanks also for your kind comments. Truly appreciated.

I've just finished drooling at this post and can't wait to explore the rest of your blog.

Hope to see you around.

Anonymous said...

You've been a busy bee in the kitchen. I love the malted milk ice cream, too. It's my husband's favorite. I love pea soup, but I'm the only one in my family who'll eat it.

Maggie said...

What a good idea to use up some of your photo's that you haven't written about. I know what you mean about all the books coming out this September!

Pat said...

Ohhhh Everything looks really delicious!!!! Those raspberries look yummy!!! Not ready for the end of summer here, because we really haven't had one yet!!!

Kelly-Jane said...

Lydia, I think it's gone here!

Joey, it's a lovely fast soup.

Brilynn, will look forward to it.

Tanna, I hope so LOL.

Hi Maria, Just the thing for growing babies :)

Nora, coming right up...

KJ, It's a really great ice cream book, soooo many good things :)

Veron, LOL! :)

Patricia, it was a really tasty combo of flavours.

Hi Cynthia, Thank you for dropping by :)

Lynn, it's such a gorgeous ice cream!

Margaret, I'm looking forward to all the new ones, but why do they have to publish them all at the same time?!

Pat, I think we had our summer in April!

KJxx