Monday 15th June '09

Tonight, I'm making a soup I haven't made before. Earlier this year, I had decided that when the winter weather arrived, I would make it a project to try new soups. There's no doubt that I will be making the same soup more than once since I love revisiting favourites. However, I will make an extra effort to look through new recipes for some inspiration to use new ingredients and try different flavours. I may even get Mum's slow cooker out to give that a go.

With this project in mind, I bought some jerusalem artichokes. I came across a recipe in one of the Women's Weekly recipe books for soups.

I peeled the artichokes and let them soak in some water with a squeeze of lemon juice to stop them from discolouring. I peeled and chopped potato and onion. I fried all the ingredients together in a pot and then added some chicken stock. I brought this to the boil and simmered it for a while.

I made the artichoke crisps and caramelised onion as the recipe described. I had kept an artichoke and sliced it really thin and placed the slices on a wire rack and sprayed it with olive oil. I seasoned it with some crushed sea salt and popped it into the oven to bake until it was crispy and brown. In a pan, I sauteed some finely sliced onion in some butter and added brown sugar and a dash of balsamic vinegar. I fried it until the onion was caramelised and a dark brown colour.

Returning to the soup, I took it off the stove and then went at it with my Stick Mixer. The resulting puree was so thick and creamy - I couldn't want to try it. I seasoned it with some salt and pepper and returned it to the stove to reheat gently before serving.

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup
with Caramelised Onion & Artichoke Crisps

The soup was absolutely delicious! It was creamy and had such a gentle flavour. The caramelised onion definitely helped to add a sweetness to it.

Dinner
Scotch Steak with Green Peppercorn Gravy
Cheese Cauliflower
Panfried Scallops

Another first for me in the kitchen tonight - green peppercorns. I came across them at the supermarket and have always wanted to try a peppercorn gravy. They come in a small tin but there would be more than enough for my steak tonight and for my steak tomorrow night.

In a pan, I melted some butter and then added the peppercorns. I sauteed them for a few minutes and then added some red wine. I used some of the Wonky bottle wine. I let this simmer until most of the liquid had reduced and then added a bit of plain flour and stirred this in well. I then crumbled a bit of a beef stock cube and added some water. The result was a delicious smelling gravy.