Roasted Carrot Soup

I can take no credit for this soup, it is the genius of chef/author Angela Tunner – you may think it looks simple, but you haven’t tried it yet. It turned my carrot hating husband into a believer. Try it. You will see.

Roasted Carrot Soup

Ingredients
10 carrots
1 entire Tetra pak of chicken broth (size??)
Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon Olive or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic (optional)

Method
1. Cut up carrots into slices discarding the ends. Leave aside.
2. Heat up saucepan. Add in oil and garlic if desired. Add in carrots and toss in to lightly brown them alternatively you can roast them in a pan in the oven. * this step is very important because it changes the flavor of the carrots.
3. Add in entire Tetra pak of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Continue to boil until carrots are softened or about 20 minutes or more. Test carrots using a knife to test for doneness.
4. Take off the heat and blend using an immersion blender until carrots are completely pureed.
5. Garnish with chopped parsley and/or a dollop of sour cream. Serve and enjoy!

PS: Vegitarians out there can do vegtable broth instead of chicken.

Split Pea Soup

Yield: 6

There is nothing more comforting on a cold day than a bowl of hot homemade
soup. Substitute a ham bone if you can・t find smoked ham hock at your local
butcher.
Ingredients:
Split Pea Soup

* 2 tbsp butter (30 ml)
* 1 medium yellow onion, diced
* 1 large carrot, diced
* 1 x stalk celery, diced
* 1 x leek, white part only, washed and diced
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 x 1 1/2 lb. ham hock (preferably smoked) (681 g)
* 2 x bay leaves
* 1 sprig fresh thyme
* Pinch dried chile flakes (optional)
* 1 1/2 cups green split peas (375 ml)
* 10 cups chicken stock (2.5 litres)
* Small handful fresh coriander, chopped
* Small handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
* Coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper
* Additional stock or water, if needed to thin the soup

Directions:
Split Pea Soup

1. Heat the butter in a Dutch oven or large soup pot on medium heat. Add
the onion, carrot, celery, leek, and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 to
7 minutes. Add the ham hock, bay leaves, thyme, chile flakes and split peas
and cook 2 minutes longer. Increase heat to high. Add the stock and bring
to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer soup for 2 hours or until split peas
are soft, partially covered, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove the ham hock and take meat off bone and reserve. Serve with
the soup or in the soup whichever you prefer. Discard the bay leaves and
thyme stalks.
3. With a hand held blender smooth pur・e some of the soup. If the soup
is too thick add some more water or stock to loosen. Bring back to a boil
and add the chopped coriander and parsley. Season to taste with salt and
pepper. Serve hot.

Cauliflower Cheese Soup With Croutons

Yield: 4
Ingredients:
Soup

* 2 tbsp olive oil (30 milliliters)
* 2 tbsp butter (30 milliliters)
* 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 3 x shallots, chopped
* 2 x bay leaves
* 3 sprigs thyme, chopped
* 1 cup white wine (250 milliliters)
* 3 x potatoes, peeled and cubed
* 1 x cauliflower, cut into small pieces
* 1/2 tsp nutmeg (2 milliliters)
* 1 pinch white pepper
* 3 cups chicken stock (750 milliliters)
* 2 cups milk (500 milliliters)
* 1 cup 35% cream (250 milliliters)
* 5 oz cheese, crumbled (150 grams)
* Salt to taste
* Pepper to taste

Crouton

* 8 slices country bread
* Olive oil for drizzling
* 1/2 cup cheese (125 milliliters)

Warm Apple Compote

* 1 x granny smith apple, peeled and seeded
* 1 x bosc or anjou pear, peeled and seeded
* 1 tbsp lemon juice (15 milliliters)
* 2 tbsp butter (30 milliliters)
* 3 tbsp apple cider (45 milliliters)
* 1 tbsp cider vinegar (15 milliliters)
* 1 tbsp sugar (15 milliliters)
* 1 tbsp parsley, chopped (15 milliliters)

Directions:
Soup

1. Preparation time is 30 minutes.
2. In a large pot over medium heat, add oil and butter. Sweat the garlic
and shallots. Add the bay leaves, thyme, wine, potatoes and cauliflower.
Add stock and bring to a boil. Pour in the milk, season with nutmeg and
white pepper, and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Add cream and
cheese to the soup.
3. In a food processor, puree in batches and return to pot. Gently warm
the soup and season with salt and pepper.

Crouton

1. Preparation time is 15 minutes.
2. Drizzle the bread with olive oil and broil until crispy. Crumble 1
tablespoon (15 milliliters) cheese on the breads and return to broiler.
Remove when cheese is bubbling and melted.

Warm Apple Compote

1. Preparation time is 15 minutes.
2. Cut apple and pear into 1/4 inch dice (5 millimeters) and sprinkle
with lemon juice. Melt butter in saut・ pan on medium-high heat until it
begins to foam. Add apple, pear and sugar and saut・ quickly until mixture
begins to brown and caramelize, about 3 minutes. Add cider and vinegar and
let reduce slightly for 1 minute.
3. Remove from heat and add parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Assembly

1. Ladle soup into bowl and add generous dollop of warm apple compote.
Garnish with cheesy croutons.

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

**This is a fast soup to make once the ingredients are assembled. You can keep gaangal and kaffir lime leaves in the freezer so they’ll always be on hand. You can freeze lemon grass too!

You’ll Need:

• 1/2 Ib. (227 g) boneless chicken breast meat
• 5 thin slices galangal
• 6 kaffir lime leaves
• 3 cups (270 ml) coconut milk
• 1 stalk lemon grass, trimmed and outer leaves removed, chopped into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces
• 2 Thai Chillies, seeded Stemmed and finely sliced, or to taste
• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 2 limes
• sugar and sea salt
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) chopped fresh cilantro

To Do:

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. Put the chicken, galangal, lime leaves and coconut milk in a pan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally so the chicken doesn’t clump together. Simmer for 15 minutes or until chicken is done.

Add the chilies, fish sauce juice from one of the limes and sugar and salt to taste. Turn the heat to low. Stir well, and then taste. It will probably taste milky. If so, adjust with lime juice, salt and sugar. continue until it doesn’t taste milky anymore. but not so much that it tastes like lime. It should be a balance of tart sweet and salty. Ladle into bowls and garnish with the cilantro.