Pumpkin and ginger soup with coconut and chili - plus your chance to win a Soup + Co soupmaker

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Ok so the other day I asked on my Facebook page what everyone's favourite soup was. And damn were there some delicious answers! But the one that kept popping up the most had to do with pumpkin. And I concur.

There's something about its sweet savouriness and perfect texture that gets me every time. And if I can spice it up, more's the better!

I concocted this little number in Tefal's new Soup and Co, as I was incredibly fortunate enough to get sent one to try. One for me, one for my readers, they said. I was intrigued. Normally I shy away from "all-in-one" appliances in favour of good, old-fashioned pots and pans. I don't own a stand mixer, I have an ancient blender and everything else I do by hand. Buttons and whizbangs and whatever just don't normally excite me.

However. I looked it up. It makes soup with the touch of a button. It then blends the soup (if you want), turns itself off and keeps itself hot for 40 minutes after. An eyebrow was raised in interest.

Apparently when it's not being the world's most helpful soup appliance, it also makes smoothies, hot chocolate, fruit compote and crushes ice, among other things.

And best of all? It cleans itself! I was hooked. 

There's nothing more annoying than having a sleeping (or near sleeping) baby on you when your pot boils over/needs stirring/needs turning off or down/finishes cooking or a thousand other things it does when you can't tend to it immediately. I am sold on the idea that I throw the ingredients in, and the Soup and Co does the rest of the work. Kinda like a slow cooker, only... not slow. While I love the idea of setting aside an hour or so to chop and prepare and simmer and generally enjoy the process, I just honestly don't have that time at the moment. I'm busy. And tired. And this thing cleans itself.

And the "keep warm" function? Goodbye eating cold soup, mum-style!

Oh, and if you're so inclined, it can be used to cook and blend baby food. I'm probs gonna marry it.



It has three programs for soup and other cooking/cleaning, and a regular blender function with five speeds and a pulse option. And a little ice-crush button.


And I have a dirty bench. Moving on.

You can keep track of the temperature, and the time remaining. It makes gentle whirring noises as it heats up and will scare the bejesus out of you when you've left it to its own devices and you're working away on something else and it starts the blend cycle automatically. Although that might just be me.


Soup in 25 minutes. Wanna try?


Ingredients:
500g chopped pumpkin
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated
Fresh chili or chili flakes to taste
a pinch each of salt and sugar
Enough stock to barely cover the veggies
100ml coconut cream
coriander, to garnish


Directions:


1. Put everything but coconut cream and coriander into the Soup and Co.


2. Put the lid on. Press the "P" button. Press "OK"


3. Go find something else to do until it beeps. Pour in the coconut cream and use the blender function for a second or two to combine. 


4. Serve in a warm bowl with a swirl of coconut cream and a sprinkle of coriander.


Oh, and it also has a handy-dandy removable piece in the lid, so when you forget the garlic (what kind of monstrous soup has no garlic?) You can pop it in while it's running and put the lid back on like nothing ever happened...

****

And because I was overly excited, I've been making smoothies in it every five minutes. This one is extra fun!

Ingredients:
1 large banana
100ml coconut cream
handful of pineapple
splash of pineapple juice (you can use the canned stuff)
pinch brown sugar
squeeze of lime


Directions:


1. Place all in Soup and Co, but break up the banana into bits first.


2. Blend on low speed 2 30 seconds, then speed 5 for 30-45 seconds.


3. Make a stupid joke about getting caught in the rain.




Anyway!

To win one of these beauties for yourself (the appliance, not the smoothie), all you need to do is leave a comment telling me about a time when something stopped you from checking a pot and what disaster ensued. Me? I nearly set fire to the house with a frying pan of burning oil, and once I left a hotplate on for 12 hours... no biggie.

The story we find most interesting/horrific gets the prize, valued at $299. No more soup disasters for you!

Competition closes Monday July 23 at 5pm. Australian residents only, please.

Please make sure you are contactable, as winners will be notified by email.

*Disclaimer: I was sent a Tefal Soup and Co to keep, and one to give away. That's all. Over-enthusiasm is all mine. Told you I was tired.

Meatless Monday - Cheddar Veggie Soup

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I love soup in this weather, and I love a thick soup that eats like a meal. With grilled cheese, of course! While I'm partial to a tinned tomato soup from time to time, I cannot do canned soup, packet soup, cupasoup, anything of that nature. Not when they taste like cardboard and it's so easy to make your own and freeze for days when you need a little warmth in a bowl.

This, as seems to be the current theme here these days, uses odds and ends of veg. All bound together with a bechamel base to ensure proper creamy, cheesy goodness! 

Ingredients

1 onion, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped,

2 carrots, roughly chopped

2 medium potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped

1 small sweet potato, peeled and roughly chopped

Whatever else you find in your fridge - I used half a packet of frozen mixed veg that had gone a bit frosty, some leftover mashed potato and some leftover garlic broccoli

1 litre stock

1 tsp dried thyme

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1.5 cups milk

1 cup grated cheddar

salt and pepper, to taste.

Directions:

1. Saute the onion and garlic in a little olive oil. Throw in the carrot and cook for a while. Celery is good to add here too.

2. Add potatoes, sweet potatoes, the random assortment of veg, the thyme and the stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer.

3. While that is cooking, heat the butter and flour over medium heat. Stir the resulting mix for at least 1 minute to eliminate the floury taste. Add the milk and whisk really quickly for it all to incorporate.

4. Turn the heat to high and continue whisking until thickened. I know bechamel sauces usually say cook over a low heat to avoid lumps etc, but I've never had the patience to and I've never had a problem. If the roux mixes in from the word go and you whisk a lot, you'll be fine.

5. Add the cheese to the bechamel.

6. When veggies are soft, blend with a stick blender until smooth. Add the bechamel and test for seasoning.

As for the sandwiches, I made cheese sandwiches with the butter on the outside. I popped them in the oven with both the top and bottom elements going. If you only have one, then use the griller/broiler option!

Linky bitz...

♥ The linky will be up at 9am every Monday morning, and will stay up until the following Sunday. It doesn't matter if you eat your meal on a day other than Monday - it's just an easy day to create the link


♥ Grab the Meatless Monday button above and put it in your post, and even on your sidebar if you're feeling generous.


♥ Visit at least one other blogger and leave some love. This is so much more cool if we're in it togetherWhere it says "Name", you might like to add the name of your dish instead or as well.

Sweet potato and red lentil bisque - an Oprah recipe

Sometimes there's that rare moment when you read a recipe and realise you have all of the ingredients ready to go. Flipping through the O Magazine recipe book I picked up on my trip to DC, I came across this gorgeous soup and knew I needed to make it for dinner. As I was alone I was seriously considering vegemite toast, but this looked so healthy and delicious and would be awesome for lunch the next day.

I love anything with coconut milk, and everything is blended so there's no scary lentil bits or anything. Just a lovely velvety soup with a slightly sweet flavour. Excellent for some of the cool nights we've been having. Crusty bread with lots of butter wouldn't go astray...

You can find the recipe here. I've not taken nearly as gorgeous a photo as they have (and I also had no pomegranate), but you get the idea!

Wonton soup for you!

I was that freak wandering up and down the streets of Melbourne CBD recently looking at all the places that may or may not sell soup. Specifically wonton soup. The sad part was, it was about 7am and apparently places that sell wonton soup in the CBD have this thing were they don't open at that hour of the morning. I know! I couldn't believe it either. I wanted that soup so bad.

The community in which I live is more "let's surf for three days straight then get a beer and some chips", as opposed to "where would you like to eat tonight dear? Malaysian? Korean? Italian? How about some Ethiopian?", which I have to say is much more my style.

It's usually left to me to make whatever it is I'm craving, because it just doesn't exist where I am. And now that Veggie Baby is on board for the ride, it's not as easy to pop to Brisbane or somewhere similar for the day to get my fix. It's much more of a production and she wouldn't like the soup anyway, so it's back to the kitchen I go.

With my head full of wonton soup needs and my chest full of cold and/or flu, shit was about to get serious if I didn't make this soup a reality. I needed that soup like a flower needs the rain, like a poet needs the pain, like I need a new simile.

Not having any meat in the soup makes it a bit tricky flavour-wise, but with a good stock and plenty of onion, garlic and ginger, anything is possible. This soup filled my requirements, and when I posted a picture to Instagram, I even had people from the US demanding to be flown in to eat it. Trouble was, I wasn't going to share my soup with a single soul. NO SOUP FOR YOU!

Except if you make it yourself...

Ingredients:

For the soup:
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 red or green chillies, roughly chopped
a thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled
2-3 coriander stalks
6 cups water or stock or a mixture of stock and water (be careful with the soy if you use stock)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketjap manis
Salt and pepper
carrot, spring onion and bok choy sliced thinly, fresh corn kernels
extra coriander for garnish

For the wontons:
1 packet wonton wrappers
1 clove garlic
6-8 field mushrooms, minced
1 small carrot, cut into very small cubes
a splash of soy
a few tablespoons of ketjap manis, enough to moisten the mix
1 teaspoon cornflour

Directions:

1. Process onion, garlic, ginger, chillies and coriander root in a food processor until mush. You could alternatively use a mortar and pestle to crush.

2. Fry this off in a little oil for a minute or so. Add your liquids and sauces.

3. Bring to a boil and then simmer while you make the wontons.

4. For wontons, fry the mushrooms, carrot and garlic in a little oil until soft. Add sauces and sprinkle cornflour over, stirring to combine and slightly thicken.

5. Lay out your wontons and spoon a teaspoonful of mushroom mixture into the centre. With your finger, run a little water around the edge and then fold in half, sealing the edges tightly. You can scrunch them up or fold the corners together to make neat little wontons.

6. Either cook your wontons in the soup gently with the extra vegetables (carrot, etc) 3-4 minutes until all are cooked. If you're a purist (some people don't want the flour on the outside of the wontons to mess their soup up), cook them in boiling water before adding to the soup.

7. Check for seasoning and adjust to your taste. Add coriander and any other garnish. Fresh chilli would be good.

8. Serve immediately. If there are going to be wontons left over, I would freeze them immediately and put them into the soup to reheat later. I wouldn't cook them and leave them in the soup or it will go all mushy and awful and you will curse me until your dying day. I can't have that!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

From: Rebecca Marshall
Sent: Monday, 14 June 2010 12:16 PM
To: Stacey Roberts
Subject: RE:


Honey there are some things broccoli should never be and soup is one of them. There is something vomity about it in liquid form anyway and you go and add cheese? What are you? On crack?
 
 
 
From: Stacey Roberts 
Sent: Monday, 14 June 2010 12:18 PM
To: Rebecca Marshall
Subject: RE:
Seriously. After all these years and all this Veggie Mama-ing, you still don’t trust me? Why would I bring to you a disgusting soup? It’s one of the most amazing things I have ever tasted. Rich and velvety, the thing is like nectar from the gods. Sure I was apprehensive the first time I made it, but I can’t imagine what life would be like without this soup in it. Ye of little faith.

Pah.

Meanwhile you had such a bad week with replacements last week. Wield the power and cut his darn copy.


Kind Regards,
Stacey Roberts
***** News Editor
 
 
From: Rebecca Marshall

Sent: Monday, 14 June 2010 12:21 PM
To: Stacey Roberts
Subject: RE: Well I expect a thermos of said soup at your earliest convenience. Until then you are safe from elimination and still in the MasterChef competition.




Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large head broccoli
2 potatoes, diced
1 litre vegetable stock
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup grated tasty cheese

Directions:
1. Saute the onion garlic in 1 teaspoon each butter and oil over medium heat until translucent.

2. Add the broccoli, potatoes and stock and turn up the heat. Boil 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.

3. Meanwhile, melt the 1 tablespoon butter in a small pan over low heat. Add the flour and cook 1 minute. Add the milk and whisk vigorously until smooth. Cook slowly until the sauce is thick and creamy. Add the cheese.

4. Blend the soup to a puree and add the cheese sauce. Serve with lots of delicious, hot bread.

Minestrone

Ok so I've been watching the first season of Jersey Shore lately (don't judge! It is outrageous, incomprehensible, and at times, completely hilarious...) and have had a good old-fashioned hankerin' for some authentic Italian food.

So in my completely non-Italian way, I made minestrone. I don't know whether it would pass muster with a proper Italian mama, but I sure like it. And I like the teensy star-shaped soup pasta I get to use even more. Topped with a big dollop of pesto and freshly grated parmesan, it's a darn good soup. And since I don't do chicken noodle, this is my go-to remedy for any illness. It'll cure what ails ya!

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 carrot, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

700g tomato passata

1 litre stock

1/2 teaspoon of basil, oregano and thyme (or the equivalent in mixed herbs)

2 bay leaves

1 zucchini, cut in half lengthways and sliced

handful of green beans, chopped into 1 inch pieces

1/2 cup peas

1 can chickpeas

1/2 cup soup pasta

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon brown sugar

pepper

fresh basil


Method

1. In a large stock pot, saute the onion, celery and carrot over medium heat until soft. Add garlic and saute another minute.

2. Add the passata, stock, herbs, bay leaf, vinegar, brown sugar and pasta. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer at least 20 minutes.

3. Five to 10 minutes before serving, throw in the zucchini, beans, peas and chickpeas.

4. Serve topped with plenty of freshly grated parmesan, torn fresh basil, pesto and a grinding of black pepper.


Fist pump!

The ultimate corn chowder

Now that it's getting "cooler" in South-East Queensland (I know, 14C/57F is positively frosty, right?) it's time for SOUP!

And not just any old soup - some lovely, hearty "meal in a bowl" type of soups just bursting with flavour.

Enter the Corn Chowder of a Lifetime. Soup has never made me so happy.

Ingredients:

3 ears fresh corn

2 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, cut into 1/2 inch dice

1/2 large red bell pepper/capsicum, cut into 1/2 inch dice

1 sprig fresh thyme, leaves removed and chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon turmeric (can be omitted)

2 potatoes, peeled and diced

3 cups stock

salt and pepper

2 teaspoons cornflour, dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

1 cup cream

2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion

Method

1. Husk the corn, removing all the silk, Cut the kernels from the cobs and place into a bowl. Reconcile with yourself that the little kernels will ping off everywhere and you'll find some under the fridge six months later. It happens. You can always cut the corn inside the bowl, so it catches most of the errant kernels.


2. Using the back of your knife, scrape down the cobs over the bowl.


3. Heat the butter in a large pot over low heat and add the butter, onion, belll pepper/capsicum, thyme, cumin and turmeric. Saute, stirring occasionally about 8 minutes until the onion and pepper are tender, but not browned.


4. Add the corn kernels, potatoes and stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and boil 10 minutes.


5. Use the back of your spoon to mash some of the potatoes against the side of the pot, or give it a good smoosh with a potato masher.


6. Reduce the heat to medium and season with salt and pepper.


7. Stir in the cornflour mixture and slowly pout in the pot, stirring constantly.


8. When the chowder has come back to the boil and thickened slightly, remove from the heat and stir in the cream.


9. Serve with the sliced green onions on top.






Recipe adapted from here. You can even see how much I loved it in the comments section...

Spicy Coconut Soup

garlic, ginger, coriander, oh my!



Yesterday I felt ill and couldn’t think of a single thing to eat that wouldn’t immediately make me want to crawl under a rock and die.



Then I realised this is magic soup that would make the birds sing and stars sparkle and nausea recede to whence it came.



I got the idea from a severe obsession with Thai Tom Kha soup. I threw in what I figured it would have, and voila! super soup.

Ingredients

1/2 onion, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into paper-thin slices, then into strips
4-5 coriander stems, chopped
1 stick lemongrass, sliced. I also pound it with the bottom of a heavy knife to break the strands inside so it’s not so tough.
1 red chili, sliced. I left the seeds in for a little heat.
1 litre/4 cups vegetable stock
400ml coconut milk
1 tablespoon brown sugar
juice of two limes
1 tomato, chopped or 6-7 cherry tomatoes. The cherry tomatoes look nicer.
2 mushrooms, sliced or halved, depending on size
3 bok choy stems, sliced

Method
1. put stock, garlic, ginger, coriander stem, lemongrass, chili and onion in a pot and cover with stock. bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.

2. Add coconut milk, sugar and lime juice.

3. Five minutes before you want to serve it, add tomato, mushroom and bok choy.

You can also add whatever veggies you like - carrot and beans would be good!