CHEF’S COMMENT 40
“As the days grow short, some faces grow long. But not mine. Every
autumn, when the wind turns cold and darkness comes early, I am suddenly happy. It’s time to start making soup again.” Leslie Newman
➔
Soup, I’m told, is the ultimate diet food. If you are used to eating a big meal, the advice
is to cut down your portion and pop it into the food processor with some boiling water and process, and viola – soup! Apparently, the underlying science of soup’s success as a dieting tool lies in the fact that it moves through your digestive tract slower than solid food, thus helping you feel fuller for longer, despite the fact you are actually eating less and getting fewer calories. But try and be a little discriminate with what you whizz up. Bangers, mash and beans could work. Curry and rice, again, might be a goer. Burger, fries and salad perhaps less so, especially avec ketchup, although after the realisation you’ve whipped up an emulsifi cation of hydrogenated fats you might gain a dieting advantage by losing your appetite. But they don’t have me convinced.
All this food blending looks akin to the faddy Hollywood baby food diet. Those of us who are parents have probably done this in the past for our children when they were babies, blending up part of our dinner and feeding it to them, and that made them put on weight rapidly! On the other side of the spectrum, those of us who have had to look after elderly parents with no teeth have seen more than our fair share of the masher. It makes you wonder – shouldn’t we be opportunistically getting our teeth into something during these fl eeting years of durable dentures? However, soups are not without
their uses. I’ll be making a few for the freezer this month as I pick up a few cheap vegetables in the market such as carrot, potato and mushroom. My favourites this month from the
seasonal pick are pheasants, celeriac, chicory, wild mushrooms, apples and pears and of course mussels and fen- nel that feature in the recipe (right). Pumpkins I can take or leave. Here’s a soup not made to be a
clinical meal replacement – you can even give it a shot of Pernod if you like! ●
Souper-duper.
Peter Walters is pure- hearted but defi nitely not purée-hearted, as he explains in a soliloquy on soups
RECIPES FROM TASTE:KEELE a recipe book from Keele
University, priced at only £10,
is available from the University
Mussel & Fennel Soup
Ingredients 1 kg mussels 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp fl our 1 onion 2 garlic cloves 1 fennel, fi nely sliced 250ml white wine Pinch of dried chilli 750ml vegetable stock 2 tsp fi nely chopped oregano 500ml whipping cream Salt and pepper Oregano for serving
1. Clean the mussels and remove any beards.
2. Peel and fi nely chop the onion, then peel and crush the garlic.
3. Heat up the olive oil in a saucepan and add the chopped onions and mussels.
4. Pour in the white wine, cover with a lid and allow
to cook for 10 minutes until the mussels open. Remove from heat.
5. Allow to cool, then take out the mussels and pick the mussels from their shells. Discard any that have not opened. Keep the mussels to one side.
6. Return the pan to the heat and add in the fi nely sliced fennel with the garlic. Cook in the residue and then add the chilli, fl our and lastly add in the vegetable stock and cream. Mix all together and boil up. Reduce to simmer and cook the fennel until soft.
7. Mix in the oregano, taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary.
8. Put the mussels back into the soup – keep a few back for garnish if you want. These can be placed in the shells.
9. Ladle into bowls and decorate with a single mussel in a shell sprinkled with chopped oregano.
10. If you want to give your soup some zing, then introduce some Pernod. Either mix it into the soup or spoon it onto the surface.
Peter
Walters.v1.md.indd 40
12/9/11 18:32:00
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82