Dienstag, 29. September 2015

Creamy Mushroom and White Bean Soup

So, Switzerland decided it was time for winter... Or at least the temperature dropped quite a few bit these days, so I've been craving soup and soup and soup. I'm always on the hunt for new soup recipes, using different vegetables and continuously switching the ingredients or playing around with the texture, adding things so every soup is different and offering a ton of new things. 

The recipe comes from the donna hay magazine April/May 2013 issue. The recipe adds garlic croutons to the soup, which I omitted. I've told you about my slight aversion to garlic - not the taste but the smelly breath that comes with it. Don't let the rather long list of ingredients scare you. This soup is still super easy. 

I am trying to eat healthy, so cream is not on top of my list of ingredients at the moment. I've put the ingredients that are optional in brackets, so you can decide whether or not you want to use it. The soup won't lose creaminess when omitting the cream, because of the beans you're puréeing. 

By omitting the pouring cream and sour cream and using vegetable oil for frying and vegetable oil, this soup easily becomes vegan.

Here's the recipe:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
2 brown onions, chopped
(4 cloves garlic, crushed)
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
1 400g  can white (cannelloni) beans, drained and rinsed
30g dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated in 2 cups (500ml) boiling water
3 cups (750ml) chicken stock
(1/2 cup (125ml) single cream)
100g chestnut mushrooms
200g Swiss brown mushroom
(1/2 cup (120g) sour cream, to serve)
sea salt and cracked black pepper

garlic croutons
2 cups (140g) fresh sourdough breadcrumbs
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
sea salt and cracked black pepper

1) Rehydrate the dried porcini mushroom in 500ml (2 cups) of boiling water and set aside for  about 30 minutes.

2) For the croutons, preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). To make the croutons, place the breadcrumbs, garlic, thyme, olive oil and salt and pepper on a baking tray and toss to combine. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until crisp and golden. Set aside

3) Cut the fresh mushrooms in small cubes or quarter them. You'll add them to the soup so any size you like works fine. Chop the onions. Again, you're going to purée the soup so the onion doesn't have to be super fine. Drain and rinse the beans. That's all you need to prep.

4) Heat the oil in a large, deep saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and squeeze the garlic, if you're using it, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes or until softened. 

5) Add the thyme, beans, porcini mushrooms and liquid, stock, salt and pepper. Increase the heat to high and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 12-15 minutes or until thickened slightly. 

6) Add the cream, again if you're using it, and cook for a further minute. Using a hand-held blender, blend until smooth. Set aside and keep warm.

7) Melt the butter in a large, non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add the fresh mushrooms and cook, in batches, for 3-4 minutes or until golden and just cooked. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir through the soup.

8) Divide the soup between bowls. Stir through the mushrooms and top with the sour creams and croutons. 

Serves: 5 
Active preparation time: 15 minutes
Total preparation time: about 1 hour

Here's how mine looks:



This soup is wonderfully easy and beautifully deep in flavor. The porcini mushroom and their soaking liquid add a ton of flavour, the beans add creaminess and slightly balance the earthiness of the mushrooms. A good pinch of salt and pepper brings the flavors together. All that's left to do is curl up on the sofa and enjoy a bowl of the piping hot fall soup.
Have fun trying!


Dienstag, 22. September 2015

Pumpkin, Chorizo and Black Bean Soup

Okay, so it is not monday anymore and this recipe is not exactly vegetarian or vegan in its original form, but autumn is continuously coming upon us and I am craving soups and warm meals with that depth of flavor typical for autumnal and winter cuisine. 
This recipe uses pumpkin, one of my favorite fall vegetables and currently in season. The recipe is done in 30 minutes with only 15 minutes of prep, so it makes the perfect weeknight dinner.
The recipe comes from Donna Hay's website, so here is the link:
https://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/fast-weeknights/pumpkin-chorizo-and-black-bean-soup

This is how it works:

1 tablespoon (or less) extra virgin olive oil
125g firm air-dried chorizo, thinly sliced (you can quarter thick slices to mimic croutons)
125g firm tofu (vegetarian option)
1 teaspoon of hot paprika powder (vegetarian option)
2 cloves or garlic, thinly sliced (I omitted the garlic, you know I don't like it very much)
400g tin tomatoes
500ml (2 cups) chicken stock (vegetable stock for vegetarian option)
500g Japanese pumpkin, peeled and chopped
sea salt and black pepper, to season
400g tin black beans

1) Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the chorizo (and garlic, if you're using it) and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes until golden and crisp. The chorizo burns easily because it has a lot of fat, so be careful. Remove from the pan and set aside.

1a) If you want to make the soup vegetarian, cut the tofu into small cubes and pan-fry for 3-4 minutes in olive oil to which you've added a teaspoon of hot paprika powder. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2) Add the tomatoes, stock, pumpkin, salt and pepper to the saucepan and cook for 12 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. 

3) Remove the pan from the heat and leave the mixture to cool slightly. Blend until smooth.

4) Return the soup to medium heat, add the black beans and cook until heated through.

5) Top with the chorizo (or tofu) and drizzle with extra oil to serve, if you like.

Servings: 4-6
Active preparation time: 15 minutes
Total preparation time: 30 minutes

Here's how it looks:


I like how bright and colorful this soup is. It hits you with a ton of different flavors, sweetness from the pumpkin, fruitiness from the tomatoes, a slightly earthy flavour from the beans and a nice hint of spiciness from the chorizo. You can use mild or hot chorizo depending on your liking. The black beans offers protein to balance the fat from the chorizo. 
This soup is ready in a breeze with very little prep and offers a great deal of comfort in a bowl. 

I didn't drizzle the soup with extra olive oil as I don't think a soup needs added fat. The chorizo adds a little fat and also much more flavour than regular olive oil. 

Have fun trying and fight the autumn blues with this bright dish!

Samstag, 19. September 2015

Apple-(Walnut) Coffee Cake

Wow, time is flying!! I can't believe we're in the middle of September again. I started a second apprenticeship on my way to becoming a lawyer at the beginning of July and have been keeping myself busy all around. But fall is definitely making me want to bake and indulge in all sorts of lovely comfort food. The weather has been changing so much and sometimes it can get pretty cold. Usually this will send me to the sofa with a big cup of tea and some kind of piece of cake. I don't know why but I love love love apples at the moment. There is such a variety available, sweet, crisp, tart, whichever way you like them and they'll help you make sure you're getting vitamins and staying healthy in the season of runny noses and colds. Ok, maybe not the apples you've used in baked goods.... 

This recipe comes from a calendar my boyfriend's lovely parents brought me as a gift from a trip to the US two years ago. I've been making a few switches here and there, but overall it never failed me.

Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) canola oil (I've used sunflower, because that's what I usually have at home)
1 cup (220g) white sugar
1 cup (175g) dark brown sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups (375g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 apples
1/4 cup (ca. 50g) chopped walnuts 

1) In a large bowl mix together the oil and sugars. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and add the vanilla.

2) In a second bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Blend into the egg mixture.

3) Peel and chop the apples. You can cut the pieces to any size you like. I usually end up with 1/4 inch cubes. Chop the walnuts and add to the dough along with the apple pieces.

4) Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease a bundt cake pan and dust with flour. Pour the dough into the tin, make sure it is evenly distributed.

5) Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes until a skewer comes out completely clean.

Yield: 1 bundt cake, approx. 16 pieces
Active preparation time: 30 minutes
Total preparation time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Here's how mine turned out:



This cake is very moist from the apples. I didn't use specific apples for baking, but my favorite kind called Elstar. You have to make sure the cake is cooked through or you won't be able to get it out of the tin. It is also super important to wait until the cake has cooled a fair bit or you will end up breaking the cake trying to get it out of the tin. The reason I'm sharing this recipe now even though I've been making it a few times already is that I've been trough all the errors listed above and ended up with cakes not worthy of a picture... 

The original recipe calls for white sugar only but I like to use brown sugar as well because it lends the cake a nice caramel flavour. I also omit the walnuts sometimes. The picture above shows the cake without walnuts because I'd run out of them. 

I've already introduced you to my favourite apple cake recipe which is baked on a tray. If I had to pick my favourite tin baked apple cake, it would be this recipe. It has the perfect amount of sweetness, a hint of tartness (if you use tart apples) and a lovely, moist texture. 

Have fun trying and enjoy beautiful fall season!