When we were planning this adventure, the first thing we did was to narrow down the selection to 100 recipes (unexpected, but it turns out there are a lot more in the cookbook than the 100 he promised on the telly!). That done, we broke them up by season - a lot of it was fairly arbitrary, but Curried Sweetcorn Soup was a pretty easy one to throw in the Winter pile. It's been a pretty miserable winter in Seattle so far - not cold enough to snow, just grey, wet, and cold enough to be, well, cold. A soup would be just the thing!
First up we had to make our curry paste - this was really going to be the backbone of the soup's flavour. Gordon was very clear on the importance of toasting spices before using them, and after a couple of minutes I could see - or rather smell - why. A raw coriander seed doesn't really smell at all, but given just a little time in the hot pan they were full of citrus and peppery goodness.
And then - into the molcajete!
Why use a mortar and pestle when you can use a dramatic hunk of Central American lava, that's what I always say. Because it's really uncomfortable, might be one reasonable answer. Anyway, it didn't take long before the coriander and cumin seeds had been ground down - throw in some garlic, curry powder, and a bit of oil, and you've got yourself an easy homemade curry paste.
Throw some onion and potato in the pan, add the curry paste and let it get all delicious before adding the stock and most of the corn. At this point you could basically just heat it and call it done, but it wouldn't be gourmet without one last touch. So, into the blender!
Lacking an immersion blender - another one for the list - we did it in batches, the old-fashioned way. Once it's a nice smooth bisque, back on the heat with it and add the last of the corn to give it back some texture.
And there it is! Still working on the presentation, but again - easy, healthy, delicious. It could maybe have used a little more spice, it was a little mild for our tastes, but easy enough to up the ante on that next time around.
Up next: a three-cheese souffle!
First up we had to make our curry paste - this was really going to be the backbone of the soup's flavour. Gordon was very clear on the importance of toasting spices before using them, and after a couple of minutes I could see - or rather smell - why. A raw coriander seed doesn't really smell at all, but given just a little time in the hot pan they were full of citrus and peppery goodness.
And then - into the molcajete!
Why use a mortar and pestle when you can use a dramatic hunk of Central American lava, that's what I always say. Because it's really uncomfortable, might be one reasonable answer. Anyway, it didn't take long before the coriander and cumin seeds had been ground down - throw in some garlic, curry powder, and a bit of oil, and you've got yourself an easy homemade curry paste.
Throw some onion and potato in the pan, add the curry paste and let it get all delicious before adding the stock and most of the corn. At this point you could basically just heat it and call it done, but it wouldn't be gourmet without one last touch. So, into the blender!
Lacking an immersion blender - another one for the list - we did it in batches, the old-fashioned way. Once it's a nice smooth bisque, back on the heat with it and add the last of the corn to give it back some texture.
And there it is! Still working on the presentation, but again - easy, healthy, delicious. It could maybe have used a little more spice, it was a little mild for our tastes, but easy enough to up the ante on that next time around.
Up next: a three-cheese souffle!
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