Chickpea, Chilli and Coriander Soup

from  Winter Collection
by Delia Smith
Published by BBC, 1995

Some books seem to have been on my shelves for ever, or aparently only since 1995, but I suppose that's a fair old time ago now. I think I could probably credit Delia with all her domestic science teacher air as being the first cookery writer I found both easy to follow and inspiring. I don't refer to her overmuch now, but for the basics she's likely to give you a good grounding to start with. When I had to poach an egg the other day, for example, one of the places I checked was old Delia.  But there's a sense that what she does is limited, or slightly fake. If she makes a tagine, for example, it'll be a tried and tested one with ingredients you can get in the supermarket. Fine perhaps to introduce one to the world of tagine-making, but after the first couple, you'll be wanting to move on to the authenticity of Claudia Roden.

So, it being winter, I'm still on a bit of a soup kick. Thought I'd have a look at Delia who was bound to come up with something straightforward. And indeed, here it is, chickpea, chilli and coriander soup (my versio with rather more coriander than was intended. Although it was flawed rther by my inability to grind spices to anything smaller than babies' toenail size and by the fact that I inadverantly threw out the cooking water from the chickpeas, it was pretty good. I'm amazed it didn't blow our heads off as it had eight cloves of garlic and dour chilis in it. Were they particuarly mild, or did the chickpeas somehow soak up their pugency? All round a pretty good soup, and surprisingly less like liquidly houmous than seems possible considering the ingredients. I thinkt he spicy one I made the other week was probably better than this, but R votes for this one. Take your pick.

Can you have too much coriander?

Greens with chorizo and poached egg

from How to Eat
by Nigella Lawson
Chatto and Windus, 1998

Robert's away, so I'm searching for things that are easy to cook for one. No copy of Delia's One is Fun, so I've been trawling the books for something easy and quick and new to cook for myself. Incidentally, how did anyone ever manage to come up with such a lame book title? I don't think there was ever a good book title with the word 'fun' in it. What about that gem Five have Plenty of Fun?  Enid Blyton was so prolific she didn't bother to stop and find enticing titles. I suppose she didn't have to bother much, what with all children reading her books.

Anyway, I suppose I could eat with the kids, but really they prefer to eat about 5.30 and if I eat then I'm starving by bedtime. Mostly it has been a bit of a frustrating week: plenty of scrambled egg and soup. However, one day I took the time (about twn minutes) to cook this  for myself, substituting a bag of spinach, rocket and watercress for the kale which is a fodder-like for me. It was incredibly easy and delicious, although I think Nigella's a bit heavy-handed with the chorizo. I ended up with a bowl full of chorizo bits after I'd finished all the healthy stuff. Not such a bad thing... but definitely more than was needed.

Paul Heathcote's Black Pudding and Lancashire Cheese Hash Browns

From Real Food
By Nigel Slater
Published by Fourth Estate, 1998

A slice of black pudding topped with cheese and then wrapped in herby grated potato and fried... Nigel said a poached egg and hollandaise source to top it, but R and I felt that might be an artery-blocking step too far, so we went with the poached egg, skipped the hollandaise and had some savoy cabbage on the side. It was very hard to get the potato to stretch around the pile of black pudding and cheese, but it was rather easier to handle than I thought at first. 

It also took much longer to cook than Nigel said, but this could have been because the black pudding came in such thick slices. Also, Tesco did not have any Lancashire cheese - 99 types of cheddar, but no Lancashire! - so I had to use Cheshire, which, though similar in flavour, is rather different in texture, and possibly in melting quality. Anyway, another winner here, and this would be great for a brunch. You could very easily make several in advance and keep them warm too.  I wonder if little tiny ones would work? Or am I getting a bit carried away?

Fully formed and ready to cook

 

Carefully into the pan, two at a time.

 

 

 

Doesn't look too dangerous...

What can I say? Don't you just want some?

Parsnip, Leek and Lemon Soup

From Soup and Beyond
By New Covent Garden Soup Company
published by Macmillan, 1999

I'm behind with the writing, but I've been keeping up the cooking, I promise!

Amazing, amazing soup. So simple, just really like making a leek and potato, but with parsnips instead of potatoes. I threw this together in about half an hour, though it then sat about for an hour or so, so I think the bay leaf flavour was probably more intense than if we'd had it straight away. You would think that this would taste thick and wintery, like a leek and potato, but no, it was creamy and delicate, the overwhelming taste was lemon and bay. Absolutely delicious, and one to add to the repertoire. This is such a great book, so many soups in it are like this, little twists on the regular things I make.