Rich Tomato & Capsicum Gazpacho with Garlic Croutons

Some people really don't like the idea of cold soups, but once you try them, you'll love them! The important thing to remember is that seasoning for cold soups is different - your sensitivity to sourness and salt is reduced, so you need to be a bit more heavy handed with these ingredients. It's so refreshing on a summer evening to tuck into a refreshing chilled soup, particularly utilizing the delicious juicy red tomatoes that abound at the moment.

Brodo with Spinach & Ricotta Dumplings

So a brodo, it turns out, is a lovely rustic sounding Italian name for a broth. I've heard some tell that a true brodo must contain pasta of some sort, but bah! These dumplings are pasta enough for me.

Looks like i've achieved my holy grail of broth clarity: I had originally made a beautifully vivid yellow, but somewhat cloudy broth. I placed it in the fridge overnight to pull it out only to find that it had become a murky muddy brown!! So i went to trusty google to attempt the fabled egg raft method for clarifying broths. And check it out!! That is some super clear broth there if i do say so myself.

This is a great wintry dish that is light yet filling and satisfying at the same time. Feel free to replace the spinach with 1 cup of frozen spinach to save some time.

Beef & Pearl Barley Soup

So here i am, completing the holy trinity of pearl barley soups! I've done the chicken and the lamb shank, and now, i present, the beef and pearl barley soup!

Cauliflower Soup

It seems like such a short time ago that i stopped doing my weekly soup recipes! And now I'm back, but i don't think i'll be making new soups every week like I'm used to: I'm simply running out of recipes!

It's strange that before today i'd never made a cauliflower soup. It was such a staple of my family's dinner table when i was younger, and it's beautifully simple in it's flavor. This one errs away from cheese and into a slight depth of flavor from the addition of the curry. But i make no pretense that this soup is anything of my own invention, the recipes comes very closely adapted from Australian Woman's Weekly!

Niu Rou Mien

I am told that niu rou mian, or Taiwanese beef noodle soup, is one of the most popular dishes in Taiwan. As with all such popular dishes, there are devotees out there who will probably scowl at this recipe and say 'thats not how you do it!' I've seen versions that cook the broth and the serving meat seperately, similar to the pho i made, and i can see benefits to both courses of action. In this case i've opted for simplicity. With it's spicy ginger and star anise it reminds me of a less refined, more hearty version of Vietnam's eponymous beef pho. My dad actually preferred the richness of this dish. 

There is a school of thought out there that devotes possibly too much effort to the making of a clear broth. Unfortunately i am of that school! And whilst i'm yet to get to the obscenely clear broths of some of the experts out there, i can offer some handy hints to newbies on how to make their broth not cloudy:

• Always start with cold water and raise the temperature of the broth slowly
• Try not to bring a broth to the boil as this is rough on the proteins in your food and causes clouds
• Skim the surface of your broth regularly. You might think you can do this later but by that time the scum would have reintegrated back into the soup in tiny particles.
• When draining your stock, do so gently and do not press out the liquid, just let it sit

There are more methods incorporating freezing, egg whites and much more! I'll let you know when i try them. 

Tarator with Radish & Tiger Prawns

This dish comes from the wonderful Gourmet Traveller, filled with fancy delights and delicacies. I rarely cook from the Gourmet Traveller because the writers have little eye for expense, and recipes often include rare and costly ingredients, or laborious times in the kitchen. This fresh and decidedly summery recipe, thankfully, is so easy to make you could have it ready to serve within 15 minutes, if the ingredients are chilled. Tarator is a cold soup of Middle Eastern origins. My family turns their nose up at the idea of cold soup, but i think this one won them over. I mean, it's almost tzatziki!

On a side note, i'm loving dill at the moment!

Tsumiki Fusion Soba with Cha Siu Pork

A bit of background lifted from About.com: Tsukimi soba is hot buckwheat noodles with a raw egg topping. Tsukimi means moon viewing in Japanese. Since the egg resembles the full moon, these kinds of noodle dishes with egg toppings are called "tsukimi."

This dish, with it's sweety cha siu pork, bok choy and chicken broth base, it most definitely not your authentic Japanese noodle soup. But hey! This one is even better :)

Tuscan Tomato Soup

Today was such a beautiful day in Melbourne. The sun was shining but there was a light breeze. The air was fresh and the mood was peaceful on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

I have similar dreams of Tuscany, though in truth i know little of the Italian region nor it's climate. But when i read the word 'Tuscan' in a dish's title i am transported to rich tomato sauces and suckling roast pig. What better a day to make a Tuscan tomato soup, rich and satisfying but simultaneously light, redolent with fresh basil and begging to be devoured with a crusty Pana Di Casa and a rich red wine.

Lamb Shank & Pearl Barley Soup

Soup soup soup! Dear god how many soups can i cook? From Wikipedia;


"Soup is a food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth."

enough said. This is my weekly soup recipe! The rich fat from the lamb shanks gives this soup it's delicious mouth feel, and yet it is also nutritious and healthy, abounding with vegetables. Light enough for the beginning of spring, but warming enough for the lagging winter chill.

Moroccan Chicken & Couscous Soup

My father actually made a Moroccan soup last week, a lamb and couscous one. It was delicious, with a flavour that reminded me of goulash but much lighter and i loved how the couscous filled out the soup. To change it up a bit, i've used chicken this time, with lighter spicing to accompany the meat. It works well and makes a delicious spring soup. 

Chorba Bissara - Moroccan Broad Bean Soup

Weekly soup time! Once again, i've gone for a simple recipe. In fact, the recipe i've based this on only has 5 ingredients! But i've jazzed it up a little to suit my tastes and create a slightly more complex flavor. As the weather begins to get warmer i'm squeezing in my hearty purees whilst i can! Coming soon, gazpacho!

Wonton Soup

On my first overseas trip, i visited Hong Kong with my dad, and was delighted to discover the world of dumplings. Xiao long bao, har gow, siu mai... the list went on, but one of my favorite dishes grew to become wonton soup: a beautiful light chicken broth, bobbing with succulent wontons.

Here in Melbourne the quality of wonton soup, and in particular the wontons themselves, varies considerably. This recipe, which i have tweaked from an original by one of my favorite foodblogs, Rasa Malaysia, uses only prawns and no pork in the wontons, for a wonderfully crunchy burst of flavour contained in the little parcels. I was particularly proud of the broth as well, which came out magically similar to the ones i had tasted in Hong Kong.

Middle Eastern Lemon & Chickpea Soup

In the search for my weekly soup to cook and take to work, i seem to be making soups of less and less ingredients! This one is very simply flavored, with the impact of the lemon zest and juice taking it to a different level. The spinach is integral in filling out the dish and providing a textural difference.

Italian Country Soup with Pancetta & Cannelini

Back to my weekly soup regime! It's becoming difficult for me to find soups that will keep me interested, that are good for freezing and taking to work! But i managed to find another gem, in this Italian Country Soup. What really makes this recipe shine is the pork flavour of the pancetta which penetrates every mouthful with a delicious salty richness.

Miso Soup with Tofu, Chicken &Udon

Somehow or another i seem to be getting blamed for my family's burgeoning waistlines and creeping cholesterol levels. Could they be referring to my deep fried rolls of pork, cheese and ham?? Or is it that cake made from cream, condensed milk and evaporated milk they are so disgruntled with? Either way there's no denying that we've been putting on a little bit in the winter months. And so, i turned to the cuisine many of us turn to when looking for something low in fat but high in yum- Japanese.

This is a cheats version of Miso soup where i just use the instant sachets, though true miso soup using miso paste is hardly much more complex. Feel free to change around anything you put in the dish, it's really a free for all. Prawns, pork, beans, sprouts. It's all destined for the pot.

Caldo Verde

Caldo Verde is a popular soup in Portugese and Brazilian cooking, which i came across in Gourmet Traveller. Considering the wealth of cavolo nero (or black cabbage) in the dish i was anxious to see whether i'd like it. Happily, after the first mouthful, i loved it! The cabbage does not overpower the dish and in fact adds to the richness within. Redolent with garlic and the spices fo the chorizo, it's still an easy soup on the tummy and very wintry. I would recommend this soup to anyone who's looking for something a little bit different for winter! Despite the ingredients, it will appeal to almost all palates.

Hungarian Goulash

When i think of Hungarian cuisine, goulash doesn't naturally come to mind, in terms of flavors. I am not sure what spurred this stereotype in my mind, but i cannot reconcile Hungary and paprika. I think of Hungary as European, so when i conjure up it's cuisine in my head i imagine cheesy dishes delicate sauces, or meaty wurst with saukraut. So when i eat goulash my mind travels to Morocco, or Spain, where for some reason it fits in my head. Maybe a trip to Hungary will fix this odd preconception up...

Despite it' thickness and meatiness, goulash is traditionally a soup, consisting of beef, vegetables, and paprika. The ingredients are slow cooked together into a rich saucy combination. This particular recipe came from Brigitte Hafner, and is absolutely delicious and warming.Try using osso bucco to make this recipe for the most succulent goulash.

Broccoli Soup with Chevre

After a couple of luxurious soups for my weekly lunches i decided to cut back, go back to basics, and make a nice, healthy soup for this week's lunches. But... well i couldn't help myself.

Don't get me wrong, this soup REALLY is as simple as they come. Excluding salt and water, this soup is comprised of just two ingredients: broccoli and goats cheese.

Chevre is the French word for goat, and logically, chevre refers in Australia as a type of goats cheese. Rich and creamy, ash covered chevre adds a very distinct note to this dish and is available at any good delicatessen.

This dish is derived from a youtube video i watched from the venerable and terrifying Gordon Ramsey. His logic is sound: why should a broccoli soup need to be tainted and overdone with stocks and creams? He lets the broccoli speak to itself, and the goatiness of the cheese come through as a faint flavor throughout. I agree- to a point. This soup is a wonderful starter or palate cleanser, but it lacks the 'oomph' required to be a main course.

Lamb Harira

So I am on to my fourth weekly soup recipe, and this time i thought i'd try something with a bit more Eastern influence: Harira. A Moroccan soup of complex flavours, it is the soup traditionally used to break the Muslim Ramadan fast. The version i've cooked below is lamb harira however you can omit the lamb and make an equally delicious vegetarian dish.

Chicken & Pearl Barley Soup

Sometimes, when the dreary weather sets in, you want some good old chicken soup like mama used to make. Or something like that. This soup is full of healthy veges and barley, served up in a warming chicken broth with chunks of tender chicken. Yum! Soul food.