Tom Yum Soup

This recipe is based on the Tom Yum Soup that you get at the Thai restaurant at home in Timaru, Sukhothai.  It's perfect for dinner with a bowl of rice, especially when the weather's cooling down.  I'm not going to lie, but it has been said it's worth writing home about!

There isn't a hard and fast recipe for this, you can add or remove things as you please really but the way I usually make it goes a little something like this...

• 3 tablespoons of Tom Yum paste
• 1.5 cups of water
• 1 can of coconut milk
• cabbage (about a 1/6 or so), chopped into 2cm square chunks
• 1-2 carrots, sliced on an angle
• mushrooms (about 10), sliced
• prawns or chicken breast, diced
• sugar, about a tablespoon
• fish sauce, to taste
• Spring onions, finely sliced on an angle
• Coriander, chopped
• Bean sprouts

Heat the water and coconut milk.  When it comes to the boil, add the Tom Yum paste and mix until it's dissolved.  If I'm using chicken I'll add this and let it cook for a few minutes before I add the cabbage and carrots.  If I'm using prawns I'll add the cabbage and carrots first and let them cook for a couple of minutes first, then adding the prawns.  Soon after add the mushrooms and allow all to cook.  It doesn't take long. 

Once it's cooked, turn off the heat and sprinkle in the sugar and fish sauce to taste.  The sugar tends to take the chilli edge of it.  I sometimes add most of the bean sprouts to soften them a little.  Put the soup in  a bowl, top with spring onion, bean sprouts and coriander and serve with a bowl of rice.  Yum!

Tom Yum (without the garnishes!)

Roast Pumpkin and Smoked Garlic Soup

After buying a pumpkin and smoked garlic at the market last weekend, I thought I'd better do something with it this weekend.  I couldn't find a recipe to make a stuffed pumpkin that I fancied, nor did I have the energy or imagination to come up with something this weekend.  Instead I decided to make a soup, generally using this recipe: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/16899/roast+pumpkin+garlic+soup. 

I used about 8 cloves of smoked garlic, that I kept unpeeled and then removed the skin once roasted.  I didn't have any cumin, so I used cajun seasoning (that has cumin in it).  I think I had less pumpkin than that shown in the recipe, so when I was blitzing it in the blender I left out about 1.5 cups of the liquid from cooking.  I didn't reserve any of the pumpkin to put in after blitzing the soup, I just blitzed it all.  To garnish, I swirled creamed cheese on top with basil pesto and frie onions (finely sliced) and basil leaves.

It was good.  A nice slightly spicyness from the cajun seasoning and you could definitely taste the smokyness of the garlic as opposed to using regular garlic. I served it with a super grainy, seedy mini loaf that I bought from Pandoro, a great Italian bakery.

I'm looking forward to more soups as the weather cools down, especially my favourite Curried Root Vegetable Soup.

Roast Pumpkin & Smoked Garlic Soup

La Cigale French Market

I've been in Auckland for about 5 months now, living in the city for about 2 months, but Saturday was the first time I have been to the French Market in Parnell.  I've heard about it a lot and operates on Saturday and Sunday mornings, so being just about 10-15 minute walk away I think I'll be going most weekends now that I've found it.  Although not a truly French Market and quite small compared to the likes of Borough Market, it was awesome.  I loved wandering around seeing all the fresh produce, a lot of it organic or spray-free.  There was fresh and smoked fish, smoked sausages, vanilla extract, a great Turkish houmus and olive stand and much more.  Next time I go I'm going to buy a delicious smoked garlic salt seasoning.

I bought a clove of smoked garlic at the fruit and vege area, as well as a small squash.  I'm thinking I can do something together with them...though not sure what.  Maybe soup, though I'd like to hollow the squash out and cook it filled with something.  There was lots of free samples about which is also a bonus, but I bought a ham off the bone roll with rocket, lime aioli and tomato relish and a boysenberry frozen yoghurt.  Both were very yummy.  I'll have to work my way around the rest of the places in the coming weeks and months...

La Cigale French Market, Parnell

Fruit and veges at the French Market

Many flavours of houmus

Delicious freshly-made boysenberry frozen yoghurt