Minestrone

I haven't added any recipes for a few posts, so here is the recipe I followed at college for Minestrone.

300g Mixed Veg (onions, turnips-note to northern readers, a turnip is what you call a white swede, celery, carrots, cabbage, leek)

Olive Oil

3/4 litre chicken stock

Bouquet garni-see note

Seasoning

25g spaghetti

25g peas

25g french beans

1 potato

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tomato, skinned, de-seeded and diced

50g fat bacon

1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

2 cloves of garlic

Parmesan to serve

This amount served both me and my husband, this can be doubled, tripled, quadrupled etc

1. Cut the peeled and washed veg into paysanne (small dice or triangles, see Ready Steady Cook post, it has a video) and crush 1 garlic clove

2. Sweat the veg in the oil, you want the veg translucent and al dente, not brown.

3. Add the stock, bouquet garni and seasoning, bring to boil and then simmer for approx 10-15mins

4. Add the peas, beans cut into diamonds.

5. Add the spaghetti in 1 inch lengths (see note 2), the potatoes cut into paysanne, the tomato puree and simmer until the veg and pasta is cooked.

6. Meanwhile finely chop the fat bacon, parsley and garlic and form a paste.

7. make little meatballs, about the size of a pea and drop into the soup.

8. Remove bouquet garni and season with salt and pepper.

9. Serve with shavings of Parmesan.

Note 1

Bouquet garni is a term used to describe a bundle of herbs and spices, wrapped in muslin or in this case a leek leaf. Take the green outer leaf of a leak, place a bay leaf, some fresh thyme, some crushed parsley stalks and about 5 or 6 peppercorns into the middle of the leaf. Fold the leaf over into a square and tie with string, it is a bit tricky and the leaf will crack but trust me, it all comes together. Then place into your pot with the string over the side so you don't have to play hunt the bouquet garni.

Note 2

Wrap the spaghetti in a tea towel, when done with both hands, hold each end of the tea towel. Still holding each end, pull one end down over the side of the work surface, do this a couple of times and voila, broken spaghetti.

Ready Steady Cook!

First of all, I have to say that I didn't think anyone was actually reading this apart from my faithful friend and fellow blogger, Amy (Check her blog http://www.tatamachance.blogspot.com/ this girl is a talented writer) and a couple of family members when they remember. So imagine my suprise when my lovely friend Jemma said she has been following with her husband Jay. So a big hello to The Cages and an official warm welcome to my blog :) Anyone else quietly reading in the wings, don't be scared to say hello, we're all friends here :)

College this week has been really fun. On Monday I was told off in true school fashion for forgetting my neck-tie, oh dear, but I did turn out some fantastic scones and a WI standard victoria sponge. In the afternoon session we were set a Ready, Steady, Cook! challenge. On my team was Caroline and Steven. Steven is already in the industry and seems to be a very worthy chef already so we had a little bit of a head start. After inspecting the trolley of ingredients and nabbing the cheap bottle of white wine, Caroline and Steven set about making a main dish of poached chicken supreme, wrapped in pancetta and stuffed with a mushroom duxelle, served on a potato rosti and creamy white wine and thyme sauce.

I took charge with the dessert: a white wine, strawberry and vanilla infused jelly with vanilla cream, strawberry coulis and strawberry crisps (which, in all honesty weren't quite crisp but that was a time issue, not a chef issue!). We were the only team that didn't use a recipe book, instead entirely relying on our own knowledge. I was really proud with our efforts and Paul, the chef, seemed quietly impressed too.

For Tuesday's session we had some theory and then a cooking skills class, in which we made minestrone. It was to get us used to cutting veg and now, for the rest of the week at home I will be practising cutting things into paysanne, without losing any fingers. (Paysanne: cutting into small dice or triangles) Just for you guys I found a demo of paysanne on you tube, I particulary like the crazy oriental music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqcetdDZMn8