Reader's & writers paradise

Thank you.

Not sure how much time I'll be able to spend here with other commitments but I will drop by once in a while to read your poetry. Keep up the good work

Thanks Horsa, glad to be here.

Tomato and carrot soup

 Preparation time: 15 minutes
 Cooking time: 1 1/4 hours

 Ingredients for four
 1/2 oz. (15g.) butter
 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
 6 oz. (175 g.) carrots, peeled and finely chopped
 1 lb. (450 g.) tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
 1 eating apple, peeled, cored and chopped
 Bouquet garni of thyme, marjoram and 3 bay leaves
 2 pints (1.1 litres) stock
 Freshly ground black pepper
 4 tablespoons double cream
 4 tablespoons croutons

 Heat the butter with the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan. Put in the onion and garlic and cook over a low heat for 10-15 minutes until the onion is soft and transparent. Add the carrot and stir over a low heat until all the fat has been absorbed. Add the tomatoes, apple, bouquet garni and stock, season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

 Remove and discard the bouquet garni and pass the soup through a fine sieve or a food mill. Return it to a clean pan, heat through and adjust the seasoning.

 Pour the soup into warm bowls, and garnish with a spoonful of cream with croutons round it.

Carrot soup

 Preparation time: 10 minutes
 Cooking time: 1 hour

 Ingredients for 6-8

 2oz. (50 g.) butter
 1 lb. (450 g.) onions, peeled and thinly sliced
 1 tablespoon plain flour
 1 1/2 lb. (700 g.) carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
 3 pints (1.7 litres ) stock
 Salt and pepper
 2 teaspoons mild curry powder
 2 tablespoons water
 Cauliflower sprigs, blanched for garnishing
 Croutons for garnishing

 Heat the butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan. Dust the onion rings with the flour and cook them gently in the butter, stirring well, until they are soft and golden after 10-15 minutes.

 Add the carrots and the stock, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer with the pan uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until the carrots are soft.

 Pass the soup through a sieve or food mill and return it to the pan. Mix the curry powder to a smooth paste with the water. Stir it into the soup and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Serve hot, garnished with cauliflower sprigs and croutons.

Oxtail soup

 Soaking time: At least 4 hours
 Preparation time: 30 minutes
 Cooling time for stock: 5 hours
 Cooking time: 3 3/4 hours

 Ingredients for 4-6

 1 meaty oxtail, divided into joints
 1 teaspoon vinegar
 2 tablespoons dripping
 2 onions, peeled and chopped
 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
 3 sticks celery, trimmed and chopped
 1 rasher bacon, roughly chopped after the rind has been cut off
 3 pints (1.7 litres) stock
 Bouquet garni
 3 bay leaves
 Salt
 Freshly ground black pepper
 1 carrot, peeled and cut into rings
 1 small onion, peeled and sliced
 2 tablespoons plain flour
 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
 4 tablespoons sherry or Madeira

 Soak the chopped oxtail in enough cold water to cover, with 1 teaspoon of vinegar added, for at least 4 hours. Drain and wipe dry. Heat half the dripping in a large, heavy-based saucepan. Add the oxtail pieces and cook over a high heat, shaking the pan frequently, until browned on all sides. Remove the oxtail with a slotted spoon.

 Add the chopped onions, carrots, celery and bacon to the juices in the pan and cook over a medium heat, stirring every now and then, until the onions are golden-brown. Return the oxtail to the pan, add the stock, bouquet garni and bay leaves, season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Skim off any white scum that rises to the top, then simmer the soup for 3 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bones.

 Strain off the stock into a large bowl and discard the onions, carrots, celery, bacon, bouquet garni and bay leaves. Leave the stock to cool for 1 hour, and then put in the refrigerator for about 4 hours, until any fat has hardened on the surface. Remove and discard the fat.

 Boil 1 pint (575/600 ml.) of the stock in a small pan, add the carrot and onion rings, and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain off and keep the stock, and reserve the rings for garnishing.

 Remove the meat from the bones and chop finely. Heat the remaining dripping in the cleaned saucepan. Add the flour and stir over a medium heat until the flour turns the colour of a hazelnut. Gradually add all the stock, stirring continuously until the soup comes to the boil and is thick and smooth. Simmer for 3 minutes and then add the meat, nutmeg and lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary, and stir in the sherry or Madeira. Garnish each serving with a portion of the cooked carrot and onion rings.