Vegetable and Chicken Stew (A very satisfying combo)

Last whole week has been a nightmare. I mean something like a boiler breakdown in mid November leaving you with no hot water and no central heating is something that happens only on TV commercials where they are tying to persuade you to to purchase one particular brand of boiler, right? Wrong! It happens . It happened to us. Seven days ago the boiler made a series of very threatening sounds and then went completely silent. Result: No Central heating and no hot water running from the taps. Total nightmare.

The CH problem has been temporarily solved with a portable electric heater which our kind home-owner provided us with but no hot water means taking a bath with only one small bucketful of water ; water that has been heated in a big pot on the gas hob, no showers , and washing up the dishes all other pots and pans in ice cold water , which is ice cold even with rubber gloves on.

My one major concern was doing up the washing up in the evening after dinner. The idea of washing dishes in cold water in the evening is something I just could not bear. So I decided that till I had this problem I would cook dishes that would be one dish meals ,could be cooked in one big pot and eaten in disposable plates or bowls.
Now a thick soup is something all of us love at home. So I knew this stew would definitely be agreeable to all three of us. It's yummy, very filling, nutritious and the perfect thing to eat with a piece of nice crusty bread on a very wintry evening.

So Stew it was: A vegetable and chicken stew made with frozen veggies and small chunks of chicken.
Ingredients:
3 cups of mixed frozen vegetables (the variety I had was peas , carrots, corn and beans)
1 cup finely diced chestnut mushrooms (use any other you like)
1/2 cup shredded cabbage,
1/2 cup cooked rice (I had some leftover in the fridge)
1 onion finely chopped,
2 cloves of garlic crushed,
2 cups of chicken cubed (uncooked)
2 cubes of OXO chicken stock (use any brand you prefer)
5 cups of water
1 tblspn cornflour
2 tblspn butter (can be replaced with 3 tblspns of oil)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Heat the butter in a saucepan and saute the onion and garlic for a few minutes on a moderate heat until they are light brown in colour.
2. Add all the other vegetables in there frozen form , cabbage and the chopped mushrooms.
3. Next add the cubed chicken and saute until chicken turns white on the outside.
4. Add all the water now and bring to a boil. (The quantity of water is approx ,add more if you like) . When the water reaches a boil crush the stock cubes in it stir well and lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes or until chicken pieces are completely cooked .
5. Now mix the cornflour in a small amount of cold water and add this to the stew. Keep simmering until the stew thickens. At this stage add the cooked rice. Then add salt and pepper to taste and serve hot with big chunks of warm crusty bread.

This a very heart -warming stew. Children love it and is also great for people recovering from any illness. And of course great when you have no hot water to do the washing up:;)

Autumn in a plate

Fall : The most colourful and vibrant season of the four. The air is cold and crisp and Nature shows off it's most flamboyant side. It fills me with joy. Makes me want to be a child again and go frolicking in the multi-coloured leaves scattered all over the walkways. In fact last Autumn I did just that. On my way back home from somewhere I came across a stretch of footpath that was so thickly covered with coloured leaves that I just could not stop myself from kicking and blowing the leaves as I walked . Those are moments I will always cherish.

Even the markets are so colourful . There too the theme is red ,yellow and orange. My favourites are pumpkin, butternut squash , sweet potatoes,red and yellow peppers and of course last but definitely definitely not the least sharon fruit or persimmon as it is otherwise known. I could live on these for the next few weeks.

The Soup you see here is the perfect celebration of Autumn. It's the perfect food on a cold October night with warm crusty bread.

You need:

1 cup chopped butternut squash (you don't need to to chop too fine as we are going to blend it all in the end),

1 cup chopped sweet potato,

1 onion chopped,

5 to 6 french beans,

1 carrot chopped,

1/2 cup cauliflower chopped,

3 cloves of garlic crushed,

2 cups veg or chicken stock,

salt and pepper to taste

1 tblspn Cooking oil and tblspn butter.

Method:

1. Heat the oil and butter together in a saucepan and saute the garlic and onions until onions are translucent,

2. Add all the rest of the veggies and continue cooking for on medium heat for 5 mins.

3. Next add the stock and 1 cup plain water and bring to a boil,

4. When it comes to a boil lower the heat and simmer for 10 mins till all the veggies are tender.

5. Season with salt and pepper and give it a taste.

6. If you have a stick blender you can immediately blend the soup in the saucepan itself or let it cool down a bit and then blend it to a smooth consistency.

Accompanied by thick slices of crusty bread warmed in the oven this makes a perfect supper.

Sweet Potato Soup with Corn and Red Pepper

Now sweet potato is something that I have always thought of as food eaten when you are fasting. I mean back home in India in the city where I come from, people buy and eat sweet potatoes in all its different forms mostly on days when they are fasting. So Sweet potatoes with corn and peppers ..... unheard of.

But living in a foreign land means you get to experience different tastes and and cook different combination of foods which is so good. Much as I love India and indian food (thanks to my mother, mother-in-law and Tarla Dalal) , being in England and cooking here from different cook books authored by english chefs is so enriching. This recipe is one such new experience for me. I followed this recipe from Sally Mansfield's Cookbook "Potatoes: more than mashed.

Do make it and let me know how you liked it:

Serves 3 to 4

The ingredients are:

1 tblspn oil, (the recipe suggests olive oil but I used vegetable oil and that was fine too)

1/2 onion chopped,

1/2 a medium sized sweet potato diced,

1 clove of garlic crushed,

1 small red chilli deseeded and chopped (alternatively you can use 1/4 tspn of red chilli powder),

3 and a 1/4 cups of vegetable stock (you can prepare stock from scratch or use 2 oxo or maggi stock cubes for that much stock)

1 tspn of cumin powder,

1 tblspn of chopped red pepper,

1 cup sweet corn kernels ,

salt and ground black pepper and lime wedges to serve.

Now what do you do with all these:

1. Heat the oil and fry the onions for 5 mins until softened. Add the garlic and chiili and fry further for a couple of minutes.

2. In the same pan add 1 and 1/2 cups of the stock and simmer for 10 mins.

3. Add the cumin powder now along with the diced sweet potato,stir and simmer for 10 mins again. Season with the salt and pepper.

4. Finally add the red pepper, sweet corn and simmer again for 10 mins.

You can now process half of the soup until smooth and then stir into the rest of the chunky soup or you can simply procees all the soup andjust garnish with few kernels of corn and bits of red pepper the wat I did.

Serve with the lime wedges for squeezing over.

The combination of sweet corn and sweet potato is simply great and gives the soup a fab colour.

A Dieters Delight (Veg Clear Soup)

A Dieters Delight, originally uploaded by Anupama 72.

Between me and my husband it is I who should be counting calories and checking my weight every few days. But that is not how it is. It is my husband who is calorie conscious and somewhat of a fitness freak. Every few days he has a guilt trip if he has eaten more than he should at a meal or has had even as much as one glass too much of coke.When he is on one such guilt trip he calls me from the office and asks me to make him a very light supper.
So last week when I was away at a birthday party and he was going to be alone for supper I made him this soup. (Btw I had Pav Bhaji , birthday cake, and coke at the party)Its light but very wholesome and yummy. Even my 4 yr old will happily slurp on it.(Btw I had Pav Bhaji , birthday cake, and coke at the party)

What goes in it:
1/2 cup each of the following veggies diced:
carrots, peas, spring onions, cauliflower, cabbage sweetcorn or baby corn, french beans.
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 tblspns oil
2 tspn soy sauce,
5 cups vegetable stock,
1 tblspn cornflour
salt to taste

What you do:
Heat the oil in a saucepan
Saute the garlic first and then all the veggies
Add soy sauce and salt
Add the stock and boil the soup.
When it comes to boil add the cornflour mixed in a small amount of water.
Simmer the soup till the veggies are tender but stiil firm.
Add some pepper to taste and serve hot.

How do you prepare veg stock:
Stock can be prepared either from vegetables or from those parts of vegetables that we normally discard. For eg: carrot peels, cauliflower stalks,outer shells of green peas etc.So don't throw these away.(I give Vaishali full credit for this idea)
Alternatively take two cups of mixed veggies (potatoes, carrots, peas, beans, cauliflower, cabbage) all cut into big pieces. Add to this 5/6 cups of water and cook in a pressure cooker. When cooked pass the stock through a sieve. This liquid is your veg stock. This can be poured into ice trays and frozen and used as and when required.

I'll now hop over to Tami's Super Souper Challenge with my Soup. Hope she likes it too

Oh! and yes with this post my blog is 50 posts old today.

Cream of Vegetable Soup for a cold Winter Night

Hi to all my dear Bloggo-buddies. Here in England its getting cold . Although it is still Fall, it is slowly giving way to Winter. Back in India winter always means great vegetables . After a hot October, its November that brings with it the best of veg produce.The vegetable vendors have their stalls overfull with delicious red carrots, juicy amd plump tomatoes, greenest of beans and the lushest of salad greens. Just looking at all the veggies always makes me go into overdrive and I normally end up buying all sorts of veggies sometimes even those with which I do not know what to do. I guess I still associate winter with fresh vegetables although here in Engalnd you don't really mark the difference that much.
The recipe I am sharing with you today is one of my favourite winter recipes. Its easy to make and a meal on its own or is great with a couple of pieces of warm crusty toast . Its warms the heart and is great comfort food.

Ingredients:

3/4 of a cup of each of the following veggies chopped:
Carrots, french beans, spring onions, mushrooms, potatoes, coriander, corn kernels, green peas, cauliflower.

2 to 3 cloves of garlic chopped

3 tblspns oil to saute the veggies

4 to 5 cups of water

2 tblspns of cream or simply half a cup of milk

1 cube of veg stock (Available as Oxo cubes in UK and by Maggi in India)

Salt and pepper to season

How you go about it:
1. Heat the oil in a saucepan or kadhai, first add the chopped garlic and green onions. Saute for a couple of minutes.

2.Then add all the other chopped veggies and saute for a while. Crumble the stock cube and add. Add salt and pepper .

3. Add the water and bring to boil. Simmer till the veggies are tender.Switch off the heat. If you have a electric hand blender you can blend the soup immediatey in the saucepan itself. But if you have to do it in a blender jar then let the soup cool down a bit and then blend until smooth.

4. Put it back on the gas and let it simmer for a while. Check the seasoning. At the last stage add the cream or milk and stir it in gently. The soup is ready to eat. Garnish with more coriander and serve with warm crusty buttery toast or garlic bread.