thai green curry paste

serves 4 curry lovers

ingredients:
6 green chillies, chopped
3 shallots, diced
1/2 stalk of lemongrass, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
7 slices of galangal/ginger
1 tbsp of coriander stalks, chopped
zest of 2 limes
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp groundnut oil
1 tsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp cumin

How to:
Put all the paste ingredients into a mortar and pestle and bash for a few minutes. Then blend into a fairly coarse paste with a hand blender. Leave to rest before using...

Mushroom soup w/parsley

It has started to get a bit colder here over the last few days and since the changing of the clocks it's terribly dark early too. So i decided that i would make some mushroom soup as a quick dinner last night. Had it with an open B.L.T sandwich. The mushrooms and streaky bacon compliment each other nicely. Very tasty...

serves 2 soup lovers but 4 as a starter

ingredients:
2 portabello mushrooms, chopped
1 packet of chestnut mushrooms, chopped
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
1 kallo organic stock cube, vegetable
black pepper
maldon sea salt
handful of parsley, roughly chopped

how to:
Put the onion, garlic and celery in a large pot and set on a medium heat with the lid on.
Sweat until soft, stirring occasionally, about 5-7 mins.
Add the chopped mushrooms and stir.
Add the stock cube and enough just boiled water to almost cover the mushrooms in no more.
Season with 1tsp of ground black pepper and a good pinch of salt.
Cover and cook for 20-25mins.
Remove from heat and blend until thickened but still retaining some of the texture of the mushrooms.
Stir in the chopped parsley and season with black pepper.
Taste and adjust the seasoning.
It should have a bit of heat from the pepper.
enjoy...