Tomato Gazpacho

Tomato GazpachoSummer’s run aground and once again the cold winds whistle an autumn tune. It’s time for us West coasters to throw on long pants, switch over to red wines and make plans for the weekend’s mushroom hunt. But wait! Before all that fun stuff the garden needs to be cleaned up: Herbs trimmed, squash exhumed, Peas and tomatoes plucked.

This year’s tomato plants (once again courtesy of the “Tomato People” at the farmer’s market) equalled the mighty bushes of years past in height, but the amount of fruit they yielded doubled! I ‘dunno whether its global warming, different fertilizer, or the sacrifices we offered to Demeter but we’ve got barrel’s full of heirloom Roma and cherry tomatoes in every colour you can imagine. Even if I get around to canning and pickling and eating salad through to October we’ll still have leftovers.

And so. Gazpacho. Read More

Potato and Leek Soup

Potato Leek Soup 1When I was a kid I would run outside every New Year’s Eve just as the ball was dropping and the whole neighbourhood was shrieking “Ten! Nine! Eight…” to stare up into the sky and feel the changing of the old year into the new.

I’d stare and stare listen and wonder what made the last year different, and squidge my eyes shut and search in my guts to feel something new and grown up inside.

Every year was the same. No change… No difference between one year and the next. Not until this year… 2014 is the year everything changed! Read More

Portuguese-Style Kale Soup

Caldo Verde1Caldo Verde is the ubiquitous Portuguese soup made from potatoes, thinly sliced kale and maybe a bit of paprika-spiked Linguiça sausage thrown in for a little Shazam! I’d heard the name mentioned in cookbooks and on other food blogs plenty of times, but I’d never researched or attempted to cook this “green broth” everyone seemed so hot on.  Then winter hit, and I got sick, and all I had left in the garden was a single miserable little kale plant to comfort me. Read More

Chanterelle Mushroom Soup

ShroomSoup2There are people out there (they know who they are!) who cannot appreciate the complex and sublime flavours of fungus because of “texture issues”. Granted, mushrooms can sometimes be a bit challenging texture-wise (read: slimy, knobbly, bumpy, spongy, etc.) but to deny oneself these earthy delights is unthinkable! So, during the wild mushroom season I tend to make a lot of soup so that even my squeamish friends and family get a chance to taste the essence of autumn.

Golden chanterelles can be 50/50 when it comes to texture. If you go picking on a good day you’ll get the dry, crisp stuff that sautés and even grills well, but after a heavy rain those same ‘shrooms will be bloated and a bit spongy. A pureed soup solves all of those pesky texture issues without losing any of the chanterelle’s flavour. Read More