Homemade Broccoli and Stilton soup.

Just made from scratch. No recipe.

I used

A tablespoon full of olive oil

Half a small red onion, chopped

Half a courgette, grated (zucchini)

A teaspoon of lazy garlic

About a third of a head of Brocolli, chopped finely

A heaped teaspoon of flour

About a 1/4 pint of cream

About a 1/4 pint of water

About 1/4 pint of milk

About 1/2 to 2/3 of a cup of crumbled Stilton.

A slice of brown bread.

Salt and pepper to taste

Prep time and cooking took 25 to 30 minutes.

Makes enough for a large bowl of soup.

Method

Put the oil in pan on low heat. Add the lazy garlic and chopped onion.

Cook on a low heat to soften the onions. Stir gently to stop anything sticking or burning.

Add the grated courgette and simmer for a bit while stirring until the mixture cooks. When the courgette softens add the Brocolli and about 1/4 pint of water to cover the contents.

Continue to simmer on a low heat while the vegetables cook.

Meanwhile mix about a teaspoon of flour and 1/4  pint of milk and 1/4 pint  of double  cream into a paste. Pour off some of the liquid from the pan into a cup and let it cool slightly.

At this stage add the Stilton to the pan and allow it to melt gently.

Then slowly add the the liquid to the flour mix. Once it’s mixed and is a smooth liquid you can pour it into the pan of cooked veg and Stilton.

Simmer till the soup thickens and looks creamy. Add salt and pepper at this stage. It means it’s flavoured without getting absorbed into the veg so is healthier, less sodium.

Serve in a large bowl with a slice of brown bread or whatever you prefer.

It was tasty and warm. Just right for a tasty meal on a cold evening. The cream makes it smooth and works well with the Stilton without it splitting. I enjoyed it.

Toad in the hole from scratch

I followed BBC Good housekeeping magazines recipe for this. Vegetarians and vegans forgive me, you could use vegetarian sausages, but the batter needed eggs….

I used seven frozen sausages

2 eggs

1 small onion, sliced

Accompanying vegetables, potato, carrot and broccoli.

140 grams of self raising flour (I didn’t check which sort I needed)

Milk to add to the batter mix.

I oiled a dish and baked the sausages with some sliced onion for twenty minutes. In the meantime I put the flour in a bowl, made a dent in it and added the eggs stirring with a fork till it was all mixed together. Then I slowly poured in and mixed milk into the batter so it was like thick double cream.

I poured the batter over the part cooked sausages, and returned them to the oven on gas mark 8 because my cooker does not get very hot. I checked them over the next twenty minutes but I still managed to burn the batter a bit. I also think I should have added more milk so that it would have been moister. I chopped the vegetables up small so I boiled them on the hob for twenty minutes. Finally I added gravy granules to some of the vegetable water to pour over the meal.

I’ve never made this before, but it was something my mother made for our evening meals. I’m glad I tried. I will try and remember to make this again.

Doodlicious

Some strange creature or plant. A combination of broccoli and alveoli perhaps? A few added leaves, contours, scales. Zig zaging power lines. Light and shade, using different thickness of pen lines. Giving depth in places. You don’t have to stick to one line, you can vary it. Experience and experiment. Trying to learn.

Second hand curry

Well not second hand, but with left-over ingredients. I made this using curry powder and turmeric. I diced up some courgette, onion, broccoli, and aubergine. I then added a tin of tomatoes. I added water to it to stop it burning on and to add moisture. I also added a few lentils. The fish was bought today. It doesn’t really matter what sort, but a white fish isn’t too strongly flavoured. I’d added it later as you don’t need to overcook fish. It flaked nicely as I cooked and turned a nice golden brown. Much nicer than using a jar of curry sauce.

Broccoli

What is broccoli, a green equivalent to cauliflower?

According to Wikipedia Broccoli is an edible green plant in the cabbage family whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is classified in the Italica cultivar group of the species Brassica oleracea. WikipediaOrigin: Italy, more than 2,000 years ago. Scientific name: Brassica oleracea var. italicaHigher classification: Wild cabbage Rank: VarietyCultivar group: Italica.

I like it, I like the Romaesco version I think it’s called. The version with sculptural spiral swirls that are like a version of fibonnacci number patterns. The spirals have a fractal look about them. If you’ve never seen it look it up online. It’s a fascinating shape.

Broccoli

IMG_20200228_224806_715

It’s a particular type, but I can’t remember what it is called. Something like romancero…? Not sure. Anyway I think its spirals are based on fibonacci numbers. You see the same pattern in flower petals or the seeds on a sunflower head. These remind me of fractal patterns and apparently there is computer code you can use to draw patterns like the Mandelbrot set. A attern out of chaotic numbers. Nature is amazing!