Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Sep 2011 DC challenge - stock to soup to consommé

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This month's challenge was hosted by Peta it was to make stock then to make soup and if we wanted we could make consommé. This was so much fun I really liked how easy it was to make consommé using egg whites the traditional method and the modern gelatine method is slow but extremely simple.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Blog-checking lines: Peta, of the blog Peta Eats, was our lovely hostess for the Daring Cook’s September 2011 challenge, “Stock to Soup to Consommé”. We were taught the meaning between the three dishes, how to make a crystal clear Consommé if we so chose to do so, and encouraged to share our own delicious soup recipes!

See HERE for a printable PDF of the challenge recipes and techniques a massive 27 pages

Pea and bacon vegetable soup with high rise white top bread
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Sydney Australia is having the perfect weather (cold and very wet) to have wholesome, hearty (main-meal-type) soups and stew.

I have to say using Peta instructions the stock worked out marvellous so clear and flavoursome.

I used a ham hock bone stock and made pea soup (using 'blue' boiling peas (i.e. dried peas soaked overnight and simmered for 1 hour)) topped with crispy fried bacon pieces I added fresh peas, beans, corn and broccoli in the last ten minutes. The high rise white top bread had a great texture and went superbly with the pea and bacon vegetable soup.

High rise white top bread
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Pea and bacon vegetable soup
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Golden Chicken broth with chicken wontons
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Again using Peta's excellent step-by-step instructions the broth was very clear and so full of taste. I made chicken wontons to serve with the delicious broth a spot-on flavour combination.

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Roasted Carrot, Orange, Fennel and Ginger Soup with Smoked Lime Avocado
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I went to the local deluxe fruit & vegetable shop and looked for the best produce that they had, on the "peak-of-season" table I spied whole bunches of beautiful baby carrots surrounded by navel oranges and fennel bulbs and above these were avocados and ginger. Well I thought carrot, orange, fennel and ginger soup would be perfect and since it is winter here in Australia I knew it had to be a roasted version and that my accompaniment to the soup would be smoked lime avocado slices.

This was such a pleasure to make (the smells while making the last few stages of the soup are amazing) and to eat (since the flavours are so well balanced). The soup's flavour profile is bright (due to the fresh orange juice) with a strong base taste of carrot, fennel and ginger (due to the stock, the veggie roasting and simmering) but the thing I loved the most was the texture of the smoked lime avocado which really enhances the mouth feel of the soup. And the colour is so orange it even stained my plastic hand blender!

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Roasted Carrot, Orange, Fennel and Ginger Soup with Smoked Lime Avocado
Serves 6. Times; prep 1/4 hr, roasting 1 hr, simmering 1/2 hr
1½ pounds (700 grams) baby carrots, cut in half lengthwise
1 large fennel bulb, washed, trimmed and cut in half
1 large onion, sliced in half, leave the skin on the onion, cut off base
1 whole small head of garlic, leave the paper on the head
6 cups (1½ litres) vegetable or chicken stock, or a combination of the two
1/2 cup fresh orange juice (it must be fresh juice), or more
fresh orange peel from one organic orange, remove all of the white pith from the peel
1 thumb (2½ cm/1") fresh ginger, freshly grated
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon freshly ground dry-roasted coriander seeds
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
freshly grated nutmeg, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper
cayenne pepper, or to taste
about 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
3 ripe avocados, sliced, add 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice to stop browning
(a great garnish would be small crispy fried bacon pieces)

Roast on a lightly oil baking pan the carrots, fennel, onion and garlic in a preheated moderately hot oven (190°C/380°F/gas mark 5) until browned about 50 minutes to an hour (the garlic will take about 40 minutes remove when soft). Squeeze out the garlic paste from the roasted head, remove the skin from the roasted onion. In a pot add the stock, garlic paste, roasted vegetables, orange peel, bay leaf, coriander powder, salt and the grated ginger. Simmer gently until the vegetables are soft about 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and 3/4 of the orange peel (a little peel gives a lovely 'bitter/sour' sub-note to the taste of the soup). Process the soup (with a hand blender or machine) until smooth, add the freshly squeezed orange juice, taste adjust the amount of juice to obtain a balance with the carrot and ginger. The soup is meant to be thick. Add the additional spices to taste. Top with limed avocado slices (½ avocado per serve) add a couple of good dashes of smoked paprika on the slices. Serve immediately. (The soup is fantastic cold).

The soup was REALLY orange!
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I made a consommé from the golden chicken broth using the gelatine method it was amazing so clear
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Herb Brioche
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21 comments:

shelley c. said...

Audax, all of your soups look so delicious, and those breads - YUM. Thanks for your help with this challenge -you are an inspiration!

chef_d said...

All your soups look delicious especially the pea and bacon, yum!

Melissa @IWasBornToCook said...

Lots of good stuff here - it all looks delicious!

MyMacaroniPie said...

Your pea and vegetable bacon soup looks wonderful - even though I don't like green peas! :-) Great job once again. The photos are always a nice addition.

Don't Make Me Call My Flying Monkeys! said...

I think I may need to come to your house! You are quite prolific and it ALL looks so good. Amazing job!

Kat said...

Here's a haiku comment:

Starving here at work
Drooling over your fine bread
Wish I'd brought a lunch.

Jenni said...

As always, you did a fantastic job with this challenge! I've never been interested in pea soup before, but yours looks fantastic!

Monkeyshines in the Kitchen said...

I always try to pick my favorite of all the things you make each month. As usual, I completely fail, as it all looks so wonderful. Your consomme blows me away though - it really looks like water. I've never seen clarity like that. Bravo!!

Anonymous said...

I love the bread you make...it looks so professional and comforting and the soups sound mouthwatering..I really loved the roasted carrot one and look forward to trying it

Great job as always Audax

Andy said...

Everything looks wonderful! I'm going to have to try your soup, it looks so yummy!

SimplyCooking101 said...

As usual these look so wonderful and unique - sorry about the blender!

Oggi said...

They all look delicious. I specially love the golden chicken broth with wontons and the breads.

Thank you for helping with the soup challenge.:)

Jo said...

I am amazed at how clear your chicken stock went with the geletin method, I may have to give it a try sometime. Also, your high top bread looks fabulous, I'd love a piece of it toasted up for my breakfast this morning!

Wolf said...

Awesome job, as always! Your bread looks dibine!

My Picadillo said...

Audax thank you so much for your comment on my blog. I was browsing through yours...I love it!! Your pics are great and tons of recipes I want to try out. Your French Yule Log is a must for this Christmas!!

Unknown said...

Hi Audax, I love what you did for the challenge and all the help you gave me. Thanks again

Manu said...

Amazing looking recipes! As always! :-))))

jehanne@thecookingdoctor said...

wow, love that bread..so well risen and looks perfect! thanks for dropping by to my space:-)

ginger and scotch said...

I love the ham hock stock idea and the resultant pea soup looks like delicious comfort food.

I'm also amazed at the transparency of the consomme (essence?) produced by the gelatin filtration. I really must try it soon as I'm very intrigued by it.

and thanks for visiting my blog! Wee Scotch is too young to have wisdom teeth at 1.5 years - it was my husband, Scotch who had the dental work and he was sore for a few days but much better now.

4pure by Andrea said...

Love the Roasted Carrot, Orange, Fennel and Ginger Soup with Smoked Lime Avocado. Certainly never heard of it. You're always putting a lot of time in it and come with original versions. Looking forward how you'll experiment with the next challenges.

Suz said...

You have such great flavours going on in your soups, but I think that pea and bacon soup looks particularly good. I might have to get myself a ham hock this week. I also really love your high rise bread - so beautiful, inside and out - and your clarified chicken stock is amazing!