Hot On the Heels

A post hot on the heels of the last one… I must be on a sugar high from all the cake 😉

We have had (mostly) dry and relatively sunny days here, so plenty of walking around the garden, checking out sheep, cows and the occasional “ta-toe” (tractor)…

(check out those lichens… we have some fantastic specimens around here)

…and plenty of drawing for me in the guise of princesses, fairies, kings and queens (this is the first picture I have draw in weeks where Fergal (the King) and I (the queen) don’t have elaborate crowns as we hold our children (James and Grace): fertile ground for psychoanalysis here!!!)…

(Grace is a shoe girl…)

…and soup: delicious, spicy, meaty soup- a large pot of this as autumn creeps in would surely make cold mornings and evenings all the warmer

(apologies to my sister who is 8 months pregnant during a heat-wave in Germany. I feel your pain, sweat, and tears. I do.)

From Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food– what a great book!- I had to adjust the recipe because I didn’t have curry powder or chilies. I don’t like overly hot food anyway so it worked fine. Yummeee!

Sweet Potato & Chorizo Soup

1.8 litres/ 1 ¾ quarts stock, preferably homemade or organic
Oil: I use Rapeseed or coconut
2 large carrots, peeled
2 celery stalks, sliced evenly
2 medium onions, peeled and rough chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
800g/ 1 ¾ pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and rough chopped
200g/ 7 ounces chorizo sausage, sliced
small bunch fresh parsley, fine chopped
1 heaped teasp. curry powder / or I used half teasp. each of: paprika, cumin powder and coriander.
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
(1 fresh red chile, finely diced- I didn’t put this in)

Heat some oil into a large pot , put all the chopped and sliced foods (including the chorizo) into the hot oil.  Add the curry powder and mix it all up.

Cook until the carrots have softened but are not falling apart and the onions have turned a little golden, about 10 minutes.

Pour in the hot stock. Give the soup a stir and let it come to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the soup until the sweet potato is cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Season the soup with salt and pepper. Stir. Taste. Season it to your taste.

Blitz and blend in a blender (I have a very handy hand-held one)

Top with a bit of diced chile or parsley or, as I have done, some dried sea-veg and serve.