If I appear to be in the midst of a soup epidemic I plead guilty Your Honour. It’s cold here and looking after a patient at home for the next week or so (Mr NQN) means that soup is a weekly feature. The routine is simple. I make a big batch of soup (the flavour depending on what is in season or what is on special that week) and I then serve it to him for lunch for the next 4-5 days. You see the thing is is that it needs to be easy because I’m busy tending to the world’s worst patient. He won’t put the laptop or his phone down and gets terribly bored even when he has a host of things to watch on tv. All he wanted to do was show his friends (and anyone with the stomach) photos of his post-surgery open wound and play with his gadgets. Typical boy.
Many of you asked what he was in hospital for. It was “bursitis” with a Staphylococcus bacterial infection. I shall briefly explain: your elbows (as well as the knee and shoulder) have sacs of fluid that float over them and they can get inflamed from rubbing or by infection. His was infected by “Staphylococcus aureus” and most likely from leaning his elbow on his work desk. Yes really! I know, I know… how incredibly innocuous and random. Not from anything as exciting or daring as underwater caving, discovering a Mummy’s tomb or from hiking in the Amazon. It’s mind blowing to think that the result of this is almost two weeks in hospital with surgery, two weeks at home connected to an infuser and antibiotics, and another two weeks after that on oral antibiotics.
So if I can suggest anything to you my Dear Readers, it’s please keep your elbows off the table (mum was right!) and moisturise them. And despite the fact that it was exacerbated by his cracked elbows (men just don’t care about moistursing their elbows do they?), he refused to let me put moisturiser on his good elbow. And this is when I’m not wrestling the laptop out of his bandaged arms (it’s truly an amusing sight). He has kept his sense of humour though and laughed hard when I brought him a copy of Hemmingway’s “A Farewell to Arms” but at times he does get cranky -case in point was the very last sentance he uttered was “I don’t like French food” when I suggested lunch (yes it seems we’ve become Lou and Andy).
Anyway, back to the cauliflower soup. It’s incredibly silky and creamy. There is only the smallest amount of cream in it and when you see that you can get so many serves out of it I hope that the 1/3 cup total of cream will not put you off. Do make sure that the soup is blended well which really aids in achieving the silky texture. I love the crispy crumb topping to give it a crunchy texture. However feel free to leave it off as I sometimes prefer it without it. But I never leave off the crispy bacon bits at the top- ever.
So tell me Dear Reader, are you a good patient or a bad one? Do you follow orders or are you defiant and rebellious?
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July 9, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
I adore soups but the one thing that prevents me from eating them more often for dinner is that I feel that they often lack body. This soup bears no such accusations, for when it is done, it is more like a tomato stew. With the onset of the brutal chill this month, I have been pushed into full soup making mode, almost kicking and screaming (where did the hot weather go? There was no warning or gentle easing). There are advantages to cold weather though: coats, boots and comfort food. And soup is undoubtedly comfort food, especially when it’s paired with crispy meatball croutons.
I admit I usually find croutons a bit of a disappointment unless they’re homemade. The ones that come in packets aren’t nearly as good as they look and one afternoon I was contemplating making my own croutons for a tomato soup when I saw that my bread really wasn’t anywhere near stale enough which meant that I needed to dry it out. So I considered a tastier version of the crouton which was more of a cross between a meatball and a crouton. Certainly the ratio of bread to meat was fairly similar which I knew would make it beautifully crispy and light. I always prefer to up the amount of fresh breadcrumbs if I am seeking comfort.
The soup was thicker (and therefore more satisfying) than I anticipated. Once I added the Orzo it sucked up a lot of the liquid although I didn’t think this was such a bad thing as it made the soup more full bodied. And in turn it meant that this was a brilliant standalone dish for a week day dinner.
So tell me Dear Reader, are you a Winter or Summer person? What do you like about that particular season?
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June 26, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
I don’t often have religious moments and in truth they’re almost exclusively related to the ingestion of food. When I crunched my way into my first slice of this gorgeous crostini with ricotta and salsa verde I found myself muttering “Lordy be still my heart. That Bill Granger is a genius!” Of course since I was crunching away on the crunchiest sourdough (Brasserie Bread’s Quinoa loaf) it came out more looking like a SBS movie subtitle.
Whilst I’ve eaten salsa verde before, this was my first time making it. I’m probably one of the few people on earth that doesn’t really like tomato salsa so I never really ventured into making salsa verde. However I am now a convert. The salsa verde is a gorgeous, fresh tasting accompaniment which reminds me a little of tabouli in its freshness but with salt from the capers and anchovies. You may notice that there are only two slices on the plate. That is because when I made it, some very hungry people couldn’t hold back and proceeded to crunch on them while I was trying to get the photographs together. Some people! 
If ever you’re a fan of fresh, delicious and healthy flavours (and who isn’t?), I urge you to make this simple salsa verde. I have the crumb stained smiling faces of everyone in front of me as proof although I should probably warn that you most certainly risk a parsley in the teeth situation. And thankfully, that’s the only price to pay for such deliciousness.
So tell me Dear Reader, what dish or food has given you a religious moment? A perfect macaron? A pretty cupcake? A plate of soft, juicy ribs?
Pssst! In some exciting news, I will be a guest on Radio 89.7FM’s Food in Focus show this Saturday the 20th of June at 4pm. Tune in for my very first live discussion which is both exciting and scary!
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June 18, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
I was in my pajamas and my carrots were old.
This is not the way I like to start any post admittedly but it’s the brutal truth. It was a Sunday morning and it was cold. I was awoken by the loudspeaker from the Balmoral Burn charity run nearby and I wasn’t in a great mood. And because I had woken so early I had an excess of time and my first instinct was to cook. I needed to make a soup for my husband’s lunch that coming week and the carrots I had in the fridge were starting to look a little less appealing. They weren’t awful but they lost that smooth bright orange coat that they had only a couple of days before.
A friend and I were discussing the inevitable Winter weight gain. Well lamenting it was more like it. Stews, pastas and roasts are de rigeur whereas salads and sorbets are out. One way to try and counteract it is with this soup which is very low in fat but full of flavour. Other benefits are of course that it can be made vegetarian and is very inexpensive to make so there’s no reason not to try a bit of detoxing. If only for a meal or two.
Tell me Dear Reader, what are your tactics to avoid Winter weight gain or weight gain in general? Or do you surrender to Winter and come Summer take action?
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June 14, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
I remember the first time I heard of muffins for breakfast. I wasn’t fooled, I knew it was a way for people to acceptably eat cake for breakfast and it’s a notion that I still eschew to this day. I can eat pancakes or other sweet things but I draw the line at eating cakes aka muffins for breakfast. Morning tea and afternoon tea is fine but I feel that it’s too much for breakfast. To me, it’s a little like buying a Snuggie. That signals the beginning of the end, giving up if you will. Apologies to all Snuggie owners, but you need to know that it looks like a cult outfit
I saw this on Barbara’s blog for her Daring Bakers entry. Her fruit version didn’t quite work out to plan and determined, she awoke the next morning to give this version a go – an attitude I fully understand. The strudel itself is delicious, like a Quiche Lorraine. I knew that I’d love this and with the long weekend coming up I wanted to make this for a brunch. I’m not crazy enough to suggest you get up at 7am to make this. Serving this around 11am seems like a more normal time. And no Snuggies involved I promise
Tell me Dear Reader, what’s your favourite Long Weekend brunch meal? Pancakes? Scrambled eggs? Eggs Benedict? Or something more exciting altogether?
P.S. If you haven’t had a chance to do so, I’d be ever so pleased if you could fill in the Not Quite Nigella survey. There’s a chance to win 1 of 3 Nigella Lawson aprons! 
Link here.
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June 8, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
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