Parsnip soup makes a great winter warmer

Rebecca Law, who edited the Thrifty Kitchen cookbook, has had the enviable job of testing all of the recipes inside. Now that the weather is getting cooler, she has gone back to this tasty parsnip soup. Originally she was not a parsnip fan, but this soup with its warming touch of curry won her over. She says:

"Don’t get me wrong. I don't have anything against parsnips. I adore them roasted with other root veg, but the idea of them in soup had never really appealed. Pat Hammett, one of our beneficiaries from Southampton, who submitted a recipe for curried parsnip soup for our cookbook, The Thrifty Kitchen, reassured me that I wouldn't be disappointed with this wintery concoction.

"Pat admitted that she wasn’t too keen on parsnips herself but that they worked wonderfully in this recipe, which uses parsnips as its base with the addition of a few potatoes, a cooking apple for sweetness and some curry powder.
It cost little more than £2 to knock up a large pot of this soup and the result was divine. It’s now definitely up there among my favorite soups. Thanks Pat!"

If you would like to try Pat's parsnip soup, here's the recipe:

Curried Parsnip Soup
Ingredients (serves 4):

2oz (60g) low fat margarine
1 onion (chopped)
1 large clove garlic (peeled and crushed)
12oz (375g) parsnips (peeled and diced)
1 medium-sized potato
1 large dessert apple (peeled, cored and diced)
1-1½ tsp mild curry powder
½ tsp turmeric
1 ½ pints of beef stock (made with cubes)
Salt and pepper
1-2tbsp low fat natural yoghurt
Toasted croutons to serve (optional)

Method:
• Melt margarine in large saucepan, fry onions, garlic, parsnips and potato for about 5mins, stirring frequently.
• Add apple and cook for a further five mins, until the vegetables and apple are just tender.
• Stir in the curry powder and turmeric and fry for a further minute.
• Make up beef stock with boiling water and add to the vegetables
• Bring to the boil, turn down heat and simmer for 15 mins: leave to cool slightly.
• Puree in a food processor or liquidiser (or pass through a sieve).
• Pour back into the pan and reheat gently.
• Add seasoning to taste and stir in yoghurt.
Serve immediately with croutons.
Note: this soup freezes well.

Auntie Pheemie's War Time Dumpling - better than Christmas pud?

Irene Dourie, of Dundee, has sent us a recipe that she claims is "lighter than a rich Christmas pudding" but with an ingredients list boasting dried fruit, sugar and suet in equal amounts, it sounds pretty decadent (and tasty) to us. We can only imagine what a treat this would have made during the rationing and austerity years.

Irene writes:

"Auntie Pheemee's War Time Dumpling is a great favourite now handed down to my family and used every Christmas and for birthdays."

Auntie Pheemee's War Time Dumpling

Serves 6

Cooking time 4 hours

Equipment needed:

large pot, 2 pint bowl to cook, large baking bowl

Ingredients:

1 cup self-raising flour

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup sultanas

1 cup currants

1 cup suet

1 cup sugar

fairly large grated carrot

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix soft with milk

Mix all dry ingredients and add milk to dropping consistenct, not too runny. Put in the 2-pint bowl. Cover with greaseproof paper or foil and boil for at least 4 hours. Makes a nice light dumpling for Christmas Day. Serve with Carnation milk and sugar if desired.

Thanks, Irene! And to all of you reading this blog, if you try this, or any other Thrifty Kitchen recipes, why not drop us an email at thriftykitchen@independentage.org.uk to let us know how they turned out? Even better, send us pictures of your creations--and keep those recipes coming!

Whoops! Babuffca Cake Corrections

This is the lovely Agnes Reid, who gave us her recipe for Babuffca cake. Somehow we goofed, and misprinted her recipe. Babuffca cake is a lovely moist marbled cake, and it needs the eggs that we forgot to mention in the list of ingredients. Agnes, we are so sorry! Here is the recipe as it should be:

Ingredients:
1 mug of sugar
2 mugs of self-raising flour
1 mug of milk
1/2 mug of cooking oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 dessert spoon of drinking chocolate
2 large eggs
Plus: large baking tin or ring tin


Mix all of the ingredients together except the drinking chocolate. Put half the mixture into the tin. Gntly mix the drinking chocolate into the mixture left in the bowl, then add this to the tin and gently blend to create a marble effect.

Bake in the oven at 180°C/gas mark 4 for 40-45 minutes.

We have also printed correction slips, which will be sent out with future orders of the Thrifty Kitchen. If you already have your copy of the Thrifty Kitchen, please email us, and we can send you one too.