Indian curried pumpkin soup

Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp ginger, finely grated
1/4 cup (75g) korma curry paste
800g butternut pumpkin, peeled, seeded, chopped
2 carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, coarsely chopped (or whatever you have)
1/2 cup (100g) red lentils
4 cups (1L) chicken stock or vegetable stock

To serve
1/2 cup (140g) Greek-style yoghurt
1/2 Lebanese cucumber, 1/2 tomato, 1/2 red onion, all finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
Coriander leaves

Method
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook brown onion, stirring, for 5 mins or until onion softens. Add the ginger and curry paste. Cook, stirring, for 1 min or until fragrant.
Add pumpkin, carrot, apple, lentils and stock. Increase heat to high. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 25-30 mins or until the vegetables are tender.
Carefully use a stick blender to blend until smooth.

To serve. Top with yoghurt, cucumber, tomato, red onion, cumin seeds and coriander or simply serve with yogurt toasted cumin seeds

Chook's note: if you don't have the curry paste use whatever you have or simple use good old Clive of India curry powder it has lots of wonderful flavours.

Moorish chicken and lentil soup

Ingredients
½ tsp saffron threads in ¼ cup boiling water
6 chicken drumsticks
¼ cup olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
3 Tbsp grated ginger
800gm can chopped tomatoes
½ cup Puy or green lentils
4 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup long-grain rice
1 lemon juiced
salt and pepper
½ cup fresh coriander
Serves 6

Method
Combine saffron and boiling water and leave infuse for 5 minutes.
In a large saucepan, brown chicken drumsticks in a little oil for 1-2 minutes on each side. Add onion and garlic to the pan and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes.
Add ginger, dissolved saffron, tomatoes, lentils, browned chicken and stock.  Bring to the boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.  Add rice and simmer for a further 15 minutes.
Stir in lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add fresh coriander just before serving.

Chook's note: 1/2 tsp saffron threads can be substituted with 1/4 tsp powdered saffron. I quite like adding a dollop of natural yogurt and a sprinkling of toasted cumin seeds when serving.
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Preserved lemons and limes 

Ingredients
1 kg lemons or limes – if using limes, you may need a few extra if they aren’t particularly juicy
100–150g salt, cooking salt is perfect
The following are optional, but add a little extra and look pretty

For each jar of lemons
1 bay leaf (or 1 cinnamon stick and 2 cloves)
1 allspice berry
5 black peppercorns

For each jar of limes
1 red chilli
1/2 tspcoriander seeds
5 black peppercorns

Method
1. First sterilise your jars, then leave to cool completely.
2. Cut the lemons or limes into quarters, or halves if very small. Place a tablespoon of salt into the bottom of each jar. Put a few layers of lemon or lime quarters into the jar, pressing down as you go to release the fruit’s juices.
3. Slide your chosen spices down the side of each jar. Sprinkle over another layer of salt, then add another layer of lemon or lime quarters and repeat these layers until the jar is full. Remember to keep pushing down as you go. The fruit needs to be completely covered in salty juice – if your fruit hasn’t released enough of its own juices, squeeze a few extra fruit and add to jars.
4. Leave 1 cm (1⁄2 in) of space between the top of the fruit and the lid of the jar – you don’t want the salty fruit touching the lid or it will corrode the metal or use plastic lids. Seal the jars and let them sit in a cool, dark place for 6 weeks.
5. You know your lemons or limes are preserved when the salt has completely dissolved into a gel-like liquid.  Rinse the salt off before use unless you want the extra salt in your dish.

Chook's note:
Normally I don’t use large quantities in my cooking so I preserve only a few fruit at a time (see pic above). I slice off what I need and return the rest to the jar. I always take a small jar of each when we go caravanning - great on the BBQ and elsewhere.
These will keep for years, but opened jars are best stored in the fridge. If the top layer of fruit looks discoloured, just discard it and the rest should be fine to use.
Makes a lovely gift. 
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Pasta a la Chook

Sorry no pix of the pasta, the whole things was devoured before I got my act together

Sometimes you want something simple and quick. Try this! Pasta is always a favourite with me and I have been known to eat basins full. This is a good candidate for a big nosh up.

Ingredients
papadella - enough for two
1 Tbsp pesto
2 rashes of very thin bacon, chopped
4-6 small anchovy fillets, chopped
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 green onion, chopped
a little preserved lemon
small chili
drizzle of oil for frying

Method
Cook pasta according to directions.
In the meantime, fry the remaining ingredient until crisp and aromatic. The anchovies will simply melt into the other ingredients.
Drain pasta and return to pot with a little of the cooking liquid. Stir through pesto and spoon into plates. Sprinkle the crispy topping over the pasta ..... and voila! Serve with grated parmesan or simply a dash of EVO.

Chook's note: you could use many other ingredients as a variation on this recipe.
The pesto was last year made with walnuts and my home grown basil and then frozen in ice block trays (see recipe February 2018 or simply search for 'pesto' using the search tool).
I have posted a simple recipe for preserving lemons - see next post, it is easier than the one I posted  May 2017
Remember that pesto can be made with other herbs - parsley, spinach, kale, rocket. I use walnuts because I prefer their softer taste but other nuts work as well - the traditional pine nuts but also cashews and almonds.
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Autumn Harvest Festival time

Do you remember Harvest Festivals at Sunday School? As a food lover, it’s something that remains a delightful memory for me. We’re enjoying it right now on a small scale. Autumn is the most wonderful time of year for me.

Drying sage, thyme and basil out of my garden. The pumpkin was a gift but is now soup!

I remember autumn mornings after there had been some rain, all jumping in the car and going out to collect mushrooms. I didn’t like eating them, then - how things change!! but I loved collecting them.
Now is the time to collect, dry and preserve. Simple enough to buy produce when it's in a glut, but as I think I've said before, you don't have to have a huge garden to produce some goodies for your table. I live in a high-rise in the heart of the city and get great pleasure harvesting from my wee garden - 5 floors up. My mini potted orchard now boasts 2 varieties of plum as well as the fig, lemon and lime. Over time these little trees have produced enough fruit to eat, but also to make jam or marmalade or preserve in salt or brandy. We're really looking forward to the plums, hopefully next year!
Also in large pots I have a range of herbs - mint, basil, coriander, parsley, rosemary, marjoram, sage, thyme etc. All a muddled mixture and unbelievably fragrant.

It's easy enough to do. If I can do it, then anyone can. My garden is testament to Darwin's theory of 'survival of the fittest'. What works, works and what doesn't goes the way of all living things. I have added simple irrigation to the pots and that keeps them all happy and tumbling out of their pots.
So now it's time to collect and dry those herbs for winter dishes, time to dig out the soup recipes and get cooking. Take a trip to King Valley and the Milawa region and collect walnuts, honey and cheese. Hmm ... just writing about it is making me hungry. Walnuts and apples or pears or mandarins, ...... cheeses and and .... I’ll leave it to you to wallow in your own season’s favourites while I go make lunch - vegie and cheese muffins. Yum.
For some useful tips on what to do with leftover herbs etc go to my May 2017 posts. Bon appetite! 
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