FoodieChat

Winter means beef noodle soup time. It’s so warming, healthy and delicious - compared to its fatty friend, laksa.  And the bonus is that it’s cheap - well most of the time, but definitely here at Pho  Noodle House. $8.50 will get you a steaming bowl of chicken or beef noodle soup, with the appropriate mountain of dunk your own condiments - bean sprouts, vietnamese basil, chillis and lemon juice.  The chicken one had more than enough meat - silky noodles, with onion and shallots touching the already deeply satisfyingi soup.   I couldn’t resist trying the summer rolls - $6 for 3 and regretted not sharing them, they were so filling, with prawns, vermicelli, lettuce and pork.  The dipping sauce one of the best - perfectly balancing sweet and savoury elements, and topped with toasted peanuts.

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I could live off this.  All your vitamin needs in a low fat, low carb, filling bowl of steaming hot soup. If you need carbs to satisfy - add a chopped potato or a half cup of pasta shells or even some couscous. 

Ingredients 

• 2 zucchini
• 3 sticks celery
• 1L chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 large carrot
• 3 tomatoes, quartered and deseeded
• 1 red capsicum
• 1 onion or leek
• Half cup of red lentils
• Salt and pepper to season (more…)

Winter - perfect for long slow stews. This recipe comes from Australian Gourmet Traveller. The sauce is very rich. It is pretty much just white wine and tomatoes! The saffron adds a luxurious touch to the melt in your mouth braised meat. It’s fantastic as you prepare it, whack it in the oven and then forget about it for a couple hours whilst you enjoy your guests’ company rather than slaving away in the kitchen and letting them have all the fun!

Apparently it’s a recipe from a Melbourne restaurant called Massani. It’s in the section of Gourmet Traveller where readers write in asking for recipes from their favourite restaurants.   Here’s the link:

http://gourmet.ninemsn.com.au/gourmettraveller/recipes/db/gourmettraveller/71/7166.asp

My friends Dean and Kym first made this for me.  This is pumpkin soup with a twist - add a tablespoon of red curry paste when you’re sauteeing the onions and garlic. And replace your milk/cream with coconut milk.  Serve with a dollop of coriander pesto.

Ingredients

• 1kg pumpkin
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon red curry paste
• 400ml can of coconut milk

Method

1. Chop up pumpkin (careful of fingers)
2. In a saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and sautee the onion and garlic for 1 minute. Add red curry paste and heat until fragrant
3. Add pumpkin, and then stock. Put lid on and simmer for 20 mins or until pumpkin is cooked.
4. Pour mixture into food processor and blend until smooth
5. Add coconut milk in a steady stream. Serves 6 as an entree or 3 as a main.