Yesterday I went racing. It is my favourite thing in the world. Even when the wicked fen wind threatens to blow my dress inside out, as fat droplets of rain burst over my hair and run in icy streams down my face, leaving sooty trails of make up behind.
The weather yesterday was deeply unpleasant. People muttered about autumn: ‘That’s it for now’ and looked ahead, miserably, to the prospect of a bitter winter. Cheery stuff. But I had a wonderful day, saw some beautiful horses and spent time with lovely people. And then today, I woke up to perfect autumn sunshine -cool air and warm sun, and a sky you could sail a ship on.
Autumn is a funny time of year. I don’t like cold weather, so it is the season of fear for me. I cling on to the hope that the leaves will stay on the trees, that the skies won’t darken early. It’s probably some deeply primal fear of death, or a very shallow fear of aging. Although I am actually enjoying being old -I was a very reluctant thirty-something, I found it a tedious nothing-decade. My forties are more fun.
To combat the doom and misery of autumn and the looming sneer of winter, I made a soup. What is more, I made it out of parsnips, which I don’t really like. In this recipe, I drown their peculiar flavour in white wine and suffocate their sweetness with garam masala and fresh red chilli. I destroy their weird, stringy texture and make it go away, by pulverizing the parsnips in the blender. This soup is very satisfying to make and delicious to eat. Oh, and it also is very easy to make. I am too old for complicated nonsense.
Indian Summer Soup -serves four
4 large parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
1/3 bottle white wine
1 tbsp. garam masala
squeeze of lemon juice
1 whole red chilli
1 banana shallot, chopped
Place two tablespoons of olive oil into a pan along with the garam masala, and heat gently. Add the chopped shallot and fry for a few minutes until the scent of spices cooking fills your whole head. Add the parsnips, coat in the spice and onion mixture briefly, then add the wine. .. Cook for about 5 minutes on a high heat, then add 250 ml water and the whole chilli. Cover and simmer until the parsnips are soft. Remove the chilli and put in the bin. Add plenty of sea salt and a generous squeeze of lemon to the mixture before blitzing in the blender to a smooth and fragrant liquid.
hongkonggourmet 