do something new every day

i bought this steamer on sale a few months ago and i never had the nerve to really cook something in it. who knew that it was THAT easy and quick!






of course, ainsley harriott does it much better and if you want the exact recipe you probably should stick to his segment of the series "gourmet express"

to go

the new semester starts today, it might be my last. honestly, i can hardly wait to be done with university, i am getting a little too old at (almost) thirty four! but there is one thing i still need to take advantage of: apparently i could get funding from university if i wanted to spend some time abroad doing research for e.g. a master's thesis.

hey wait a minute: I WANT TO DO THAT!

i spent a week in london recently, it was my second trip to this fabulous city in 2009. as i mentioned on this blog before i've lived in london for a year when i was younger ... and i think i need to go there again. it would feel right to spend some more time in london, and though i have absolutely no plan how to finance this, where to work, where to live ... i think a good start would be to do research for my master's thesis there and at least get a little funding!

one thing i absolutely adore about london is the vast variety of food you can get there. every borough offers its specialities and the various ethnicities just make london a neverending buffet for me! there is always something new to discover and i have to admit that i pretty much munched my way through hammersmith, shepherds bush and china town recently.

boy oh boy, and how much do i love the "to go"-mentality! street vendors even sell you soup, can you imagine that? i loved that. since i am pretty stubborn now when it comes to organic, local and healthy and i just can't get a big variety "to go" here in linz (or at university) i decided to make my own soup today and fill it in my thermos. woah, it was sooo good to have something hearty and warm! fellow students ogled at me jealously!

this recipe is loosely based on a creamy tomato soup recipe i once saw on a gary rhodes program. i think this soup can be as freestyle as you like, but since i haven't added a recipe in a while i'll just give you the exact measurements on my version:


1 tbsp sunflower oil
35 g leek
100 g diced celery
200 g grated carrots
50 g grated parsnips
50 g grated carrots, yellow
500 g diced tomatoes
parsley
1 liter of water
cream or cream cheese
pepper to taste

in a large pot, fry the leek in the sunflower oil over medium heat. add the diced celery and the grated vegetables and turn up the heat.

add one liter of plain water and add the tomatoes. throw in a good handfull of parsley and don't be shy here: it will all be blizzed later, so just cut up the stalks and add them to your soup as they are full of flavour and it would be a total waste to throw them away! let the soup simmer for at least half an hour.


now get out your kitchen gear and blizz the soup - if you want to add more creaminess you could add cream - i only had cream cheese in my fridge so i added a good tablespoon full of that.


a good overdose of pepper :D and the soup is ready for my thermos!