Two Pear Soup for Autumn

A windy day ensued, nothing to do with what I'd eaten the night before, it was a Thursday in November and a day away from the office. My dining partner was coming over later in the day and I wanted to cook something fresh, flavoursome and healthy.

On the player was Cat Stevens' 1974 record Buddha and the Chocolate Box. This album contains the excellent hit "Oh Very Young" and plenty of earnest singer-songwriter material that is very listenable. The album's title came from a plane trip Stevens took and he noticed that, when looking down at what he held in his hands, if the plane had crashed all he had with him were the two items that form the title of the album.

I had been inspired to make a soup featuring Pears, Limes and Celery in an attempt to make something that was quite liquorice like in taste. The Pears were sourced from an excellent independent fruit and vegetable shop that contains a great choice of fresh, seasonal produce and pleasant staff.

The ingredients for this recipe were:

A teaspoon of Fennel Seeds
Two teaspoons of Ground Cumin.
A teaspoon of Black Pepper.
Two teaspoons of Oregano
Three Bay Leaves.
The juice of two Limes.
One Chinese Pear cubed, de-cored but not peeled.
One Conference Pear cubed, de-cored but not peeled.
One White Onion topped, tailed and finely sliced.
One Sweet Potato topped tailed, peeled and sliced width-ways.
Two tablespoons of Tomato Puree.
Two sticks of Celery finely sliced width-ways.
Half a pint of Chicken Stock.
One Avocado de-stoned and peeled.

The method for the soup was:

1. I fried all the herbs and spices, the Lime Juice, the Pears, Tomato Puree and Vegetables for 30 minutes on a medium heat in Olive Oil in my Le Cresceut with the lid on the Le Cresceut.
2. I then added the Chicken Stock and simmered everything for 20 minutes with the lid off the Le Cresceut.
3. I removed the Bay Leaves.
4. After leaving the mixture to cool away from the hob for an hour, I then blended it and served it in bowls with slices of Avocado on top  of the soup.

Rich Autumnal tastes abounded in this soup, partly due to the inclusion of the Pears. My dining partner said the soup was very flavoursome. It was also something she'd have paid for in a nice restaurant. It was also one of the best soups she'd ever had and wasn't too creamy. For my part I was aiming for a soup as good as one I'd had during a recent visit we made to a top restaurant. One way I sought to achieve this was by pureeing the ingredients as much as possible, perhaps this was one reason for the kind and positive comments.

Pureed Shores: a sea of soup with a small island of Avocado in the centre.