Carrot you like

Yesterday afternoon Facebook was filled with warnings of snow so to see if it was true I ventured out in it and was "stranded" at my local pub. The snow was so bad that I had to stay there until midnight before I could get home even though the pub is only at the end of my road. This morning I decided to check the snow out again by taking the dog a walk in the hills and returned home feeling colder than a well-digger's backside. There was only one solution; a quick home made soup to get me back to room temperature.

To set the scene I stuck the fifth Doors album on the CD player (a nice slice of hard up-tempo blues- rock to help me prepare the soup faster)  and  went to work. I diced up three medium-sized carrots and two white onions. I then covered the bottom of my trusty Le Creuset dish with olive oil, put it on the hob, turned on the heat and threw in the carrots and onions.

I next measured out a teaspoon each of cumin seeds, ground ginger, ground coriander and black pepper and put them in the pot with the vegetables. The next bit is the key part to getting this ostensibly simple soup right. On a medium heat I mixed the ingredients thoroughly together so that all the flavours are locked in early on in the process- you can see how this is done in the photos of the soup prior to blending it. I then put the lid on the Le Creuset dish and left it to cook for ten minutes on a medium heat.

In the meantime I laid my hands on a couple of chicken stock cubes, boiled the kettle and made one and three quarter pints of chicken stock. I then added it to the dish with a teaspoon of sugar and left the whole mixture to cook on the hob for about half and hour.

In order to finish the soup off I took the dish off the heat after the half hour was up and blended it before reserving it in the Le Creuset Dish. The final touch was to get some unsweetened soya milk (don't use the sweet stuff it'll make the soup too sweet and ruin it) to the dish and mix it in well. I used about a quarter of a teacup's worth as too much will ruin the naturally spicy flavour of this soup.

The Verdict 

This is a simple soup to make if you get the basics correct and mix everything together thoroughly at the right time. It has enough seasoning in it not be overpowering while still having enough kick to warm you up on a cold winter's day. No wonder this soup always seems to be on the menu at restaurants up and down the country.