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Mexican Chilli Soup with Cheese Quesadillas

A comforting soup flavoured with four different types of chillies, served with grilled cheese Quesadillas.

This is essentially soup and sandwiches – comfort food, Mexican style.

The soup is flavoured with four different chillies – Ancho, Guajillo, Chipotle and red chillies. The soup is rich, Smokey and very delicious with its flavour coming from a wonderful paste made from pan roasting the chillies along with tomatoes bell peppers, garlic, onions and spices.  Charring these in a pan before blending makes such a difference and really brings the flavours to life. Diced carrot and celery are fried, stock is added, then the paste followed by a good simmer. Before serving diced bell peppers, more sliced red chillies, diced onion and some fresh coriander leaf are added to give the soup texture and freshness.

The Quesadillas are the perfect accompaniment and very easy to make – just don’t tell anyone how easy! They can be made in minutes, and eaten even quicker.

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Soup gives 4 portions

Quesadillas recipe for 2 persons

Cooking time 40 minutes

 

Ingredients and Method

For the Mexican Chilli Soup

1 stick celery – dice

1 medium size carrot – peel, dice

1-2 tbsp. olive oil

4 tomatoes

3 small white onions – leave whole with skin on

1 ancho chilli

1 guajillo chilli

2 red chillies – thinly slice one chilli, Set aside in a bowl

4 cloves garlic – leave skin on the cloves

1 orange bell pepper – dice half the pepper, set aside in a bowl

1 red bell pepper – dice half the pepper, set aside in a bowl

1 red onion – dice, set aside in a bowl

Generous handful of fresh coriander – keep a few stalks aside and roughly chop the rest

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp chipotle paste

1/2 tsp oregano

4 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1.5 litres chicken stock

Method: Start by warming a large flat pan or griddle over a medium heat. Place the tomatoes, garlic, the chillies, half the bell peppers and onions on and dry fry until they become slightly charred, for approx. 7-8 minutes, turning halfway through. Add the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and dry fry until the spices become aromatic.

Remove the contents from the pan, add the spices to a food processor and leave the rest on a chopping board to cool for a few minutes. Once cooled remove the skins from the garlic and onions, but leave the skins on the peppers and tomatoes. Add everything to the food processor along with a few coriander stalks,  1 tsp smoked paprika, 2 tsp chipotle paste, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp oregano and 4 tsp brown sugar. Blitz until a smooth paste is formed, make sure you blend it well as the smoother the paste the smoother the final soup.

Add 1-2 tbsp. of olive oil to a deep soup pan over a medium heat, once hot add the diced carrot and celery and fry for 4-5 minutes until softened. Next add the chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Now add the paste and stir well, bring back to the boil then reduce to a simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Complete the soup by adding the diced bell peppers, onion and sliced chilli then simmer for a further 5 minutes – enough to heat these through but not so long that they loose their texture. As a final step add the chopped coriander and stir through. The soup is now ready to serve.

For the cheese Quesadillas

4 corn tortillas (2 per person)

Canola oil – in a spray or ramekin with pastry brush

2 handfuls of sweetcorn

2 medium tomatoes – diced

1 small red onion – diced

Handful of coriander – roughly chopped

150g strong cheddar cheese – grated

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Pinch of sea salt

Garlic mayonnaise – optional, to serve

Barbeque sauce – optional, to serve

Method: Begin by pre heating your oven to 170°c, and warm a flat frying pan over a medium heat.

In a large glass bowl, mix the tomatoes, sweetcorn, coriander leaf, ground coriander, ground cumin, smoked paprika, salt and cheddar cheese.

Spray one side of the corn tortillas with canola oil then heat the tortilla on that side until golden, remove and repeat with the rest of the tortillas.

Assemble the quesadillas by spooning the mixture on the non cooked side of the tortillas then like a sandwich place another tortilla on top. Place the assembled quesadillas on a baking tray and heat them through in the oven for approx. 15 minutes, until the cheese in the mixture melts – this could be slightly quicker or slower depending upon how big the tortillas are and how much filling you have added.

Remove them from the oven, let them cool slightly then cut into quarters. As an optional garnish drizzle some garlic mayonnaise and some barbeque sauce  over them.

 

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Ferret Chef1 Comment

Stir fried Scallops with Roe sauce

Stir fried scallops and vegetables with a delicious scallop roe sauce.

A recipe of my own design. Stir fried scallops with green beans, onion red pepper and spring onion. Served with a delicious sauce made from scallop roe, chilli, garlic, ginger, honey, oyster sauce, dark soy, Shaoxing and vinegar.

Serve with boiled rice, fried rice or noodles.

Serves two

Preparation 15 minutes, cooking time less than 10 minutes

Ingredients and method

For scallop roe sauce:

Roe from King scallops – from 4-6 scallops

1 large red chilli – remove stalk and seeds

4 cloves garlic – peel

Thumb of ginger – peel, cut into matchsticks (for smoother sauce)

2 dessert spoons honey

2 dessert spoons dark soy sauce

2 dessert spoons oyster sauce

1 dessert spoon Shaoxing rice wine

1 dessert spoon vinegar

Method: Use a mini chopper or food processor to blitz into a smooth sauce. Retain ready to add to the wok.

 

For the main dish:

4-6 King scallops – slice in half 

1 small carrot – peel, cut into 3-4cm batons

1/2 a red bell pepper – dice

1 medium size white onion – peel and slice

3 spring onions – slice white on diagonal, keep green tails for garnish (slice very thinly)

10-12 green beans – trim ends and cut into 3-4cm batons

3-4 tbsp. vegetable oil – 2 tbsp. for frying scallops, 1-2 tbsp.  for the dish

1 red chilli – slice for garnish

Method: Start by frying the scallops. Heat 2 tbsp. vegetable oil in the wok over a high heat, once oil is smoking hot add the scallops. Cook for 60-90 seconds on each side, until some caramelisation appears, then remove from wok and drain on absorbent paper. Wipe the wok clean ready to cook the dish.

Heat 1-2 tbsp. of oil in the wok over a high heat until smoking hot. Add the peppers, onion, green beans and spring onion and stir fry for 2 minutes. Next add the scallop roe sauce and stir through the vegetables, keep on a high heat and stir fry the sauce for a further 3 minutes, until the sauce starts to reduce and thicken slightly. Add the cooked scallops and finish them in the sauce for a further minute.

Serve immediately with rice or noodles, using the thinly sliced spring onion greens and sliced chilli for a garnish. Enjoy!

 

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Carrot and Coriander Soup

Classic soup made from carrots, onions, celery, stock, ground coriander and coriander leaf.

Easy to prepare, and a joy to eat. This is one of my favourite soups and one I eat often. I have also done a bit of experimenting and came up with a recipe for carrot and coriander curry using leftover soup – a really amazing dish that I hope you will try.

You require a stick blender for this recipe.

Tip: thinly slicing the vegetables , although not necessary, helps cook them quicker.

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Carrot and Coriander Soup

4 Portions (2 large bowls plus leftovers for curry)

Preparation and cooking time 45 minutes

Ingredients and method

750g carrots – peel, trim ends and thinly slice

1-2 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 bay leaf – remove before blending

3 white onions – peel, dice

3 sticks celery – trim, slice thinly

1.5 L vegetable stock

Handful of coriander leaf and stalks – keep a small amount for garnish and finely chop

1 heaped dessert spoon ground coriander

Salt and pepper – to taste

Method: Start by heating the oil in a deep soup/stock pot. Add the sliced carrot, onion, celery and bay leaf. Fry over medium heat, stirring frequently for 5 minutes until the vegetables soften. You want to add a little colour for flavour but do not let the vegetables burn. Next add the heaped dessert spoon of ground coriander, plus a generous amount of ground black pepper and stir through the vegetables, fry for a further 3-4 minutes stirring frequently. It is vital not to burn the spice, if it catches on bottom of pan add a little water to loosen it.

Add the stock and the fresh coriander (retain a little for garnish), bring to the boil then place lid on pan and reduce to a simmer. Leave the soup to simmer for 30 minutes, then carefully remove the lid and stir well, make sure you scape any residue on sides of pan back into the soup – that’s where the flavour is!

Remove the bay leaf then use the stick blender to blitz the soup until smooth. Add the retained coriander (very finely chopped). Taste and add required salt (should not need much as salt in stock already). Serve in a bowls with some nice crusty bread.

Once cooled store any leftovers in the fridge, and use them the next day to make my carrot and coriander curry.

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Thai King Prawn Red curry

Delicious curry made with a fresh homemade curry paste, with King Prawns, green beans and Thai herbs.

Like all good Thai curries the secret is using a fresh homemade paste. Don’t use the ones in jars from the supermarket, they simply don’t have the flavour. This recipe gives enough paste for two meals, simply store in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze it – it defrosts well and doesn’t loose its flavour. I will feature a number of other recipes using this paste in the coming weeks.

The dish itself is very quick and easy to cook and will bring back those memories of Bangkok or sitting on a perfect Thai beach. I wish I was there now!

Serves two people

Preparation 15 minutes, cooking time approx. 15 minutes

Ingredients and method

For the curry paste

8 cloves garlic – peeled

thumb of ginger – peeled and slice thinly

2 large red chillies – remove stalk, keep seeds

4 red bird eye chillies – remove stalk keep seeds

Zest and juice of 1 lime

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 tsp tamarind paste

2 tsp shrimp paste

2 tbsp. fish sauce

1 tbsp. coriander stalks

4 dessert spoons brown sugar

3 dessert spoons desiccated coconut

6 black peppercorns

2 sticks lemongrass – bruise, remove outer husk, slice thinly

Handful of peanuts

8-10 Thai basil leafs – remove stalk

2 lime leafs

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp coriander powder

Method: Use a mini chopper, food processor or mortar and pestle to pound into a smooth paste. Slicing ginger and lemongrass beforehand makes it much easier to form a smooth paste. Once a smooth paste has been formed separate into two even portions. As mentioned above the spare portion can be frozen or stored in an airtight refrigerated container for up to 5 days.

For the main dish

2 portions of jasmine rice – cook as per packet instructions

200g raw King prawns –  shell and head removed

200ml coconut milk

150ml water

70g fine green beans – cut into 4-5cm batons

2 tbsp. roughly chopped coriander leaf

4 spring onions (white part only) – slice diagonally into 4cm lengths

8-10 Thai basil leafs – remove stalk

1 lime – cut into wedges to garnish

Method: Start by frying the paste in a non stick pan, as there is oil in the paste there should be no need to add extra, if paste sticks to pan loosen with a little water rather than adding oil. As the rice takes a similar time start to cook it now as per packet instructions. Fry paste for 4-5 minutes until the paste moves round pan as a single mass, take care not to let paste stick to pan and burn. Add the coconut milk and the water and stir well until fully combined, bring to boil and simmer for 7-8 minutes. Add the green beans and the spring onion and simmer for a further 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the raw king prawns to the sauce and poach them, bring back to a simmer and continue to cook until the prawns change from grey to pink. Remove from heat and serve immediately along with the cooked jasmine rice. Garnish the dish with the coriander, Thai basil and lime wedges.

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Ferret Chef1 Comment

Easy Homemade Bread

A simple recipe for great tasting homemade bread.

Its hard to beat fresh baked bread, but its not hard to bake with this easy to follow recipe. I have made a round loaf, however you can use a loaf tin to make a traditional shaped loaf if you wish, or roll it into a baguette shape if you wish.

This loaf is beat eaten on the same day, however it freezes well and also makes awesome toast the next day.

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Ingredients and method

500g strong white bread flour (plus extra for dusting)
7g sachet of fast acting yeast
2 teaspoon of salt
3-4 tablespoon olive oil (plus a small drop to oil bowl)
300ml warm water

You require a large mixing bowl, damp tea towel, flat surface to kneed, a sieve, baking parchment, baking tray and a cooling rack. A serrated bread knife is helpful for slicing.

As a ‘cheat’ you can use a food mixer or food processor with dough hook to kneed the bread.

Method: Start by sieving the flour into a mixing bowl then add the salt and yeast, mix well. Form a well in the centre then add the olive oil and the water then mix well with your hands. If the dough is stiff add 1-2 teaspoons of water to soften it. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured flat surface then kneed the dough until it is stretched and has a slightly silky appearance (you can use dough hook on appliance for this step).  Lightly oil the mixing bowl then add the dough, cover with a damp tea towel and set aside for 60-90 minutes (until doubled in size). Before shaping, knock back the dough (use fist to knock air out of risen dough), then shape the dough into a ball on a lightly floured surface then transfer onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Lightly dust with flour then use a knife to make a pattern – cut a few cm deep in a diagonal or criss-cross pattern.  Heat oven to 200°C fan assisted (220°c non fan), then bake for 25 minutes until golden brown. Use the tap test to check it is ready, tap bottom of loaf and if it sounds hollow it is ready. Transfer to a baking tray to cool before slicing.

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