Friday, February 12, 2010

CURRIED PARSNIP & APPLE SOUP

"Steaming hot like hell, spicy like the devil himself and delightfully sweet like love!"

Lately, we've been having cold weather with strong uncanny "bise noire" (Northern wind) and lots of snowfalls. The temperatures have drastically fallen and the air is as crisp as in Siberia...

During those freezing cold days, we all like to keep ourselves warm and cozy as well as eat wintertime food that heats us through and soothes our souls.Therefore, there is nothing better than a steamy and nourishing soup to start a dinner or to serve as main dish!

By now, you must all know that I am somebody who likes to respect seasons and always tries to buy regional/Swiss/neighboring France products. In that way, you ingest less chemicals and don't pollute the planet. During my trips to the (super)market, I only choose seasonal vegetables and fruits. I shun away from the other stuff like bubonic plague...

So, going through my supermarket, I saw some wonderful Geneva root veggies that immediately attracted my eye and pleaded for attention. Those old vegetables are so flavorful, versatile, refined-tasting and interesting that it is impossible not to fall in love with them, especially if you are a foodie.

For this time around, I focused my attention on parsnips, a cousin of the carrot. With their strong and intoxicating perfume, one is assured of making a dish that'll not be forgotten and that'll leave you palate tingle with pleasure.

Once back home, I searched my books and the internet for recipes. I knew I wanted to make a soup and needed to find a dish that is part of the British culinary patrimony, but which would have a little twist. After lots of googling, I found what I was looking for: "Curried Parsnip & Apple Soup".

That velouté soup recipe was so promising. I knew that there was no way it was not going to be successful. That combination (curry, parsnips and apples) is a total winner. After a few simple moves in the kitchen, I ended up with a creamy and multi-scented soup. How delicious!

~ Curried Parsnip And Apple Soup ~
Recipe taken from the TimesOnline site.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients:
50g Unsalted butter
1 Tbs Olive oil
2 Large onions, chopped
2 Garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tsp Ground cumin
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 Tsp Curry powder
1/2 Tsp Ground ginger
700g Parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 Medium Bramley apple (see remarks), peeled and chopped
2 Tbs Runny honey
1.5l Vegetable or chicken stock (I used organic chicken stock)

Method:
1.
Heat the butter and oil in a large heavy-based pan until the butter begins to foam. Stir in the onions and garlic and cook for 2 minutes to soften.
2. Add the ground cumin, the curry powder and ground ginger. Stir until fragrant.
3. Add the parsnips, apple and honey and cook for a few minutes. Pour in the stock, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer for 20 minutes until the pa
rsnips are cooked.
4. In batches, whiz the soup in a blender until smooth and return
to the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste and reheat before serving.


Remarks:
I used a Granny Smith apple.
To change a little from your usual curry powder, try using East African
(I used that one), Madras, Sultan Malaysia, Malabar, Siam or Burma curry powders.

Serving suggestions:
Serve alone or
with a good chunk of crusty bread.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Velouté Au Panais, Curry Et A La Pomme ~
Recette trouvée sur le site TimesOnline.

Pour 6-8 personnes.

Ingrédients:
50g de Beurre nons-salé
1 CS d'Huile d'olive
2 Gros oignons, hachés
2 Gousses d'ail, hachées
1 CC de Cumin en poudre
Sel marin et poivre noir fraîchement moulu, à volonté
1 CC de Curry en poudre
1/2 CC de Gingembre en poudre
700g de Panais, épluchés et coupés en petits cubes

1 Pomme moyenne (voir remarques), pelée et coupée en petits cubes
2 CS de Miel liquide
1.5l de Bouillon de légumes ou de poulet

Méthode:
1.
Dans une grosse casserole, faire chauffer le beurre avec l'huile jusqu'à ce que le beurre commence à mousser et crépiter. Ajouter les oignons et l'ail. Faire revenir pendant 2 minutes, jusqu'à ce que les oignons soient translucides.
2. Ajouter le cumin, le curry et le gingembre et bien remuer jusqu'à ce que les épices libèrent leurs parfum.
3. Ajouter le panais, la pomme et le miel, puis faire cuire pe
ndant quelques minutes en remuant. Ajouter le bouillon, porter à ébullition et baisser le feu. Laisser mijoter la soupe pendant 20 minutes, jusqu'à ce que le panais soit cuit.
4. Mixer la soupe afin d'obtenir un beau velouté et remettre dans la casserole. Faire chauffer à nouveau. Goûter, puis saler et poivrer à volonté. Servir.

Remarques:
J'ai utilisé une pommes Granny Smith pour cette recette.
Au lieu d'utiliser votre poudre de curry habituelle, pourquoi prendre une poudre de
curry moins conventionnelle: est de l'Afrique, malabar, malais, madras, du Siam ou de Birmanie.

Idées de présentation:
Servir sans accompagnement ou avec un bon pain croustillant
.

77 comments:

  1. Rosa, I love your parsnip photos! I have never cooked with a parsnip - never knew what to expect, but you make it sound so delicious! This soup is indeed a winner - the flavor combination is amazing! What a great recipe!

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  2. die leichte Süsse der Pastinaken passt betsimmt gut zum Curry. Ich mache heute auch eine, mit Safran. Schönes WE.

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  3. I have never bought or prepared parsnips as I have absolutely no idea what to do with them. The soup looks so soothing, delicious and kind of sexy with that bright grapefruit colour.

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  4. Comment ne pas tomber sous le charme alors que tu en es toi-même tombée amoureuse?
    J'ai déjà testé une soupe à la pomme et aux carottes,un délice.
    Bisous.
    Caro

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  5. Rosa, your photos are fabulous! The soup color is divine. I don't think many people know how good parsnips really are!
    Love your soup recipe and the spices in it!

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  6. We always try and cook for the seasons and toot vegetables are a great way to go.This delicious soup will get them to eat their turnip.

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  7. The smooth consistency of this soup looks so perfectly silky & delicious... wonderful for a cold rainy day :D

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  8. Un légume à découvrir. Par ce froid, cette soupe serait la bienvenue

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  9. This soup looks so lovely! I love parsnips and I think that they are sometimes underrated.

    I love your snow pictures!

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  10. This is a lovely winter soup! It does sound like a delicious way to stay warm in freezing weather.

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  11. Une recette parfaite pour redécouvrir le panais, un ingrédient que j'utilise vraiment pas souvent.
    :)

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  12. i confirm the soup was more than delicious !!! didn't I take a second time for your soup Rosa ;) ! et les assiettes sont tres belles aussi :)
    Biz
    corinne

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  13. The combination of sweet apple and fragrant spicy curry powder sounds excellent! I used parsnip in my soup today too :)

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  14. wow this is delicious.
    I love the color and the flavour
    You know... I have all the ingredients in my fridge, I am going to do this tongiht. Thanks my friend for sharing it, I will let you know.

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  15. What a flavorful soup, nicely spiced, balancing the sweetness of this delicious root vegetable. Love your snow photos.

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  16. I have never cooked with parnsnip before but your soup sounds very flavourable and I would like to try some new flavours.

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  17. This velouté looks creamy and delicious!! Perfect for those winter days!!

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  18. I adore parsnips and I never thought to use curry with them. What a lovely and creative idea! I can't wait to try this soup!

    Thank you, Rosa.

    Blessings,
    Lacy

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  19. Love parsnips, they are so sweet and deilcious. This soup is perfect for such cold weather.

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  20. Very elegant dish Rosa! Never tried this type of soup with apple and curried parsnip..it looks fascinating!
    Bookmarked for cold days!!

    Have a great weekend,

    Gera

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  21. What a lovely combination of ingredients Rosa! The soup looks really comforting.

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  22. What an interesting-sounding soup. Sounds perfect for the winter. Wow! you have a LOT of snow. I won't compare to the little that we had. Beautiful wintry photos.

    Paz

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  23. Yummmyy soup! I love these warm, tummy filling soups. :)

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  24. Lovely pictures of snow, Rosa. Even though I live somewhere sunny all year round, I'd take this soup in a heartbeat.

    Nisrine

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  25. I have parsnips, I have an assortment of apples, I have one magnificent recipe! Your soup just may be my Valentine's Day present! Thanks for sharing, Rosa...

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  26. Je dois t'avouer que je n'ai jamais cuisiné de panais, je crois même que je ne les ai jamais gôutés! Ta soupe a l'air bien bonne!

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  27. Lovely soup! I love parsnip but have never tried to combine it with apples. Sounds great.

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  28. Meri beaucoup pour cette recette, j'ai découvert le panais..et depuis je ne peux plus m'en passé!!!
    par ce temps froid, une petite soupe est le meilleur moyen de se réchauffer.

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  29. On a cold day-you need some warm soup.

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  30. Beautiful pictures Rosa, and such a heart warming soup! Slurp!

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  31. un velouté excellent pour réchauffer les petits ventres gourmands.

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  32. Un merveilleux velouté. Bises bon weekend

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  33. Parsnips are definitely the unsung heroes of the winter kitchen.
    Beautiful soup, great way to keep warm.

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  34. love the colour of the soup and apple sounds nice way balance the curry.

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  35. I've only just discovered that I LOVE parsnips, and am regretting now missing out all this time. Your soup looks fabulous, of course, and I love the appley twist. Mmmmmm!

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  36. Que Magnifigue este...bravo!!!!

    Oh yeah...LOVE IS IN THE AIR,SO IS ROMANCE...WISH YA LOADS OF IT @ 365....

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  37. I have never used apples in a soup! How interesting! Thanks for sharing.

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  38. I've never had parsnips before... the colour combo for the photograph is stunning.

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  39. Like the new look of your blog Rosa! I'm a huge fan of parsnips (oh, how they remind me of Christmas)and also share your beliefs in getting regional produce as it also tastes better. What a gorgeous looking soup, so comforting for these cold days and luckily I've just bought some parsnips. Stunning winter landscape photos too. Have a great weekend!

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  40. Très sympa cette soupe avec la touche de sucré!
    Elle doit etre pleine de saveur!

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  41. Food is very delicious and tempting for Me

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  42. wow! I thought it was cold over HERE! No wonder you're cooking up soup. This is an english combo I've yet to try and with the way the weather's going, might be trying it sooner than later!

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  43. Un beau potage réconfortant et épicé, que demander de plus pour nous réchauffer durant l'hiver! Magnifiques photos de ton panais!

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  44. Rosa this is perfect! I love the sweet and unique taste of parsnips! your combination of flavor excellent a great Sunday afternoon lunch during the winter.
    Cheers!

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  45. hummmmm ! I'll make it ! surely !
    many thanks !

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  46. Wow that does sound like quite a combination! The perfect February soup1

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  47. I like curried vegetable soups and this one sounds good. I don't use parsnips nearly often enough.

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  48. miammm il est beau ton velouté de panais au cumin gingembre!!!!merci

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  49. Beautiful soup and great flavours!

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  50. Ton velouté me semble tellement bon et invitant:)

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  51. Soup soup beautiful soup.. love the spice and the heat with the mild old parsnip... great combos!!!!

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  52. Excellente idée l'ajout de pomme dans ce velouté Rosa.

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  53. Its a joy visiting your space... coz there is treat both for my eyes and ears!. Love ur choice of music..
    The soup looks fantastic!..

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  54. I haven't found out whether we would have parsnip here in Bangkok, but I really want to try this soup. Very tempting recipe and convincing photos.

    Sawadee from Bangkok,
    Kris

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  55. Beautiful photos - of both food and snow! :)

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  56. "the air is as crisp as in Siberia..."

    i've had that same thought about the winds here! this soup would do wonders to warm up a cold body. granny smith is the perfect apple selection--bravo, rosa!

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  57. i became a fan of parsnisps here in london, now i love them so much! your soup is comforting and full of delicious flavours. BTW, I love your blog's new face! cheers from london,

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  58. A wonderful soup, as warm to look at as warm to the belly. Ideal for winter.

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  59. I can't wait to try this in Winter! It sounds perfect :D

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  60. J'adore cette photo de panais. Et toutes les couleurs de ce billet je dois dire.

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  61. Delicious!
    I make a kabocha/apple soup that is great this time of year, but I hadn't thought to pair parsnips with apples.

    Btw, I love you new header. It's making me crave blackberries, and they won't be in season for quite a while here. Bad Rosa!

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  62. definitely this what I wanted, can you imagine I was talking to a chef about having a parsnip soup! this is really coincident! :)

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  63. Et bien voilà qui va faire mon délice très bientôt car j'adore les saveurs de ton velouté!!
    Bises, bonne soirée

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  64. Great blog! Great soup !! I have to confess I don't do parsnip very often....now I will try it !
    Thanks for the idea !!!
    xoxo,
    Cristina

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  65. I love your snow pictures and the soup as well! I am a big fan of parsnip, next time the weather gets freezing this is what I'm making!

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  66. Lovely warming soup! And i so love anything parsnips :D

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  67. I've made many a curry cauliflower soup. But I'm definitely trying one with parsnips now. Looks heavenly.

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  68. Hi Rosa
    Congratulations on your fantastic work, awesome photos.
    Delicious soup x

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  69. I love parsnip, and wow, that IS a great photo! On the other ide of this entry..that soup would hit the spot right about now with all the snow we're getting here, So creamy and what a beautiful color!

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  70. une soupe très originale , je n'ai jamais mangé de panais, c'est à essayer ,
    bravo et merci pour cette belle découverte

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  71. Oh, what an intriguing combination of flavours! I've never thought of using an apple for soup! Beautiful pictures Rosa!

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  72. Maintenant, j'hésite entre ton velouté et celui de lamiacucina.Les 2 me plaisent.

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