Pea soup and Mercian Salad

*dusts off blog*

So, I finally got our cookbooks on a shelf in the kitchen where they belong. I also seem to have found my round tuits, with the help of a little Android App called Astrid which is the electronic to do list I have been searching for for years. /plug.

So, I am going to try and finally do this little cooking project I have been planning on for ages. What it entails is working my way through the books, and cooking everything in them. Starting with the first recipe in the first book, then the first recipe in the second book, and so on, till I get to the end of the shelf and cycle back around.

Yes, I realise this will take me a LONG time. We're aiming for one a week, but some weeks (like this one!) we might just achieve more than that.

The first book on the shelf is a "Best of Floyd", so you can imagine my surprise and disappointment when it didn't have even a smidge of alcohol in it! (I really hope you all know about Floyd, or that will make no sense.)

It's a mint and pea soup. Pretty basic, cream, stock, mint and peas. Some butter, some seasoning. I even made proper real stock from a chicken carcass from the night before, cos I was feeling all culinary. Very easy, very basic recipe.

I'm not sure I've ever actually had pea soup before. I was less than impressed at first. It wasn't as minty as I expected it to be (even though I used FRESH MINT! From the GARDEN! As instructed.), but it grew on me. Kind of delicate. I love peas, so that helps.

We ate the leftovers the following day and it had thickened up a bit and was much nicer. The recipe certainly didn't say "Let it rest for a day", but it seemed to have improved it.

Ratings:
Me: Tentative thumbs up
Husband who loves food: Thumbs up
Incredibly fussy teen: Meh
Occasional hungry student: Thumbs up

The Mercian Salad comes out of a Spanish cookbook, and was actually made by the husband and said occasional student, who was here for dinner. I was otherwise occupied with the baby.

It's basically a salad made of roasted veggies - eggplant, onion, red pepper, garlic. There is about a ton of olive oil involved and some lemon juice, I think.

It was very similar to a Catalan dish that the boys make when we barbeque, except instead of cooking the veg over a fire, they're roasted in the oven. So it wasn't as exotic to us as it might have been. Nevertheless, it is one of my favourite things. Roast veggie salad, eaten cold. NOMNOMNOM. Also, you know, Mediterranean food for the win.

Me: Thumbs up
Husband who loves food: Thumbs up
Incredible fussy teen: Thumbs down
Occasional hungry student: Thumbs up


Next up: Almond and Roquefort Soup with Cheese Profiteroles. Mmmmm.