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The last few days have been just lovely. I had an early rise on Friday morning so that I could take a train to Melbourne. It wasn’t the warmest of trips, but when I arrived in Melbourne I headed straight to the Queen Victoria Markets where I had arranged to meet my wonderful friend, Ora. Before we met up I had been trying to buy duck necks and duck bones with no success, so gave up and headed to my favourite bakery to pick up, what I believe is the best gluten free Turkish bread you can get. Just as I was finishing my purchases. Ora phoned to see where I was. I looked down the walkway a little and there she was, as usual, bright and colourful. When we met we embraced and chatted a little, and she wanted to know what I needed to get next. When I told her about the duck neck and bones, she took me to the stall where she and her husband buy their poultry and game. It was fantastic! I got my duck carcasses, duck necks with skin on, duck breasts, duck thighs and quail. On hearing what I wanted to do with the duck necks, the gentleman ensured that the necks had the skin on and also gave me his card suggesting that I phone ahead with my order whenever I am coming to town, and they will make sure that they have everything that I need. I was delighted.

From the poultry stall we headed to a stall I knew very well. It is where I head when I need mushrooms, and when they are in season, that amazing black funghi that grows underground among the roots of oak and hazelnut trees. I was so lucky, they had just received fresh truffles this morning, yesterday there were none. How lucky am I! I select three lovely black delights and they are carefully wrapped in tissue and placed in a glass jar that I place in my handbag for safekeeping. We chat a little about what I will do with three truffles, and I tell the lady that I will use some fresh, the remainder will be frozen for use at a later date. Truffles, do not last long and go soft, so the best thing to do with unused truffles, is to freeze them whole in a container and then, using your trusty truffle slicer, slice them while they are still frozen. You should not thaw them out before using them. Just shave them directly into the dish that you are cooking. She was very interested in what I was going to do.

Something that I like to do, is place truffles in a jar with Arborio rice for a couple of days, the rice then takes on the delicious aroma of the truffle ready for making mushroom risotto with shaved truffle.

The other thing I do is place some eggs in a jar with whole truffle. With the shell being porous, the yolk and white are infused with that sensational flavour. Making the eggs perfect for making delicious omelettes or scrambled eggs.

When we leave the market, Ora insists on carrying one of my bags. I am going to a “Christmas in July” function with friends/colleagues at my previous place of employment and have baked a gluten free fig and onion relish, blue cheese and pear tart, as well as a gluten free rhubarb swirl yoghurt cheesecake topped with mulled wine and pear jelly, cream and toasted coconut. So my bags are heavy and I feel very guilty that she is carrying one of them for me. We stop off for a most welcome cup of tea at one of her favourite cafés near the market and have a lovely long chat before she very kindly drives me to my old work place, which is where we met and formed such a great friendship.

I spent a lovely afternoon eating beautiful food and catching up with past colleagues and great friends, before my husband came to collect me and we headed to our son’s apartment where we would spend a wonderful night with he, his fiancée and our gorgeous little grandson. Our son prepared a delicious meal of salmon and noodles.

His fiancée had everything lovely for us and made us so welcome, and our adorable little grandson kept us well amused and entertained.

The following day, my husband returned home early, while I got to spend more time with our beautiful family, before returning home. On the way home I spent time listening to my French lesson to pass the time and help me with the learning process.

When I arrived home in the early evening, I set to stashing the goodies that I had purchased at the market the previous day, and then to making a delicious mushroom and black truffle risotto.

I think it was one of the best risottos I’ve ever made. Fortunately just before heading to Melbourne I had made a very large batch of chicken stock so it was put to good use, and I had such a wonderful time preparing the mushrooms, stirring the risotto, and finally adding the pièce de résistance, the beautiful black truffle to the risotto, along with some lovely, slightly thicker slices to the top just before serving.

Until next time…

Bon appétit!

Links:

Mushroom and Black Truffle Risotto

Queen Victoria Market

I have been procrastinating about starting this blog for some time now, but today is the perfect day to get started. It’s a very typical winter’s day, and it hasn’t stopped raining all morning, so no excuses… Well actually I could be in the kitchen, but it’s time to start sharing some of the fun things I have been doing since we made this wonderful lifestyle change.

Apart from stocking the pantry and freezer, I’ve been having a wonderful time sourcing wonderful local ingredients, sussing out small local farmer’s markets, meeting the producers, and I’ve even been to a cheese making class, which was a fantastic opportunity to meet like minded people and brush up on the little knowledge that I have about making cheese.

Having picked up some amazing ingredients along the way, of course, the preserves pantry is starting to look fantastic. I’ve made jellies, pickles, sauces etc. and what I am really looking forward to trying out is the mulled wine pears that are sitting there just crying out to be used… But that’s for another blog.

Today I wanted to share with you, the recipe for the wonderful pumpkin soup that I have made. Perfect for days like these… Comforting, warm, and even a little luxurious. It is my Pumpkin Soup with Yoghurt and a Crunchy Topping.

We recently went out for a drive to check out some of the country side, and along the way, we picked up a few pumpkins from a farm gate stall. I love the combination of pumpkin and cumin, which is where this soup started. Often a pumpkin soup has either apple or potato added, just to thicken it a little. But having a small piece of sweet potato that needed to be used, I thought it would be a perfect alternative. As I was making the soup, I was wondering how I would serve it. I had some French shallots, and knew that these could be thinly sliced and fried, making them delicious and crunchy; and of course, who can go past some lovely crispy bacon. The final addition was the dukkah, which just finished it off and blended perfectly, given the earlier addition of the cumin to the soup.

The result was a delicious, silky smooth soup, complemented by the cool tartness of the yoghurt, the crispy topping of the shallots and bacon and the final sprinkle of dukkah to add a further hint of spice to the dish.

Pumpkin Soup with Yoghurt and a Crunchy Topping

A delicious, silky smooth soup, complemented by the cool tartness of the yoghurt, the crispy topping of the shallots and bacon and the final sprinkle of dukkah to add a further hint of spice to the dish. Perfect for a cold rainy day or that very special dinner party!

Category: Entree, Soup, Starter

Style: Australian

Keyword: bacon, Crispy Shallots, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Soup, Sweet Potato, Yoghurt

Quantity: 4 Serves

Author: sbaskitchen

Ingredients

600 g Butternut pumpkin peeled and chopped into 2.5 cm dice
175 g Sweet potato peeled and chopped into 2.5 cm dice
125 g Onion peeled and chopped
75 g Celery chopped
Olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp ground cumin
2 cups hot chicken stock
125 g eye bacon julienned
75 g French shallot thinly sliced
4 tsp Dukkah
4 tbs Greek yoghurt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200˚C.
Place pumpkin and sweet potato into a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and use your hands to make sure that all pieces are coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in oven for 30 minutes, until soft and slightly charred.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tbs olive oil in a saucepan, add the onion and celery, and sauté over a low heat until soft, but not coloured. Add cumin and continue to sauté until fragrant.
Add 2 tbs olive oil to a hot frying pan, and fry the shallots until crisp, remove from pan and drain on paper towel.
Add bacon to frying pan and fry until crisp, remove from pan, drain on paper towel and keep warm.
When pumpkin is ready, add to onion and celery, together with hot stock, bring to boil and then reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes.
Blend your soup using a stick blender, or put it into a food processor or blender and blend until silky smooth. (If you are using a blender or food processor, allow the soup to cool a little before hand before pureeing.)
Return soup to pan, check seasoning, gently reheat.
Serve in nice wide bowls, topped each with a tbs of Greek yoghurt, some bacon, then shallots, finally sprinkle with dukkah, and if you must, a little drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil.