This is real good and calls upon some underused veg to shine through and get the upper hand in a classy soup, cook it sooner rather than later please! The fennel seed scones scream coolness, bring these out to your guests and they’ll be looking at you a little differently…sort of like ‘hey this cook knows what’s going on, trending the savoury scone!’ Health and happiness!
What you’ll need
For the groovy coloured soup
2 beets, peeled and cut into 6 and tossed in olive oil, sea salt and white pepper
The zest of 1 orange (save the orange)
50 grams of unsalted butter
½ cup of diced celery and leek (combined)
1 decent sized parsnip, peeled and roughly diced
H2o
12 stems of coriander, leaves and all
Crème fraiche to serve
How to cook the soup
Place the tossed beetroot and orange zest in a square of aluminium foil, bring up and create a little bag, sealing in the seasoned beetroot. Roast in a moderate (180*c) oven for about 1 hour or until the beetroot is soft. Then sauté (no colour) the leek and celery in butter until soft using a large saucepan. Add the parsnip, season and then add the roasted beetroot. Cover with water until the ingredients are just bobbing on the surface, simmer until soft. When soft add coriander stems and puree in a blender or use a wand (handheld) blender. Add the juice from your previously zested orange and some seasoning if needed. Adjust the consistency if required by adding some more a water. Serve in warm bowls topped with spoonful of crème fraiche and a side serve of fennel seed scones (recipe below)
For the fennel seed scones
Ingredients (makes about 8 fifty cent sized scones)
1 cup self raising flour
Sea salt
White pepper
¾ cup milk
1 tsp fennel seeds (and some extra for sprinkles)
How to make the scones
Sift the flour, salt and pepper into a bowl. Add the milk and fennel seeds. Mix with you fingers until a dough is formed. Add more milk or flour if too dry or wet. Place dough on your bench and knead very lightly. Push or roll into a small round shape about 2cm in thickness. Cut out some scone shaped pieces and then place on a greased baking tray. Brush with extra milk and sprinkle with few fennel seeds. Bake in a moderate (180*c) over until golden brown and cooked…approx 15 minutes.
copyright © 2012 J. Barnes www.destinationfood.com.au
