so it was my mom's birthday today, and most people who know me would know that i don't really do material gifts; i usually make a meal, or a cake, or something. so obviously, this would be no different; i brainstormed and came up with a five course meal: romanian style tomato cilantro sour cream soup, caesar salad with garlic croutons, lamb ribs served with caramelized nectarine and minted mushroom risotto, assorted fruit and early grey tea, and, of course, a four layer poached fig and almond victoria sponge cake. a pretty decent birthday dinner, i'd say :)
now, moving on to soup; remember my trip to romania way back in may? remember all the amazing food i was ranting about in my post about it? yeah, well, i've finally gotten around to recreating those dishes, and for this dinner, i thought the soup would be a perfect fit. (plus i was missing romania, as one does.)
this really was a very easy dish to recreate; it's all veggies and a hit of sour cream, and throw in some rice about 7 minutes before serving and you're good to go! the original romanian soup we had had chicken in it, so feel free to just throw in some bits of chicken with the first batch of veggies to cook before simmering the actual soup itself.
now, moving on to soup; remember my trip to romania way back in may? remember all the amazing food i was ranting about in my post about it? yeah, well, i've finally gotten around to recreating those dishes, and for this dinner, i thought the soup would be a perfect fit. (plus i was missing romania, as one does.)
this really was a very easy dish to recreate; it's all veggies and a hit of sour cream, and throw in some rice about 7 minutes before serving and you're good to go! the original romanian soup we had had chicken in it, so feel free to just throw in some bits of chicken with the first batch of veggies to cook before simmering the actual soup itself.
the soup itself is based on parsely and tomato, but you start with chopped carrot and chopped potato in a pot with a bit of oil. stir them a bit to keep them moving so nothing gets burnt. this is only to give them a head start on softening so they can have a nicer, more gentle texture in the soup. throw in your tomatoes and parsley and stir them around, then add water and seasoning. you can use broth in stead of water, or mix the two.
i think the two most special ingredients in this soup that really sets it apart is the sour cream and the rice. the sour cream can be put into the soup along with the rice, about 7-10 minutes before you serve it. the rice only needs to be just cooked; too soft, and the texture starts to get a bit weird. the sour cream needs to be stirred through, and that's about it :)
just remember that the rice itself has starch, and will begin to absorb the liquid of the soup. finish your pot of soup before this happens, or leave out the rice- it's entirely up to you.
recipe after the jump :)
i think the two most special ingredients in this soup that really sets it apart is the sour cream and the rice. the sour cream can be put into the soup along with the rice, about 7-10 minutes before you serve it. the rice only needs to be just cooked; too soft, and the texture starts to get a bit weird. the sour cream needs to be stirred through, and that's about it :)
just remember that the rice itself has starch, and will begin to absorb the liquid of the soup. finish your pot of soup before this happens, or leave out the rice- it's entirely up to you.
recipe after the jump :)
Ingredients2 carrots, finely chopped 2 potatoes, finely chopped 4 tomatoes, finely chopped 3-4 sprigs parsley, and one or two more for garnish around 1.5 litres water salt and pepper, to season 4tbsp sour cream a handful of white long grain rice | Ready to cook?
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