Miso and Cucumber Soup

How cool is that? As a cucumber I suppose. The 2 cucumber plants that I got at the plant swop earlier in the year have done well. The cukes are smaller than supermarket ones at about 6-8in or 15-20cm and have a good flavour. I devised a soup to make use of some of them and included some Cavallo nero also from the plant swop.

Recipe

2 cukes

1/2 onion

4 teacups or 3 mugs water

2 tsp Marigold's miso stock powder

small piece of fresh ginger between 1-2in (2.5-5cm) to taste

1-2 handfuls of chopped Cavallo nero (kale)

I chopped all the ingredients using a Thermomix then cooked for about 20 min.

I then blitzed the mixture till the chunks of veg virtually vanished.

I added the kale and cooked for a few more minutes.

The ginger and kale were an afterthought and made all the difference to the flavour.

Raspberry and Almond Flaugnarde

A clafoutis is a dessert made from cherries baked in a flan like batter. It originates from the Limousin region of France. When other fruits are substituted the dish is traditionally called a flaugnarde. In Brittany the Far Breton is a similar dessert that contains prunes and sometimes rum.

I used raspberries as I have them from the garden. Vanilla is often used but I had run out so used almond essence instead.

250g raspberries

55g plain flour

55g sugar

3 large eggs

I tsp almond essence

1-2 handfuls flaked almonds

350 ml milk

butter

Butter a baking dish then add the raspberries to the dish.

Mix the flour and sugar then beat in the eggs. Add the milk and almond essence, beat till smooth then pour this layer over the raspberries. Sprinkle the flaked almonds on top.

Bake at 180c or gas 4

Sorry there is no photo this time. I cooked it for some friends who came for a meal at the week end. To see what it looks like click on the link at the top for clafoutis.