ANTI VIRAL SOUP

I wish you could smell the aroma in my kitchen! I decided that it was time to make a really tasty soup which was high in vitamin C & anti viral, therefore immune boosting! If you can protect your immune system sooner rather than later with pro-biotic ingredients, you will have invested wisely. The holiday season will soon be upon us.  this can be both a fun & stressful period, Nothing affects your body harder than stress! So here is a little medicinal soup, I have created. I prescribe that the ideal dose is one large bowl to be taken once a week, & just what the doctor ordered, also it freezes beautifully. 

Take 2 large cloves of garlic, cut horizontally, place in a roasting tin that you can also put on the cooker hob. I large onion cut roughly, I large potato cut into small chunks. Pour over a good glug of sunflower oil, salt pepper, give a good stir. Cover tightly with foil. Then place in a hot roasting oven 400c for 30 minute. Take out the oven & remove the garlic halves, leave to cool. Add a 1/3 cup (125ml) water stir, recover with the foil, then place back in the hot oven for another 20 minutes, the idea is to get the vegetables really golden brown. Remove from the oven, place on the hob over a gentle heat, stir scrapping any brown bits on the bottom, add the squeezed out soft pieces of roasted garlic, add a 1/3 cup dry sherry, let it come to a bubble, then add 1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock, again bring to gentle boil, adjust seasoning. Put it into a blender till smooth. For a perfectly smooth soup pass through a Chinese sieve. I sprinkled over chopped parsley This soup will freeze well. 

Garlic has many healing properties. Anti fungal, anti viral, anti bacterial, helps prevent heart disease, purifies the blood, helps reduce high blood pressure, in other words a good all rounder. It's part of the Allium family which onion is also closely related. Garlic when cooked in the oven has a softer taste & is easily digested, the good news is your breath is less likely to be offensive as the cooking mellows the over powering garlic odour. PARSLEY is medicinal too, containing vitamin A & C. So you can see the wonders of this soup, not only delicious to eat but a foe in warding off winter colds & flu. 

BREAKFAST DELIGHT

It's not often that I have the time to indulge in a special breakfast, let alone a breakfast which is so naughty but nice! This morning however I woke with a real craving for American style pancakes, crispy bacon & lashings of maple syrup. So I headed off for the kitchen to create this plate of delight.

Ingredients

30 gram(s) unsalted butter melted.

225 gram(s) plain flour

2 teaspoon(s) baking powder (heaped)

1 teaspoon(s) white sugar

300 ml full fat milk

2 medium egg(s)

10 rasher(s) streaky bacon (or approx. 100g wafer-thin-cut pancetta)

2 teaspoon(s) vegetable oil (for frying)

I started by putting all my dry ingredients into a large bowl, I put the remaining ingredients into a large pyrex jug, whisked them together till smooth, then slowly adding them to the dry, whisking between additions, the batter should be thick, it is also possible by the way, to throw all the ingredients into a blender pulse till smooth. I like to rest the batter for an hour ( if you can wait that long ). Use a large frying pan add a little vegetable oil & wait till its hot, then add as many spoonfuls as your pan will allow, don't over crowd though! I can usually fit 5 in my large pan.When you see little bubbles across the surface of the scone it's time to flip them over. Meanwhile cook the rashers of bacon & keep warm. I like to make a stack of 4, top with 2-3 rashers & of course lashings of maple syrup.

These scones freeze really well, so you can always have a stash in the freezer to enjoy anytime.

This was undoubtedly a treat & probably one I won't repeat too often due to calories & cholesterol content, but once in awhile it feels great to have a splurge & simply cook what you really fancy. I recommend giving them a try maybe next weekend.