onion, tomato, rosehip and aniseed soup

My onion soup with tomato, aniseed and rosehip.  A late Summer soup - inspired and adapted from onion, aniseed and tomato soup by Clarissa Dickson Wright from Clarissa's Comfort Food.  A good read, packed with delicious, comforting recipes.

Onion soup with tomato, aniseed and rosehip - an unusual and curious combination you may think - and I certainly did before I tried it, but it works.  The lovely aniseed bitterness with the sweet and caramelised onions mixed with the floral and tangy rosehip is an interesting and tasty combination.  The dried red chillies I leave whole so they just add a background heat and spice, rather than overpowering the dish.  The final addition of basil highlights the aniseed with it's similar flavour.  
As readers of my blog will know I love to experiment with herbs and spices and new flavour combinations. It's good to be out of our comfort zone every now and then...otherwise how else would we learn or try new things.  I am writing this at a time when my life is changing dramatically....with plans to move abroad to start a new way of life and business....exciting and terrifying in equal measure. I am trying more and more to become conscious to the idea that life really is short - I know we can all say it from time to time, but to understand it and feel it are different from just saying the words. 

I know this is only a blog about recipes and cooking, but for me cooking is not separate from my life. It is for my family and friends and it is a reflection of them and other influences all around me in the world, and a way I have of sharing and communicating this with others.  Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and believe that you will be OK...so in the grand scheme of things a little bit of aniseed or rosehip in our tomato soup may not seem like much, but if we are stuck to our recipe books, and our fixed ways of doing things we will never discover the whole world of spice and flavour out there.  So here's to taking a leap of faith; both in and out of the kitchen.  Let me know how you get on and as always your comments are most welcomed and I look forward to hearing from you.  

onion, tomato, rosehip and aniseed soup

recipe by chip butties and noodle soup inspired and adapted from Clarissa Dickson Wright's onion, aniseed and tomato soup

preparation time:  5-10 minutes
cooking time:  20-30 minutes
serves 4 

ingredients

3 large onions - thinly sliced
400g chopped tomatoes (tinned or fresh)
1 litre chicken/vegetable stock
2 garlic cloves - thinly sliced
1 tsp aniseed
1-2 dried red chillies
1 tbs rosehip preserve (I used rosehip preserve from rose cafe preserves)
2 tbs roughly torn basil
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

method:

1. heat up a pan before adding olive oil and your sliced onions.  Cook the onions gently until soft and caramelised - this will take about 15-20 minutes
2. add the aniseed and dried red chillies and fry for a few minutes to help release the essential oils along with the sliced garlic
3. add your tomatoes, stock and rosehip preserve and bring to a boil
4. simmer for about 15 minutes 
5. add your fresh basil, check for seasoning and serve.  Great with crusty bread and butter.

I have entered my onion, tomato, rosehip and aniseed soup onto Four Seasons Food hosted by Delicieux and Chezfoti

I have also entered this recipe into 

 cooking with herbs hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage

candied peel and aniseed biscotti

This recipe for biscotti makes a lovely food gift for Christmas and the holiday season - if you don't eat them all first!  These crunchy, twice baked Italian biscuits flavoured with aniseed and candied peel are really easy to make and don't take very long either.  You can always swap the candied peel and aniseed I use in this recipe for chopped nuts, chocolate chips or dried fruit with no problem.  These apparently keep really well in an airtight container for up to a month - however they have never lasted that long in my house :)

These biscotti  are great served after dinner and dunked in coffee or tea but also in a sweet dessert wine if you are that way inclined.  I hope you enjoy and try out this recipe.  Next time I am going to make them with chopped almonds and lemon zest I think.......

Happy Baking!

preparation time:  10-15 minutes
cooking time:  25-30 minutes
makes about 35-40 biscotti

ingredients:
300g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
175g sugar
2 eggs
100g chopped candied peel (or equal amounts of dried fruit, nuts, chocolate chips etc - feel free to add your own favourite flavourings)
2 tbs aniseed
1 tsp vanilla extract

• preheat the oven to 150C
• add the eggs to a large bowl with the sugar and vanilla extract and whisk for a few minutes until doubled in size

• sift in the flour and baking powder and stir in the candied peel and aniseed - mix until a dough is formed

• tip out the dough onto a floured surface and shape into flattened 'sausage' shapes - about 5cm wide and 2cm high then place onto a greased baking sheet with a few inches space between each one.  

• bake for about 15 minutes until light brown/golden and firm to the touch

• remove from oven and slice into 1.5cm thick pieces then place back on the baking sheet

• bake for a further 10-15 minutes until golden and crisped up.

• allow to cool before serving.  Store in an airtight container.  

Buon Appetito!

Spanish orange, cinnamon and anise biscuits

This recipe is inspired by my love of the Spanish Tortas de Aciete - a speciality from Seville.  A thin oil and yeast based cracker topped with sugar and anise.  Whilst searching for a recipe I came across this:

Serious Eats Spanish anise cookies which also uses the distinct flavour and texture of anise that I love but in a biscuit.  The recipe in Serious Eats is based on one in cookbook Rustica.

So until I attempt the tortas here is my attempt at Serious Eats recipe -  for Spanish anise biscuits (with a little bit of tweaking).  It is definitely "aniseedy" and a strong, herbal flavoured biscuit - great after dinner with coffee.

preparation time: 10 minutes
cooking time:  10-15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp aniseed (the original recipe uses fennel seed) 
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• zest and juice of 1 orange
• 2 tbs sugar and 1 tbs sesame seed for sprinkling 

• Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line a baking sheet
• Heat olive oil in a small pan, add aniseed and fry for 30 seconds.
• In a separate bowl mix flour, sugar, orange zest and cinnamon. 
• Pour olive oil and orange juice over mixture and stir until the dough comes together
• Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll to about 3/4 inch thick.  
• Place biscuits on baking sheet with some space between and sprinkle with sesame seed and sugar mix.
• bake until golden (about 10-15 minutes) 
• Let biscuits cool on a rack, then store in an airtight container. Let rest overnight if you can as the flavours continue to fully mix and develop.  You can also leave the pre-made dough overnight in the fridge (wrapped in cling film) which I did.  This also gave the flavours time to combine well before baking.
  
  
  

  

  
  
  

  

  
  

  

  
    

carrot, orange and caraway cake

This is a combination of some of my favourite flavours and a cross between a traditional carrot cake and a seed cake.  Carrot and caraway have long been used together in savoury dishes and are a perfect match so I thought why not use this combination in a cake...? The pungent aniseed flavour of the caraway and the sharp citrus of the orange zests works well with the carrot, and it is definitely a cake I shall be baking again.  I hope you enjoy it.

300g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
200 g soft brown sugar
4 eggs
250ml oil
3 oranges zested
200 g grated carrots
1 tbs caraway seeds
1 tsp nutmeg
1 pinch salt

• heat the oven to 150.c and grease and line a 20cm deep cake tin or 2 1lb loaf tins.
• sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together and then stir in the sugar
• in a separate bowl beat the eggs with the oil and orange zest for a few minutes
• stir in the grated carrots, caraway seeds, nutmeg and salt and then fold everything into the flour mixture
• pour into the prepared tins and then bake for 40mins-1hour (depending on the size of tins you are using)
• it is ready when risen and a skewer comes out clean
• leave to cool in tins for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack

Eat with a nice cup of tea while watching Strictly Come Dancing on a Saturday night.