Fine Food & e-Dining #1

...brought to you by the Fine Food & Dining Society of the University of St Andrews

Presenter: Victoria Albrecht
Camera: Sam Kenchington & Wayne Shi
Productio and Editing: Victoria Albrecht
Menu: Pea & Mint Soup and Poached Pears in Spiced Wine with Chocolate Sauce

Pea and Mint Soup

Ingredients
1 bunch spring onions, trimmed and roughly chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
850ml vegetable or chicken stock
900g young peas in the pod (to give about 250g/9oz shelled peas)
4 tbsp chopped fresh mint
large pinch caster sugar
1 tbsp fresh lemon or lime juice
150ml buttermilk or milk + crème fraîche

Method:
1. Put the spring onions into a large pan with the potato, garlic and stock. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potato is very soft. For the garnish, blanch 3 tbsp of the shelled peas in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, drain, put in a bowl of cold water and set aside. Add the remaining peas to the soup base and simmer for 5 minutes - no longer, or you will lose the lovely fresh flavour of the peas.
2. Stir in the mint, sugar and lemon or lime juice, cool slightly then pour into a food processor or liquidiser and whizz until as smooth as you like. Stir in half the buttermilk or soured cream, taste and season with salt and pepper.
3. To serve the soup cold, cool quickly, then chill - you may need to add more stock to the soup before serving as it will thicken as it cools. To serve hot, return the soup to the rinsed-out pan and reheat without boiling (to prevent the buttermilk or soured cream from curdling).
4. Serve the soup in bowls, garnished with the remaining buttermilk and the drained peas.

Poached Pears in Spiced Wine

4 pears, not too ripe, 1 per person
1 bottle red wine/white wine
225g caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla pod

1. Halve the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape out the seeds and slice each halve in two, putting all in a large saucepan with the red wine, sugar and cinnamon. Lower in the pears, making sure they are completely covered in the spiced wine liquid.

2. Cover the pan with a lid and poach for 20-30 mins. The cooking time depends on the ripeness of the pears. When cooked, the pears should be tender all the way through when pierced with a cocktail stick, though not mushy.

Chocolate Sauce

100g dark chocolate (around 70%)
25g unsalted Butter
Tbsp golden syrup
50ml double cream
100ml milk

1.Melt the chocolate in a milk pan (or in a glass bowl that you place over a pan with simmering water) at low temperature (not more than 40 degrees celcius!). stir in the butter and golden syrup, stirring from time to time until the chocolate melts.

2. Gradually whisk in the cream and milk until you have a smooth, creamy sauce.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Vegetarian
• Food
• Cooking
• University of St Andrews
• University
• Cookery Class
• Recipe
• Yummy
• Society
• Victoria Albrecht
• Sam Kenchington
• Fine Food & Dining Society
• soup
• desert
• chocolate
• dinner
• vegetables
• easy cooking

[samkenchington]

Great work everyone :)

[s0phiablueeyes]

Looks tasty!