Smooth Soup, A Cool Dish from Cuba and A Satisfying Salad

Although the soup I had for tea on Monday and Tuesday wasn't the prettiest dish, what it lacked in looks it certainly made up for in flavour. Especially for a peanut butter freak like myself. The soup really was smooth, even the onions were grated and sauteed with flour to a smooth paste. There weren't many ingredients, basically just onions, milk, stock and smooth peanut butter, so it was quick to prepare. Also, unusually for a soup, it was quick to cook. I didn't time it exactly, but about twenty five minutes start to finish I think. It's therefore perfect if you want a soup on a weekday after work! I love peanut butter, so I was sure I'd like it, but even if you're not as mad on it as I am, I reckon its still worth a try.

Actually, I've changed my mind, I think it looks fabulous. Like a giant bowl of melted peanut butter. Which can only be a good thing.

 

 

Tonight I went to Cuba for tea. But only in my head (unfortunately!). I don't cook much Cuban food, so I was keen to give this a go, especially when I saw it had bananas in. The banana was cut into chunks and fried, and then added to cooked rice along with some onions. A fried egg perched on top completed the meal! I don't usually cook fried eggs, as a huge amount of oil is usually needed, but I recently saw a method where a lid is placed over the egg so the yolk and top of the white is cooked by steaming! I brushed the pan with a minimal amount of oil, so while technically it's a fried and steamed egg, I would definitely do it again. The egg was cooked perfectly as well, the white was completely cooked but not overdone, and the yolk had just set a little round the edge but was still runny inside. The combination of the runny part of the egg yolk and the banana was quite strange, but not in a bad way. To be honest though, I like pretty much everything I put in my mouth. I can't think of a single food that I won't eat. I will admit, it is perhaps not for everyone, but if you are feeling adventurous... 

I love the smell of cooking onions, one of my top kitchen smells.

Just beginning to turn golden brown, nearly there...

I would eat this on it's own...

The mixture of rice, onion and banana keeping warm whilst the egg cooks.

My large saucepan lid was perfect, it fitted the frying pan and didn't touch the egg!

The finished product.

You may well know by now that I like a salad, and will eat them even when it's freezing outside. And salad is what I have for tea tomorrow. With the temperatures reaching into the early thirties, I think that it is a sensible choice! Apart from boiling an egg, there isn't any other cooking, just assembling- grating carrots, and then mixing with mustard seeds, olives, lemon juice and the boiled egg. Simple as. The original recipe serves four, and needs 800g of grated carrot. I was getting bored grating my 200g. I think if I ever did a larger amount I would be looking for a willing kitchen helper!