Courgette Soup

A few peeps have asked me recently for my Courgette Soup recipe so here goes for anyone who wants to have a bash! It's low fat for those of you who are watching their waistlines! I've also added a recipe for a pastry dish to try and use up all those delicious courgettes. For anyone interested there is a very nice recipe book 'What will i do with all those Courgettes' which will perhaps help with the glut.

Courgette Soup

Ingredients:

3 tablespoon butter
Courgettes (Zucchini)(can be peeled or not peeled according to your preference - peeled gives a lighter green colour when finished) - the more courgettes that are added the better the taste

1 medium Onion diced
2 pints Chicken Stock (stock cube is acceptable but use two)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cornflour to thicken (optional)

Method:

Melt butter in a large saucepan.
Add onions and fry gently for 5 minutes.

Add courgettes (Zuchinni) and cook, stirring frequently, for 5-10 minutes.
Add stock and bring to the boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and blitz with a hand blender and whizz until smooth
Return to the saucepan, thicken with cornflour to desired consistancy and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve.

Tomato, Courgette and Mozarella Pastry:

Ingredients
1 pack ready rolled Puff pastry sheets – thawed
Courgettes - sliced
2 tbsp. olive oil
4 ripe tomatoes sliced
1x125g pack Mozzarella cheese – drained
beaten egg to glaze

Method:

Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas mark 7.
Have ready a lined baking sheet.
Unroll pastry sheets and cut each in half across length, place pastry on baking sheets.
Mark a square border of about 1.5cm with a knife.
Lightly fry the courgettes in the olive oil until soft.
In the middle of the pastry make a row of overlapping tomato slices, a row of sliced cheese and a row of courgette. Add any remaining cheese on top as available.
Brush borders with beaten egg and bake in the oven for 12-15 min until borders have risen up around filling and pastry is golden. Drizzle with a little olive oil, if desired, over the tomatoes before serving hot.

Serve with a side salad.

Serves 2-4.

Bon Appetit!

Edinburgh

Had a fun weekend in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Loads to see and do and despite the short timescales we gave it our best shot. We had checked the weather forecast beforehand and it said 'rain' for the whole weekend! It was wrong - we only had a few small showers on the Saturday the rest of the time it was glorious and the sun even managed to raise the temperature on the Monday and almost make it Summer - well as in a Scottish Summer!

The first tour we took was the Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour where at the Beehive Inn in the Grassmarket area where we met our guides for the tour, Clart (as in muck!) and the clean-hankied intellectual McBrain who took us on a dramatic romp through the wynds, courtyards and pubs of Edinburgh's Old and New Town. There were hilarious duel of wits across three hundred years of great writing and colourful characters. Performed in and out of Edinburgh’s famous - and infamous - taverns and ‘howffs’. The tour took the form of an impassioned debate. In a lively duel of wits, they question the importance which the unique pub atmosphere offered creative and intellectual thought. Of course, a drink in each establishment was essential to get the full effect!

We dashed back across town to Grassmarket for our the 10.30pm Terror Tour and with guide Luke, who took us through the historic wynds and closes of the city. Here we were told tales of witch trials once held here in the old town and then into the infamous dark underground vaults where we were shown genuine torture instruments, where one of the girls in the group fainted. I have to admit i thought at this point it was part of the tour as i watched the lassie fall to the ground, erm it wasn't! The legendary haunted vaults are home of the notorious, violent and misogynistic South Bridge Poltergeist (they actually split up males and females in one of the rooms!). The Tour ended in the vaults bar in the haunted 'Nicol Edwards' pub. We had planned to have a drink here and move on... but not before we were introduced to the delights of 'Acoustic David' who turned out to be great entertainment! He moved effortlessly from Oasis through David Bowie and into 'Ten Puppies' (can't stop humming it now!) all in the space of 3 minutes! He didn't take a break at all it was just non-stop good fun, obviously 'Dave' was a regular here as he had quite a following!

We had pre-booked the Vaults Tour where with guide John we visited the 18th century vaults beneath the South Bridge - a great bridge built which spanned the deep valley to the south of the Royal Mile. Under its 19 enormous arches, is a catacomb of underground chambers where people lived and worked. The tour was very good and interactive....the only problem being that we were still recovering from the previous evening! So being rather worse for wear after our previous nights jaunts around the city we decided that we would take things a tad easier and take...yes a bus tour of the city courtesy of Mactours!

The Edinburgh Dungeons tour was a bit disappointing. It started having your photo taken on the stocks with a variety of props and a scream...not easy. The set up was very sophisticated but it lacked the sponataneity of the other tours. As we were herded like 'coos' from room to room with the actors, the boat ride was a welcome break to the monotony of the tour but far too brief. I was rather relieved to get to the end as boredom set in. Alas there was no quick and easy escape as in their usual style you are herded through first to view your photographs and then into a lift which took forever and just as you thought freedom was nigh....erm the gift shop! A protracted route through the gift shop before you are finally released. I wouldn't recommend this tour for youngsters under twelve as it is a bit graphic in parts i felt.

A more pleasant and worthwhile visit was to Edinburgh's Camera Obscura and World of Illusion. The Camera Obscura show was a fascinating and an amusing way to see the city. From inside Victorian rooftop chamber, you can view the moving images of Edinburgh City projected onto a viewing table through a giant periscope. You get to pick people up on your hands, squash them to a pulp and even make the traffic climb over paper bridges. The guide was entertaining, engaging and informative. Also from the rooftop were breathtaking views of the city and its surrounding areas looking over Edinburgh's Old and New Towns as well as Edinburgh Castle. Free telescopes allowed you to see the city close up or see far into the distance. Viewing panels help you identify the many sights and inform you about Edinburgh's history. The World of illusions on the lower floors was very interesting and interactive too and it was somewhat different from the ghostie theme.

Oh and guess who forgot to set the date correctly on her camera! D'oh!!