Gardening Book

Vegetable Garden

Most families in Australia enjoy their vegetable garden.  In their backyard, the family sets up a small garden including the vegetable patch.  It is almost standard practice for everyone in Australia.

It is a great activity or hobby to do the garden, a quality time to spend with the family,  and fresh air is suitable for anyone.  Planting our own vegetables does not only mean harvesting fresh produces from the backyard, but it is convenient and sometimes very economical too, particularly having potted herbs or a mall patch of herbs.

I have been given a lot of gardening books, cooking books from my children over the years, and I use them for my guidance to garden and cooking.  But this particular book from Jane is perfect.  It is a gardening book, which also contains how to cook the harvest.  It just happened I harvested pumpkin last time, and now I have more time to cook a recipe from the book.  It is a pumpkin soup: Thai pumpkin and coconut soup.

The Recipe:

Thai Pumpkin Soup and Coconut Soup

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan and gently fry 1 finely chopped onion for 5 minutes.  Add 1 tablespoon red curry paste and 1 tablespoon tomato puree and cook for 30 seconds.  Add 450 g cubed pumpkin flesh and fry for 5 minutes.  Add  400 ml of coconut milk and 500 ml vegetable stock.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Cool slightly, then puree in a food processor until smooth.  Return to a clean saucepan and reheat.  Stir in 3 tablespoons chopped coriander and garnish with sliced red Thai (bird's eye) chilli.  Serves 4. (from Vegetable Gardening published by Bay Books in 2004)

Notes about using Pumpkin and Storing according to this book.

- Remove the skin and seeds if boiling pumpkin

- Roasting larger pieces, the skin can be left intact for cooking.

- The seeds of pumpkins are dried and used in both sweet and savoury food.

- Steam or roasted to make a pumpkin puree

Store whole at room temperature for around 1 month. 

Wrap cut pumpkin in a plastic wrap and store in the fridge

COOKING

Thai Pumpkin and Coconut Soup

The pumpkin soup is ready to puree

Smooth and silky coconut pumpkin Soup

The Soup is Served

Hot and Delicious

Thai Pumpkin and Coconut Soup 

I adjusted the recipe to my taste, I think 400 ml of coconut milk is too much for my liking.  The soup is really smooth, silky and very flavoursome even though only using less coconut milk.  I used bought curry paste from the shop, but it is a good one.
Next time I will make my own red curry paste when I am ready, and I will share the recipe with you all.

Enjoy the recipe from this book, it is straightforward, and it works very well.  Have fun and happy cooking.

Thanks, Jane for the book, I must use it more often, mainly if I harvested the vegetables from the backyard, like the pumpkin, we enjoyed the pumpkin soup very much.

The Vegetable Gardening book is very informative, practical and useful.

More Gardening and Cooking Book to come.

Until Next Post

Thanks For Stopping By

Susy