Winter warmers - Minestrone soup & herb scones

Finally it rained last night! It has been dry across Western Australia throughout March-April-May, causing grave concerns particularly among farmers, but finally the drought has broken and winter has arrived. Though we need much more rain, so keep it coming! rain let it rain!

And it has certainly been cold, perfect soup weather. Last weekend I made Minestrone soup, so I thought I'd share the recipe with you here. 

MINESTRONE SOUP

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove garlic

1 large onion

60g ham or bacon

2 sticks celery

1 or 2 large carrots, diced

1 potato cubed

1 x 410g can kidney beans, drained

6 ½ cups beef stock (made with beef stock cubes) - see note

1 x 140g can Tomato paste

½ small cabbage heart, shredded

½ teaspoon rosemary, oregano and basil

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

few handfuls small size shell noodles

Crush garlic, chop onion, and ham and fry gently in hot oil.  Dice celery, and carrot, drain kidney beans, and drop them into the pot and toss the lot around.  Add stock, tomato paste, rosemary and parsley.  Cover and simmer for 1 hour.  Then add shredded cabbage and shell noodles, and cook another 20 minutes.

Serve, sprinkled with grated or Parmesan cheese. 

Note: Usually during summer if I have an abundance of tomatoes I make tomato soup and freeze it in tubs, and then use this for the base for my minestrone soup, instead of using the beef stock and tomato paste. Although I still do add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste to the minestrone soup. 

And herb scones

1 egg

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 dessertspoon sugar (if making sweet scones)

¾ cup milk

2 cups SR flour

½ teaspoons salt

For savoury scones – chopped herbs – parsley, oregano, sage, rosemary, chives,

and ½ cup grated cheese

You can also add some finely chopped sun dried tomatoes

                             

Beat egg and sugar (if using) together.  Add melted butter to milk.  Sift flour and salt together. 

NOTE - If making savoury scones, add chopped herbs and ½ cup grated cheese to flour mixture now. 

Make well in the centre of the flour mixture, and stir in egg mixture and milk.  Mix to soft dough.  Turn onto floured board and knead very lightly, only till all combined.  Pat or roll out to about 2cm thickness.  Cut with scone cutter.  Place on lightly greased tray.  Brush with cold milk.  Cook at 230C for 10-12 minutes.

Update -  Maggie from Normandy as just asked me about the plates. They are a special find in an antique shop a few years ago. I love them.  These old French plates - Sarreguemines. were tucked away along the back wall. The proprietor said they were from the 1850s, but my research tells me more likely early 1900s - but do I care? not a bit! I love them!
I have 4 plates and all 4 have a different designs - perfect! 

 And finally, what can be better in winter than curling up in front of the fire with a rug, a mug of soup, and a good book. Oh, and don't forget the ugg boots!

What is your favourite winter soup? Perhaps you'd like to share in the comments. 
Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

You might also like: 

It's winter in Western Australia

Winter soup warmers in my winter garden

Pumpkin soup autumn warmer

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
 

Mosaic Monday
Our World Tuesday
Through My Lens 
Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 
The Lovin' Life Team over at Lifestyle Fifty
Sky Watch Friday

Carrots, minestrone & flowers!

An interesting mix for today. 

I have been searching for some old soup plates for my food photography. A couple of weekends ago we went to the Nannup Flower and Garden Festival, and in the Nannup antique shop (what a glorious place) I found tucked away along the back wall these old French plates - Sarreguemines. The proprietor said they were from the 1850s, but my research tells me more likely early 1900s - but do I care? not a bit! I love them!
I have 4 plates and all 4 have a different designs - perfect!
Seen here photographed with pea & ham soup in natural kitchen light.

I made minestrone and served with herb scones last weekend, served in my French plates. I've made herb scones for years, they are a perfect accompaniment for soup on a cold winter's evening.  I use whatever herbs I have in my garden - parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme (sounds like a song...) and this time I also added sun dried tomatoes to make them a bit more Italian to go with the soup.

Photographed in natural light on my back patio on a cloudy morning. I would have really liked some light and shade, but it was a completely cloudy day, so I worked with that!

I couldn't decide which image I like the best, so here is a collage.
Perhaps you can tell me which image you like? thanks!

And a mosaic of baby carrots - photographed in natural light - cloudy morning. There is those French plates again, and my serving spoon courtesy of my mother-in-law.
The baked carrot recipe came from Fast Ed's new cookbook "The Food Clock".  First you brown them in a pan a bit, but I think 20 minutes in the oven was a bit too long.  You were supposed to cook sage with it, but my plant has disappeared! so I used rosemary - just as good.

 Congratulations to everyone who participated in the Bunbury annual Floral Art Exhibition "Blooming Art 2012" on show in the beautiful Chapel Gallery at the Bunbury Regional Art Gallery. Congratulations to the winners, and the organizers, and Floral Designers Club exhibition chairwoman, Eileen Wenn. That's Eileen's prize winning arrangement on the top left, and her necklace on the top right.
The arrangement you see second from the left by Sue Larkin - Best Contemporary Design, Best in Show & Best Use of Colour - congratulations Sue - stunning work

Below is from Kim's Beyond Layers Day 60 - creating a "scripted image" layer. Here I am showing you the original unedited image, and with the "scripted" image next to it. I also added a sepia photo filter.We are learning some great techniques in Kim's e-course.

 Have a wonderful week. I am linking up with Mary at Little Red House and other wonderful artists at Mosaic Monday. Click on the link here to see their work - Mosaic Monday

Finally how about a jar of smiles for when life is not treating you so well....

If you would like to see some more of my food photography, I would love you to come over to my Flickr site -  Jill's Food on Flickr

Thank you for taking the time to come to my blog. Your comments are valuable to me and I look forward to hearing from you.  Have a wonderful week.