Thai Mushroom Soup

I've been craving mushroom soup for a couple of weeks, but I'm not a fan of the typical 'cream of mushroom' style as I tend to find it a bit slimy. So I've been meaning to apply my soup-creating skills to mushrooms. I was actually going to look up a recipe for Hungarian mushroom soup (inspired by a throwaway comment from Jovialist) but I didn't quite get round to that. Soon, I promise.

When I found loads of different mushroom-related offers in Tesco, it kicked me into action, and then I found a pack of fresh coriander in the discount bin - Thai seemed the obvious choice.

I usually have a little inward groan when I see recipes that call for a million types of mushrooms, because I don't like having half-packets to use up later - but this is only three kinds, and they all add something different. I love the solid texture of chestnut mushrooms, and baby button mushrooms are just cute.

Thai Mushroom Soup
Serves 4

250g field mushrooms
2 large onions
1tsp toasted sesame oil
1inch fresh ginger
6 large cloves garlic
1 small red chilli
2tbsp red Thai curry paste
1tbsp tomato puree
2 pints boiling water
50g coconut cream
200g chestnut mushrooms
100g baby button mushrooms
20g fresh coriander leaf (cilantro)

1. Finely chop the onions and field mushrooms, and fry in the sesame oil for around 10 minutes until soft.
   
   
2. Chop the ginger, garlic, and chilli. Stir in to the onion/mushroom mixture and fry for a couple more minutes.
   
   
3. Add the curry paste, tomato puree, and around 1/2 pint of boiling water, and simmer over a low heat for around 45 minutes.
   
   
4. Dissolve the coconut cream into the soup, and add the rest of the boiling water.
   
   
5. Trim the button mushrooms, and cut the chestnut mushrooms into thick slices. Add these to the soup, along with the coriander stalks (chopped). Simmer for a further 5 minutes until all mushrooms are tender.
   
   
6. Stir the coriander leaf through just before serving, and reserve a little to garnish.

Endnote: my husband thought this might have been better if I'd pureed it before serving. I happen to disagree, but I'm happy to stick his in the blender if he really wants me to! Blending the onion mixture before adding the button & chestnut mushrooms would give a slightly thicker soup base so that might be a compromise for next time.

NaNoWriMo 2009: In Summary

So. December. Time to forget about crazy writing goals and move on to thinking about Christmas, right?

Well..... imminently. But first, as with all good things that end too soon, I need to have a NaNo post mortem.

Yes, I took a photo of my screen instead of a screenshot. I was half asleep!

To put these ramblings into context, I should point out that I've done NaNo twice before in the last two years, both times successfully.

For my first attempt in 2007 I was excessively keen and, with the help of a solid plan, a lot of late nights, and two weekends with my fingers glued to the keyboard, I managed to reach 50,000 words in 14 days. I should have used the rest of the month to write more, but no. I didn't write another word for about two months.

Last year, having learnt something of a lesson about burn-out, I decided to pace myself. I had an exciting idea to explore, but I started the month with only a main character and a 'concept' statement. The fleshing out of that concept into a fully-fledged plot over the course of the next 30 days was one of those organic miracles that only happens when you make yourself "just write". I finished only a couple of days ahead of schedule, but I wasn't fed up of writing.

So I know I can write 50,000 words in a month. Been there, done that. Nothing left to prove, in that respect.

This year I wanted a different challenge. This year I wanted to find out whether I could write well at that speed. Could I turn out 50,000 words and be proud to stand behind them? Could I generate 1667 words of solid first-draft material each and every day? And would I be completely exhausted by the end of the process?

It didn't help that I fell ill on the 2nd, so progress over the whole month felt painfully slow. I fell behind almost immediately and didn't catch up until the 20th. But on the other hand, I know there are some people who're happy to be behind until the 30th, and still make it.

I reached 50,117 on November 28th, and reached the end of my novel in the process (I was technically a NaNo Rebel this year, by putting my words towards an existing project).

On the whole, I'd have to say my 'quality' experiment was a success.

Of course, a first draft is always a first draft. It needs more work - lots of it. But it's writing of the same standard as my normal first drafts which, as I've mentioned previously, have actually been rewritten several times. I didn't try to stop myself editing and rewriting as I went along (I deleted hundreds of words) and nor did I do anything specifically to increase my word count (aside from sitting down and writing, obviously!).

Now I just have to decide which book to write next........

Birds

It's not surprising that we saw a lot of birds while we were enjoying our summer holiday in the Outer Hebrides. Of course the puffins were the stars, but sadly not all birds are quiet so distinctive, so there were several we couldn't identify.

This fabulous bird of prey was sitting on a rock just by the side of the road, just feet from the car. He let me take quite a few photos before he decided to fly off:

We think he might be a buzzard, but we're not sure. (Clarification for my US readers: click to see a UK buzzard)

My husband and I aren't proper birders - we're not even enthusiastic amateurs, really. Just people who love wildlife, even if we don't know what it's all called! So there are others where we have even less idea... if you know any of these, please tell us.

If, like me, you have no idea, then "ooh, pretty!" is a perfectly valid response. I especially love this first guy (or gal), so elegant with those long legs...