Friday, February 22, 2013

FFwD - Cheating-On-Winter Pea Soup and Herb-Speckled Spaetzle


This Friday, Dorie has us cheating on winter with Cheating on Winter Pea Soup - but it ain't winter here, so I couldn't demonstrate my infidelity to the seasons.  The day that I made this soup (well, the Thursday night before reveal) was 32 degrees (86F) outside. 

I was a little reticent about this one - as you know, I am not a soup fan.  But again, this soup surprised me, and I quite liked it.  I made a half recipe using half frozen and half canned peas (because that is what I had about the house).  I had no issues with blending the soup because I just blitzed it in my little-used blender - I had more technical issues with the blender's safety lock than with the soup.

It isn't easy being green, especially this olive hue, but don't be fooled - this plain Jane soup is quite delicious.

I also finally got around to making the herb-speckled spaetzle from early January:


I enjoyed this dish but without a spaetzle maker, it is a real pain to make - I thought my left arm was going to fall off as I pressed the dough tediously through a colander-spoon with my bare hand (which worked better than using a spoon).  I served my spaetzle with beef stroganoff and green beans: 



This was a pretty awesome meal.

To see what the Doristas thought about this week's soup, visit the LYL section of the website.

24 comments:

Cher Rockwell said...

My first go-round with the spaetzle involved a grater and a very sore arm - I hear you!
THe soup was a pleasant surprise - and so easy. Who knew?
P.S. Can you send some of your warm to the Northern Hemisphere?

Kari said...

I am impressed with you making soup in this weather. I can't even think about it for a few months yet, but when I do - I will keep this soup in mind :)

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

Awesome is right! Now I'm craving spaetzel...perfect with stroganoff! I enjoyed the pea soup, too.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

That looks very winter appropriate! :D And I can imagine it would be hard pushing the spaetzel dough through a colander!

Cakelaw said...

@ Cher - some extra warmth coming your way!

Choc Chip Uru @ Go Bake Yourself said...

WHat a pretty colour my friend for a warming soup :D

Cheers
Choc Chip Uru

Mardi Michels said...

Yes this soup was surprisingly tasty wasn't it? And the spaetzle? YUM!

Kathy said...

Surprisingly, we all really enjoyed this soup! It was quite good! I used a grater for my spaetzle and it was a pain! Both of your dishes look great!

KarenP said...

Your spaetzle/beef stroganoff meal looks so good!!! I'm glad you tried the soup even though it is summer where you are. At least it was easy!

KarenP said...

I wanted to add how impressed I was with the cookies you made for me - each one was decorated differently! I hadn't realized that when I was taking the photos. As someone who is really bad at decorating cookies, I'm impressed!

Mary Hirsch said...

I would just like to concentrate on your delicious -looking soup and forget about the spaetzle which is still a painful experience for me to remember. I do credit your FFWD colleagues who live in the Southern Hemisphere. Doesn't it seem like it's all about Us? It's Winter up here and very cold but wouldn't it have been nice for us to save the Olive Oil Ice Cream to do in February? Then we'd get a taste of our own medicine. I am wondering if you served the soup hot or cold. I think it would be very tasty served cold.

Geri Saucier said...

This was good soup. The Spatzle was one of my favorites. Great idea serving it with Beef Stroganoff:)

Cakelaw said...

So glad you liked them - thanks!

Cakelaw said...

LOL - that's OK, I don't mind hot things in summer - it's the ice cream in winter that is challenging!

Guyla said...

We in the north do tend to impose our seasonal choices on you in the southern part of the world! Sorry about that. Your soup looks great and you're reminding me that I want to make spaetzle again. It was a mess and time consuming but we loved it! Yours looks great!

Andrea_TheKitchenLioness said...

Very nice presentation of your bowl of Pea Soup. Nice touch to add some sour cream. And nice to see and read that you really enjoyed eating the herb-speckled SpƤtzle - delicious pairing with the Beef Stroganoff and the green string beans.
Have a good weekend!

Elaine said...

Your soup looks great and I am glad you enjoyed it even in the summer. Your spaetzle looks so good as does your dinner. Have a great weekend!

Sara said...

Both dishes look terrific! The soup didn't win me over completely, but it was better than I thought it would be. Certainly an interesting idea! Nice job with these two recipes!

Trevor Sis Boom said...

I have not been tempted in the slightest to go back and make that spaetzel! lol.. This soup, however, I will be making a lot.

Rose said...

I liked the soup, but I loved the spaetzle. So happy to hear that you caught up with this one. It certainly was a pain though.

Anonymous said...

Tasty looking two-fer. Your spaetzle turned out way better than mine!

tricia s. said...

I still have to get to the spaetzle but I did knock out the soup.This was a surprise hit in my home as well. My own expectations were pretty low since I am not a fan of peas. I liked this but will go for a thicker version next time and my guys definitely want a "next time". Dorie inspired me to play around with more soups as this was truly easy and tough for me to rationalize not having time to try. Apologize for the late comment- I had too much fun running around seeing the Barefoot Contessa and cooking and ended up with a miserable cold (but it was worth it).

Anonymous said...

I agree that making the spaetzle is a pain without a spaetzle-maker. I might have to invest in one, since my partner loved it so much (he's a little starch-deprived, sometimes). The soup was a nice surprise and will be perfect all year round.

Kayte said...

It does look like an awesome meal, you are right, I would love to tuck into that any day. I think, just maybe, we are going to make a soup lover out of you yet.