For Starters

For the first series of lessons Mum and I decided to rustle up an easy meal of three courses, so we start, not surprisingly, with a starter.

My first lesson and Mum has picked a really simple starter which everyone can enjoy (with or without teeth!) - Tomato and Basil Soup. 

Now, before I got to actually cook anything I'm looking through the ingredients and realise that I'm completely unaware that a Tomato and Basil Soup contains more varieties of vegetables than come up for sale down the local market - with celery, carrot, onion and garlic in there I was beginning to think this tomato soup was really a vegetable soup.

However, I am reliably informed by Mum that 'if it wasn't for the vegetables there wouldn't be anything in there'. Here is lesson number one - don't judge a dish by it's name, it could contain anything!

So, accepting the numerous vegetables involved we get cracking. Now I thought preparing the vegetables would be the easy bit, until I heard 'Chris, you're going to have no carrot left!' Turns out I was peeling the vegetables wrong, being far too thorough apparently and stripping the poor carrot to within an inch of it's life. Quick change of tactic required, I started to peel towards me and soon enough that peeler was flying through the carrots (taking only the skin) and Mum was quiet again, pottering off to knit or something. Lesson number two - always peel towards you and leave some of the vegetable intact! 

Having terrorised the carrots with a rather wanton peeler I came across obstacle number two, onions. Innocent as they may look with their smooth brown skin and tufty rooty bottom, they don't half kick up a stink when you cut into them. My eyes were as red as a... red onion, but Mum wasn't suffering as her contact lenses doubled up as a onion juice guard. Lenses aside I will have to come up with something to stop that business (any ideas will be gratefully received). 

Anyway with everything in the pan, the vegetables are beginning to bubble away nicely in the stock. Time to add the tomatoes but it didn't occur to me, at this point, that dropping a solid 'ball' (which incidentally is a fruit not a vegetable) from a height would end up in me having a shower in what can only be described as 'vegetable dishwater'. Ok so I'm covered and I've learnt the hard way!

Red eyed and covered in vegetable juice things do take a turn for the good and appear to be fairly smooth from here on in... the scene now resembles a Halloween pot of bobbing apples... this is insane.

We finished by pulverising the whole vegetable mush turning into a soupy sort of liquid. Surprisingly, after a twist of salt and pepper seasoning it actually tastes quite nice!!

So... my first lesson is souper and I'm sure I can replicate that or at least I think I can (if not I can always fall back on Heinz).

Next up an easy main, this cooking malarkey isn't really that difficult... is it?

P.S Mum was still washing up on Wednesday.