Recipe: Acorn Cookery School Online's Hazelnut and Parsnip Soup

We’ve all got a lot of time on hands right now so, rather than just sending out a recipe or two, I thought I would abuse a captive audience and go into a little more detail on the cooking principles behind the flavours at Acorn.

Those of you who have been on our cooking courses will be familiar with the way I think about food, but for those of you who are new to this then I’m sorry, things are going to get nerdy.

A recipe is a lot like sheet music, it records what needs to be done and when, but it is missing the soul of the music, that must come from the skill and experience of the performer. One of the problems we face as cooks is that publishers want to sell books. They firmly believe that if a book has recipes that stretch beyond a page then no one will buy it. They are probably right, but no one will really learn how to cook either. It’s a little like taking a Bach suite and, rather than putting the onus on the player to learn how to play well, the sheet music publishers reduce it down a series of chords and key changes that will fit neatly on to a single page. Lots of people then buy the sheet music to learn how to play and either play something, but it’s not Bach, or they give up because they can’t make any sense of it.   

I am certainly not a culinary Bach, I am more of an enthusiastic journey man, but I firmly believe that what people need isn’t more recipes, the world has enough already, (seriously, please stop writing recipes for quinoa salads).   Rather, I think the world needs the knowledge and the skills to turn those recipes into beautiful music, to notice all the tiny details that lift dinner into an experience. I’m going to give you a recipe, probably a very simple one, and I’m going to talk you through all the little details that will make a real difference to the end result.  Over time, if you bother reading and I don’t bore you into a coma, you will find that everything you cook will get better and more delicious, that when you pick up a recipe you don’t see a series of instructions but rather a melody and series of harmonies you must tease out of the ingredients.  

Today I’m going to look at a simple soup recipe, Parsnip and Hazelnut. It’s not even strictly my recipe, the idea was created by our former head chef Steven Yates, now sadly no longer cooking, Steve was one of the most beautiful cooks I have ever worked with, every time he picked up a pan something indescribably elegant came out. I don’t know how much we have adapted this recipe over time but I thought it was important to recognise that this recipe came from a master.  

Stock

Make your stock first, perhaps even a day ahead. It should be on hand when you need it.

A good soup should taste of what it is, if it is a parsnip soup, it should taste of parsnip, it’s a simple as that.  But there is more to it than that, in the same way oil painters build layers of colours we need to give our parsnip a base, a foundation on which to stand.  The stock you use will determine the end character of the soup. Light and delicate stock will give a light and delicate soup. Rich and umami heavy stock will give a heavier, more satisfying soup.  The stock recipe below is a standard vegetable stock recipe, it is light and fresh and a good base for flavour. 

A few points to remember when cooking a stock (and when cooking in general) are:  The faster you heat your stock and the briefer the cooking, the fresher the flavour will be.  If you boil your stock for a long time you cook off all the light aromatic flavour compounds. When you are cooking and you think, that smells nice, what you are smelling is all the flavour evaporating out of your pan. If you can smell it now, you won’t taste it later. Couple with this the fact that delicate light flavours (think, mints, citrus, herbaceous) tend to break down at heat and long cooking will destroy any elegance. There are benefits to long cooking, the flavours that are created by the cells breaking down are uniquely satisfying, the sugars slowly caramelise and new flavours are unveiled.  As with everything in cooking, there is no right and wrong, you simply need to understand the effect of your choices and make the choices to produce the results you want. I like the soup a little lighter so I would bring the stock to the boil, simmer it for no more than 5 minutes and then let it cool with the lid on until completely cold. It is your choice though, you know what you want to create. 

A brief note on stock cubes: Don’t tell anyone, but I am not anti stock cube. Don’t get me wrong they aren’t as good as Marco Pierre White would have you believe, but if you want a quick dinner, and don’t want to make stock, then a stock cube is better than no stock at all. I would recommend only using half the recommended amount per litre, and be aware you are loosing control over one of your elements but otherwise do what you want, it’s your dinner.

Frying Your Shallots

After your stock the next decision you make is how to cook your onions or shallots. Pre heating your oil and then cooking them quickly and lightly will preserve the onion character and give a delicate sophistication to your cooking. Cooking them long and slow until they turn golden and jelly like will add a richness and sweetness to the whole dish. Again, there is no right or wrong, but know what you are aiming for. Because parsnips are already sweet I would recommend a light fast cooking, they still need to be cooked, they have to be soft and have lost that raw onion character, but not by much.  

Money Bags

We’ve all done it – you put a bay leaf, a clove and some rosemary in your pan and forget about it.  When you come to finish the dish, you can’t find them, the rosemary has dumped it’s leaves everywhere, you burn your fingers trying fish a clove out and who knows where the bay leaf went.  A simple solution is to take a piece of muslin, 20cm x 20cm and put your herbs and spices in the middle. Tie the opposing corners together to make a loose bag and when you finish cooking you can simply fish the whole thing out with no drama.  Wash the muslin in hot water and reuse as many times as you like.  

Roasting Your Nuts

There is science here but you don’t need to know it.  The simple principle you need is: The more you roast your nuts, the more nutty they taste.  If you want the richness of the nuts but not much flavour, don’t roast them at all. If you want an overwhelming nuttiness then take them to the edge of burning.  I would politely suggest the sweet spot is somewhere in the middle, but that may just be me being boring.  

Seasoning

I won’t go into too much detail, it’s something I will address in detail at a later date or you can look up salt in Plants Taste Better, but, here is a controversial statement; there is a correct amount of salt.  When a recipe says “season to taste” it doesn’t mean, season to your taste, it means taste and add seasoning. If the soup tastes thin and boring add more salt, a little at a time until it feels full and rich in the mouth.  Make sure you taste it after every addition of salt, if you can taste salt then you’ve added too much and ruined everyone’s dinner so add slowly and look for the “delicious” feeling. Add a tiny pinch of cayenne to lengthen the flavour.  Again, if you notice the heat, you’ve added too much.   

Parsnip and Hazelnut Soup Ingredients

• 500g Parsnips, sliced (peeled weight)
• 150g Banana Shallots (approx. 3) sliced
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• 1.25kg Stock
• 1 Bay leaf
• 3 sprigs Thyme
• 50g Roast Hazelnuts
• 50g Hazelnut Oil
• Salt
• A tiny pinch of cayenne Pepper

Method

1. Roast the hazelnuts in a preheated oven and set aside

2. Heat the oil and add the shallots, fry until just soft and translucent.

3. Add the garlic and cook until just cooked. 

4. Add the sliced parsnips and sweat for 5 mins

5. Wrap the thyme and bay in a small parcel of muslin (a money bag)

6. Add the stock and moneybag and cook until the parsnip is soft.  Remove the money bag.

7. Blend with hazelnuts and hazelnut oil until very smooth adding a little water if too thick.  Pass through a sieve to remove any bits

8. Season to taste with salt and cayenne.

Basic Stock Ingredients to make 1 litre of stock

• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 large stick celery
•  
• ¼ slice of lemon
• ½ fennel bulb
• 1 star anise
• 1g coriander seed
• 10 black peppercorns
• 10g parsley (including stalks)
• 3g thyme (including stalks)
• 1 Bay Leaf

Method

• Peel the onion and wash the remaining veg.
• Slice all the veg to a 3mm thickness.
• Put all the ingredients into a medium pan and cover with 1.2 litres water.
• Cover with a lid and gently bring to the boil – aiming to take 20 minutes to reach boiling point.
• Once it reaches boiling point allow the stock to simmer very gently for 5 minutes and remove from the heat.
• Allow to cool completely before draining off the stock.
• To drain set a large sieve over a clean pan and pour the stock into it.  If you press down on the veg to squeeze the juices from the veg you will get the strongest flavour but your stock will also be cloudy.  If you are using the stock for soup or risotto this is not a problem, if it is for consommé then you may want to be a little more delicate. 
• Discard the veg and store the stock in the fridge for up to 3 days.  

Make sure you check out Acorn Cookery School Online to take a look at more of their wonderfully delicious recipes!