English Pea Soup With Poached Duck Egg Recipes

'BOUILLABAISSE' OF FRESH PEAS WITH POACHED EGGS

Steps:

• In a heavy soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat, and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes, and add the potatoes and garlic. Cook, stirring, until the garlic begins to smell fragrant, about one minute. Add the water, saffron and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add the peas, cover and simmer another 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the broth is sweet. Taste, adjust salt and add pepper.
• One by one, break each egg into a teacup, then tip into the soup. Poach the eggs for four minutes until just set. Place a crouton in each bowl and, using a skimmer or a slotted spoon, scoop out a poached egg and place it on top. Stir the herbs into the soup, then ladle the soup into the bowls and serve.

MINTED ENGLISH PEA SOUP

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, leek, and celery, and cook until soft. Add potatoes and 7 cups vegetable stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Prepare an ice-water bath. Fill another large saucepan with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add salt and return to a boil. Add peas and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and immediately transfer peas to ice-water bath to cool. Drain and add to saucepan with vegetables and stock.
• Working in batches, puree the soup in the jar of a blender or bowl of a food processor. Strain liquid twice through a fine mesh sieve into another large saucepan. Add 1 cup of heavy cream and place saucepan over low heat. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar. Tie mint together using kitchen twine and add to saucepan; let steep for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove mint and discard. If soup seems too thick, add some of the remaining vegetable stock to thin.
• In a medium bowl, whisk remaining 1/2 cup heavy cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold into the warmed soup. Serve immediately.

INDIAN CHICKPEAS WITH POACHED EGGS

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a non-stick sauté pan, add the garlic, pepper, chilli and the whites from the spring onions, and fry for 5 mins over a medium-high heat. Meanwhile, put a large pan of water on to boil.
• Add the spices, tomatoes, most of the coriander and the chickpeas to the sauté pan and cook for 1-2 mins more. Stir in the bouillon powder and enough liquid from the chickpeas to moisten everything, and leave to simmer gently.
• Once the water is at a rolling boil, crack in your eggs and poach for 2 mins, then remove with a slotted spoon. Stir the spring onion tops into the chickpeas, then very lightly crush a few of the chickpeas with a fork or potato masher. Spoon the chickpea mixture onto plates, scatter with the reserved coriander and top with the eggs. Serve with an extra sprinkle of cumin, if you like.

ENGLISH PEA SOUP WITH POACHED DUCK EGG

Steps:

• Heat the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and add the onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Sauté until the vegetables are soft and clear. Add the peas and water, along with another pinch of salt to set the color of the peas. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to low and simmer just until the peas are tender, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Purée the soup in batches in a blender, taking care not to fill the blender more than half full and covering the top with a kitchen towel to avoid splatters. When all the soup is puréed, strain through a chinois or fine-mesh sieve into a medium-size bowl. Stir in the cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. If not serving the soup immediately, place the bowl in an ice-water bath and chill until cold, then refrigerate.
• Fill a medium-size saucepan with water to a depth of at least 3 inches and add the vinegar. Place the pan over low heat and bring to just below a simmer. Crack 1 egg and drain off most of the white, then tip the yolk into a ramekin or teacup. To avoid sticking, dip the ramekin or cup just below the surface of the water until the whites set, then slip the egg out of the cup and into the water. Repeat with the remaining 3 eggs. Poach the eggs to medium, 3 to 4 minutes, taking out the eggs in the reverse order they were placed in the pan. Retrieve each with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain.
• To serve, reheat the soup until hot. Divide the chives among 4 shallow bowls, sprinkling them on the bottom to provide a bed for the egg. Gently place a drained egg on top of the chives in each bowl. Carefully spoon or pour the soup around the egg. Gloss the egg with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and cracked pepper. Serve immediately.