was asked to speak to the Beaconsfield Ladies Group this week. The topic for the talk was left up to me. I decided to speak about the current trends in food. One of the most prominent is the trend toward small.

A cocktail dinatoire is the current buzz word. Essentially, you are serving a dinner without the dinner plate, cutlery, table and chairs. The courses are served by means of hors d’oeuvres. The first course is usually soup. I decided to prepare a roasted vegetable soup and serve it in a demi- tasse espresso cup.

Thank you Beaconsfield Ladies – you were a great audience!

( for 40 hors d’oeuvre size servings)

 

Ingredients

• 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 head of garlic, halved
• 6 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 potatoes, washed and roughly chopped
• 1/2 head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• Salt and pepper
• 3 litres of stock ( I used chicken stock)

Steps

Put all the chopped vegetables in a roasting pan and drizzle with the canola oil, salt and pepper. Roast in a preheated 375ºF oven for at least thirty minutes, stirring occasionally. When the vegetables start to turn colour and the tips have a brown tinge, they are ready.

Pour the vegetables into a pot along with the stock. Simmer for 30 minutes. Using a blender, blend the soup in batches and pass through a sieve.

Reheat the soup, adjust the seasoning and serve in bowls or decorative mini cups.