#52 - Chorizo and Black Bean Soup + Chicken Tikka Pie + My Vietnam Recommendations
Spiced, comforting autumnal goodness for you
Hello team!
I am fresh back from my honeymoon in Vietnam, where we had the best time imaginable. The people! The food! The stunning scenery! Truly a perfect holiday destination. It is gorgeous sitting outdoors on tiny stools in the street in Hanoi without a jacket on at this time of year, but it’s also really lovely to be back in time to soak up the cosy, festive vibes in the UK.
This week’s newsletter contains two VERY comforting, spiced recipes - we’ve got the next instalment of Feeling Myshelf - my chorizo and black bean soup - as well as a chicken tikka pie. To appease the purists, this pie even has a base and sides.
You’ll also get my full list of Vietnam recommendations, from where to stay, what to eat and where to buy vintage crockery (because I obviously can’t go on holiday without doing this).
Most of this newsletter is for paid subscribers only, so if you fancy reading on, you can upgrade your subscription here.
Enjoy!
Sophie x
The Recipes
Feeling Myshelf Episode 4 - Chorizo and Black Bean Soup
This sits somewhere between a soup and a dip, which is why the tortilla chips to serve it with make perfect sense. If you don’t have the whole spices, swap them out for ground ones.
Serves 4
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 red onion
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 x 400g tinned black beans
600ml vegetable stock
1 tbsp chipotle chilli paste
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp red wine vinegar
200g cooking chorizo
4 tbsp sour cream
handful of fresh coriander leaves
tortilla chips, to serve
salt and olive oil
Pour your cumin and coriander seeds into a dry frying pan, and toast them for a minute over a medium heat until they are fragrant. Get them in a pestle and mortar, and crush them to a powder.
Peel and finely dice your red onion. Heat a large saute pan over a medium heat, and add 3 tbsp olive oil. Add all but a tbsp of your onion, and cook it for 15-20 minutes, until it has softened and just started to take on colour.
Add your tomato puree to the pan, and cook this out for 3 minutes until it has darkened slightly.
Drain your tins of black beans in a colander and give them a rinse.
Add your toasted spices back into the pan along with your chipotle paste, then pour in your black beans, vegetable stock, cayenne pepper and vinegar. Simmer gently for 20 minutes.
Add ½ your mixture to a blender, and whizz it to a smooth paste. Pour it back into the pan, and season it to taste with salt. Keep it warm.
Slice your chorizo into rounds, and fry it over a medium heat for 5 minutes until the fat has rendered out and its gone nice and crispy.
Spoon your soup into bowls, and spoon on a dollop of sour cream, your crispy chorizo, your remaining diced onion and coriander leaves. Serve it up with tortilla chips.
Chicken Tikka Pie
Chicken tikka masala is considered to be Britain’s national dish by lots of people, and do you know what else we love over here? A PIE. People get very passionate about what makes a pie, and many of those people will say that for it to be a pie, it needs to have a base and sides. Whilst I don't necessarily agree with this (I love the convenience of just a pie top - lock me up!) pie purists will be pleased that today’s pie is the real deal. Base, sides and all.
Chicken balti pies are a staple of football stadiums all over the country, but as I’m more of a tikka masala gal, I’ve decided to stuff this pie with that curry instead.
I’ve gone for a suet pastry over shortcrust, as I find it more forgiving to make. You don’t need to worry about it getting overworked as much, so you can take a heavier hand to it. It also has that slight spongy quality that means some of the sauce gets soaked into the inner crust, which retains all the flavour, and offers a nice textural contrast to the crust on the outside.
If you are worried about your pie having a soggy bottom without blind baking it, fear not. I find that placing your pie dish on a preheated baking tray means that you get a good amount of bottom heat to it, which translates into a nice crisp pastry bum.
Serves 8