Blue Cayenne

Two of my good friends just married and I made this soup for them and for some of our friends who gathered to celebrate their marriage.

The soup was very well received and my friends urged me to post the recipe here. So, here goes. 

Here is the recipe of the soup as I prepared it in my kitchen. The recipe is from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking. The book is available on Amazon here.

In the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, news sources are filled with colorful anecdotes about her life. One such story describes wild strawberry picking in the pine forests that surround Balmoral Castle. (No. Wait.  That sentence didn’t come out right. “Wild strawberry picking” sounds more Woodstock than Balmoral. How about:  “One such story describes the Queen picking wild strawberries.” )

Reportedly, gathering strawberries at Balmoral was one of the late Queen’s favorite relaxing pastimes. The fruits of her forays were brought back to the castle’s chef who turned them into jams and desserts. It has been reported that the Queen adored strawberries in every iteration and her absolute favorite sweet treat was jam pennies (small round “pennies” cut out of white bread) slathered in strawberry jelly or jam.

I know. I know. You are saying but…but…but…wasn’t that a marmalade sandwich that she pulled out of her purse in the delightful Paddington Bear skit that aired during the Jubilee Celebration? (The skit was brilliant, by the way—worth watching again (and again):  The Queen, Paddington the Bear and Marmalade Sandwiches.)

Inarguably, the United Kingdom is known for orange marmalade–Fortnum and Mason, Wilkin and Sons, and on and on. And there is no doubt that the Queen, like sweet little Paddington who always carries a marmalade sandwich in his hat, loved marmalade, too.  But my guess is that there were strawberry jam pennies rolling around somewhere in that signature purse of hers, too. 

So, in the spirit of the moment, here is a strawberry recipe for this week. These Strawberry Basil Crumb Bars are easy to bake and delicious. The recipe turns fresh end-of-the-season strawberries into a gooey jammy filling and throws in an unexpected bit of basil flavor.  We can’t help but think that the Queen would approve. 

These Strawberry Bars are from Jessie Sheehan’s cookbook Snackable Bakes. You can find the book in your local bookstore or on Amazon here.

Here’s the recipe as I made it in my kitchen. 

Every month Blue Cayenne features recipes from our archive of more than four hundred recipes. These recipes are our “Oldies But Goodies.” Today’s Oldie But Goodie recipe is for a tasty main dish, Chermoula Eggplant With Bulgur and Yogurt.   You will find a link to a recipe for Chermoula Eggplant With Bulgur and Yogurt here. .

You don’t want to miss this great recipe…again.

Want to dive deeper into our recipe archive? Just click one of the categories at the top of this page or use the category search drop down menu on the right side of this page.

And…here is a link to Blue Cayenne’s main page: Blue Cayenne.  If you are in the mood to cook (or eat!), we hope you will take a moment to look at the many excellent recipes we have featured.