Ingredients:

4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, peeled and chopped
8 oz potato, chopped
8 oz parsnips, chopped
8 oz turnips, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 zucchini, sliced
1 green bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, rushed
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp mild curry paste
5 cups vegetable bouillon
1 1/2 cups black eyed peas
chopped cilantro to garnish

I didn’t have paprika, turnips or black eye peas. Used kidney beans instead. Used curry powder instead of paste. In spite of all of this, this turned out really good. It was somewhat similar to the curried parsnip soup I prepared on 2/21/2008. Served with artisan bread with real butter and fresh thyme.

For dessert:

I made vanilla bean ice cream…

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 whole vanilla bean
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar

Wow, I’ve never worked with an actual vanilla bean before. They’re expensive. I bought two beans in a jar called “Madagascar Vanilla Beans” for nearly $20US. You have to slice the bean lengthwise and then using the back of the knife you remove the paste inside. It’s very aromatic and insanely delicious. This recipe was a bit difficult to follow since it requires cooking ingredients at certain temperatures. I just bought a digital food thermometer so that was helpful. Tastes very good!