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JOAN BISHOP Take Outs: WW: What would be one cooking 'take out' or piece of wisdom that has stood you in good stead above all others? To follow my instincts about what I like to cook and eat. I have found if I just follow my gut feeling about cooking food that I like using fresh ingredients and heaps of flavour, I produce my best recipes. Following the latest trends and fashions that come and go in the food world doesn't always work for me. Our pantries today are certainly more complex and interesting than they were 10 years ago and the way we cook reflects new trends and ideas and I think it is important to keep up-to-date with the latest thinking, but not follow it slavishly. Take from it what suits you. WW: What do you think is a women's most valuable asset in cooking? Spinach, Green Pea and Blue Cheese Soup Serves 6 This intensely deep green soup has creamy flecks of cheese through it. It looks particularly dramatic when served in plain white bowls. A robust meal-in-itself soup with the earthy flavour of spinach, lightened by the fresh sweetness of the peas and the sharp tang of the cheese. I almost always think fresh is best, but with this soup I take a shortcut and use frozen peas and spinach. If you have fresh spinach growing in your garden, by all means use it. This soup freezes well. However, thaw and reheat soup before adding the blue cheese. 1 tablespoon butter 1 large onion, chopped 6 cups vegetable or chicken stock 500g frozen spinach, thawed 500g frozen green peas, thawed 100g blue cheese, finely chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper sour cream and mint sprigs to garnish Melt the butter in a large saucepan, then add the onion and sauté over a gentle heat until the onion is limp, about 5 minutes. Add the stock, spinach and peas, and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for about 10 minutes. Purée using a stick blender or process in a food processor or blender in batches. Return to the saucepan and reheat gently. Turn off the heat and add the blue cheese, stirring well. Check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper if necessary and remembering that blue cheese can be salty. Ladle into heated soup bowls, swirl a teaspoonful of sour cream into each and garnish with a sprig of mint. 24 | WHO'S WHO 2012 Her ability to multitask and a good slow cooker. I appreciate that women lead increasingly busy lives and it is vital that preparation time be kept to the minimum. So I take short cuts, I cheat in the kitchen. The biggest advantage of the slow cooker is its convenience. No prebrowning, just assemble, chop, stir, turn on the slow cooker and walk away. Organise the meal early in the day at a time convenient to you. Knowing that the main part of the meal is simmering gently in the slow cooker makes it easier to cope with that fractious end of the day when everyone is tired and hungry and wants your attention. Slow cookers enable busy people to put dinner on the table with a minimum of effort. It's a wonderful feeling to know that while you are away all day, dinner is cooking. I have kept the emphasis on food for the family, but many of the recipes are stylish enough for company. They are simple no-fuss recipes for lighter, healthier meals. I regard them as fast food recipes; although the cooking time is long the preparation time is short. This philosophy for simple stylish recipes is not just for my slow cooker recipes but for everything I cook. w Soup recipe extracts reprinted with permission from A Southern Woman's Kitchen: Crockpot Cooking and More for the Family Table by Joan Bishop. Printed by Random House NZ Longacre, $39.99. w