Happy Birthday to TwinnyDip (and Fiery Thai Veggie Broth)

Thank you to those who came down to our TwinnyDip launch (and our birthday) party last night! It was so nice to see so many of you (and your friends), and we hope you enjoyed the food, the venue, and the evening.

Congratulations to Jackie - who correctly guessed the number of tubs (250) in that box, and to Seb (Roger Federer in disguise) who gave a great name to our new invention - Roger's Revengeful Ruby (Strawberry / chili / mint and secret ingredient - to be reviewed in a future post soon).

For those who want to know what you were fed... here is a list of the ingredients that we used in our dips that were served on Friday night. We also included some serving suggestions, e.g. making 'Scotch eggs' using the smoked mackerel pate; spreading the mushroom pate on puff pastry, topped with grated cheddar...

Finally here is our latest feature on the Guardian - a perfect warmer on a cold autumny day! This Thai inspired broth is packed with colourful vegetables, and you don't have to follow our veggie suggestion below - play around with it. We have used brussels / broccoli / asparagus /... The addition of soft boiled eggs makes this soup super wholesome. Note that a lot of people think lemongrass is the key to the aroma of this soup - yes it is a very important 'flavouring' agent but actually the lime leave is far more crucial to giving this dish a nice and robust flavour.

Serving suggestion: Serve as it is, or serve the veg contents as a side dish, and throw noodles/ vermicelli and chicken / seafood into the broth to make a main dish. One-pot-cooking becomes two dishes!!

INGREDIENTS

1 stalk of lemongrass, base removed, halved lengthwise, then cut each piece into 3 long pieces

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 cm piece of ginger, finely minced

1-2 bird's eye chili, seeds removed, finely sliced

4 lime leaves

2 Tbsp double concentrated tomato puree

1 - 2 Tbsp of fish sauce, depending on your preference

1 can of full-fat coconut milk

1 can of plum tomatoes

1 large yellow bell pepper

2 large carrots, sliced

2 stalks of celery, cut into thick chunks

1 small to medium cauliflower, cut into small florets

salt, to taste

For the garnish

A handful of coriander, roughly chopped

2 - 3 medium eggs, soft boiled and halved

1 lime, cut into three to four wedge

DIRECTION

1. Give the coconut milk can a stir to make sure the liquid and the solid parts are mixed. Pour approximately 1/4 of the can into a large saucepan and heat this at high heat.

2. When the coconut milk starts to bubble, add the lemongrass, garlic, ginger, chili, and lime leaves into the pan. Cook for 5 minutes at high heat, then turn the heat down to medium and cook for a further 5 minutes.

3. Add the carrots and cook for 10 minutes.

4. Add the celery, cauliflower florets and tomato puree and a further 1/4 can of the coconut milk and cook for a further 10 minutes. Make sure the tomato puree is stirred and mixed well with all the ingredients.

5. Add the remainder of the coconut milk, plum tomatoes and the yellow pepper. Break the plum tomatoes into smaller pieces. Cook for a further 10 minutes.

6. Add the fish sauce and salt to taste, give it a good stir to mix well.

7. Spoon the soup into two to three bowls. Add two egg halves into each bowl. Sprinkle with the chopped coriander.

8. Serve with wedges of lime. Squeeze lime juice directly into the soup, as desired.