Chicken and kale broth

It's summer and I have a stinking rotten cold.  When I'm poorly I like my chicken and rice soup.  But I didn't have any rice or leeks today so improvised a chicken broth with what I had available.  I had pearl barley in the store cupboard, carrots in the fridge, chicken in the freezer and kale growing in the garden.  This can also be a veggie soup, just add beans of some sort instead of chicken.

Chicken and kale broth

50g pearl barley

2 carrots, grated

colander full of kale leaves, shredded

1 litre veg stock (or chicken stock if you have it)

100g cooked chicken

Put barley in a large pan and cover with cold water.  Bring to the boil then drain and rinse.

Put back in pan with veg stock and bring to the boil.

Simmer for about 20 mins

Add grated carrot and shredded kale to the pan and continue to simmer for 10 mins
Add chicken (or beans) to warm through.

Serve with crusty bread

Split pea and lentil soup

It's the middle of May and I'm still making winter soups!!  This is one soup I don't blitz until smooth as I like to see the peas.  Grating veg into soups is great if you don't have a blender. 

Split pea and lentil soup

85g of dried split yellow peas, soaked over night in cold water

50g red lentils

2 onions

4 carrots

1.5l veg stock

Drain and rinse peas in cold water.

Add to pan and cover with cold water.

Bring to the boil and boil hard for 10 mins removing any scum that rises to the surface.

Grate carrots and onion and add to pan with lentils and veg stock
Bring back to the boil and simmer for 25 to 30 mins until peas are soft.

Tasty served with home made crusty bread :-)

Asparagus Soup

Oops, didn't mean to wait this long before updating.  The ladies lunch went well and raised just over £100 for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.  Thank you so much :-)

It was a lot of hard work, made even more difficult having a young pup around.  For this reason I'm delaying a full opening of the supper club until the summer when she'll be more trained.

Last night I picked up some reduced asparagus in the supermarket.  I wouldn't normally waste it in soup but it was slightly wilting and it wasn't English so perfect for making soup.

Asparagus Soup

2 bunches of asparagus

2 small onions

2 tsp ghee

2 tsp flour

750ml veg stock

250ml milk

Chop onion into dice and soften in the ghee for 10 mins.

Trim ends of asparagus and chop finely.  Add to pan and cook for 5 mins.

Add the flour and stir for 1 min

Add stock and milk and bring to the boil.

Simmer for 10 mins

Blitz until smooth and creamy.

I used ghee simply because I found a tin lurking in the back of my cupboard.  I use skimmed milk in everything but it still tastes creamy.  You could add some cream if you want a cream of asparagus soup. Would be nice sprinkled with chopped chives.

The cranberry gin and blueberry vodka were ready for drinking so I strained them through a jelly bag and filled 2 clean bottles.  Since they're pure alcohol and sugar there's no need for sterilisation.  The gin has already been gifted but the vodka is still up for grabs ;-)

Spicy Carrot Soup

This is my version of a recipe from a book by Anjum Anand called "Eat right for your body type" where all the recipes are inspired by Ayurveda principles.  An interesting read and full of healthy but tasty recipes.

Spicy Carrot Soup

1 tsp sunflower oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 piece of ginger root (about 5cm), peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

300g carrots, diced

2 tbsp red lentils

3/4 litre of veg stock

Gently fry onion until soft then add garlic and ginger.

Stir for 1 min and add spices.

Stir for 30 secs.

Add carrots, lentils and stock.

Simmer until carrots are soft then blitz with a stick blender.

It has a gentle warming spicy taste rather than a fiery kick.  Enjoy!

Frog soup and more cake

It doesn't have real frogs in it, it's just very green!!!  We call it frog soup as my one of my sons remarked it looked like frogs! One of my favourite quick soups and is just as nice served as a cold soup in summer.  Honest!

Leek and Courgette Soup

I don't usually saute my vegetables before adding stock to make soup.  I've found over the years it doesn't make a difference to the finished taste and it saves on calories.  But this is one of the exceptions.

2 courgettes (diced)
1 large leek (sliced)
50g butter
1 litre vegetable stock

Gently saute the vegetables in the butter for 5 mins before adding the stock.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins.
Blitz until smooth.

Tropical Fruit Loaf

6oz butter
6oz sugar
6oz self raising flour
3 eggs
2oz glace ginger (chopped)
2 1/2oz dessicated coconut
2oz tinned pineapple, drained and chopped

Cream butter and sugar
Add eggs 1 at a time
Add flour
Fold in ginger, coconut and pineapple

Bake in a loaf tin 40-45 mins

The above recipe was created by my friend Sarah.  Her blog is Unbought Delicacies.

Years ago I read that you can take out 1oz/25g of sugar from cake recipes without it altering the outcome.  The cake in the photo had 5 oz of sugar and still tastes delicious :-)

Leftovers

Two recipes that used up some fruit and veg lying around.  The bananas were squishy and black.  The carrots and peppers were leftover crudities.  The banana loaf is an old handwritten recipe I've used for years.  Measurements are imperial, not metric. 

Banana and Cranberry loaf

6oz self raising flour (sifted)
5oz butter (softened)
4oz caster sugar
3 eggs (beaten)
2 or 3 ripe bananas (mashed)
2oz dried cranberries (or any dried fruit)

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add eggs a little at a time, adding a spoonful of flour to prevent curdling
Add bananas and cranberries
Fold in flour
Pour into a greased loaf tin
Bake at 190C or baking oven for 40 mins until middle is firm (skewer test)
If it needs longer cover top with tin foil and bake for another 10 mins
Cool on a wire rack

I use paper liners from Lakeland, saves a lot of faffing with greasing tins and it looks nicer if you're giving it to someone

Carrot and Red Pepper Soup

Approx 3 carrots, 1 red pepper and 1/2 yellow pepper cut into sticks
Approx 25g red lentils
3/4 litre veg stock
1/2 tsp crushed chillies

Add everything to a pan and bring to the boil
Simmer until carrots are soft
Blitz until smooth
Serve with a dollop of yoghurt

More than soup!

Here are a few more of my family favourites.

Cheesy Baked Potatoes 

They're not low calorie but very tasty.  You can cut back on the amount of cheese but it needs all the butter.  For each medium sized potato you need 25g butter and 50g of mature cheddar (grated)

Bake potato(es) for about 1 hour and 15 mins.  Cut each potato in half and scoop out the soft stuff leaving the shell intact.  Mash the potato with the butter and cheese then put back into the shells.  They can be stored at this stage in the fridge for several days.  Reheat for 15 mins or until top is golden and bubbly.

Venison and chestnut casserole

Venison is healthier than beef and depending on where you buy it can be cheaper too.

700g diced venison (2 packs)
2 carrots
2 onions
500ml beer, ale or red wine
50ml Lea & Perrins Worcester sauce
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
100g cooked and peeled chestnuts
boiling water

Chop carrots and onions into pieces roughly the same size as the venison pieces. 
Fry onions and carrots in a little oil until they start to colour round the edges.
Put in a large casserole.
Toss the venison into the flour and fry in batches until browned and add to casserole.
Add the beer/ale/wine, Lea & Perrins and ketchup to the last batch scraping up all the sticky bits on the bottom of the pan.
Bring to the boil and add to the casserole.
Make sure all the meat and veg are covered, add some boiling water if needed.
Put a lid on the casserole and put in the oven for 1 hr 30 mins at 175C or 4-5 hours in a slow cooker on High.
Add the chestnuts and stir.
Put back in the oven for 15mins.

Good with rice, pasta and mashed potatoes.  Also nice with dumplings which can be added when you've stirred in the chestnuts.

Butternut squash and apple soup

1 butternut squash chopped into chunks, skin left on
4 eating apples, cored and chopped, skin left on
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp runny honey
good pinch of chili flakes
about 1/2 litre vegetable stock

Put everything except the stock in a roasting tin and give it a good toss.
Roast in a hot oven for about 40 mins until edges start to brown.
Scrape everything into a pan and add stock. 
Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins.
Blitz until smooth.
Add more stock if you prefer a runnier soup.

Tasty with croutons!

Turnberry Soup

This is a quick cream of veg soup.  And the only thing I learned to cook at school in home economics that I remember. It's called Turnberry Soup in our family because I made a flask of it for a trip to see the Open when it was at the Turnberry course in the 80s. Good way of getting veg into the kids.

Turnberry Soup

25g butter

25g flour

1/2 litre milk

1/2 litre vegetable stock

about 400g of grated root veggies (I used 1 carrot, 1 potato, 1 onion and a piece of turnip)

Add butter, flour and milk to a pan and whisk.

Heat until thickened to look like a white sauce. 

Add vegetable stock slowly and stir.

Add grated veggies.

Simmer for 10 mins and stir regularly to stop it catching on the bottom of the pan.

It doesn't really re heat well so best made in small batches and eaten fresh.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog about one of my favourite things.  Food!!  I love to cook and I love to eat!  I've been feeding an active sporty family for many years and know how to cater for vegetarians and food intolerances.  And in the current economic climate, food needs to be cheap, filling and packed with goodness.  So for my first offering I give you 2 different types of soup.  Leek and Potato (2 versions) and Roast Tomato and Lentil.  Both made this morning to use up bits of veg lurking in the bottom of the fridge.

Leek and Potato Soup (chunky)

2 large leeks, washed and sliced

3 large potatoes, peeled and diced

1 large onion, diced

2 litres vegetable stock

Add vegetables and stock to a large pan and bring to the boil. 

Simmer for 15-20 minutes until the potato is soft (depends on size of potato chunks)

Serves 4 to 6

Suitable for vegetarians/vegans but could also be made with chicken stock.  Add some chunks of cooked chicken at the end of cooking.

Leek and Potato Soup (smooth)

Following the above recipe, once the potatoes are soft use a stick blender to blitz the soup until it's smooth.  Don't over process as the potatoes can make the soup gluey!  Serve with a dollop of yoghurt/creme freche/cream.

Roast Tomato and Lentil

300g tomatoes, roughly chopped

1/2 tbsp olive oil

pinch of dried Italian herbs

2 medium carrots, diced

50g red lentils

1 litre vegetable stock

Put tomatoes, oil and herbs in a small roasting dish and roast for 20-30  minutes or until the edges of the tomatoes are starting to crisp.

Add all the ingredients to a pan and simmer until carrots and lentils are soft (usually about 15 mins)

Using a stick blender, blitz until smooth.

Serves 2

Suitable for vegetarians/vegans

The above recipe also works well with a can of chopped tomatoes.  Just skip the roasting stage and put everything straight into a pan.

Enjoy!