Broc-a-leekie Soup

This is another amazing soup recipe from Clementines of Broughty Ferry! I really enjoyed this soup, so warm & filling - perfect for the wintry days we are still getting. This is great if you are vegetarian or a meat eater. I cant wait to make this one again.

1 leek sliced
1 head of broccoli, chopped (stalk too! no waste!)
1 medium potato, peeled & diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1.2 litres of vegetable stock

Fry the leek & garlic in some butter until softened, around 5 minutes. Add the broccoli, potato & stock, season & simmer for 15 minutes. Blitz with a hand blender and serve with a swirl of cream.

Nippy Neep Soup

A local greengrocers, Clementine of Broughty Ferry, do a great service called "Soup in a Bag". Each week they provide a paper bag filled with all you need to make a scrumptious soup, with the ingredients being local produce. This week, the soup I tried was called Nippy Neep. We had it for lunch today, and it was amazing! You get enough ingredients to make a large pot, enough to feed my hungry family of 5 with some warm crusty bread. I have my soup bag, plus a large fruit & veg box, delivered by Alfie's situated on Keptie Street in Arbroath. Anyone local to Arbroath can have their soup bags delivered, or can pop into the shop to collect theirs.

It's funny to realise that in England, a "neep" is a swede. Up here in Bonnie Scotland, a "neep" is a turnip. It can get very confusing! In case you are confuddled, its the large purpley thing that has yellow flesh!

1 onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled & finely chopped
Half a small red or green chilli, chopped & deseeded.
1 large neep (swede for the English, a turnip for the Scottish) peeled & chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 teaspoon each of garam masala, tumeric and ground cumin
1 litre of vegetable stock
Olive oil

Heat some olive oil in a large pot. Gently fry the onions, ginger & garlic for a few minutes. Add the carrots & allow to soften for a few more minutes. Add the spices, and stir and coat the vegetables. Add the diced neep and add 1 litre of stock. Bring to a simmer & cover for 25 minutes. Blend completely & serve.

Broccoli, courgette & basil soup.

I made this soup yesterday, and it was wonderful! So fresh & green, and it felt healthy to eat. This made enough for about 4/5 people, even though I scoffed 2 bowls myself because it was so tasty. I like that has only a few ingredients, yet combine for maximum flavour. Use the stalk of the broccoli too, it is fine to eat and the soup is all blended at the end. The recipe & ingredients were supplied by Clementine of Broughty Ferry.

I onion or shallot, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 head of broccoli, chopped into florets & stalk diced
1  courgette, chopped
1 litre veg stock
Teaspoon mixed herbs
Handful fresh basil leaves
Oil for frying

Fry the onion and garlic in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Once softened (but not coloured, usually about 5 minutes) add the herbs & stir. Add the courgette & broccoli and stir to mix everything through. Pour in the hot vegetable stock and allow to simmer for 15 minutes, covered. Once the broccoli is cooked through, add the basil and blend until smooth. Serve with a drizzle of cream or yogurt if desired.

Curried cauliflower & coconut soup

I love soups just now, especially after a nursery run in below zero temperatures! It is quite literally freezing up here, snow yesterday and freezing icy rain today. I don't drive, so we have had some miserable walks the last few days. Ah well, its water not bullets (though it almost felt like it!). Coming home to a bubbling pot of soup is fantastic, and just what I needed to warm up. I created this recipe because I had half a head of cauliflower to use up and I hate waste! This takes only half an hour to whip up, and tastes great.

Half a head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1 onion, diced
250 ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 tin of coconut milk
1 teaspoon mild curry powder
Butter & olive oil for frying.

Saute the onion in some butter & a dot of olive oil. When softened (about 5 minutes) ad the curry powder. Fry this for about a minute then add the cauliflower & stir. Heat for about 4 minutes, then add the stock & coconut milk. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes, season & then blend. Serve with a few spring onions snips or chives.

Guest Post - Simple Chicken Soup

I invited some of my family & friends to write up their favourite recipes to include on my blog as guest posts. Here is the first, from my cousin Heather, who also loves to cook. This is her recipe for a basic chicken soup.

~Basic Chicken Soup~
900mls boiling water
1-2 chicken stock cubes (I use one, but I like this to taste less salty)
225g skinless chicken breast, cubed into bite sized pieces
1 red pepper, sliced into thin slices and halved
1-2 tbsp fresh tarragon chopped, or 1-2 tsp dried if you can't get fresh
a small bunch of chives cut into pieces.
2 tbsp medium sherry, or 1-2 tsp vanilla extract
Purple sprouting broccoli or shredded curly kale
a large handful or two of frozen sweetcorn kernels

Method
Bring the stock to the boil and add the pepper and sweetcorn,
Let boil for a couple of minutes, then add the chicken.
Allow to simmer for 5 minutes before adding the sherry/vanilla and herbs.
Stir and then place the greens on top, don't stir them in, allow the broccoli/kale to cook on top. Place a lid on the pan if you wish but keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't boil over.
After 5 more minutes give the soup a careful stir. Taste a little of the broth to see if you need to add any salt or pepper.
Serve.

You can add twists to this soup.
Exchange the kale for pak choi, and the tarragon for ginger (be careful and add a small amount, and add more as you need) break up a portion of the dried fine egg noodles and add and a slug of good rich soy sauce will give you an oriental version (for people that like a kick, add a finely shredded fresh red chilli too)

You can add different vegetables depending what you have in the fridge and cupboards. All greens go well. Onions for extra flavour. Only potatoes would thicken the broth and make the texture weird.

Mushroom Soup

I am loving the series of MasterChef Australia that is on TV at the moment. I have already tried the melting moments that Julia made in an episode. Whilst browsing, I saw this recipe by Wade, for mushrooms soup. So simple and it was an amazing flavour! Luckily I made enough to have some tomorrow too :) I can see this being made quite often for a quick lunch. I dropped a couple of dried porcini mushrooms on top as a garnish.

Makes enough for 4 hearty bowls

125g butter, cubed 
1 onion, finely sliced 
1 garlic clove, finely sliced 
600g button mushrooms, finely sliced 
4 parsley stalks 
1L chicken stock 
2 tablespoons dry sherry

Parsley leaves and/or porcini mushrooms to garnish.

Melt the butter in a pan, and cook the onions & garlic until soft but not coloured, about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and parsley stalks and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the sherry & reduce for 5 minutes. Add the stock and simmer for 15/20 minutes. Season & taste. Blitz the soup and serve.

Butternut Squash Soup

This is a simple, yet tasty, soup to make using leftover butternut squash. I had half of one left from another recipe that I wanted to use. Just double the quantities if you want to use a whole squash. I made Parmesan croutons to go alongside, just some nice bread sliced, drizzled with olive oil, coated in grated Parmesan & dry-fried in a frying pan. This recipe will make enough soup for about 4 people for lunch. Scatter sage leaves on top for extra flavour.

1 red onion diced
2 sticks of celery diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Half a butternut squash deseeded and cut into chunks
1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
 olive oil

 Sweat the celery, carrot & onion in a drop of olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic & rosemary & cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the squash and stock, and simmer for 30 minutes. Season well, then blend. Serve with sprinkled sage and crusty bread.

Butternut & Nut Butter Soup

This was delicious! I only decided to make it because I had half a butternut squash left in the fridge, and no idea what to do with it. I watched a River Cottage re-run, and this was one of their featured recipes. I served it with some crusty rolls that I made from my no-knead bread dough. I had a friend over, and she agreed that it was an amazing lunch :) She liked it so much, she left here and went directly to the supermarket to buy the ingredients to make it herself.

Serves around 5 hungry people!

1 butternut squash,peeled,cut in half, seeds removed and chopped into 1 cm cubes
1 medium onion, diced
1 large garlic clove, crushed
Pinch of dried chilli (or used finely diced fresh)
1 litre of stock (chicken or vegetable)
3 cm chunk of ginger, peeled & grated
200g peanut butter (crunchy or smooth, your preference)
Juice of 1 lime
Handful of chopped coriander


Melt a knob of butter in a large saucepan. Lightly fry the onion until the onions are translucent. Add the chilli, ginger & garlic and fry for a few more minutes. Add the stock & the butternut squash and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Blitz the soup until smooth. Add the peanut butter while the soup is still hot, and allow to melt in. Stir & season.

When you are ready to serve, bring the soup to the desired temperature, add the lime juice & coriander and then serve into soup bowls. Delicious with crusty bread to dip in.

French Onion Soup

I saw this recipe on Lorraine Pascale's programme last night, had all the ingredients at hand, so of course I had to make it! I was also watching River Cottage re-runs, one where Hugh was making soda bread. So I made that too! The soup was really simple (as always) to make but tasted delicious. The kids have all had seconds! Dipping the warm, fresh soda bread into just made it top notch.

4 large onions
1 bay leaf
knob of butter & drizzle of olive oil
handfull of sage, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 litre good quality beef stock

Chop the onion into very thin, long chunks. Heat the butter & oil over a medium heat in a large pan. Add the onions. bay leaf and stir. Cover with a lid and allow to soften for 25 minutes, stirring now and again. Once they are all lovely & soft, add the chopped sage, flour and garlic. Stir for 2 minutes, then add the stock. Season and then turn up the heat to simmer, covered, for about 3 or 4 minutes. It is then ready to serve! Lorraine says to serve with giant mustardy cheese toasts, but I used freshly baked soda bread.

Tomato & Garlic Soup

This recipe is one I found on another blog, here. The soup looked delicious, so I had to try it! It really was tasty, I ate 2 whole bowls for lunch. I have another 2 portions frozen, though I have a feeling I will be deforsting them soon. It is super healthy too, with all that garlic. The lady who created teh recipe also says that it is very tasty cold, so I may try it that way next.

 500g tomatoes, quartered
1 red pepper, deseeded & cut into chunks
2 red onions, peeled & cut into wedges
1 bulb of garlic, each clove seperated & peeled
600ml vegetable stock
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs worcestershire sauce
Salt & pepper

Turn the oven to preheat at 220c. Put all the chopped veg into a roasting tin & spray with low cal spray, then season. Roast in the oven for about 45 mins, until all softened and starting to char slightly at the edges. Blend all the veg along with the stock, vinegar & worcester sauce until smooth. Garnish with basil and serve hot, or cool & serve cold.

Chicken Noodle Soup

This soup is made from mostly left-overs! It is so tasty though, and warming on chilly days. You can even add sliced chillies to it if you like, for an extra kick. I prefer mine without! I had a leftover chicken breast from dinner the other night, so saved it especially to make this for my lunch. I sometimes add a wee pinch of chinese 5-spice, but didnt today. I have some left for tomorrow,  think soup always tastes better the next day. If you want to make it veggie, replace he chicken with tofu.

900ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tsp chopped fresh root ginger
1 garlic clove , finely chopped
50g rice or wheat noodles
2 tbsp sweetcorn , canned or frozen
2-3 mushrooms , thinly sliced
2 spring onions , shredded
2 tsp soy sauce , plus extra for serving
mint or basil leavesfor serving.

Pour the stock into a pan and add the chicken, ginger and garlic. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, partly cover and simmer for 20 mins, until the chicken is tender. Remove the chicken to a board and shred into bite-size pieces using a couple of forks. 
Return the chicken to the stock with the noodles, corn, mushrooms, half the spring onions and the soy sauce. Simmer for 3-4 mins until the noodles are tender. Ladle into bowls and scatter over the remaining spring onions, herbs and chilli shreds if using. Serve with extra soy sauce for sprinkling.

Cooking tips & ideas - soup!

I thought I might start a weekly blog post sharing some cookery tips. I would LOVE for you to share yours, please add them in the comments section. I am making a big pot of soup at the moment, so thought that might be a great place to start!

1. ALWAYS sweat your aromatic veg (carrots, onion, leek, celery). This will break down the cellulose in veg, and bring out their flavours. I sweat mine for about 10 minutes on a low heat in some butter, with a bay leaf chucked in. It really will make a difference to your soup!

2. Perfect seasoning. Keep tasting your soup & adding salt and/or pepper until it tastes great. It sometimes needs more salt than you think, so dont be scared! If you do manage to over-salt your soup though, add a peeled potato to your pot and simmer for 15 minutes. It will absorb the extra salt.

3. Add a fresh un-cooked ingredient as a garnish when you serve - this will also bring out the great flavour. Throw on some fresh chopped herbs, or a dollop of cream/yogurt. A sweet tasting soup (parsnip/sweet potato etc) do weill with some crispy fried salty baon crumbled on top.

Please add your tips, or discuss the ones I have posted :)

Bacon, bean & pasta soup

This is almost like a stew, its so filling! Very tasty though, and warming. With a chuck of seeded bread, this is an entire meal in itself. This is also taken from the Good Food website.

Ingredients

• 8 rashers rindless streaky bacon , chopped
• 2 leeks , halved and sliced
• 4 carrots , halved lengthways and sliced
• 400g tin mixed beans , drained and rinsed
• 1l chicken stock , fresh, cube or concentrate
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 50g small pasta shapes
• a handful of flat-leaf parsley , chopped
• grated parmesan , to serve 

1. Fry the bacon in a large non-stick pan (it will cook in its own fat) until golden, then add the leeks and carrots and cook for about 5 minutes until softened.
2. Tip in the beans, chicken stock, tomato purée and pasta and simmer until the pasta is cooked.
3. Stir through the parsley and serve in bowls topped with grated Parmesan.

Sweet Potato & Lentil Soup

This is a really filling, tasty soup. Perfect with some fresh crusty bread! I found this recipe on the Good Food website.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp medium curry powder
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions , grated
• 1 eating apple , peeled, cored and grated
• 3 garlic cloves , crushed
• 20g pack coriander , stalks chopped
• thumb-size piece fresh root ginger , grated
• 800g sweet potatoes
• 1.2l vegetable stock
• 100g red lentils
• 300ml milk
• juice 1 lime   

1. Put the curry powder into a large saucepan, then toast over a medium heat for 2 mins. Add the olive oil, stirring as the spice sizzles in the pan. Tip in the onions, apple, garlic, coriander stalks and ginger, season, then gently cook for 5 mins, stirring every so often.
2. Meanwhile, peel, then grate the sweet potatoes. Tip into the pan with the stock, lentils, milk and seasoning, then simmer, covered, for 20 mins. Blend until smooth using a stick blender. Stir in the lime juice, check the seasoning and serve, topped with roughly-chopped coriander leaves.

Rich Tomato Soup

It's soup weather! In the last week, I have made quite a few soups and have frozen quite a few portions of it. Should see me through the next few weeks at least! This one is from the Good Food website. I didn't use pesto though, instead I added soem dried basil during cooking. Its delicious, but quite rich.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp butter or olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves , crushed 
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 5 soft sun-dried or SunBlush tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped
• 3 x 400g cans plum tomatoes
• 500ml turkey or vegetable stock
• 1 tsp sugar , any type, or more to taste
• 142ml pot soured cream 

1. Heat the butter or oil in a large pan, then add the garlic and soften for a few mins over a low heat. Add the sun-dried or SunBlush tomatoes, canned tomatoes, basil, stock, sugar and seasoning, then bring to a simmer. Let the soup bubble for 10 mins until the tomatoes have broken down a little.
2. Whizz with a stick blender, adding half the pot of soured cream as you go. Taste and adjust the seasoning - add more sugar if you need to. Serve in bowls with a little more soured cream.

Broccoli & cheese soup

It's not so sunny here in Scotland today, so a warming soup was called for. We all ate this for lunch today, with my eldest wolfing it down! Quick & easy to make too.

2 tablespoons butter

1 small onion, finely diced

1 stalk celery, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

 4  heads brocolli cut into very small pieces (you want them to fit on a spoon)

500ml chicken stock

500ml milk

65g flour

100g grated cheddar cheese

Salt and white pepper

Melt butter in a pot over medium heat, add onions and celery plus a pinch of salt and pepper and cook until soft. Add garlic, cook for another minute. Add broccoli, cook for one minute, then add the chicken stock and cover. Allow the broth to come to a boil, and cook until the broccoli is soft.

Whisk together flour and milk until combined. Add this mixture to the pot, stirring gently. The soup will thicken  and once it's thick and creamy looking, add the grated cheddar. Salt and pepper to taste, serve with toast.

Pea & pesto soup with fish finger croutons

Quite possibly the easiest & quickest soup I have ever made! I tried to make a Minced Beef Wellington this evening, but it was a disaster! So this was what I made instead as I had no time and little else in!

The only change I made to this recipe (taken from the goodfood wesite) was an onion, sweated before adding the other ingredients. My children loved having fish fingers in their soup!

• 500g frozen peas
• 4 medium potatoes , peeled and cut into cubes
• 1l hot vegetable stock
• 300g pack fish fingers (about 10)
• 3 tbsp green pesto 

1. Tip the peas and potatoes into a large saucepan, then pour in the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins, until the potato chunks are tender. Meanwhile, grill the fish fingers as per pack instructions until cooked through and golden. Cut into bitesize cubes and keep warm.
2. Take a third of the peas and potatoes out of the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Blend the rest of the soup until smooth, then stir in the pesto with the reserved vegetables. Heat through and serve in warm bowls with the fish finger croûtons on top.