White Winter Warmer

This is a great soup for winter. Its sweet, creamy, filling and has a velvety texture.

 

The recipe is based on the Potato and leek one, but with a couple of additives.

 

Good handful of new potatoes

1 large leek

good handful of mushrooms (you can use any mushrooms for this)

1/2 pt milk

spoonful of flour

spoonful of butter (I usually use dessert spoons to measure things)

2 mugs of chopped cooked chicken

1 veg oxo cube

1 knorr potato cube with garlic and parsley

salt and pepper to taste

 

Chop the potatoes into small cubes, leaving the skin on.

Chop the leek into small pieces.

chop the mushrooms into small pieces

chop the chicken into small cubes

 

Put the potatoes into a pan of boiling water and leave to soften. It should take about 10 minutes at the most. A couple of minutes before the cooking period has finished, throw in the leeks and mushrooms.

 

In a separate pan, melt the butter. Then add enough flour to make a thick paste with the melted butter. keep this mixture moving. Add the milk and keep stirring. When it is all incorporated, add the oxo cube to 1pt of boiling water and add to the sauce.

 

Strain the potatoes, leeks and mushrooms and add to the white sauce pan.

The chicken is optional. You can either add it now for a smooth soup, or add it later to keep the chunks.

 

Pour the soup into a blender and blend until smooth. You'll have some wonderful bits of skin from the potatoes giving it brown flecks.

 

Return soup to pan and allow to boil softly. if you are adding the chicken to keep it chunky, add the chunks now and warm through. Add the potato cube thingy, and add salt and pepper to taste.

 

Leave to simmer for a few minutes to completely incorporate all the flavours (I put mine straight into a flask for work).

 

Enjoy!

C-Hardly Healthy Seasoned

So...my soups always last me at least 2 days.

 

Today i added a small knob of butter and some salt and pepper.

 

I can't believe i forgot to add black pepper! Its my favourite seasoning!

 

The butter has really smoothed the Chard out, its a bit like adding butter to spinach, it gave it a bit of a lift.

 

The salt and pepper has set off the flavours nicely, although i think i might have oversalted slightly. Oh well...maybe it'll go right next time!

C-Hardly Healthy

It seems likea long time since i last posted a recipe - i got into sandwiches again!

 

Todays recipe was inspired by what was in the fridge!

 

1 onion

1/2 small curly cabbage (i'm sure they have real names, i just don't know what it is..)

Good handful Chard - really good handful!

1 carrot

1 clove Garlic

Small handful Parsley

Small knob butter

1pt veg stock

 

Boil together the cabbage, the onion and the carrot.

 

Emty out water and add veg stock, garlic, butter and parsley instead. Give it a good mix.

now add the chard and wilt it down.

 

Put the lot into a blender and blend - don't blend too much though, you want the chard to stay in good pieces.

 

Tadaa! Done!

 

I think that i might be nice to add some double cream to it (single cream splits when hot remember!) to make it a creamy soup. However, i don't have any double cream! 

 

Swedely tasty

This is a lovely warming, tasty thick soup

 

Ingredients:

 

1 large swede

11/2 yellow peppers

1 good handful tiny mushrooms (they were medium sized mushrom, but they were left in the fridge a bitt oo long and dried out...)

good grind black pepper

1pt veg stock

1/2 pt water

 

peel, dice and cook the swede. When it has sufficiently softened, throw the peppers and the mushrooms in for 10 mins to soften and cook.

 

Blend the swede and the peppers together with the mushrooms, add veg stock to help it all along. If its too thick, or the blender gets stuck, add 1/2 pt water.

 

Add black pepper and give it a good stir.

 

This comes out as s strange khaki coloured soup, it is nice and tasty and quite sweet from the swede. It has a great rooty, wintery taste and is best enjoyed really warm.

 

Again, if anyone's giving these recipes a go, let me know how you're getting on!

 

And remind me to put the recipe up for 'cheater's homemade soup' at some point. It was fairly tasty, but not as tasty as if i'd made the whole lot myself!

More Squashed Pepper

I made a new batch today, but instead of one yellow and one green pepper, i used one yellow and one red pepper.

 

I also added some salt.

 

The salt has brought the flavours out nicely, and the red pepper gives it a nice rounded flavour. For a lovely mediteranean soup, i'd also recommend some nice italian herbs - some basil and oregano, and either some tomato paste, or some fresh tomatoes (maybe 2 medium sized ones).

 

Yum!

Additions

After eating most of the squashed sweet pepper soup,  have come to the conclusion that yes, it does need a little salt, and a little butter (the real stuff!!).

 

That would make a fab soup even better!

Squashed Sweet Pepper

Todays recipe is for Squashed Sweet Pepper Soup

 

1/2 green squash (i'm not sure what the variety is - its a grass green colour medium sized pumpkin shaped squash. It has bright orange insides)

1 yellow pepper

1 green pepper

1pt veg stock

good gind black pepper.

 

Skin and dice the squash and cook until soft.

Slice peppers and add to the squash after its soft until the peppers are softened.

Strain out squash and peppers into a blender.

Slowly add the stock to blend until it is a thickish liquid consistency.

Grind black pepper in and blend a bit more to disperse it.

 

Simple and easy...and very very tasty!! Some people might wish to add a little salt, but not a lot!

 

Let me know if you try it and enjoy it (or not).