Green soup

One of the best things about hosting Christmas ourselves this year was that we were able to make turkey stock from the carcass. This is not something we are very good at remembering to do with our regular roasts, I'm not really sure why. We're probably just too lazy. But it is, of course, simplicity itself. Especially in the Aga - just bring it all to the boil on the top and then pop it into the simmering oven until you remember to get it out several hours later!

Our freezer is packed full of pots of stock and it is so flavoursome - it adds so much flavour to soups and risottos in particular. I have a few favourite 'go to' soup recipes that I make regularly but really, with stock so flavoursome, it doesn't matter what you put in your soup. The end result will probably be delicious. Last Friday I took a look in the fridge and didn't seem to have enough of anything to make a particular soup. Instead, I decided to make a mixed green vegetable soup using up little bits of all kinds of veg. I wasn't expecting a particularly great result, but it was absolutely delicious as well as being extremely healthy (...don't tell anyone about the cheese toastie I had alongside). It's lovely green-ness made me feel all Spring-like and uplifted!

Here is what I did...

Green Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

A selection of green vegetables. Here is what I used...

2 leeks, sliced

2 spring onions, sliced

1 stick celery, sliced

1 large potato, cubed

1 courgette, roughly chopped

1 cup frozen peas

small handful chopped cabbage

1 pint good quality turkey, chicken or vegetable stock

Dash of sherry vinegar (optional)

1. Heat a little olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan. Add the leeks, celery and potato and sweat for a few minutes until just starting to soften.

2. Add all the other vegetables and then the stock. Stir and bring to the boil. Simmer over a gently heat (or in the simmering oven of an Aga) until vegetables are tender. I left mine in the simmering oven for around 25 minutes.

3. Whizz to a smooth consistency with a stick blender. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in a small dash of sherry vinegar to taste.

4. Pour into warmed bowls and garnish with chives, if you have any to hand!

Spicy chicken and sweet potato soup

One of the good things about my spending an increasing amount of time with the flower-sender is access to a whole new world of cook books. Not only do I have my three shelves worth, but I now have his shelf to browse through when looking for inspiration. He needs to watch out though as I've already pilfered one of his books and it is now residing in my kitchen.

At first glance it might not sound that exciting. It is a book of soups. I'm keen on soup. Especially in the winter months. But I tend to stick to the same kind of soups. Smooth, vegetable-laden soups are generally my thing. I've never experimented much with soups containing lumps. These have always been less my thing. I've always rather thought that a soup with lumps is really a stew in disguise.

I take it all back. This marvellous book contains a total of 500 different soups. Well - it probably contains around 100 soups actually, but each one is accompanied by a page listing four or five variations. There are soups to tempt everyone from hearty chowders to delicate Asian broths, chunky minestrone to smooth and velvety creamed soups.

Despite my smooth-soup leanings, I found myself drooling over the pages dedicated to 'meals in a bowl' and the first soup I tried was this superb spicy chicken and sweet potato soup. It was a real hit and one I'll make again and again. You can vary the ingredients as you wish - I threw in some green beans and broccoli that I happened to have lying around. You could leave out the chicken. Swap it for prawns or pork. Make it entirely vegetarian. The world is your oyster so to speak.

As well as a filling and satisfying supper, this also made a great lunch to take to work the next day... Or at least it would have done had I not left it on the counter when I raced out of the house.

Spicy chicken and sweet potato soup with coconut milk
Serves 4
Based on recipe from '500 Soups' by Susannah Blake

Ingredients

Sunflower oil
1 finely chopped onion
3 garlic cloves finely chopped or crushed
2 inch fresh ginger grated
2 green chilies, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 large sweet potatoes, cubed
2 skinless chicken breasts, cubed
400ml can half-fat coconut milk
800ml chicken stock (from a cube is fine)
Handful of green beans, chopped
Other green vegetables to taste (broccoli or spinach would both be good)
Large handful fresh coriander

1. Heat some oil in a large saucepan and add the onion. Sweat for around 3 mins before adding the garlic, ginger and chillies. Fry for a further couple of minutes.

2. Stir in the ground spices and heat for another minute or so.

3. Add sweet potatoes, chicken, coconut milk and stock to the pan. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes before adding any other hard green vegetables. Simmer for another 5 minutes. If using spinach, add to the pan for just a few minutes. The soup should simmer for approx 15 minutes in total - until the potatoes and chicken are cooked.

4. Using a slotted spoon, fish out around half of the sweet potato. This is a little fiddly, but not too time-consuming. Mash/crush half of the sweet potato before stirring back into the soup to mix.

5. Chop the coriander and stir half into the soup, reserving the remainder for garnishing the soup.

Pea and lettuce soup with bacon crumbs

I felt faintly ridiculous this morning as my train pulled into Stevenage station and jolted me awake. It was snowing. Heavily.

As others trampled through the fluffy white stuff in their 'sensible' boots and shoes, shielded by large umbrellas, I teetered along umbrella-less in foolish shoes. One of the perils of a two hour commute is that I'm invariably dressed for the wrong sort of day. Upon leaving London at 7am it was dark and ever-so-slightly icy. At 9am in Stevenage there was a blizzard. You'd think that by now I would have learnt the lesson and ensure I was permanently equipped with umbrella/wellies/sunglasses/layers so that I'd be prepared for every eventuality. Some people never learn.

What with the wind whipping round my ankles, I was pleased when it got to lunchtime and I had something hot to eat rather than the usual sandwich. These cold days call out for steaming bowls of soup or plates of comforting stew. I plan to be making many more soups this month to take with me to work. Which brings me neatly onto this very tasty offering which was introduced to me last week by my mother.

My passion for peas verges on the fanatical. To be honest it is faintly embarrassing. Sadly though, a good pea soup recipe has been for some time lacking in my life. You see almost all pea soup recipes contain mint. And I loathe mint. Almost as much as I love peas. What's the problem? I hear you ask. Just leave the mint out. I've tried that but I've always felt that the finished product was somehow... lacking. That it needed a little something extra.


Fortunately my mother came to the rescue (...or rather one of the magazines that comes with the Sunday papers did - not sure which one...). I'm not sure if it is the lettuce or the bacon crumbs that lifts this soup from the ordinary but whatever it is, it works for me.

As with most soups, it is a cinch to make. We made this with cream but, to be honest, I thought it was completely delicious before the addition of the cream. I'm not convinced that it is necessary. And at this time of year when most of us could do without the extra calories, that can only be good news! You'll also see that the recipe uses water rather than stock. It was perfectly delicious with plain water but it you wanted to inject more flavour then you could use stock.

Pea and lettuce soup
(courtesy of one of the Sunday colour supplements!)
Serves 6

8 spring onions
1 garlic clove
2 little gem lettuces
50g butter
600g frozen peas (or spanking fresh ones, shelled)
1 litre water (or stock)
breadcrumbs made from 3-4 slices of bread
100g pancetta or smoky bacon
200ml double cream (optional)

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add finely chopped spring onions and garlic and sweat gently for around 3 minutes.

2. Slice the lettuces into small pieces and add to the pan along with the peas. Pour over 1 litre of water. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 15 minutes.

3. Whilst the soup is simmering fry the pancetta until crisp along with the breadcrumbs - use a little extra fat if necessary. Chop very finely so you have crispy crumbs of bacon and breadcrumbs.

4. When the soup is ready, whizz with a stick blender or in a liquidizer. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Add the cream (if using) and stir to combine. Taste again and adjust seasoning as necessary.

5. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle a generous pinch of bacon crumbs in the centre.

Warming carrot and ginger soup

I've been a little quiet of late. Christmas is kind of like that, isn't it? Added to the general busyness that is Christmas shopping, wrapping, partying and card writing, my phone line has been down. No internet. Not amusing.

Anyway, all back up and running now. I'm about to whizz off to a work Christmassy thing but first I thought I'd share this scrumptious soup that I made earlier in the week. This is a recipe that I spotted in a magazine in the doctor's waiting room and tried to memorise it - it was part of a feature on Christmas canapés and the writer suggested serving the soup in little espresso cups, as I've done here.



I have to confess that I wasn't in fact having a party and no sooner had I photographed the soups (in very poor light) when I poured them back into a plastic bottle to take to work the next day for my lunch.

I can't remember the name of the magazine these came from and the quantities are slightly different to the original - my memory isn't that good! The warming ginger and slight kick of chilli is perfect for the time of year and is very good for you too - perfect for staving off those coughs and colds.

Carrot and ginger soup
Enough for tiny espresso cups, or 2-3 servings

Ingredients

300g carrots, roughly chopped*
3 small shallots, peeled and kept whole
2 cloves garlic, skin on
500g weak vegetable stock
2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated

To garnish -
pinch dried chilli flakes (optional)
chopped coriander (optional)

1. Pre-heat oven to 200C. Put carrots, shallots and garlic on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Season (though remember your stock may well be fairly salty. Roast for half and hour, or until carrots and shallots are soft.

2. Remove veg from oven. Squeeze garlic from its skin. Place veg in a blender and blitz. You may need to add a little of the stock to help it along.

3. Scrape the puréed veg into a saucepan, add the stock and ginger and heat, stirring to combine. Taste and season accordingly. You may like to add more ginger. Then again, you may not. At this stage, you may wish to blitz further to create a fully smooth and silky soup. I'm not so fussed here and didn't bother. It was fairly smooth anyway.

4. Pour into cups or bowl and top with a pinch of dried chilli flakes and a sprinkling of coriander.

* I used some large Chanteray carrots that I stumbled upon. They were particularly flavoursome and sweet.

Spicy sweet potato soup

This seems like a rather inappropriate post seeing as it is roasting hot outside. When I cooked it, two nights ago, it seemed entirely appropriate. It was positively autumnal and I needed something soothing and warming. So, apologies for the inappropriateness of this warming soup but no doubt it'll be foul again tomorrow and we'll all be craving something of this sort.

I don't usually make hot soups in August, it has to be said. However, at the moment, soup is one of the few things I can actually manage. I'm suffering with my wisdom teeth. Is anyone actually able to tell me what the point of wisdom teeth actually is? As far as I can see they are completely unnecessary and there simply to cause pain. A great deal of it. A bit like the appendix really.

Anyway, unable to move my jaw much means that I've been eating a lot of soup. And ice-cream. And rice pudding. And mashed potato. Not all at once, you understand. This soup is one I'll make again and freeze in individual portions to take to work once the nights draw in. If I take them in frozen, there is no chance of spilling or leaking en route and they are defrosted in time for lunch.

Spicy sweet potato soup
Makes 3-4 portions


Ingredients

2 large orange-fleshed sweet potatoes
1 medium to large white onion
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes (or half a deseeded red chilli, finely chopped)
1 pint chicken or vegetable stock
yoghurt or cream for serving

1. Peel and chop the onion and then sweat in a little olive oil over a medium heat.

2. Crush and grind spices using a pestle and mortar (or rolling pin and plastic bag). Add spices to onions and stir to coat, continue to heat until onions are translucent and coated in spice.

3. Peel sweet potatoes and chop into small pieces. Add to pan and heat for a few minutes with onions. Add stock and simmer until potatoes are tender (around 20 minutes).

4. Take pan off heat and blitz soup with a stab mixer or in a liquidizer. Season with salt and pepper as required and serve with a little cream or yoghurt drizzled over. And perhaps some chopped fresh coriander.

Notes - For a richer version, you could add some coconut milk.

P.S. Don't you love this picture of my brother's dog 'shrimping' at low tide in north wales?

Chilled avocado soup

I've probably said this before but, if given the choice between living somewhere permanently hot and sunny and spending the rest of my days here in damp and murky Britain, I'd choose the latter. Don't get me wrong, I love a hot sunny day as much as the next person, but what I love best of all is an English summer's day. So rarely do we get a spell of perfect sunny weather over here, when we do, we really make the most of it. I think the unpredictability of the British summer makes it all the more appealing. Today, the sun is out and my spirits are immediately lifted. I feel energised and spontaneous and excitable. If it was like this all the time, I'm not sure I'd feel the same.

Outdoor events are something that the British do rather well, I've always thought. Come rain or shine we put our best foot forward and enter into the spirit even if we are soaked through the skin. There is a certain British pride in gathering together and making the best of an unkind summers day. We shall wave our flags, even if we have to do so wearing head-to-toe ponchos.

Fortunately, my latest evening of flag-waving was blessed with good weather. Last weekend, I headed back home to the Isle of Wight for a thoroughly British evening of picnics, Rule Britannia, classical music and fireworks. The 'last night of the Proms' type event took place at wonderful Osborne House, holiday home of Queen Victoria.


We were blessed with a perfect English summer evening although there was a bit of a nip in the air! I just love to eat outdoors - the food always seems to taste better somehow. Picnics are a real favourite of mine and like Julia over at A Slice of Cherry Pie, I like to do them properly. With linen napkins and proper knives and forks. Fortunately, so does my mother as it was her who made the preparations for this particular event. I am proud to say that I am fairly sure that we were the only ones to have a properly ironed linen tablecloth!

Sadly, we were slightly outdone by a neighbouring table who had bought a candelabra. We were the ones who were smug though as they couldn't get theirs to stay alight in the breeze - our pretty glass holder sheltered the nightlight from the wind.

Anyway, earlier in the day, we (..or rather my mother..) prepared a delicious chilled avocado soup for our starter. It is superb and a real summer favourite of mine. I know some people are hesitant at the idea of a chilled soup, but I think there is nothing more refreshing on a hot day. Gazpacho is another favourite of mine. The recipe is one I've grown up with - just one mouthful makes me feel all summery. I think the recipe came originally from our old milkman, believe it or not. But I could be wrong.

It needs to be made a few hours in advance so that it has adequate time to chill, though you can speed it along with a few ice cubes. It is the simplest of soups to make - you chop everything up and whizz it together in a liquidiser. I like to serve this for summer suppers or lunches in the garden. I have some pretty glass bowls that set it off perfectly. For our picnic, we transported in in a thermos with a few ice cubes and then poured it into mugs. Not to be outdone by our fellow diners, my mother even snipped a few chives and wrapped them in clingfilm ready to sprinkle on top. Now that is what I call a civilised picnic!

I'm entering this cooling soup into an event called 'Beat the Heat' hosted by A Southern Grace. Grace is compiling recipes from the blogosphere that do not require us to fire up the oven during these hot summer days. Do take a look at her lovely and entertaining blog and, even better, why not submit one of your own heat-beating recipes.

Chilled avocado soup
Serves 4-6 (4 as a lunch dish, 6 as a starter)

Ingredients

150ml single cream
2 large ripe avocados
2 tbsp lemon juice
575ml cold chicken stock (well-flavoured) You could also use vegetable stock, of course.
300ml milk
2 spring onions
Worcestershire sauce - a few drops to taste
chives - to garnish
Salt and pepper

1. Chop the avocados into chunks and slice the spring onions. Do not throw away the avocado stones.

2. Place everything into a liquidiser and whizz until smooth. Taste the soup and season well. You may want to add more Worcestershire sauce.

3. Cover and chill, placing avocado stones in the soup until ready to serve to prevent discolouration.

Incidentally, having enjoyed our soup, we moved onto an array of Marks and Spencer's goodies - looking around at the other picnics, I'd say that good old M&S did pretty well out of us concert-goers. The strawberry tarts were particularly good!

In August I am lucky enough to be going, for the first time, to Glyndebourne. I have been charged with bringing dessert so am searching for good ideas. It needs to be easily transportable yet impressive. And, as it might be a hot evening and we won't get round to eating it until late, something that won't melt/fall apart. A tall order and I have a few ideas, but I would welcome any ideas or suggestions that you may have...

Probably the best mushroom soup in the world

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and that you are continuing to do so. Sick of cold turkey yet? I hope not. I'll let you into a little secret - I think I actually enjoy the leftovers more that I do the 'main event'. Is that odd? I even love cold parsnips, cold stuffing... and... cold bread sauce. I'm a little upset this year though as I'm missing out on many of the leftover delights. I've left the family home down on the Isle of Wight and am stopping over in London for the night before heading north to spend Hogmanay in Scotland. It will be wonderful, but it was a little tough leaving the family at home with the remaining turkey and ham and the promise of turkey soup and Brussels Sprouts bubble and squeak. I can't complain though as my wonderful mother packed me off with an individual portion of the aforementioned soup and a slice of Christmas pudding!

As some will know, this year was my first attempt at cooking the Christmas lunch in its entirety. I think it went fairly well. Everything was ready together, on time and most components tasted pretty good. The turkey was ever-so-slightly over cooked which was disappointing considering the number of methods I studied prior to tackling the bird. First I looked at Delia whose total cooking time would have been around 5 hours for a bird of the size I had. Thank goodness I didn't follow her method as my poor turkey would have been frazzled. I followed a very similar method (a blast of heat at the start, then cover with a foil tent and lower the temperature for the remaining cooking time) but still my turkey was ready an hour before it should have been. I think my mother's oven is far hotter than it should be! It didn't matter though. The bird had an extended resting period, which no doubt did it good. What was delicious was the juice that resulted from sitting the turkey on a bed of onion, leek, carrot and celery and adding around half a bottle of white wine to the roasting tray. Yum.

My first ever attempt at Christmas lunch!

The Christmas pudding that I made back in November was (even if I say so myself) a triumph. Served with a generous dollop of brandy butter it was delicious. So much better than even the best shop-bought versions, it had a wonderful flavour without being too terribly heavy. Divine.

Before I head off to Scotland, I would like to share a quick recipe with you. This is, I think, the best mushroom soup I know. I am unable to describe how scrumptious it is but I do urge you to try it. The mustard and Worcestershire sauce are, I would suggest, vital components. Miss them out at your peril!

The Best Mushroom Soup (serves 4)

1/2 lb mushrooms, wiped, trimmed and chopped (any kind - a mixture is nice, but regular mushies are fine too)

1/2 pint white roux sauce made with 1oz butter, 1oz flour and 1/2 pint milk

1/2 pint chicken stock

1 medium onion or 3 shallots - peeled and finely chopped

clove of garlic, finely chopped

20z butter

1 tsp Dijon mustard (or other French mustard - not grainy)

Dash of Worcester sauce

Pinch of mace

1. Melt butter and saute onion and garlic till transparent, without browning

2. Add mushrooms and saute for a further 5-10 mins over a gentle heat.

3. Remove from pan and prepare the roux sauce. Mix the hot stock into the sauce before returning the mushrooms and onions to the pan.

4. Season with salt and pepper, mustard, mace and Worcester sauce. Bring to boil and simmer gently for around 15 minutes stirring occasionally to ensure mushrooms do not stick to pan.

5. Cool slightly and then blitz in liquidiser or using a stab mixer. Return to pan and taste - adjust seasoning if needed. I often add more mustard and Worcester sauce - the flavour it great with the mushrooms.

6. If wished, stir in 1\4 pint double cream, a handful of chopped parsley and a few sauteed mushrooms.

Leek and potato soup with mustardy toasts and bacon bits

I love making a big batch of soup at this time of year. It seems like the right sort of thing to be doing on a cold day. It is also a handy lunch for work - I freeze individual portions and take them to work still frozen solid (no worry about leaks or spillages) and by lunchtime they have defrosted, ready to pop in the microwave. Only trouble with this one though is that I can hardly start frying bacon and grilling cheesy toasts to go with it!

Once I had made this leek and potato soup last week, I simply knew that I had to combine it with bacon, cheese and mustard in some form. Delicious!

Leek and potato soup with cheesy mustard toasts and bacon bits

Serves 4

1lb potatoes, peeled and diced small

1lb leeks, finely sliced

1 medium onion, finely sliced

3 tablespoons sunflower oil

2 pints vegetable (or chicken) stock

6 rashers smoky bacon

8 slices of baguette

Good handful grated Gruyere or other hard cheese of choice

2 tblsp grainy mustard

1. Heat oil in a deep saucepan and add leeks, onion and potatoes - sweat until translucent and potatoes are starting to soften.

2. Add stock and bring to boil. Simmer for around 50 minutes.

3. Ten minutes before soup is ready, cut bacon into small bits and fry until crispy.

4. Smear mustard over the baguette slices and top with grated cheese. Grill until bubbling and golden.

5. Blitz the soup in a blender or use a stab-mix - blend until smooth. Add more stock if too thick. Season to taste. Serve with bacon bits and cheesy toasts. Stir in a little cream if you prefer a creamier soup.