Minnie's Soup Kitchen

Spicy Spinach Soup There are three spinach recipes in The Soup Book and Darina Allen 's spinach and rosemary soup was the first soup I made at the commencement of this project (see my first blog of 28th December, 2009).Today's soup was appetisingly alliterative and as spicy as its name suggests. At this stage in my project, I have come to expect spiciness from the author Roopa Gulati. Skinned and boned chicken thighs are left to marinate for an hour or two in a mix of finely chopped garlic and root ginger, garam masala, lime juice, yoghurt and salt. The meat is then cooked on a griddle pan and left to cool before being chopped up (it's added to the soup later).  The ingredients for the next stage are onion, green chillies, garlic, ground almonds, chicken stock, a piece of root ginger, baby spinach, and coriander and mint leaves. Before adding the chicken pieces, the cooked mixture is liquidised and the soup turns a vivid shade of green that I would hardly believe was natu...

Mexican Chilli Bean Soup As I was leafing through The Soup Book the other day and looking at recipes I have yet to cook, I spotted Angela Nilsen 's recipe for Mexican chilli bean soup. I read the ingredients (onion, red pepper, garlic, minced beef, cumin, chilli powder, oregano, plum tomatoes, stock, kidney beans, etc) and it crossed my mind that I had made this soup before. I have gone through my records (i.e., my notes made in my copy of the book, this blog and my spreadsheet) and can't track it, but I still think I've made it. The cumin and oregano are interestingly different flavours to this household's usual chilli con carne recipe taken from our M&S cookery book which the spouse and I have owned since the 1980s (our edition was published in 1983, to be precise). Anyway, the only item I didn't have at home was the red pepper so I went down to Stephen's to buy one. The recipe specified a small pepper but there were only large ones on display. I decide...

Vietnamese Noodle Soup  It's only two weeks since I last made a soup using one of Angela Nilsen 's recipes and I'm not sure what it was that attracted me to this particular one. It's in the winter vegetables section of The Soup Book , even though chicken breasts are listed among the ingredients. The other ingredients include chicken stock (I have an ample supply in the freezer), root ginger, coriander seeds, star anise, lemongrass, rice noodles, pak choi, Thai fish sauce, bean sprouts, coriander, mint leaves, spring onions, red chilli and lime wedges. Having checked what the spouse would need to buy for the soup, I left the book lying open on the kitchen table and headed out on a couple of errands. It was a beautifully sunny morning and I enjoyed my walk around this little part of Dublin. On returning home I found the older offspring had left a note by the book. He'd written "ALL ABOUT THIS PHO!" When he appeared in the kitchen he explained that he had ...

Mango, Coriander and Pomegranate Soup   Today I made my first soup from the fruit section of The Soup Book (by the way, that link brings you to a really good view of the book). The recipe is by Sophie Grigson , whose introductory note states that this "unusual chilled soup is extraordinarily good, bursting with health and vitality, and is made in seconds." The ingredients are mango, red chilli, fresh ginger, fresh coriander, lime juice and pomegranate juice (cranberry juice is a suggested alternative). The spouse is away at present - in the wild north-west of the country where it was snowing earlier! This meant I had to do the shopping, something I don't mind doing, but I tend to spend more than himself when I'm let loose. It's all those two-for-the-price-of-one and "buy one, get one free" special offers. I feel it's my duty to avail of them. Then I come home and find I haven't enough space for all my goodies. But I digress. There was no co...

 Bean and Rosemary Soup   Yesterday morning (Saturday 5th March), just as the spouse was getting ready to go shopping, I thought about what soup I would make and when. We've had a busy weekend - gardening, a post-confirmation party, more gardening, a voucher from M&S to spend and more gardening - so I also had to think about when I would get around to making the soup.  This morning seemed the most likely time, so I forewent a long leisurely lie on for the sake of the blog. In the course of my recent review of what soups I had made, I observed that I hadn't made anything from the pulses and nuts section for a while - since last October, in fact - so plumped for bean and rosemary soup on the basis that I wouldn't have to soak beans overnight. The ingredients for this soup include onions, chopped fresh rosemary and sage leaves, celery, garlic, tomato puree, canned borlotti beans, chicken stock and 2.5kg potatoes. It took me about half an hour to get the ingredients ...

African Sweet Potato Soup   This soup is another one from the winter vegetables section of The Soup Book , the second recipe by Angela Nilsen that I have used (see blog of 2nd January 2011) and the second soup I have cooked using sweet potatoes (see blog of 27th February 2010). There are just three recipes that call for sweet potatoes: the two I have already mentioned and one called "penny" soup, so called because the some of the vegetables used are sliced in rounds and stacked in a mound in the middle of the soup bowl when serving. Back to the African sweet potato soup. The ingredients include onion, garlic, root ginger, dried crushed chillies, sweet potatoes, red pepper, a can of tomatoes, cumin and coriander seeds (dry roasted and crushed), vegetable stock (I had to use commercial bouillon today), peanut butter and Tabasco sauce. Yes, I was surprised too when I saw peanut butter on the list (smooth or crunchy), but it "lends a rich, satisfying earthiness", ac...