Minnie's Soup Kitchen

Lebanese Lentil and Lamb Soup My soup effort came about by chance. I was going to slob around after last weekend's hosting activity (the sister J'Zo and husband G'Cro were staying with us) but when the spouse said he was going to make soup I thought I'd better take up my wooden spoon and stir. The spouse has acquired a few new cookbooks lately, one of which is Salma Hage's The Lebanese Kitchen . I'm not familiar with typical Lebanese foodstuffs, let alone recipes, but for me cooking can be like travelling without leaving the confines of my kitchen. The ingredients for this recipe include onion, garlic, lamb, a bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, dried green lentils, sun-dried tomatoes, baby spinach and mint. The preparation involves the usual peeling, chopping and cooking. I gently fried the onion and garlic, then added the lamb and browned it evenly. Then I made a mistake. The recipe says, "Pour in the hot stock and add all the herbs." I did, but then r...

Green lentil soup with lime This weekend's offering from The Soup Book contained home-made chicken stock, fresh thyme, green lentils, and the grated zest and juice of a lime (I can't claim it was the organic lime required by the recipe). The recipe is from the Pulses and Nuts section of the book. I made it for our lunch today. The slight tang of the lime contrasted with the stock. It was somewhat thicker than I expected - more eating than drinking in it - but very tasty. I wonder should I use more stock or let the lentils cook longer if I make it again. Nettles A friend kindly sent me a booklet from the RTE Guide , entitled The Restaurant Recipe Collection . She had marked Michael Healy Rae's recipe for nettle soup for my attention. The Soup Book also has a recipe using nettles, which are in season from March to October inclusive. The two recipes are quite different. Rae's recipe calls for a wider range of ingredients including butter, onions, leeks, celery, po...