Minnie's Soup Kitchen

Traditional Lamb Broth Just in case you were wondering why there was no new blog entry last weekend, I was away in the Savoie region of France. It wasn't a soup-making-free zone: I made a leek and potato soup for my hosts from a recipe I found on a dedicated leek and potato soup website ! This weekend we've been travelling home, unpacking, washing dirty clothes and trying to get ready for the school and work week ahead. I decided I would try and squeeze in a soup, if only to round the number made up to one hundred and ten! The recipe from The Soup Book for traditional lamb broth is by Marie-Pierre Moine . The ingredients include middle neck lamb cutlets, celery, parsnip, carrot, potato, spring onions, parsley, cabbage and allspice berries. It being a Sunday, the spouse did not have much luck with middle neck lamb cutlets and was rather disappointed by his preferred butcher's lack of interest. Never mind! A couple of packets of shoulder chops have had to suffice.  ...

Minted Pea and Ham Soup I didn't get a chance to make soup at the weekend. Sometimes life gets too complicated to make soup. Not to worry. I made some this evening. Although the recipe is by Roopa Gulati , no spice was used in its making. The ingredients include shallots, butter, potato, stock, peas, mint and cooked ham. When I arrived home from a busy day out, I had a cup of tea then got stuck in to making the soup. We had ham stock in the freezer (I'd left some out to thaw before going out this morning), and the spouse had cooked a piece of ham yesterday so I diced up the leftovers. The chopped shallots were softened in the butter, then the chopped potato was thrown into the pan. When this was tender I poured in the stock. While the stock was simmering I cooked the peas, adding mint for the last twenty seconds. When ready I added them to the stock then whizzed the lot in the blender. I reheated the soup and stirred in the diced ham. The younger offspring and I ate the so...

Since my last blog entry I have made two soups from The Soup Book : smoked cauliflower cheese and black-eyed bean. The former was a mid-week dinner; the latter our weekend dinner.   Smoked Cauliflower Cheese Soup The spouse was going to make cauliflower cheese (love it) but I proposed Sophie Grigson 's recipe as an alternative. He screwed up his face and declined. Then he changed his mind. I thought mind-changing was my prerogative. Anyway, smoked cauliflower cheese soup calls for cauliflower, onion, a floury potato, garlic, a bouquet garni, butter, stock, smoked Cheddar and garnish. Sophie suggests cayenne pepper, chopped parsley or chives, croutons or soured cream to garnish.  I sweated the vegetables, garlic and bouquet garni with the butter before adding the stock. When the cauliflower and potato were tender, I took out the bouquet garni and gave the mixture a whizz in the blender. Next I reheated the soup, jumping back from the bubbles that flew in all di...