Minnie's Soup Kitchen

Fortieth Soup: Brussels Sprouts Well, it is the 30th December 2010 and just over a year since I first followed a recipe from The Soup Book . I have now made forty different soups! The recipe for Brussels sprouts soup is by Sophie Grigson and calls for onions, thyme, chicken or vegetable stock and a garnishing of soured cream, creme fraiche or yogurt with paprika or cayenne pepper.  I do not particularly like the taste of sprouts but was determined to get this soup over and done with. Yesterday I called down to "Young Stephen's" green grocery, expecting to be able to buy loose sprouts, but no, they were pre-packed. Young Stephen and I swapped tales of cats' less desirable habits then bade each other a happy new year. Back to the soup. I sweated the sliced onions, added sugar, and eventually put in the sprouts, thyme and stock. Once the sprouts were just tender and the mixture had cooled a little, I got out the liquidiser and finished the soup. As a non-sprout eater,...

Pre-Christmas Soup Break It's the Sunday before Christmas and I've opted to have a break from soups. Yesterday I was very busy, what with chauffeuring the spouse (who had come home "by railing" from a night out) to the shops and hunting more elusive ingredients and baking and cooking.  Later today the mother-in-law is coming for lunch. It will be something of an expedition, the cold and ice having played havoc with her travel arrangements and the logistics for the entire day.  The plan at present is for the spouse to go and collect her. As I write, he's preparing the vegetables for our lunch. We're having some sort of smoked salmon and smoked mackerel roulade to start, followed by roast beef and various vegetables (I'll be making Yorkshire pudding). I spent a lot of time yesterday preparing the pudding for today: compote of figs in port and prune ice cream using Delia Smith's Christmas recipe book (our copy was given to the spouse by one of my sibl...