Minnie's Soup Kitchen

Zuppa di Pesce Yesterday (13th September) it was my turn to do the shopping so I pondered what I might make for dinner and glanced at our kitchen bookshelves. For some reason Sonia Allison and Ulrike Bielfeldt's The Gourmet's Guide to Italian Cooking caught my eye. Published in 1973, this book found its way into my parents' house but I don't remember them ever using it. The soup recipes include minestrone, tomato soup, haricot bean soup, pea soup, and a few broths. I chose the fish soup. Among the listed ingredients are tomatoes (skinned and chopped), parsley, onion, celery, dry white wine, smoked cod, white fish fillet, a choice of prawns, shrimp, and pieces of lobster or crab, and anchovy fillets. What's not to like? I couldn't get smoked cod so I substituted smoked haddock. One of the things that struck me about how old the recipe book is is the reference to parsley and how the type of leaf (flat or curly) isn't specified. Back in the 1970s there ...

Corn and Crab Soup with Coriander Last weekend I dipped into one of those books that sits on my kitchen bookshelves waiting to be pulled out, dusted off and put to use: The Essential Seafood Cookbook  edited by Wendy Stephen.  I'm not sure why I chose this recipe - perhaps I liked the idea of the tang of lemon grass and ginger together with crab (tinned) and coconut milk. Other ingredients included garlic, Asian shallots (I stuck with western shallots), chicken stock, frozen sweetcorn kernels, fish sauce, lime juice and brown sugar. Unfortunately, the spouse wasn't able to find fresh coriander. I did my prep work. I added chopped garlic, shallots and lemon grass and grated ginger to heated oil in a pan. Next in were the stock and coconut milk. Then in went the sweetcorn. The last additions were the crab meat, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. The four of us sat down to sup. I was a little disappointed by the blandness of the soup, despite the appetite-whetting spice an...

Waterzooi I hadn't heard of it before but apparently waterzooi is a classic Belgian dish . In her recipe Marie-Pierre Moine lists the ingredients as potato, carrot, courgette, asparagus, monkfish, sole, fish or chicken stock, dry white wine, spring onions, mussels and cream. Oh yes, and chopped tarragon to garnish. A quick internet search tells me that these are not typical ingredients. What do I know? I'm just following The Soup Book 's orders. Ingredients for waterzooi Anyway, I wanted to make a special soup to celebrate the older offspring's presence. We don't often splash out and buy monkfish, sole and mussels. The spouse was assigned to fishing duty. He headed up to his favourite fishmonger 's shop and did the necessary. Mr Fishmonger kindly advised him that the mussels were from a different supplier and that we should give them a good wash. The prep time for this soup was given as twenty minutes and the cooking time thirty minutes. Not for this...

Cream of Tomato Soup   Yesterday I had intended making smoked tomato soup as my 120th from The Soup Book . The spouse dutifully went out and bought lots of tomatoes. He then read the recipe more closely than I had and observed the instructions about smoking the tomatoes on a rack over barbecue chips in a frying pan or wok. Change of plan. We had lots of tomatoes so I stayed in that section of The Soup Book . All I had to do was go out and buy sun-dried tomatoes and then I could start cooking. The first step was to roast twelve plum tomatoes. I did this at lunch time to expedite matters that evening. Just as well I did. I started preparing at about 5.15pm and the soup was ready to to eat at 7pm - much longer than the seventy minutes indicated in the recipe by Sofia Larrinua-Craxton . I chopped onions and celery, I diced carrots, I minced garlic, I skinned and chopped another eight tomatoes, and I chopped the sun-dried tomatoes. Then I sauteed the onions, later adding the cele...

Portuguese Potato and Kale Soup What will strike you about today's soup from  The Soup Book  is how green it is. I'm remarking on it only because it starts out white. The recipe is by  Sophie Grigson , who writes that this type of soup is "ubiquitous" in Portugal. If you can't get curly kale, other options are cavolo nero or Savoy cabbage. The other ingredients are potatoes, garlic, onion and chorizo.  Potato, garlic and onion Puréed potato, garlic and onion Curly kale, washed, shredded and ready Portuguese potato and kale soup with chorizo I placed the sliced potatoes, garlic and onion in a large saucepan with water and seasoning. While these simmered, I prepared the curly kale. A fiddly operation, involving cutting out the stalks, rolling up the leaves and shredding them. By this time the potatoes were very tender so I puréed that mixture and put the bowls in the oven to warm. The last five minutes or so saw me simmering the shredded kal...

Saffron Soup  This week's recipe from The Soup Book is by Shaun Hill . According to the introduction, it's a variation on leek and potato soup and was a regular item on the menu at Robert Carrier 's restaurant in London where Hill worked in the 1970s. The ingredients include onion, leeks, potato, saffron, cumin, chicken stock, dry white wine, cream and lemon juice. I fried the onion before adding the other vegetables, the spices (is saffron a spice?) and the stock. The next step was to transfer the mix into the blender, after which I poured in a splash of the wine. Finally I stirred in the cream and lemon juice. Only the younger offspring and I were at home: the spouse is away and the older offspring is nominally at home in Dublin for a long weekend. Anyway, the two of us ate our soup for lunch today and it was really quite tasty. The tang of the lemon juice and cumin worked really well. Honey Show Honey show at Christ Church, Rathgar, Dublin At last I have ...

Sauerkraut Soup Today I made sauerkraut soup. The ingredients included onion, bacon, kraut, canned tomatoes, stock and cream. It was very easy to make and didn't involve any blending. There was chopping, frying and heating. That's all. It wasn't bad - I had another portion for my dinner this evening - but it's not on my list of soups to make again. There were just three of us for lunch. (Tne older offspring, having left the nest, is keeping a low profile.) The spouse and the younger offspring were not too keen on the soup either. So sorry, sauerkraut soup. Not one of the better ones: sauerkraut soup Bee Buzz  The spouse treated himself to The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht. I mention it only because there it contains an item on escaping from killer bees! The main elements of the advice are to run away and not to jump into any body of water - "the bees are likely to be waiting for you when you surfa...

Cherry Soup   I had been wondering recently how I could even out my progress through the different recipe sections in The Soup Book . It had also occurred to me that I hadn't made a fruit soup for a while (there are only six recipes for fruit soups in the book). Today, serendipitously, a solution presented itself, literally on my doorstep. A friend, "Bella", called around for coffee bearing a punnet of morello cherries! I remembered that there is a cherry soup recipe in The Soup Book and hence today's blog entry. In his introductory note, Shaun Hill states: "This Hungarian soup is meant to taste fresh rather than sweet." The ingredients are morello cherries (fresh or canned), white wine, water, sugar, lemon and soured cream. I simmered the cherry stones and stalks in the wine and water, strained out the debris, and then heated the fruit, sugar and lemon in the cherry stock. The final addition was the soured cream and now the soup is being chilled. It'...

I'm not writing about soup today. I thought I'd just write a few notes about the family visit to Bloom 2011 . Not the entire family, I should add. The older offspring is away enjoying irresponsibility ... while he can. The spouse, the younger offspring and I cycled over to the Phoenix Park yesterday, arriving at the Conyngham Road entrance just in time for the rain. Then we cycled up Chesterfield Avenue, ringing our bells at pedestrians who had the temerity to walk on the cycle path. We locked our bikes to railings close to the entrance to Bloom and made our way in. The flowers are something to behold. I love fuchsia and was very taken by one called Black to the Fuchsia ! At the food stalls I sampled Mella's Fudge . The stall-holder and I chatted about whether to use evaporated or condensed milk and whether to use a thermometer or go for the boil (she uses a thermometer). We both wrinkled our noses in unspoken agreement at another brand of fudge which really isn't...

Avocado, Cucumber and Sorrel Soup   It's a beautiful sunny June bank holiday here in Dublin and despite the recent cucumber scare I decided to make a cucumber soup. There are five soups in The Soup Book requiring cucumber and this recipe by Sophie Grigson calls for "a ripe, buttery avocado, ... a generous handful of sorrel leaves", a quarter of a large cucumber, Greek yoghurt and garlic.  I'm still not sure what exactly a handful is, generous or otherwise, but I seemed to have enough sorrel in the front garden for this soup. It has continued growing since my last raid.There is no cooking involved in this soup: just blending. The mix turns out a rich shade of green and is very tasty. The younger offspring like it but couldn't finish his portion. Cold soups are an acquired taste, but a taste definitely worth acquiring. Blooms and Buzzes   The spouse and I are planning to go to Bloom 2011 tomorrow. I mentioned in my last blog entry that the County Dublin Beek...

Curried Broth with Peppers  Today is a lovely sunny day in early June but I have chosen to make a hot curried soup. I was pondering what to make for dinner this evening and the spouse said that we had a lot of vegetables in the fridge. I knew there were quite a few peppers so checked in The Soup Book to see how I could use them up. This soup is based on yet another recipe by Roopa Gulati and contains star anise , nigella seeds , fennel seeds, fenugreek seed s, onions, root ginger, an orange pepper and a yellow pepper, basmati rice , turmeric, garam masala , vegetable stock, date palm sugar , lemon and coriander leaves. If you can't find nigella seeds, there are a few spices or herbs you can substitute for them. I didn't use a substitute for the nigella seeds, but I did for the date palm sugar - I just used dark brown sugar and hoped for the best. The different seeds smelled delicious as I fried them together before adding the onion and ginger. Star anise is a new addition...

Roast Tomato Soup There are seven tomato soup recipes in the summer vegetable section of The Soup Book   - classic tomato soup, cream of tomato, tomato borscht, gazpacho, sopa de tortilla and smoked tomato. I chose roast tomato by Sofia Larrinua-Craxton  because it looked simple and reasonably straightforward and today I had a lot to do.  As you might expect the ingredients include tomatoes (plum are specified but I couldn't find any in my supermarket), a red onion, garlic, vegetable stock (not home made, I'm afraid) and sun-dried tomato paste. The recipe involves roasting the tomatoes, onions and garlic, then liquidising them with the stock and and paste. Very simple. The complete mix tastes good and it'll be re-heated for lunch tomorrow. Earlier today I was down at the Dublin Food Co-op where I chatted to one of the co-founders. I can remember going to it years ago when it was located on Pearse Street, but before that it was in Temple Bar. Anyway, I bought a nice ...

Parsnip and Apple Soup I was determined to have completed fifty recipes from The Soup Book by the end of this month. In making today's choice I noticed I hadn't made a soup from the winter vegetable section of the book for some time, so thought I had better re-visit that section.  The recipe for parsnip and apple soup is on page 170 and coincidentally I made the recipe on the opposite page, Moroccan Roasted Sweet Potato Soup, exactly a year ago. Written by Marie-Pierre Moine , the recipe lists the following ingredients: onion, garlic, mild curry powder (I don't keep such a thing in the house so made up my own concoction), parsnips, a Bramley apple, vegetable or chicken stock, cream and lemon juice. I am not a fan of parsnips (see my blog of 4th September 2010), but the spouse loves them and the offspring are not immune to their charms. It took me longer than expected to cook the soup (Moine's times are twenty minutes for the preparation work and thirty for cooking)....

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,...

Crab Bisque If you'd asked me last weekend which soup I'd be making next, I wouldn't have have said crab bisque.  The choice was made because last Friday (6th August) the spouse fortuitously spotted and bought a pair of frozen crabs from his new favourite fish shop on Upper Rathmines Road. As soon as I saw them, I thought "Soup!" and looked up crab recipes in The Soup Book .  There are two options - the bisque and gazpacho.The latter requires clams or mussels, so we chose the former and began thawing the crabs ready for cooking yesterday afternoon. There is quite a lot of preparation involved in this recipe - crab meat to remove from shells, onions, carrots, celery, leeks, fennel, ginger and garlic to chop, as well as cooking, blending and sieving - so I called upon the younger offspring's pair of hands.  I bashed the crab shells with my rolling pin and cracked open the legs with the kitchen scissors so that the child labourer could prise out the meat.Then ...

Soupe de Poissons This morning I opened The Soup Book and decided to make soupe de poissons by Marie-Pierre Moine. It contains onions, leeks, mixed fish and seafood, dried fennel stalk, tomatoes, garlic (lots of it), flat-leaf parsley, bay leaves, dried orange peel, tomato puree and saffron.  The suggested accompaniment is croutes rubbed with garlic and spread with rouille (a spicy garlic sauce) or topped with Gruyere cheese.  Getting the ingredients together required some effort. I cheated by using frozen prawns from the freezer, fresh fennel, fresh orange peel and curly-leaf parsley (from the garden - the slugs haven't eaten it all!).  The spouse had told me about a new fish shop on Upper Rathmines Rd and I was intending to go there on my way home from town this afternoon, but on my way into town I spotted a fish shop near Portobello Bridge. There and then, while sitting near - but not in - my favourite seats on the bus I resolved to call in on the way home.  S...

Vanishing of the Bees Vanishing of the Bees is a film made in 2007 about bees and colony collapse disorder. Here are a couple of links: www.vanishingbees.com and www.vanishingbees.co.uk. I've just added my first widget to my blog! It's from the UK website address above. Why Bees? My rather cursory interest in bees dates back to my primary school days. I must have been nine or ten years of age and was supposed to be working on a project of my choice. A deadline was looming and everyone else seemed to be working away on their projects. I couldn't think of anything and had been told off for my previous project work! Exasperated, my teacher told me to do my project on bees. I remember reading just the one book - and probably copying it. In spite of myself, I became interested in what I was reading. I must have run out of time because I remember getting to the section about bees' dances as a means of communication but not including the information in my project. One of the ...