Minnie's Soup Kitchen

Butternut Squash Soup Today's recipe from The Soup Book is by Clodagh McKenna , an Irish writer. The first time I ever heard the name Clodagh was when a Northern Irish singer called Clodagh Rodgers represented the United Kingdom in the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest. She sang "Jack in the Box" and wore hot pants. I was thinking about the contest because I heard during the week that Engelbert Humperdinck will represent the UK this year. My interest in him stems from a shared Anglo-Indian heritage and that fact that he was born in Madras (now Chennai), as was my father. One of my siblings once asked Dad if Engelbert came from the other side of the jungle to him! Butternut squash soup: yum! So, back to the soup. Butternut squash. Mmm. Can be hard work to get through the skin. Can be bland. Should I avoid it or just get on with it? I didn't feel like making anything too complicated and this recipe looked straightforward. I cut into the squash and chopped it up bef...

German Chicken Broth According to the introductory lines in The Soup Book , this recipe is "based on a Thuringian vegetable soup" and "requires a good-quality, well-flavoured chicken stock, so make your own for best results." The last batch of chicken stock made in this house had pork chop bones added to it, so that's the stock I've used. The other ingredients are green beans, carrots, kohlrabi and mangetout or sugar snap peas: the finished broth is garnished with cream and finely chopped chervil. Kohlrabi is also known as German turnip ( rassica oleracea L. Gongylodes group). Of course, when I'm not looking for them, I see them in the shops but on the day when I want to buy some, I can't find them. So I substituted ordinary (white) turnips. They might even be just what I wanted. I bought them at the green grocer's cum garden centre (tiny) cum bistro (more below). The broth is cooked. The recipe is ver...