Seven Vegetable Soup

Crumbs it has been a very long time since my last blog entry! I've not stopped cooking - or eating, but work and a long commute have kept me very busy. However, the lockdown has given me the opportunity to experiment a bit with food again and the time to think and write about food again.
First of all, I know Liz and I have been very lucky. Both of us are able to work from home and so far none of us have contracted the virus. Secondly, we are still getting our regular organic fruit and veg box from Abel & Cole supplemented with an organic meat box from the same company which I subscribed too literally the week before the crisis hit. This has meant that our fridge has been full. Sometimes overfull as our last supermarket delivery from Ocado also came with some fruit and veg from someone else's order by accident (which they couldn't recollect so we suddenly had extra soft fruit and a lot of eggs!).

Anyway on to today's soup which combined a lot of the veg that we had collected in the fridge and 'needed using up. It's simple and hearty and went well with some of the bread I baked the previous day and a slice of cheese. The trick here is to use a mix of veg all cut up so as to cook at the same time.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1 rasher smoked bacon - finely diced
1 large leek - sliced
1 medium potato - diced
1 carrot - diced
2 small parsnips - peeled and diced
1/2 sweetcorn cob - kernels sliced from the cob
2 sticks of celery - diced
1/4 cauliflower - broken into florets, stems sliced
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp turmeric
1.5 ltr stock (veg or chicken)
Small bunch of parsley

Method
Fry the bacon until crisp. Scoop out and keep for later as a garnish. Fry the leeks until softened then add the remainder of the vegetables. Stir in the oil until coated then add the turmeric and bay leaf. Stir again then add the stock. Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked. Blend with a stick blender. If the soup is too thick add more stock or possibly milk to dilute. Taste and season. Serve in bowls with chopped parsley and the crispy bacon and possibly a swirl of yogurt or cream if you are feeling fancy.

Pancakes!

Simple stuffed pancakes for supper last night. Felt very full afterwards, worth the effort.

Ingredients for the filling
1 small bag of baby spinach
2 medium leeks finely shredded
150g chestnut mushrooms finely sliced
100g grated Emmental or similar cheese

50g butter
Salt, Pepper and Nutmeg to season

Make four pancakes in the normal fashion and put aside while you make the filling

Sweat the leeks in a pan with the butter until softened, add the mushrooms and fry again until softened. Add the bag of spinach and stir till wilted. Add the grated cheese, seasoning and nutmeg and stir together.

Put a 1/4 of the filling in each of the pancakes and fold into a triangle. Put in an oven-proof dish, grate some more cheese on top and grill until browned.

Not Quite a Cock-a-Leekie Soup

Gosh it's been ages since I last wrote a post. I haven't stopped cooking (and I certainly haven't stopped eating) but just haven't got around to writing up my creations. New Year - new resolution to try and post at least once a month.

Sleety, grey skies and a biting north wind and the need to have something warm and satisfying to eat before movie night turned thoughts towards a sturdy soup. A loaf of freshly made bread cooling in the kitchen with some nice cheeses went very well along side it. It started off as being a cock-a-leekie soup but as there is more leek than chicken I was going to call it Leekie-Cockie but that didn't sound very appetising...

Serves 3 with bread and cheese on the side.

Ingredients
3 Medium Leeks, trimmed and sliced
1 Medium Carrot, finely diced
1 Chicken thigh, skinned and diced
1/2 Small Green Cabbage, finely shredded
5g Dried Porcini Mushrooms
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Bay Leaf
1 Handful of Pearl Barley
1 Litre Chicken or Vegetable stock

Method
Sweat off the leaks and carrots with the bay leaf until softened but not coloured.
Add the chicken, stock, pearl barley and dried mushrooms.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until the barley is cooked.
Check seasoning - depending on your stock you may not need any.
Add the shredded cabbage and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Chicken and Leek Soup

Roast chicken yesterday so today, after making stock with the carcass it is a thick and warming soup on a cold, wet windy day. Serves 3 with a chunk of crusty bread.

Ingredients:
Cold roast chicken - a good handful - chopped or shredded
1 fist sized potato peeled and diced
2 leeks trimmed and finely sliced
2 medium carrots diced
1 litre of chicken stock
250ml milk
Parsley and Tarragon - small bunch of each, chopped
Salt and pepper
Knob of butter and glug of oil

Fry the leeks in the oil until softened but not coloured, add the chicken, carrots and potato and cook gently for another 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to the boil then simmer until the potato and carrots are soft. Mash a bit with a masher to thicken the soup. Add the milk and herbs and season to taste. Don't boil the soup again but heat it through and serve.

Some garlic croûtons sprinkled on top would add a nice texture