Vegetable Soup – so easy, so good!

This soup has no oil, no fats, no meat and there will be none left!  So, make a large amount.

I find soups easily become broths when too much water is added.  It’s still a good soup, but it can be a little thin.  So, put loads of veggies into this soup and limit your water quantity so the flavour is richer and the soup is more of a meal than a soup.   

A little crusty bread goes a long way.

Ing.

1 x onion, diced

1 x potato, diced

2 x stems of celery, chopped into soup sizes

2 carrots, diced

3 x sprigs spring onion

1 x handful of Continental parsley, chopped

5 cloves garlic

4-6 cups hot water

2 x teaspoons Massel powdered chicken stock

A sprinkle of cracked pepper

A good pinch of Murray River Pink salt

In a large stovetop pot on medium heat place all the veggies.  No oil, no butter.  Gently stir them around a dry pot for about five minutes.  The veggies will soften very quickly.

Now add two cups of (hot) water, powdered stock, salt and pepper.  Stir it about.  Now add another 2-4 cups boiling water, bring to the boil.  Once boiling, put the lid on, turn the heat down to the lowest possible setting and leave for one hour.

Remember, low and slow brings out the best flavours.

Serve with crusty bread.  Very awesome

Stay well, stay safe.

Kind regards,

Brendan

Chunky Tomato and Shallot Soup

Shallots are like little onions but my experience with them is that they are more delicate, they require less heat at a slower rate in oil to extract the best flavour.

Ingredients

2 shallots, sliced into rings

3 sprigs of spring onion

A handful of chopped Continental Parsley

12 whole ripe tomatoes

One teaspoon Massel powdered chicken stock

Murray River Pink Salt

Freshly ground or cracked pepper

Two tablespoons of Leggo’s Tomato paste.

Fill the kettle and set it to boil.

Slice your shallots into rings and gently fry them in olive oil in a soup pot.  Flip them after a couple of minutes.  Cut your tomatoes in half and squeeze out the inside pulp and seeds.  We will only use the outer of the tomato.  Toss all your tomatoes into the pot.

Chop your spring onion into little pieces alongside the parsley and chuck them in the pot.

Place the teaspoon of Massel chicken stock into the pot and add two cups of boiling water from the kettle.  Add the Leggo’s tomato paste and the add salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and bring to the boil.  Once boiled turn down to the lowest possible setting and simmer, covered, for about 45 mins to one hour.  Stir the base very ten minutes or so to ensure nothing sticks.

Add or reduce the amount of water you use to make this soup thicker or thinner.

Garnish with fresh Continental parsley to serve.

Serve with thick crusty bread.

A simple winter warming chicken soup

Simple chicken and veg soup (broth)

I know you can all make this, so this will serve as a reminder of how delicious it is and simple to make.  You’ll need:

2 fresh chicken carcasses

2 carrots

1 potato

3 sticks of celery

I onion

3 sprigs of spring onion

3 cloves of garlic

A bunch of fresh Continental parsley

Massel powdered Chicken Stock

Murray River Pink Salt

Cracked or freshly ground pepper

Put the kettle on as we require lots of hot water for this soup. 

Chop all the vegetables into little pieces.  A good knife is essential.  Perhaps I’ll do a review on the knife I use...  A good chef’s knife will make this chopping easy.  Of course the onion, the garlic and the parsley should be finely chopped.  We are not going to fry anything in oil.   

Place all your vegetables into a large pot on medium heat.  Stir them for about five minutes whilst they soften.  They will create their own moisture so there is no need to add water at this stage.  We are just softening the veggies.  When they start to stick to the pan, add about 100ml hot water.  Now add your chicken carcasses to the top.  

Add hot water to just cover the chicken carcasses.  This may be a litre or two, depending on the pot size you use, so be ready to refill and reheat the kettle.

Add a good pinch of Murray River Pink salt, cracked or freshly ground pepper, a teaspoon of Massel chicken stock.  Cover and bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting and leave for one hour.  

After an hour, remove the chicken carcasses, keeping any chicken meat you can extract.  Then toss the remainder of the carcasses away.  The soup will be ready, but fairly heavy in chicken fat!  There are several options now to remove the fat:

1.     Place the soup in the refrigerator overnight and remove the floating chicken fat with a spoon when it has settled the following day; or

2.     Let the soup cool a little, place ice into a metal ladle, place the ladle gently into the hot soup. The fat will stick to the bottom of the ladle!  Brilliant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYugpggPaTs

3.     Let the soup cool, place an ice cube into the soup.  The fat will stick to the ice cube.  Remove it before it melts!

Serve with warm crusty bread.

Tomato and Basil soup

Tomato and Basil Soup (Veg and Vegan)

This can be served chunky or as a thin soup simply by placing it into the blender or using a hand held Bamix blender in the pot. I served it chunky!

The redder your tomatoes, the redder the soup will be. We are not going to fry the onion, so there are no fats to add to this soup.

Cut your tomatoes in half and squeeze out the centre. We are not going to use the centres or seeds. Throw your squeezed tomatoes into the saucepan with your finely diced onion with a couple of cups of water and let them reduce. Allow it to boil then turn it down to simmer, covered, with a very low heat.

In the meantime, chop your fresh basil, spring onion, garlic and Continental parsley. Once the tomatoes have started to soften and reduce, into your saucepan goes the rest with another two cups of water. At this time you can determine the thickness of the soup by varying your water quantity.

The other ingredients all merge in nicely.

Now, add a good pinch of Murray River Pink salt, some freshly ground pepper to taste, a tsp of Massel powdered chicken stock and a couple of good tablespoons of Leggo's tomato paste.

Let it simmer for about an hour. Serve it chunky or blend it for a puree version.

Serve with crusty fresh bread.

Very basilly!

Pumpkin Soup with Nutmeg

Now I know you can all make pumpkin soup, but I want to provide a refresher as I made this on the weekend.

I find a blend of Jap and Grey pumpkin flavours up nicely, but this time I tried the good old Butternut and the result was just as good.

In a large stovetop pot, gently fry an onion on olive oil. When it is becoming transparent, add an entire peeled and coarsely diced pumpkin and a peeled and diced potato. Also add a handful of fresh Continental Parsley, two teaspoons of Massel Chicken stock powder, Murray River pink salt to taste (about two or three teaspoons) and a sprinkle of cracked pepper.

Add the quantity of water you want to make the soup thinner or thicker. I added eight cups of boiling water.

Cover and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and allow it to cook slow and low for about 45 mins or until the pumpkin and potato pieces are thoroughly cooked. Poke them with a knife to test.

Now you will need a blender. Scoop the mixture into your blender and blend until the texture is smooth and consistent. Do this in several batches as the blender may not be able to accomodate the entire volume.

There may be small pieces of pumpkin or potato that remain larger than expected after the blending process. These are gems and ought be left to be found by your complaining diners!

It is good all on its own. Add a dollop of sour or thickened cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg for an extra special feast.

Some buttered sour dough bread or my Italian Bruschetta appetiser makes this a full meal.

Make more than you need so you can have it again tomorrow.

Chicken, Leek and Vegetable Soup

So I made a large pot of soup last night while I waited for the curry to cook. I warmed the soup tonight and it was absolutely delicious.

Interestingly, if meals like this are made the day before they are consumed the opportunity to remove the fat content, which settles on the top, is provided. If the soup is consumed as it is prepared, any fats remain in the soup which can give it a greasy texture.

In a large pot on the stovetop, over medium heat, pan fry a sliced leek in olive oil. After the first 'leek flip', add your sliced chicken thigh fillet pieces and give it a toss so the chicken is cooked. If you add a splash of water and cover, the water steams the meat and it won't stick to the bottom of the pot.

While these two are cooking, peel your potatoes and dice them into small pieces. Do the same with your carrots, celery, onion and parsley. Place them all into a bowl and then tip them all into the pot at the same time. Gently toss the vegetables with the meat and let them cook, without adding any more water at this stage, until they soften. They will want to stick to the pan, particularly if it is dry, but endure with this as the vegetables release water and they form enough moisture to allow it all to heat up and soften at a rather quick pace. Add your three finely chopped garlic cloves.

Add your cracked pepper, about a teaspoon of marine salt and a teaspoon of Massel powdered Chicken stock.

When the vegetables have softened, add your water. If you add boiling water from the kettle, the mixture doesn't cool down to then have to re-heat. So add hot water if you can. I added about eight cups of hot water, which meant that the now larger volume required a little more salt, pepper and stock powder.

Bring it to the boil and then turn it down to the lowest possible heat source and cover. Stir it occasionally. Leave it for a good hour. Like the curry, the longer it cooks (slow and low) the better the flavour.

Allow to cool and refrigerate in the pot overnight. Before re-heating (slowly on a low heat source) remove the settled fat layer so your soup is fat free. Serve with buttery bread!

Make a large pot and have a little every night over a few days. The more you make, the less you cook...

Please enjoy!