Kumara and Ginger soup with Wilted Spinach

It is wet, wet, wet here in Hawkes Bay, it has been raining for what seems like weeks now. Cold as well or at least what we call cold here - 5 degrees C . . . a day then for sitting inside by the fire watcting the world outside with a good book to hand. And very much a day for soup. The shops here are full with huge piles of fat Kumara so what better than Kumara soup served with bright green spinach, because spring will be back again before long.

- In a saucepan with some oil and butter gently fry a small onion, peeled and chopped with a couple of cloves of garlic.
- Peel a piece of ginger the size of you thumb, finely grate it and add to the pan, leave to cook until the onion is soft and transparent.
- Peel and chop a big Kumara or a couple of little ones and add to the pan along with a pint and a quarter of vegetable stock made from boullion powder.
- Leave to simmer gently until the Kumara is soft enough to squash against the side of the pan then blend or mash (with a potato masher) smooth.
- Reheat adding salt if required.
- Meanwhile pop another saucepan on to heat, rinse some spinach in cold water, shake off the water and pop into the hot pan.
- the spinach will hiss and gently wilt in less than a matter of minutes, take off the heat and squeeze in some lemon juice.

Pour some soup into a bowl, top with a little pile of spinach and squeeze over more lemon juice and perhaps a drop or two of chilli oil if you have some.

Quietly interesting this one, well worth getting to know better . . .

Parsnip, Apple and Chorizo soup

Wintertime is almost here and what is one of the best things about Winter? Parsnips. Yet while I love the taste, it is so distinctive that I find a whole bowlful or dish of it just too much. So here I have married together the beautiful compination of parsnips and apples whilst keeping the flavours seperate as well. And as there was a chorizo looking at me from the fridge, left over from earlier in the week, and as Winter vegetables usually go well with bacon I popped the sausage in there as well (smoked bacon would be nice as well I magine).

- Roughly chop a white onion and let it cook gently i some olive oil whilst you prepare the rest of the ingredients. You want the onions to cook without burning until they start to turn honey coloured, so let them take their time, a good ten minutes should do it.
- Peel and chop an apple and chop up the chorizo into pieces the size you would like to find in your soup bowl.
- Scoop out the onions into a bowl and put to one side.
- Turn up the heat and pop in the chorizo followed by the apple and let them cook until browning or charring on the edges.
- Peel and roughly chop two or three parsnips, I used two but it depends how big they are.
- Scoop out the apples and chorizo into another bowl and keeping the heat up pop in the parsnips, adding a little oil if neccesary (I usually pour in the oil that collects at the bottom of the onion bowl).
- Once the parsnips have browned at the edges lower the heat, pop the onions back in along with a pint and a quarter of half strength vegetable stock from a powder.
- Leave to gently boil until the parsnip is soft enough to squash against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon.
- Liquidise or blend the soup smooth and return to the pan to reheat adding in the reserved apple and chorizo.
- Mine needed some ground black pepper and a little salt.
- Serve with some big chunks of buttered white bread and some chopped parsley if you have some.

The amounts here are plenty for two people (as all my recipes are).

I often use whole spices in my cooking and baking because I love the way that thay give a sudden burst of flavour when biting one and it is the same in this soup, so use a dessert or eating apple rather than a cooking one so that the chunks don’t turn to mush and if you cook them quick and hot the insides will remain crunchy and almost raw.

enjoy

Kumara and Coriander soup

It is officially Spring down here in the Southern hemisphere and here in Hawkes Bay we have had some glorious days. But it doesn’t do to get too complacent because September usually has a few surprises in store. I am prepared though with a Winter soup made with the last of the seasons Kumara (sweet potato) that I found at the farmers market. Teamed up with the lemony tang of coriander seeds it makes for a creamy, subtly flavoured and comforting soup.

- Begin by slowly frying an onion, peeled and chopped, in some olive oil and a slice of butter. Keep the heat low and cook the onion slowly for a good fifteen minutes until soft and honey coloured.
- Add in two or three teaspoons on ground coriander seeds and cook for a further minute or so. Try to use whole seeds if you can, grinding them yourself in a pestle and mortar because ready ground seeds quickly lose their flavour and it is that lovely lemony tang of the freshly ground seed that we are after here.
- Peel and chop up one or two kumara depending on how big they are and add them into the saucepan. Turn the heat up and stir it all around.
- Pour in a pint and a quarter of vegetable stock, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for a further twenty minutes or so until the kumara is soft.
- Blend the soup smooth in a blender, return to the pan and reheat adding some salt if it needs it.

Serve with something green on top - I had some chives but I think parsley would have been a better choice. Oh and a squeeze of lime juice as well . . .

Potato, Rosemary and Brie soup

Definitely a Winter soup this one. Potatoes, onion, bacon and cheese - all good things that are warming, filling and go together beautifully. Tie that all together with rosemary and saffron and you know that whilst it may be cold outside Summer will soon not be far away . . . 

- Pop a pan on to heat with some butter and olive oil.
- Pop in half an onion, a clove of garlic (peeled and roughly chopped) and a slice of bacon cut into pieces.
- Leave to cook on a medium heat until all is cooked and the onion is translucent and brown at the edges.
- Add in a couple of potatoes, peeled and chopped, and fry a bit longer stirring occasionally until the potato absorbs the flavours and begin to brown at the edges as well.
- Pour over a pint and a half of vegetable stock , bring to a gentle boil and pop in a sprig of rosemary and a pinch of saffron stamens.

Now rosemary is pretty strong and can easily overpower everything else so keep tasting the soup and as soon as you think the flavour is getting too strong fish out the rosemary. My sprig was about three inches long and it was in for about 5 minutes but it all depends on your plant. If at the end you do not think the rosemary flavour is strong enough, just put the sprig back in again whilst you warm the soup up again.

- Continue to simmer gently until the potatoes are soft - say another ten minutes or so.
- take the soup off the heat and allow to cool for a minute or so then blend almost smooth.
- Put the soup back into the saucepan along with a handful of chopped up brie and reheat gently but do not boil because the soup will go tough and stringy (or so I have read, it has never happened to me).

I left the rind on the brie for texture and because I think it looks pretty this way.

- Check for seasoning adding a little salt and black pepper if required and once warmed through serve.

I had some bacon in the fridge so this is obviously not a vegetarian soup . . . but it could easily be, just miss out the bacon and add some celery instead.

Pea soup

A simple plain soup for those Winter days when Summer seems a long way off.

- Warm some olive oil in a pan and add half an onion and a clove of garlic or two, peeled and chopped.
- Add in a small potato, peeled and chopped into chunks.
- When the onion is soft and translucent add in say four handfulls of frozen peas.
- Pour over a pint and a quarter of half strength vegetable stock.
- Bring to a gentle boil and cook until the peas are soft, fifteen to twenty minutes or so.
- Blend the soup smooth.
- Return to your washed out saucepan, reheat adding a teaspoon or two of Tamari to taste along with some black pepper and salt if required, go carefully though because the Tamari is very salty itself.

And that is all there is too it, half an hour from start to eating . . . I had mine with some grated parmesan and more black pepper.

An Asian inspired Chicken, Ginger and Spring Onion Soup

After the recent rain it is now one of those clear bright days of Autumn going into Winter. The sun is streaming through the windows and bouncing around the room with a cold intensity that a lazy Summer day could never match. Ever the perfect earth-mother, Nicola has made some stock from the remains of our Sunday roast chicken. It is absolutely delicious, fresh and clean and deserves a starring role in something . . .

I am not an expert but to me the difference between an Asian soup and a Western is their simplicity. Whereas a Western soup would be cooked slowly an Asian one is quick to make, consisting of little more than stock warmed through with a few simple flavourings. This is my take on that idea.

- Put a pint of chicken stock in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Take a small piece of ginger root, say half the size of your thumb, slice it very thinly and pop it into the stock.
- While the stock is simmering, turn on the grill and prepare the chicken.
- Rub a chicken breast with a little olive oil and lots of salt and ground black pepper.
- Put under the grill and cook until browning at the edges and just cooked through. I do this on a little tin foil box or tray that I fold up so that the juices are collected to add to the soup as well.
- Now back to the stock, and add in half a teaspoon of salt, the same of sugar and about a dessertspoon of light soy sauce. I use an organic Tamari which is quite mild and not too salty, so adjust the amount until it tastes right.
- Slice two spring onions into thin circles.
- Once the chicken is cooked slice or tear it into pieces.
- Add the chicken and spring onions to the stock and serve immediately, nice and hot.

Serve with lots of Winter sunshine.

Leek, Tomato and Tarragon soup

This is and old recipe of mine, from the days when I was realising that what I ate didn't have to come from a tin or packet but could be made from real things that were actually growing all around me! In this particular case it was the discovery of fresh herbs. The joy I got then of going out to the garden, picking a bunch of leaves and dropping them into my soup has never left me. French Tarragon in particular I love. It has that sort of "old house" mustiness to it, different to the earthiness of fennel seeds or that larger than life intensity of a star anise . . .

This is also a good one for the end of Winter, beginning of Spring because there will still be leeks standing and everybody has a tin of tomatoes in the larder. Finding fresh herbs might be more difficult, but as I say use whatever you have there'll be Rosemary out there and you can often find Parsley and Tarragon out there sheltering under the leaves and tangled dead stuff.


-Begin with a leek, an onion and a garlic clove. Peel them and as this soup will not be blended, chop them to the size you'll want in the final soup - chunky or small whatever you fancy.
-Fry them gently in some olive oil and butter, until translucent. This will take a good ten or fifteen minutes, don't rush it.
-Add in a tin of tomatoes (if whole I chop the tomatoes up roughly in the pan with a knife) and a pint of vegetable stock.
-Leave to simmer for a further fifteen or twenty minutes until the tomatoes have collapsed and the flavours all blend together.

(This would be a good time to make some cheese scones)

- Once the soup is cooked add in some salt if required and enough ground black pepper to give a warmth in the background (remember it is still winter)
- Now just before serving add in a good handfull or two of fresh herbs, use whatever you have - I like a good handfull of flat leaved parsley and a bit less than half of that of tarragon. Carefull with the Tarragon because it is quite strong.

Serve with your scones buttered still be warm from the oven - delicious.



Does everybody go through that stage in their cookery development? You know discovering that you can actually make things from scratch? I certainly did of course and I see my teenage boys doing it now. They still come and gaze into the fridge and larder, hoping some readymade delight will leap out to be eaten straightaway. Or at most after a couple of minutes in the microwave, because don't you realise that they are hungry right now and have things to do and cannot possibly wait . . . . But now I notice their heads turning to what I am doing at the stove. "What's in the pan?" they'll say. "Leek and tomato soup" I say "would you like some?" "No" they say automatically looking down at the frozen pizza in their hands and then back at the soup with a slightly puzzled expression, thinking . . . The seeds of change are there, beginning to germinate I think, it won't be long now.

Tomato and Rosemary soup

Thursday 2.37pm

It is bitterly cold and dark - the middle of Winter. Christmas and New Year have been celebrated and now it is that dead period of the year, January/February, when there is nothing happening and nothing to look forward to. Or at least what there is to look forward to seems a long, long way off. You need something to cheer you up, something interesting to eat but your body does not yet have that yearning for salads that suggests Spring is close by. But what?

Well how about an intensely flavoured tomato soup made with ingredients from the store cupboard, or the modern equivalent - the supermarket, along with some sort of evergreen herb. I like Rosemary but you have to be carefull because it is quite strong and can easily overpower everything else.

- Peel and chop two red onions and a couple of cloves of garlic and set to cook very slowly in some olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the saucepan. Leave for a good fifteen/twenty minutes.
- Add in a tin of plum tomatoes, a couple of tablespoonfuls of tomato puree, a tablespoonful of white or red wine vinegar and three quarters of a pint of half strength vegetable stock from a cube or powder.
- Leave to bubble away gently for ages - twenty minutes or more.
- Blend it smooth. You don't have to do this it is just my preference and the taste is slightly different blended to unblended.
- Reheat in the washed out saucepan adding some black pepper and salt if necessary.
-While it reheats drop in a sprig of rosemary, removing it as soon as you can just taste a hint of Rosemary in the background.

I served mine with some thin flat bread spread with butter, garlic, salt and more Rosemary leaves before baking. A brief memory of Summer in the middle of Winter like a dream that all to quickly fades.

Of course if you are in a hurry you could just open a tin of cream of tomato soup and drop in the rosemary sprig whilst warming it through, but where is the fun in that?