Roast Onion and Thyme soup with Feta

Intensely savoury, dark and interesting this one, quite salty from the feta and with a depth that if you look into it for too long will show you your future . . .

- Put the oven on to hot, say 200 centigrade.

- Peel and slice some onions. Mine were a little bit smaller than an apple so for a pint of soup ( 2 peoples worth ) I used 5. Slice them to the size you want in the soup.

- Put the onions into a roasting dish and add in a clove of garlic crushed, peeled and chopped, the leaves and tips from a handfull of fresh thyme sprigs and a tespoonful of whole cumin seeds.

- Pour over enough olive oil to coat everything and lob in a tablespoonful of butter and some ground black pepper.

- Place in the oven and cook, stirring occasionally until the onions start to blacken and char at edges. Ten to twenty minutes probably.

- Turn the oven down low, maybe 130 centigrade so that it is just bubbling and leave to cook nice and slowly until the onions are soft and honey coloured. This will take a while, another twenty minutes to half an hour or more even. The slower the cooking the more the sweetness of the onions will come out.

- Once cooked transfer into a saucepan, oil and everything and top up with a pint and a quarter of vegetable stock.

- Simmer gently for ten minutes or so to allow the flavours to blend check for seasoning and serve with some creamy feta crumbled in.

I had the oven on at the time so roasted the onions but there is no reason you cannot cook them in a frying pan on the stove. Just keep the heat down low and watch that they do not burn,

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 . . .

Salmon, Cumin and Coriander soup

We don’t eat a lot of fish in our house, mainly because I am the only one that relly likes it. So when we do have fish it either comes in batter from the fish and chip shop or I will spice it up a bit - there is a lovely fish curry in Appetite by Nigel Slater. Mostly though it is just me that gets a sudden craving for fishyness and so I’ll make something just for myself for lunch perhaps.
This recipe is a bit of both, a mildly spiced soup made for my lunch. Fresh salmon would have been nice but I am at home all achy and headachy with a virus and didn’t have the energy to go out, so tinned salmon it was.

- Start by finely slicing a small onion and a clove of garlic and gently fry until translucent.
- Add the spices, half a teaspoon each of ground cumin, ground coriander and chilli flakes. Follow that with a teaspoon of cumin seeds and the same of black mustard seeds. Allow to fry gently for a few minutes, just relax and enjoy the aroma . . .
- Turn the heat back up and pour in half a pint of vegetable stock ( I like Rapunzel organic vegetable boullion because I always make it half strength) simmer gently for a few more minutes to blend the flavours together .
- Now take the soup off the heat and allow to cool a little, then pour in one of those tiny tins of coconut milk (165ml).
- Open a small tin of salmon, pour off the oil or water and add the chunks to the soup discarding any bones or skin as you go.
- Reheat again gently until nce and warm but do not allow to boil because the coconut milk might go all bitty and the salmon will break up into a mush. (if it did I would probably blend the whole lot smooth and serve it anyway!)
- Serve with some chopped coriander leaves scattered over.

Because it was just for myself the quantities here are reduced - this amount will just serve two people one bowl each, or in my case two bowls for me and several spoonfuls out of the saucepan for Nicola who just arrived back from work as I was reheating it.

Enjoy

A Fresh Tomato soup

Born and brought up as I was in the 60’s, tomato soup for me has always come from a can. And even recipes I have tried have that same thick creamyness to them. But it does not have to be. Tomatoes are after all a fruit - you can eat them raw, and it is quite easy to quickly put together a simple fresh tomato soup. Like this one . . .


- Peel and chop a small onion and a clove of garlic into smallish pieces.
- Put them in a saucepan in a little olive oil over a low heat and cook gently until the onion goes translucent.
- Meanwhile peel some tomatoes (I used 7 biggish ones)- make a small cross shaped cut at the end oppsite the stalk end, put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over to cover them. Leave them a few minutes then take out of the water and the skin should easiliy peel off.
- Roughly chop the tomatoes, you could remove the seeds at this point but I never do, I just cut out and remove the tougher stalk parts.
- Put the tomatoes into the saucepan along with maybe 3/4 of a pint of vegetable stock and a small handfull of chopped parsley.
- Bring to a gentle boil and cook until the tomato breaks down, 15 minutes or so.


And that is all there is to it. Serve with some more chopped parsley and a generous sprinkling of coursely ground black pepper.

Mushroom, Bacon (or Celery) and Marscapone soup

Australia has decided to send a storm across to us and as Spring has gone into hiding, I have gone back to Autumn for inspiration today. Something warm, heavy and comforting is called for and mushrooms and bacon fit the bill here for me, along with some marscapone to add a thick, creamy comfortness. Oh, and a touch of thyme as well, just to remind us that Spring will soon be back again. I used free range smoked bacon but if you are vegetarian I would swap it for a stick or two of celery which will taste different of course but give the same effect.

- Peel and chop an onion and set to cook slowly in some olive oil along with a couple of rashers of bacon chopped up.
- Leave to cook slowly until the onion is soft and turning golden.
- Add in a small palmfull of thyme leaves and a couple of handfulls of mushrooms roughly chopped.
- Pour over a pint and a quarter of vegetable stock and leave to simmer until the mushrooms are cooked, ten to fifteen minutes I should think.
- Blend the soup smooth and return to the saucepan.
- Spoon in a tablespoon or so of marscapone cheese, some salt and ground black pepper if it needs it and reheat gently.

Coursely ground black pepper is pretty well compulsory when I am cooking and the lemonyness is a lovely foil to the mushrooms, and occasionally I’ll squeeze in some lemon juice as well if I feel like it to add in a bit of freshness.

Celery and Walnut soup

Pretty obvious combination really - celery and walnuts and it does make a lovely mild and creamy soup. Some grated cheddar would be lovely on top but on the way to the cheese I found a jar of ploughmans pickle and so . . .

- Peel and chop half an onion and a clove of garlic and pop in a saucepan with three or four chopped celery sticks and leave to cook slowly in a little olive oil for ten minutes or so
- Add half a potato and then pour over a pint of vegetable stock.
-leave to simmer gently until the potatoes are soft, another ten minutes I should think.
- Shell and crush a few walnuts I used four, and leave to soak in a bowl covered with some of the stock.
- Once the soup is cooked, pour it into a blender, add in the softened walnuts and blend it all smoothish.
- Return to the now washed saucepan, reheat and serve.

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 . . .

Tomato and Cumin soup

You have been working late but have finally arrived home. Tired and hungry you gaze hopefully into the fridge, but there is nothing that interesting there . . . so what do you do?

Open a tin? Of course you do, but not of some preprepared foodstuff that probably tastes like every other ready food out there. No you are a creative individual and so open a can of the best invention ever . . . tinned tomatoes. 

- Peel and chop half an onion and a big clove of garlic and fry slowly in some olive oil.
- Add in a small potato, peeled and diced, and continue to cook slowly until the onion is translucent - ten minutes or so.
- Pour in a tin of tomatoes, half a pint of half strength vegetable stock from a powder and a handfull of chopped fresh parsley in you have some.
- Bring to a gentle boil and continue to cook for another ten minutes until the potato is soft.
- Meanwhile pop a dry frying pan on to heat. Put a teaspoonful of cumin seeds and let them toast for a few minutes. Watch carefully in case they burn removing the seeds from the heat just as they turn a darker brown and smell lovely.
- Once the soup is cooked mash up the potato, onion and tomatoes with a potato masher, leaving it all a bit chunky.
- Check and add salt if neccesary and reheat.
- Ladle into a bowl and sprinkle over some of the cumin seeds along with anything you may have found in the fridge - I had sour cream but feta would have been nice as well ( don’t add salt to your soup before tasting it with the feta, as feta can be pretty salty)



 This is a very simplified version of Tomato and Rosemary soup with Cumin instead of Rosemary. Cumin seems to be my favourite spice at the moment, especially with tomatoes - the lemonyness of the Cumin complimenting the tomatoes beautifully. Just be carefull not to add too much as it can easily overpower everything else, a teaspoonful between two people seems about right to me, but taste it and see . . . 

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.

A Roast Tomato soup

I spent today thinking of Tuscany. I am not sure if this is exactly true but I seem to remember reading that in Tuscany they use a lot of bread in cooking. The reason for this is because the powers that be at the time decided to raise some money by taxing salt. Hence to save money the Tuscans made bread without salt. But the downside of this was that the bread went stale more quickly resulting in various dishes that used stale bread imaginatively.

This soup has nothing to do with Tuscany of course, but it was delicious . . . . and I think the best way to use stale bread is to make croutons!

- Put your oven on to it’s hottest setting.
- In an oven proof dish put 5 or six tomatoes, an onion, a couple of cloves of garlic and a bunch of Thyme. (Peel and roughly chop each as appropriate.)
- Sprinkle over some salt, ground black pepper and a couple of tablespoonfuls of olive oil. 
- Stir it all about a bit and pop in the oven.
- Leave to cook until the tomatoes are blackened around the edges - twenty minutes or so depending on how hot the oven is.
- Meanwhile roughly chop some stale bread, I had a bit of left over ciabatta, put in a bowl with salt, pepper and a crushed and chopped clove of garlic.
- Pour over another tablespoonful or two of olive oil, stir, and leave to sit.
- Ten minutes before the tomatoes are ready put the croutons onto a baking tray and place in the oven.
- The will be fine, but watch the croutons because they will quickly burn. Take them out just as they get golden brown and just charred at the edges.
- Take the tomatoes from the oven, allow to cool fro a few minutes then pour into a sieve over a bowl.
- Use a wooden spoon to rub the tomato mixture through the sieve, removing the skins, seeds and stalks etc in the process.
- Put the tomato sauce into a saucepan with an equal amount of vegetable stock and a small potato peeled and chopped smallish.
- Bring back to a simmer and cook until the potato is soft.
- Finally crush the potato up a bit with a masher, check and add more salt or pepper if required and the soup is made.

Serve with the croutons, a squeeze of lemon juice and some bright green chopped parsley.

Leek and Oatmeal soup

A simple restorative soup for when you are all bunged up with flu and feeling miserable.


Like me.



Fry a chopped leek slowly in some butter and olive oil until soft, translucent and faintly golden brown, ten minutes at least. Add in a good handfull of rolled oats, stir about a bit and leave to cook for a few minutes. Pour in a pint and a quarter of vegetable stock and simmer gently until the oats are cooked but still have some bite, mine took a bit over half an hour. Season and serve.


I had mine with croutons and a handfull of chopped parsley.


Now you may notice that I have posted this recipe before but Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa's Kitchen has a monthly event - "No Croutons required" and seeing as this is one of my favourite soups, and one of my favourite photos, and seeing as I am bunged up with the flu again . . . well I thought I would enter this one.

Carrot and Peanut soup

Another Thai inspired soup today. It wasn’t supposed to end up that way but it is wet and rainy here so I thought some ginger would help keep us warm. Then I overdid the chilli a little and so added coconut milk to cool it down a little and the whole thing headed east . . .

- Simmer a small onion, a couple of cloves of garlic and a thumb sized piece of ginger root (peeled and chopped or sliced) in some oil quite quickly until the onion is turning transparent.
- Meanwhile put a couple of tablespoons of roasted, unsalted peanuts in a blender with enough stock to cover and whizz them smoothish.
- Once the onion is turning clear add in half a rteaspoon of dried chilli flakes and three carrots peeled and roughly chopped followed by a pint of vegetable stock. - Pour in the peanut mush and bring to the boil.
- Simmer gently until the carrot is cooked.
- Blend the soup smooth and reheat with a dessertspoonful of tamari or soy sauce, the juice of half a lime and a third of a tin of coconut milk.

You should end up with a beautiful apricot coloured soup that I served with some coriander leaves.

Carrots have a nuttiness to them that I think echos the taste of peanuts so I’ll probably try this one again but without the ginger and chilli and coconut, hopefully ending up with a much simpler soup that just brings out the flavours of the carrots and peanuts. Some thyme might be nice here . . . .

Spinach and Coconut soup

Chilli, ginger and lemongrass complement the lemonyness of the spinach and add a zingy background to this creamy soup. It is also a classic example of the way i make a soup from three parts, the base the thickening and the main ingredient. If you want to know more it is all explained in my book which is absolutely free and has been downloaded over 2000 times now! (If you would like a copy just follow the links and my ramblings on the right.)

Ok the main ingredient is spinach of course but first construct the base.

- In a saucepan put some olive oil then fry a small onion, a clove of garlic both peeled and sliced.
- Add in a third to a half of a red chilli sliced. How much depends on how hot you like your soup. Less is usually better than more if you are not sure.
- Add a thumb sized piece of ginger sliced and a dessertspoonful of sliced lemongrass. (mine comes ready sliced in a tube).
- Quickly cook all this until the onion goes translucent.

All of this forms the base of the soup - slightly thai influenced in this case.

- Now add in a small potato, peeled and roughly chopped. This will thicken the soup.
- Pour in a pint or so of vegetable stock and leave to simmer until the potato is soft, ten to fifteen minutes I should think.
- Now pop in the main ingredient, spinach. A two or three big handfuls should do it, rinsed under the tap to remove any soil.
- The spinach will cook in a couple of minutes and then blend the whole lot smooth.
- Reheat adding a third of a tin of coconut milk, the juice of half a lime and a little salt if you think it needs it.

I served mine with a few mint leaves sliced up. Coriander or basil would have been good as well.

Coconut milk is a great ingredient to have in your cupboard, I try it with just about everything eventually because it adds a slightly exotic creamyness as well as being dead easy to use - just open the tin and pour it into the soup at the end as you reheat it. Taste as you go and reheat gently because it might curdle, although I have never worried myself because it does not seem to affect the flavour. I buy 14oz cans and freeze what is left over in small amounts say a third of a tin because that is what I usually use for a pint of soup.

Cream of Fennel and Roast Garlic Soup

Nicola found some fennel bulbs at the farmers market and brought a couple home for me. At the same time I really enjoyed the garlic in the mushroom and garlic soup last week and so decided to combine the fennel with garlic and cream aiming for a creamy consoling soup. When cooked fennel has quite a subtle flavour so I have roasted the garlic which mellows it beautifully. You could roast the fennel and onion as well if you like but I didn’t.

-Begin with the garlic. Put the oven on to 190 centigrade. Take a whole bulb of garlic, snip off the top with some scissors, put on a baking tray and pour over a little olive oil and some salt.
- Pop in the oven and roast until the cloves are soft enough to squash between your fingers, twenty minutes to half an hour probably.
- Meanwhile peel and chop up a small onion and a couple of fennel bulbs.
- Cook gently in a tablespoon or two of olive oil
- Take the garlic out of the oven and allow it to cool. Then separate the cloves and squeeze them out into the onion and fennel pan. The flavour really is quite mild so use the whole bulb.
- Add in a small palmfull of thyme leaves and stir it all about.
- Pour over about three quarters of a pint of chicken or vegetable stock and leave to simmer until the fennel is soft, maybe another twenty minutes.
- Allow the soup to cool a little and then blend smooth.
- Reheat again adding some salt if neccessary, black pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, and then some cream. I never add much cream, a dessertspoonful or two is all that is required to give the soup a creamyness without over powering the rest of the ingredients.

Enjoy.

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.

White bean and Celery soup

Every now and then I get the urge to make some particular thing. Today it was something pure, delicate and white. A brief look in the pantry and fridge revealed a small collection of white things - a tin of cannellini beans, some ground almonds, celery, garlic and white onions. Oh, and some white bread. And the result? A white bean and celery soup. I did not use everything I had found and the soup was not even very white, but it was delicious . . . .

- In a tablespoon or two of olive oil, gently fry a peeled and chopped onion, a couple of clove of garlic, two or three sticks of celery and a sage leaf.
- Once they are soft and translucent add in a can of cannellini beans, drained and washed. Stir around and cook for a further minute or two.
- Pour in a glass of white wine, I used Sauvignon Blanc. Bring the heat up and boil until the liquid has nearly all evaporated.
- Add in a pint and a quarter of vegetable stock, reduce the heat and simmer until the celery is soft, say fifteen or twenty minutes.
- Take out the sage leaf and blend the soup smooth.
- Reheat, adding more stock if it is too thick and some salt and a little lemon juice if you think it needs it.

I served mine just as it was, with just a sprinkling of ground black pepper. Oh and some of that white bread as well of course.

Potato, Cumin, Yoghurt and Mint soup

Always the bridesmaid, potato rarely gets the starring role in a soup. This is a bit unfair because it has a lovely texture, smooth and creamy with a stickiness about it that is as comforting as porridge is on a cold day. And a potato is a true friend as well, no matter what dire straights I have found myself in there has always been a potato or two in the larder somewhere to make sure I am fed. So today I celebrate the potato with a quite intensly savoury soup that is at the same time tangy as well.

- Gently fry an onion and a clove of garlic (peeled and roughly chopped) in some oil and butter until softly translucent.
- Add in a teaspoon of ground Cunin seeds, a teaspoon of whole cumin seeds, half a teaspoon of ground Blackpepper and half a teaspoon of Turmuric for it's earthiness.
- Stir the spices around a bit for a couple of minutes then add in two or three potatoes peeled and roughly diced, stir around again to mix everything together.
- Pour in a pint and a quarter of vegetable stock, bring to a gentle boil and leave until the potatoes are cooked.
- Blend or liquidise the soup and return to the now washed pan.
- Stir in a tablespoon of creamy greek yoghurt and a small palmfull of sliced mint leaves along with some salt and pepper if required.
- Reheat gently, don't let it boil or the yoghurt will separate into little white bits.
- Serve with another dollop of yoghurt and some more chopped mint.



Student food really but there is nothing wrong with that. Jamie Oliver would be proud of me I think . . . .

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.

Leek, Coriander and Coconut soup

Recipes evolve in strange ways. This soup started as an idea - Leek and Coriander soup. Coriander seeds that is not the green stuff that has all died away now anyway. These two make a beautifull combination especially in a pie with halved or quartered boiled eggs popped in. And as I was stirring the base of leeks, onion and celery whilst they cooked I kept smelling the strangest thing - coconut, so a quick search of the larder uncovered a tin of coconut milk and in it went as well and a creamy soup with a hint of spice was born . . .

- Put a big leek, half an onion and a stick of celery all peeled and roughly chopped as required into a saucepan with some butter and olive oil and left to fry slowly until all meltingly soft and fragrant.
- Add in two teaspoonfulls of ground coriander seeds, a sage leaf and a small potato peeled and chopped. Stir and cook for a further couple of minutes.

You could use just leeks of course but I like the combination of leek and onion and the celery was in the fridge anyway and it all goes to add more depth to the ultimate flavor. I always cook my spices in oil as well, either as part of the base or separately in some oil or butter if I am adding them at the end. I find that if I don't they have a sort of powdery taste, but also I love the way the fragrances come out as you warm them through in the hot oil.

- Pour in a pint and a quarter of vegetable stock turn the heat up until it comes to a gentle boil and simmer until the potato is soft, say fifteen minutes or so.
- Blend it all smooth and return to the pan along with a third of a tin of coconut milk - 100 mls or so. Taste it to see, you don't want the coconut to over power everything else.
- Add some salt and pepper if you think it needs it (mine did) and gently reheat.

Mild and creamy as it is, you need a bit of contrast to stop it becoming sickly so serve with a good squeeze of lime juice or even better do what I did and make a simple salsa of chopped tomato, chilli and lime zest and juice.

It was just what I needed today and hence absolutely delicious.

Beetroot and Cumin soup

Intense earthy flavours for Autumn here. This is a time of the woodlands and fields, of rich earthy smells and sight of your misty breath coiling away into the chill air. It is a time time for slow cooking, for deep complex flavours that echo the world outside and fill the house with enticing smells. You cannot get much more earthy than beetroot of course and paired with cumin forms a sublime combination. The cumin here is elevated to one of the main ingredients and if you get it right they will balance each other perfectly.

- Start with the beetroot. Boil two or three whole for a quarter of an hour or so before putting it into a hot oven (200 centigrade) for half an hour to roast.
- When the beet is nearly done, peel and roughly chop an onion and a couple of garlic cloves and fry slowly in some olive oil and some butter, this will take fifteen to twenty minutes and the onion will be translucent and look like it is bathed in honey.
- Add in two teaspoons of ground cumin seeds, stir and allow to cook for a minute then add a small potato peeled and chopped.
- Take the beets out of the oven, peel them chop into pieces and add to the pan.
- Pour in a pint and a quarter of half strength vegetable stock and leave to simmer until the potato is cooked.
- Blend smooth and return to the pan,
- Heat a dry frying pan and pour in a teaspoon of whole cumin seeds and toast until lightly browned. Add these to the soup.
- Lastly squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and some salt and pepper if you think it needs any.


I like whole spices in my soups, They soften but keep their flavour and when you crunch one up you get a sudden burst of flavour as well as the extra crunchiness. Serve with a splodge of sour cream and some lemon zest, both of which will back up the lemonyness of the cumin.