Category Archives: Soups

Ginger, Carrot & Kumara Soup

Posted on by
4

Today was truly miserable weather here in Wellington. Not autumnal. Wintery. It was so dim and grey it felt like it was 5.30pm all day … only when you looked at the clock it kept telling you it wasn’t even lunchtime. And there was sideways rain.

Ugh.

At least I had some cheery soup for lunch and didn’t have to leave the office. So today’s a good day to share the recipe.

I don’t have a lot to add to that short introduction today! Time to make a hot chocolate and turn the electric blanket on. Sometimes it seems a long stretch until September doesn’t it?

Ginger, Carrot & Kumara Soup

1 Tbsp olive or canola oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cup good quality chicken stock (or vege stock for a vegetarian soup)
1 cup water
1 medium kumara, peeled and chopped
4-6 carrots, chopped
5cm piece of fresh ginger, chopped (or about 1 Tbsp minced ginger)
plain yoghurt and rolls to serve

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Gently cook the onion for 3-4 minutes, until soft. Add the stock and water, and the kumara, carrots and ginger. Bring to the boil and simmer until the vegetables are tender, probably about 20 minutes.

Now to blend the soup – with either a stick blender or a food processor. I don’t have a stick blender so you’re on your own for instruction there! I just spoon my soup into the food processor and puree it in batches. Pop all the blended soup back in the saucepan and let it heat through again. Season to taste.

Serve with a spoonful of plain yoghurt and a grainy roll.

And set spoons on the table so your reflection makes it into the photo. That’s hot.

Mushroom & Barley Soup

Posted on by
6

Well, well, well. The last weekend of April already. Two thirds of autumn already gone!

It’s really only started to feel autumnal in the last week or two, I think. We now leave home in the dark and come home in the dark. I put thick black tights on in the morning without worrying that I’m going to look like a dork if the day turns out to be a blaze of glorious and fiercely hot sunshine. Because now I know it’s not going to. It might end up sunny but it will not be warm. Reassuring on one hand, if a little depressing on the other.

The onset of autumn and winter means soup for lunch on Sundays for us. A few months ago, I started making an effort to cook a proper-ish meal for lunch on Sundays, and it’s becoming a nice little tradition. It’s usually soup or quiche or something, but it’s lovely to have something hot, and to sit down at the table with the Sunday paper’s crossword. Wow. I sound old. I mean, it’s great to sit down and listen to my new One Direction CD. That’s better, right?

I made this soup a couple of weeks ago. It really looks from the ingredients like it would be the blandest soup on earth, without any herbs etc, but it’s really tasty – and perfect for autumn. I’ve been putting pearl barley or soup mix in most of my soups lately -super cheap, super healthy, and makes the soup souper filling. If you haven’t come across it before, soup mix is a packet mix of split peas and pearl barley; it’s with the stock and soup stuff at the supermarket.

Enjoy your Sunday… and know it will be improved by soup.

Mushroom & Barley Soup
adapted from a recipe in Mindfood magazine

1 Tbsp olive oil
400g mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 potato, diced
5-6 cups chicken stock
½ cup white wine
½-¾ cup pearl barley or soup mix

Heat the oil in a large pot, and gently cook the mushrooms, onion, carrot, celery and potato until the onion softens. Add the stock and wine and bring to the boil. Add the pearl barley and simmer until the barley is tender (about 25 minutes). Season well and serve with crusty bread, and a dollop of unsweetened yoghurt.

Best winter lunch…French Onion Soup

Posted on by
2

French Onion Soup seems to have been popping up all over the place for me this winter. I’ve been seeing it in magazines, on blogs, on menus… must be the soup du jour this year. We had it for Sunday lunch this weekend – it’s now on my favourite food list for winter.

French Onion soup recipes don’t seem to have a lot of variation – basically heat olive oil, add thinly sliced onions and cook them gently until they soften and brown, add beef or vege stock and a bit of white wine, and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Quantities are pretty much all to taste! I followed an Alison Holst recipe which also had a splash of balsamic vinegar and fresh thyme over the onions as they started to brown. Cooking the onions nicely is the important bit – it’s where all the yummy flavour comes from.

As for the croutons, I sprayed one side of slices of french stick with cooking spray and grilled for a few minutes. Then took them out, turned them over, and sprinkled liberally with cheese (I only had parmesan but gruyere is the holy grail). Grill them on that side and plonk them in the soup. Voila!

We had a beautiful day in Wellington today – not just sunny, but also mild! This was the view from near our house.

Spicy Seafood Gumbo

Posted on by
2

I saw a seafood gumbo on the Food In A Minute show a few weeks back and was reminded that it’s not something I’ve ever got around to making. The restaurant I used to waitress in while I was at university had an awesome gumbo on the menu, so I’m not sure why. Anyway here is my take on the dish…

Spicy Seafood Gumbo

for the stock:
trimmings from vegetables
prawn tails
1-2 fish heads
2 cloves garlic, peeled
sprig fresh rosemary
bay leaf
1/2 tsp fennel seeds

for the gumbo:
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely sliced
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 long red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely sliced
1 carrot, finely diced
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1 chorizo sausage, sliced
about 5 cups fish stock (see above)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes (I used Mexican flavoured)
seafood – use firm white fish pieces, prawn meat, scallops, mussels, squid -  or buy marinara mix
spring onions and/or Italian parsley to garnish

Stock
Start by chopping up all your gumbo veges – the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and potato. Throw all the peels, ends, leaves and whatever else is left into a big pot as you go. Put the prepared veges away for later. If you’re using prawns in the gumbo, and they’ve still got their tails on, take the tails off now and throw those in the pot too. I also bought a snapper head from the supermarket. It was only about $2.50 but I think it made the stock. So if you’ve got a fish head, pop that in too. Add an extra clove of garlic and whatever herbs you have handy. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for a couple of hours. Strain the stock through a sieve – line it with a tea towel if you’ve used fish heads, to stop any tiny bits getting through – and set aside for use in the gumbo. Once it’s cooled down, skim any fat off the top.

If you can’t be bothered to make the stock … no probs! You could use chicken or vege stock instead.

Gumbo
Heat the oil in a large saucepan or stock pot. Add the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and potato and cook for 5-10 minutes until the onion and celery have softened. Add the spices and chorizo and cook for a further minute. Add the stock, tomato paste and tinned tomatoes. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the soup is tasty.

Add any seafood that will be cooked in the soup – so fish, scallops, calamari, prawns, and gently simmer for a few more minutes until the seafood is just cooked. I also used fresh mussels – but steamed them separately and just added them to the soup in the serving bowls.

Serve with crusty garlic bread – I toasted some sourdough and rubbed it with a cut clove of garlic while still hot. Yum!