Curried Lentil & Coconut Soup

It is definitely September, on the first day of the month the weather seemed to take a turn for the autumnal. Suddenly, a t-shirt was not enough in the sunshine, jumpers were looked out, boots come to the front of the wardrobe... hats and scarves don't seem too far away, and in the middle of all this wind, rain and cool temperatures, Now despite being later in the month and the nights drawing in, I am planning a camping trip. It seemed like a great idea a few weeks ago, now I'm not too sure. A flask of soup and a flask of rich beef stew will be coming with us just in case the wind blows out the flame of the camping stove.

My round-up of camping food will come next week but this recipe fits more into the planning stage as I am making it before we leave and eating it after we pitch on friday night.

So so so easy, this is the most beautiful smooth, creamy and light flavoured soup,child-friendly in its spiciness though easy to heat up if you add a teaspoon of chilli with the tikka masala paste. No-one has tried it without asking for the recipe and almost no-one believes there are only 4 main ingredients.

Curried Lentil & Coconut Soup
1 onion, finely chopped
1tbsp olive oil
2tbsp tikka masala paste
2 large handfuls of orange lentils
1 tin of low fat coconut milk

Warm the olive oil in a heavy based saucepan.
Saute the onion until transluscent, don't allow it to brown.
Add tikka masala paste, and saute a minute longer to allow the spices to warm up.
Throw in the lentils, coconut milk and a cupful of water.
Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the lentils have cooked and broken down.
Blend until smooth.

Split Pea Soup with Spiced Butter

(Aka my favourite soup in the whole wide world ever).

So simple, so luscious, and quite bizarrely - given the frugal nature of the ingredients - so decadent.  Based on a Nigel Slater Moroccan soup recipe but with alternative spicing, this has been a staple of my winter kitchen for years. 

I make this soup at least once a week, it is perfect for small children and anyone who hates spicy food as the spice mixture is added fresh at the end.  Although the soup is elevated to a new level with the zing of fresh spices, omitting them altogether still leaves a rich, comforting and nourishing soup.

Split Pea Soup

1 onion, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons olive oil

500g yellow split peas

2-3 pints chicken or vegetable stock 

Heat the olive oil in a heavy based saucepan, add the garlic and onion and saute till transluscent and aromatic. Add the split peas and stock and simmer for at least an hour. Keep an eye on the level of stock and top up with water if required. Split peas can absorb an astonishing amount of liquid on their way to tenderness. When the peas are beginning to soften and break up, blend the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth and creamy.

Spiced Butter

100g soft butter

1 clove garlic, crushed

4cm fresh ginger, grated

2 fresh red chillis, chopped finely

2 spring onions, chopped finely

1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped finely

Squash all the ingredients together till well combined. 

Roll into a log shape, wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge to harden.

Serve the soup just a little too hot with a slice of spiced butter melting luxuriously on top.

Broccoli Soup with Blue Cheese Croutons

It has been such a beautiful week that I have laid aside all thoughts of cold weather soups and instead have become obsessed with salad platters, barbecue food and picnic parties. The Green Apple Cafe has been busy but we are approaching the new summer season and I need to plan a whole new menu. I'd love to attract tourists holidaying the in the area and families looking for a relaxed place to visit during the summer holidays as well as keeping all our regulars coming to the cafe during the summer break.

We are open thursdays and fridays all through the summer holidays and seasonal salads, tapas-style plates and freshly made paninis and sandwiches will be on the menu along with frappés, milkshakes and smoothies. All this warm weather food means I am experimenting like mad at home trying to come up with new salads, soups and fresh flavours for summer. Blue cheese and broccoli are a magical combination, the blue cheese transforming the soup from a light and frugal meal into a rich and complex supper dish.

If the weather stays as beautiful, come and enjoy the gardens and playpark. If the skies open, just come along and enjoy the food! 

Broccoli Soup with Blue Cheese Croutons

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped finely
2 garlic cloves, crushed
500ml vegetable stock
350g broccoli, chopped roughly
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped into small cubes
Salt, pepper and fresh nutmeg
4 thin slices of baguette or other crusty bread
2 tbsp olive oil
100g blue cheese


Preheat the oven to 160C.
For the soup:
Heat the oil in a saucepan and sauté the onions and garlic together until soft.  
Add the stock and broccoli together along with the chopped potatoes. 
Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are tender. 
Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. 
Season to taste with salt, pepper and a little freshly grated nutmeg.

For the croutons:
Brush the bread with olive oil then top with sliced or crumbled blue cheese (depending on the texture of the cheese)
Place the slices on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until the bread is crispy and the cheese melted. 
Cut the bread into small squares. 
Serve the soup scattered with a few blue cheese croutons.

Thai Spiced Sweet Potato Soup

The weather gods are on our side this week, West Linton must be in favour. The sun is out, the sky is blue and the cafe is buzzing.

We are working hard to get word out about the Green Apple Cafe, dropping flyers, setting up a facebook page, tweeting regularly, I hope it gets everyone in our local area to come by and visit, catch up with friends and try out our new menu. Every day we make fresh soups, salads, paninis and lots of yummy cakes.

At home, I am testing out new soup recipes to add some spice to the summer menu. If we have the predicted "barbecue summer" we will be needing some fresh and light flavours to entice people in so we are experimenting with flavours from hotter climes: India, Thailand and the Middle East. We've had curried butternut squash soup, chicken noodle soup with lemongrass and ginger and today, a gentle sweetly spiced Thai soup with creamy coconut milk and a little bit of a chilli kick.

Thanks to everyone who has come out to support us in our first few weeks, I hope you all come back again soon.

Thai Spiced Sweet Potato Soup
 
1tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, finely chopped
1 large clove of garlic, crushed
2 heaped tsp Thai red curry paste
1 can coconut milk
1 litre chicken stock
1 kilo sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
Salt and pepper
Fresh Thai basil or coriander to serve

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed saucepan. Saute the onions and garlic gently until soft - around 5 minutes.
Stir in the curry paste and fry gently for anonther minute or two to release the flavours from the spices.
Add the coconut milk and chicken stock, bring to a simmer and stir to blend.
Put the sweet potatoes  in the pan and simmer for 15-20 minutes until they are soft.
Blend the soup to a smooth puree then season to taste with salt and lots of black pepper.
Sprinkle with basil or coriander and serve with hot naan bread.

Roast Pepper and Tomato Soup with Feta and Basil

..... and more soup. The wind is howling a gale, the rain is biting, you know the kind that stings when it touches your skin,.I can't see the hills for thick, black clouds and I have been soaked and frozen three times today already. I am miserable, its only the beginning of winter, we have months of this ahead of us and already I think it is time to break out some of the produce I preserved over the summer.
I've got jars of roasted red peppers and garlic olive oil waiting to liven up winter greens and all too ubiquitous root vegetables. There is also a windowbox full of basil, so today I just want to taste the sunshine.

Roast Red Pepper and Tomato Soup with feta and basil
1kg tomatoes
2 tsp sugar 
2 tbsp olive oil 
3 roasted red peppers (or 1 jar of roast pepper antipasti)
1 red onion
1litre vegetable stock
Black pepper
200g Feta cheese, crumbled
1 generous bunch of basil
4 cloves garlic
100ml olive oil

Half the tomatoes and sprinkle with sugar and a drizzle of olive oil then roast in a hot oven (180C) for 20 minutes until they start to colour. Roasting winter tomatoes in the oven with a little sugar will help enrich their flavour.
Gently saute the 4 cloves of garlic in the 100ml olive oil to infuse the oil with spiky garlicky flavour. 
Remove the garlic and pour all but 2 tbsp of the oil into a bowl. 
In the remaining oil, saute the onion till soft. Add the peppers, tomatoes and stock. Cook gently for 30 minutes. Season to taste with black pepper, you should not need salt as the feta is very salty.
Blitz in a blender till smooth. 
Serve topped with a little crumbled feta cheese, a good glug of the remaining garlic oil and a handful of basil leaves.

Cheddar and Apple Soup with Curried Apple Croutons

Definitely a bit of a soupy month in our house. It seems like I've made a pot of soup every two days for weeks. I'm starting to feel like my Granny who used to have a pot of soup cooking on the stove most of the winter, she would keep adding things when it got low and it would take on a new character each time but a litttle bit like a bread starter, it would always have a little of the flavour of its earlier incarnations left in the bottom of the pot!

This I made with stock left over from last night's roast chicken (although it is a rich soup so would be good with vegetable stock instead) so it is a new concoction altogether.What it will taste like by next week however, I can't tell you.

Apple Cheddar Soup with Curried Apple Croutons
1 onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
3 baking potatoes
2 cooking apples
1 litre chicken stock
200g strong cheddar
Black pepper or freshly grated nutmeg

Melt the butter and olive oil together and fry the onion and garlic gently until soft. Do not allow to colour. Peel and chop the potatoes and apples and add to the pan. Cook for a few minutes to soften slightly before adding the chicken stock. Simmer on a low heat for 20-30 minutes until the potatoes and apples are soft. Grate the cheese and sprinkle over the soup, it will melt to a creamy richness. Keep a little back to garnish with - those stretchy strands of cheese melt beautifully on the spoon. Season to taste - this soup doesn't need much salt but comes to life with either lots of black pepper or a grating of nutmeg.

for the croutons
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 apple
2 slices of day old bread
2 tsp hot curry powder
Chop the apple and bread into small cubes.
Heat the olive oil and butter together in a heavy bottomed pan. Fry the apple and bread gently until they start to colour, add the curry powder and cook together for a couple of minutes until crispy and aromatic. Sprinkle over the soup just before serving.

Minestrone d'Inverno

Soup is the most comforting of my winter staples. It is always warming, often frugal, and incredibly easy and quick to make. And it uses up all those weird and lesser known vegetables found in the best farm shops at this time of year - celeriac, rainbow chard, unusual members of the cabbage family, cavalo nero, curly kale - you know the ones I mean.

Summer minestrone might be filled with fresh borlotti beans, green beans, courgettes and fresh tomatoes. Winter minestrone makes the most of the few vegetables still growing or stored from summer; potatoes, tomatoes and carrots and takes its iron from winter greens like chard, spinach or cabbage. Although it is an Italian recipe by birth, I think it could hail from any country that finds itself relying on cabbage in the colder months!

Minestrone d'Inverno
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 sticks celery, chopped
(keep the celery leaves if there are any to throw in)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tins tomatoes
2 tins borlotti (or cannellini)beans
A parmesan cheese rind (if you have one)
1 head savoy cabbage (or other greens) chopped finely
1 litre stock or water
100g small pasta or spaghetti broken into little bits
1 bunch parsley
Salt and Pepper
freshly shaved parmesan to garnish

Heat the olive oil and saute the onions, carrots and celery and stir until softened. Add the tomatoes, beans and cheese rind - this gives the soup a beautiful slightly grainy texture. Cook for a further few minutes until combined. Add the shredded cabbage and pour in the water or stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the pasta, most of the parsley and season liberally. Simmer for a further 10 minutes until the pasta is cooked through.  You may have to add more water if the beans and pasta have absorbed too much but this is a soup so thick, its almost a vegetable stew. Serve with lots of crusty bread and top with a little chopped parsley and a generous helping of shaved parmesan.
This soup is also beautiful with a spoonful of pesto stirred in just as its served.

Celery Soup with Parmesan and Frizzled Parma Ham

I am planning the perfect Bonfire night. On Saturday we'll head out to the village green for a bonfire, fireworks display, toasted marshmallows and mulled wine. However if the weather doesn't take a turn for the better, we will be soaked through and freezing when we get home, so will need thick soup to warm the night and some kind of hot finger food to warm our bones (I'm still working on the perfect outdoor hot finger food.)

This one is my kids' second favourite soup in the world ever! What a recommendation. A swift, very easy, rich and comforting soup that is just perfect for the sort of 20 minute dinners I seem to specialise in these days. This weekend we'll be drinking this out of mugs on Guy Fawkes Night. I am not normally a huge fan of celery but the flavour is delicate, the soup creamy and light and the saltiness of the parmesan and parma ham give it body and an unexpected elegance.


Creamed Celery Soup with Parmesan and Frizzled Parma Ham 
1 onion, chopped finely
3 tbsp olive oil
1 head celery, chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1 pint ham stock
50 g Parmesan cheese
6 slices Parma ham

Fry the onion in 2 tbsp of olive oil until soft, do not allow it to colour. Add the celery and gently fry to soften. Add the potatoes and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 - 30 mins until all the vegetables are soft.
In a blender, whizz the soup until smooth.
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan until hot then quickly fry the slices of parma ham until crispy (this will take 30secs - 1min)then drain on kitchen paper then crumble. 
Serve the soup topped with parmesan cheese shavings and crispy ham.

Cullen Skink

My camera is not working.... but I wanted to post this anyway. The wind is howling a gale outside, the rain lashing against the windows and I have a huge list of things to do but can't be bothered so am staying home to make soup. It is time, finally, to lay aside the hot weather food of summer months and embrace winter flavours, I need to make food to warm our bones and comfort us as we pack away the holiday clothes and break out the thermal underwear.

This truly Scottish concoction is not just a soup, more of a stew, a bit like an American chowder, rich dense and warming - perfect for a day like this. Although my version is not entirely authentic, it is exactly what I crave today. Hot garlic, potatoes and cream all flavoured with salty smoky haddock.

The village we live inis a good drive to the nearest fishmonger so we rely on a couple of salt soaked vans travelling through each week to provide us with our fish course. This week its the smoked haddock I can smell as I walk through the village square.

Cullen Skink
500g smoked haddock fillets (undyed if possible)
500ml milk
25g butter
2 leeks, white only finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
500g potatoes, peeled and chopped into 5mm dice
Salt and Pepper
Double Cream to finish

Put the smoked haddock fillets in a pan with 200ml milk. Add a little water to cover the fish if necessary. Boil for 6-8 mins depending on the thickness of the fish, until the fish is just cooked. Remove the fish (reserve the liquid) and flake into chunks.

Add the potatoes to the reserved milk. Boil for 10-15 mins until the potatoes are soft. remove the pan from the heat and mash the potatoes into the liquid until thick, smooth and creamy.

Melt the butter in a large pan and saute the leeks and garlic until they are meltingly soft. Do not allow them to colour, this soup should be a pallid creamy shade, no speckles of green or brown.

Combine the potato mixture and cooked fish in one pan with the leeks and add the remaining 300ml milk. Season well with lots of pepper (white if you have it). Smoked haddock can be very salty so taste before you add salt - you may not need any.

Warm through at a low heat for a few minutes then serve with a swirl of double cream on top some buttered soda or country bread on the side.

Garden Soup

There is nothing like an unseasonably cold and rainy day (think 11 degrees and torrential rain in September) to make me hanker after a steaming pot of soup. It was too wet to venture out to the shop so I got soggy wet digging the last of the summer vegetables fresh out of the garden, jewel-like rainbow chard, fragrant young garlic, and every size and shape of carrots.

I've been thrilled in my first year of growing produce by my garden's ability to nurture real food. I'd love to take the credit myself but I really don't think I've been as involved in the process as I'd like to pretend. This deeply flavoured forest green, iron and vitamin hit should rival the copious variety of supplements I'm taking to ward off winter colds. It has an intrinsic healthiness to leave you feeling sated and smug and the added bonus is that children seem to like it too.
As with all home made soup, you don't have to stick religiously to the recipe, this soup can be made from any assortment of fresh vegetables, whatever you have in your vegetable plot or can find in the farmers market. Spinach can replace chard, sweet potatoes can substitute for carrots, peas for beans, leeks for shallots etc.

Garden Fresh Soup with herby marscapone swirl
25g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 shallots (or 1 onion), finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
2 medium carrots, diced
1 large handful of spinach
1 large handful of rainbow chard
200g fresh peas or broad beans(frozen would be fine)
1litre of chicken (or vegetable stock)
Salt and pepper to taste

for the marscapone swirl:
50g marscapone cheese
1tbsp finely chopped chives
1tbsp finely chopped parsley
1tbsl finely chopped oregano
salt and freshly ground pepper

First prepare the herbed marscapone. Add the chopped herbs to your marscapone cheese and beat together with a wooden spoon. Set aside to come to room temperature.

Heat the butter and olive oil togeher and add the finely chopped shallots.
Sweat over a low heat for a few minutes then add the garlic and diced potatoes.
Sweat for a further 2 minutes stirring constantly to stop the potatoes from sticking.
Finally add the rest of the vegetables and saute for a further 2 minutes.
Pour the stock into the pan and bring to the boil.
Turn the heat down low and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes.
Allow to cool a little and liquidise.
Check seasoning then serve topped with a swirl of herbed marscapone.