Roasted Pepper and Garlic Soup

It snowed!  It finally snowed!  It happens about once a year, usually in winter, though this is often dubbed "The Big Freeze" by the media.  People panic, lose the ability to drive or be able to leave the house because they are "snowed in" by two centimetres of the fluffy white stuff.  Working in an office a few years ago, I was the only one who made it to work in the morning and I had walked the 45 minutes to get there.  Leave it to the Northern Canadian to get to work in the snow.  It stems from my mother never allowing us to take a "snow day" - if the school was open, we were going and a few feet (yes feet!) of snow weren't going to stop us.  So you can imagine how confused I was to be alone in the office and find out the culprit was a few centimetres of snow.

 

We had to get out quick yesterday before it melted.  We drove up to the hills in hopes of some good shots but the fog had other plans. 

A little stick throwing and fetching...

And once back home, the husband and I had one of our psychic moments as he asked if I fancied soup and a grilled cheese for lunch while I was in the process of googling roasted red pepper soup recipes.  He was thinking more along the lines of open a tin of Heinz but I swore it wouldn't take me long and a half an hour later we had this:

When I get an idea for something I'd like to make, I begin by searching for recipes to see what ingredients are similar and where in the recipe has the chef put their own spin on it.  If an ingredient is present in most recipes I take that as a must and the others I feel I can play around with.  With this soup it was pretty much peppers across the board but every recipe differed on the rest of the ingredients.  So I decided on a tri-coloured pepper soup, with garlic and tomatoes - it's what I had in and I preferred to keep most of the red peppers I had on hand for stir-fries later in the week, like this one.

I also like to have a look at timings; how long should this roast for, how long should I cool this etc.  I thought 20 minutes for the peppers but searching for a few recipes had me doubting myself - one said 8-10 minutes, another said an hour??  I stuck with my 20 minutes at 200°C and did the peppers and garlic together and they turned out just perfect.  I drizzled a little olive oil and salt and pepper over both sides but roasted them skin side up.

If patience is something you possess, I'd suggest letting the peppers cool before peeling but since I feel no pain (and possess very little patience) I went straight in there - the little orange one refused to shed it's skin so I let it keep it, and my fingers couldn't really take the heat anymore.  The garlic popped right out of their little shells, they were so much more co-operative.

I then fried a little red onion in some oil, added the peppers, garlic, a little dried thyme, a tin of chopped tomatoes and some chicken stock to cover.

I let it simmer for about 10 minutes, let it splash up on the walls, whizzed it with a handheld blender and served it up alongside a grilled cheese.  It tasted so creamy and lovely, almost like I'd poured cream in it.  Though we both agreed a cheese sandwich was not its best compliment and that a crusty bread or crunchy plain salad would be much better.  The cheese just seemed to bring out the bitterness of the tomatoes.  Not sure if the parmesan cheese on top had anything to do with it either.

Now this is where you put your own spin on it - swap red onion for white, add some celery and carrots, stick to one pepper colour, choose different seasonings, maybe basil or oregano, add more peppers and omit the tomatoes.  There are so many options with soup, which is why I've chosen to share this one as this blog acts like my own recipe book.  I will definitely be making this soup again, just as it is!!

Roast Parsnip Soup

There was a thick frost on the grass this morning when I woke.  Without my glasses, it looked a little like snow.  It was not, but better than rain.  Either way, it's cold out there and after a long walk with the dog I needed something to warm me through.  I decided a nice hot creamy soup for lunch would do the trick and soups are so easy - just toss what you got in a pot, cover with water and/or stock, simmer and blend.  I had parsnips so this is the route I took to get here:

Peel and roughly chop parsnips and lay on a baking tray (I used about 8 parsnips).  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle a little salt and pepper.

Roast for about 20-30 minutes.  I did this at 200°C - I seem to cook a lot of things at that temperature.

Yep - I have a Christmas oven mitt.

In a large pot, sweat a small chopped onion in some olive oil.  Add stock and water (I used about a half litre of each), a pinch of coriander and cumin and bring to a boil.  Toss in parsnips when roasted and ensure they are covered by stock.  Add more stock/water if not, but not too much as you can always add more once blended to adjust the thickness of the soup to your liking.  Simmer for 20 minutes or so.

Allow soup to cool slightly and then blend with a hand blender (or put it in a blender).  Stir through about a half cup of single cream - completely optional and I only put some in because I had some but it really adds to the flavour (and your hips so leave it out for a healthier version).

The soup had a smooth velvety texture and was absolutely delicious. I've divided what's left into individual containers and put them in the freezer.  A few minutes in the microwave is all it needs to be enjoyed all over again.  This is up there as one of my favourite winter soups, right beside sweet potato and butternut squash.  What's your favourite?

Tomato and Bread Soup

I came across a recipe in the free paper last year while on my 3 hour daily commute (I'm not kidding - read about why I did it here) for a frugal tomato and bread soup.  And, just like my mother, who when I described it to her this weekend said, in a disgusted tone: "Bread in soup?? Ugh", I too thought it sounded less than appealing when I had read it (not sure why - bread is probably the most popular accompaniment to soup).  Alas, there is a reason we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, or a recipe by it's ingredients.  I made this soon after finding the recipe and it was the ultimate in comfort food as far as soups go.  Chunky tomato soup loaded with carbs - don't mind if I do!  I had used cheese topped bread as well which made it that much better.

So this weekend when I came across these cheese topped scones reduced to just 15p on the day old bread rack, I thought of this soup.

I shouldn't have.

The soup is still one of my faves.  Just don't make it with scones.  It turned out very doughy and it was a bit much but I still ate it.  Even if it made me feel a bit sick.  Stick to bread.

Recipe - serves 2 or 1 hungry gal (or guy)

Ingredients
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 diced onion
2-3 crushed garlic gloves
150 ml chicken or beef stock
1 tsp cinnamon
olive oil
4 thick slices of stale bread cut into chunks - not scones (doh!)
salt and pepper

Saute the onions in a little oil until softened.
Add the crushed garlic.
Stir in the tomatoes and add half of the stock.
Add the cinnamon and simmer for about 10 minutes or until thickened.
Add the rest of the stock and toss in the bread chunks and simmer for a few more minutes.
Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Easy Peasy!

I love a deal.  Gimmie something on sale and I gotta have it!  I mean, you're saving right?  So when I have time to stroll through the supermarket I love to scour the shelves for reduced items.  About 2 weeks ago I came across this:

Pork shank for £2.10.  Not too bad.  But lo and behold, it was reduced to this :

49p!  Bargain!  I took this baby home and stuck it in the freezer ready to be used another day.  Well, Wednesday was that day.  The weather has been cold and rainy (I know, shocker right?!) and I thought pea and ham soup was just the thing we needed.

I defrosted the ham overnight in the fridge and at the same time soaked 2 boxes of marrowfat peas.  It was cheaper for these at 33p a box, than a big bag of them.  Although yesterday while I was out I found them for 29p a box.  Dang!

After everything was soaked and defrosted I placed the peas in my slow cooker, sweat a large onion and added that to pot, gave the ham a quick soak and a rinse (normally the ham should be soaked for a few hours or overnight but I forgot this step and luckily the soup didn't come out very salty) and covered everything with water.  I added some pepper but no salt as the ham would be salty enough.  I put the cooker on high for about 4 hours but this could be done on low either overnight or during the day while you're at work or something.

Not so pretty to look at but really tasty!

At about the four hour mark I took the ham out and let the peas continue to cook.  I took off as much of the ham as I could, chopped the meat into chunks and before returning it all the pot I gave the peas a bit of a  liquidising (if you're using a blender allow the soup to cool, blend, and then return the meat).  I then turned it off and let it cool overnight.  It was still slightly warm by morning.  As it had settled there was liquid and fat along the top so I skimmed that off, gave it a stir and tasted my creation.  Surprisingly it needed salt!  I added a little, gave it another taste and perfecto.  So last night we had pea and ham soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner.  Delicious!  And the best part - so cheap!  In total with the onion (I'm not counting salt and pepper here) the soup cost about £1.35 and there were at least 6 servings. That's 22p a serving!  Bargoon!  

Soup for lunch, me thinks!