Saturday Supper - Autumn Soup

Hi Everyone

I touch the brown page I tore from Gran’s old recipe book. Rough yet warm and powdery: like her hand was when she gave it to me. So old, this recipe. How many plates of soup have come from it? How many excellent thoughts?

“One large leek,” the recipe reads. I will find out what a leek is and dice it, so I will.

Helen Fitzgerald

Parts Beyond the Sky

I've just sneaked out of the kitchen - from preparing tonight's supper - to do a bit more sewing but I thought I'd share this with you ...

.... a lovely big veggie box. Delivered to the door. It's going to be a winter veg fest here at Casa Worthington over the next week or so :)

Starting with this soup. Not tonight's supper - I may share that with you another day - this we had yesterday and it's one of my favourite soups. I love soup and, given the choice, I think I could live on soup alone. Just so long as it's a different recipe every day :) I know not everyone feels the same way, the elder of my younger brothers for example. When we were kids he hated it so much he ate it so slowly my mother teased him for 'chewing the soup'!

This is one of those recipes that has been handed down to me, by word of mouth,  from my mother so none of the ingredients were actually weighed. Therefore, apologies in advance, none of the following measurements are anything other than approximate.

I use a pressure cooker to make my soups in but I know that not everyone owns or even likes pressure cookers so the instructions are for cooking in an ordinary pot.

Autumn Soup

What you need:

• oil for sauteing 
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• ½ a butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 tbsps long grain rice
• 4 oz of cooked chicken, diced
• 2 pts chicken stock
• salt & pepper for seasoning
• ½ cup chopped parsley

Method:

• put about 1 dessertspoon of oil in a thick bottomed pot and heat gently
• add onion and saute for a minute or two until translucent but not browned
• add the squash, carrots and potatoes and saute, again for a minute or two, stirring to prevent potatoes from sticking to the bottom of the pot
• stir in the long grain rice and the cooked chicken
• add the chicken stock and bring the mixture to the boil, cover and simmer gently, for 15-20 minutes, until vegetables are tender and rice is cooked
• add most of the chopped parsley - just keep back a teaspoon or two for garnish
• season with salt and pepper to taste

Serve hot, garnished with the chopped parsley, and accompanied by slices of crusty bread.

Normally, I would use leftover chicken if I have it but as I didn't this time I cooked three chicken drumsticks in water with a bouquet garni (a teaspoon of mixed herbs would do) some chopped onion and celery and seasoning instead. This gave me both the chicken and the stock for the soup.

I hope you are having a thoroughly good weekend whatever you are doing, maybe it involves eating a tasty bowl of hot soup too :)

Saturday Supper - Potato, Leek and Cheese Tortilla

Evening Everyone,

Just enjoyed a ghoulish hour or so watching the Halloween Strictly - brilliant! Hope you are having a creeeeepy evening too. No bonfires and fireworks here tonight, the weather is dire - enough rain to dampen any witches spirits :)

It's been quite some time since I posted a recipe so I thought I'd remedy that tonight with one of my favourite ways of cooking eggs.

Potato, Leek & Cheese Tortilla

Ingredients:

• Butter for sauteing 
• 1 small leek or half a large one, sliced thinly and washed
• 225g cooked potatoes, (about 1-2 medium sized) 
• 6 eggs
• 85g cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 tsp dried herbs or 1 tablespoon fresh herbs finely chopped
• Salt and pepper

Method:

• Melt a knob of butter in a non-stick frying pan
• Saute the leek in the melted butter for about 5 mins until softened
• Cut potatoes in half and into slices about 0.5cm thick
• Beat the eggs, add seasoning to taste, then stir in the cheese and herbs
• Add a little extra butter to the pan if needed here
• Add the potatoes to the leeks, then pour in the egg mixture.
• Turn the heat to low, then cook for 10 mins until almost set
• Place under a hot grill for a couple of mins more until the top is bubbling and golden.

• Slice into wedges and serve with a salad.

 Very tasty!

I did hold back some of the grated cheese to sprinkle on top of the tortilla before popping it under the grill - I love grilled cheese :)

Note: this is a great dish for making leeks palatable for those who are not fond of the noble vegetable.

Hope you give it a try and do let me know what you think if you do.

Happy Eating,