Ease into Autumn …

… with a comfort blanket.

It has to mean soup – what could be better than a steaming bowl of your choice!

How about “chicken soup for the soul” – it makes you feel better when you're having a bad day! It's also a perfect way to use scraps of leftover chicken - remove the chicken left on the legs and wings – and anywhere else. Dice, box and fridge - ready for later.

Here's the recipe :

Cream of Chicken Soup

Serves 4

30g unsalted butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic – preferably roasted

500ml chicken stock

250ml whole milk

celery salt and white pepper

diced chicken stash

garnish of grated nutmeg

50-75ml double (heavy) cream

200g Charlotte potatoes, peel and cut

into small dice

a handful of frozen petit pois

Heat the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté gently for 2-3 minutes – there should be no colour, season with celery salt. Add the stock and diced potatoes and simmer gently for 15 minutes then add the milk and simmer again for 10 minutes Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Blitz 2/3 ladles of the soup until thick and return to the pan. Add the cream, nutmeg, peas, ground white pepper and chicken - heat gently until piping hot.

Don't forget to warm the soup bowls.

Here it is :

chicken soup for the soul – a generous

serving for supper - add good bread for dunking!

Freeze any leftover, ready to use on a cold winter day!

Hmm … your chicken stash

The last soup …

This is a “rib sticker” of a soup, definitely a meal in itself!

Carrot, Coriander and Chickpea Soup

Serves 4-6

1lb/500g Charlotte potatoes, peeled and diced

l large onion, finely chopped

4 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 stockpots, vegetable or chicken

1 litre of water

1 tsp mild curry powder

1 heaped tsp coriander

Salt and black pepper

Rapeseed oil

1 can chick peas, drained

Soften onion and carrot in drop of rapeseed oil for approx 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add curry powder, coriander and black pepper, cook the spices with the onion and carrot for 2 minutes so that the flavours are released.

Add the stockpots, plus 500ml water and simmer until the pots have melted.

Add the diced potatoes and the remaining 500ml of water, bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes until the carrot and potatoes are cooked. Taste, then add salt to personal taste.

At this point you can set aside the soup until you are ready to serve.

Before serving pop 3 ladles of soup into a food processor/liquidiser and blitz. Tip the thickened soup back into your remaining soup, add the chick peas, heat and serve.

By blitzing a portion of the soup no artificial thickening is required. You also get visible vegetables with your chick peas.

Note

Don't put potatoes in with the carrots, onion and oil – the starch that is released from the potatoes means that they will cement themselves to the bottom of your saucepan!

Perfect with home-made bread or a dumpling … hold that thought!

The final two soups …

I couldn't “do” soups without a couple of my favourites – the first of which is :

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Serves 4

1 onion, finely chopped

225g mushrooms, finely sliced

50g unsalted butter

1 tbsp flour

1 litre of milk or vegetable stock

120ml double cream

grated nutmeg

chopped flat leaf parsley

salt and black pepper

Sauté the onion and mushrooms in the butter. Cook slowly with a lid for 10 minutes. Add the flour. Pour on the liquid. Simmer for 15/20 minutes. Season well. Add the cream.

If you wish you can purée the soup if you prefer a smoother texture.

A tip or two for mushroom soup. You can use mushrooms that are past their best – they have a great flavour. A drop of either dry sherry or red wine enhances the flavour of mushrooms – in soups and in sauces – my personal favourite is the dry sherry, but don't be too heavy handed.

The ladle trick. If you are ladling soup, dip your ladle ¾ full, lift out of pan, count to three – hey presto - no drips.

These days we live in a world where we expect perfectly formed, pristine fruit and vegetables, sadly to achieve this result they are “forced” i.e. grown artificially, the result of which is there is little or no flavour. I have a vibrant memory as a child on holiday with my family. Grandad Jack went mushrooming every morning – some days slim pickings, others not. I can still smell those mushrooms cooking – mouthwatering!

By the way - DON'T PICK MUSHROOMS UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!

Here's a thought - if you live near a market selling fruit and vegetables, check out whether you can get hold of a box of mushrooms – I say box, it actually is a basket shape made out of cardboard. Weight-wise probably about 1–1.5kg. Usually these mushrooms are a bargain because they are not what we'd call Grade 1 – in other words past their best.

Turn that box of mushrooms into a stock and freeze it – freeze it in small amounts – it's much more convenient. Freezing intensifies the flavour and you can use the stock for soup or a mushroom sauce. If you're a lover of steak then a mushroom sauce is the perfect partner.

Finally, there's the Carrot, Coriander and Chickpea – or “CCC”!

Something from nothing … raw

This time the core ingredients for the soup are raw – leeks, celery and onion.

The previous recipe produced a soup with texture - now I wanted to produce a smooth soup. Classically a Vichyssoise “style” fits the bill – a smooth, thick soup made with leeks, potatoes, cream and chicken stock. Most people think of Vichyssoise served cold and indeed it is usually – but it can be served hot too. A classic this is not - it's more a “thinking on your feet, variation on a theme” version.

Here's my recipe :

Soup de Ssoise

(i.e. not quite Vichy!!!)

Serves 4-6

One old potato, 2 leeks, remains of a bunch of celery

- approximately 4 sticks and one medium onion

One litre of stock + half a litre later, when thickening

as with the previous recipe I used 3 x Knorr chicken stock pots

Large pinch of Marjoram

Large pinch of Fines Herbes

Salt and black pepper.

Glug of rapeseed oil

Peel the potato, cut into cubes. Peel the leeks, celery and onion - chop finely.

Sweat the leeks, celery and onion in rapeseed oil with the herbs and salt and pepper until softened. Add the stock and the cubed potato and simmer until the vegetables are cooked – they should retain texture. Add the remaining stock.

Blend until smooth, taste, and adjust seasoning. Blend your soup in batches. To achieve a smooth consistency you may have to blend more than once. Test with a dessertspoon spoon. In each blended amount, dip the spoon into the soup, when removed the back of the spoon should be coated with a lump free liquid. Blend again to achieve the smooth consistency if necessary.

The finished soup should be thick and smooth.

Hints and tips :

If you have leftover cream – perfect – add a good slug!

Cooked or raw it's a great way to use up your veggies and/or bits of chicken if you have it.

News flash … you can now get “meat-free” chicken stock pots!

I hope I get a point or two, or at least a smile for the title of the soup.

There's more soup ...

Something from nothing … cooked

Instead of throwing your leftover veggies away, keep the cooked peas, sweetcorn, carrot and broccoli and produce a “Soup of the Day”.

Here's my recipe :

Soup de Loop

(a catchy title I thought)

Serves 4-6

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic chopped

1 green chilli, chopped, seeds out

Rapeseed oil

1 old potato, cubed

1 litre of vegetable stock to begin + half a litre later, when thickening.

I used 3 x veggie Knorr Stock pots from my store cupboard

1 stock pot = 500ml of water

Medium curry powder – to taste – 1 dessertspoon used

Mace – to taste – 1 tsp used

Salt and black pepper

A box of leftover cooked veggies – peas sweetcorn,

carrot and broccoli

Dice the carrots and broccoli should be kept in small florets.

Sauté the onion, garlic & chilli in the oil, add the curry powder and mace. Add the stock and cubed potato and bring to the boil, simmer until the potato is cooked but firm. Add the remaining stock. When ready to serve 2 ladles of stock in blender until very smooth i.e. dip spoon in, look at the back of the spoon it will show the texture of the soup – it should be smooth. Add back to remaining stock, then add the cooked peas, sweetcorn, diced carrots and broccoli. As with all soups, leave the addition of salt until the end.

Taste and adjust seasoning.

You could use any leftover cooked veggies – it's not set in stone.

Even though I say so myself not a bad effort and an added bonus - a healthy, nutritious soup using leftovers – not too shabby!

Now for the raw leftovers ...

The Chowder – bits and pieces

First and foremost traditional accompaniments to a chowder are Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce, both should be served at the table.

What does seem to be a common thread, whoever the chowder belongs to, is that there is a connection to fishing and making use of what was plentiful from the villages along the French and Cornish coasts to America – a variation if you will of “clam chowder”.

Here's another idea - whilst cooking your Sunday roast, pop a tray of bacon into the oven – 180fan, 200c, Gas 6 - 15 minutes turn and repeat – so that it's crispy. Let the bacon cool on the tray and then break into tiny pieces, box and fridge.

Add a sprinkle of bacon bits on top of the chowder especially for the meat eaters – the bonus here is that you don't have to wreck a veggie soup or dish. The bits can be placed in a bowl and people can help themselves.

It looks like this :

If you'd like another “bacon” idea – fry diced chorizo until crispy then sprinkle with the released oil over the chowder.

Last but by no means least, whilst it isn't authentic I'd serve the chowder with dumplings - there are no rules.

The ultimate comfort blanket!

More soup ...

A Sweetcorn Chowder

The Chowder originates from long journeys by ship – they used ingredients that would survive and the soup was thickened with hardtack. Hardtack we know as a “ships biscuit” - it was inexpensive and long lasting – perfect for long sea voyages. It arrived in North America from England and France. Probably the most famous version, certainly in the USA, is clam chowder but there are many variations. It is principally a soup with cream or milk, although you can use stock, adding potatoes, sweetcorn and other veggies or add fish and seafood if that's your bag. I suppose you have to like sweetcorn but, by its nature, it's quite popular with the kids.

Here's my version :

Sweetcorn Chowder

Serves 2 large or 4 smaller portions

300g/10½oz Charlotte potatoes, peeled and finely diced

1 medium carrot, finely diced

1 medium onion, finely diced

90g/3½oz Two small red sweet baby peppers, finely diced

50g/2oz of unsalted butter

175g/6oz sweetcorn or two cobs, stripped

1 tbsp plain flour

2 pints of milk – I use semi-skimmed

(568ml or 1.2 litres)

celery salt and pepper – white or black

chopped flat leaf parsley to sprinkle

Sweat the carrot, onion and peppers gently in the butter for 10 minutes, covered. Add the flour and the celery salt and pepper of your choice. Add the milk gradually – I use a whisk - this will prevent lumps. Add the diced potato and sweetcorn and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Taste and adjust the seasoning to suit. Check the thickness of the soup – if it's not thick enough, again to suit you, blend a ladle or two and add it back to enrich.

You don't have to use celery salt, you can use sea salt if you prefer. I love the extra oomph it gives – a fab flavour, especially in soups. I also mention a choice of white or black pepper – it's entirely a matter of choice, either is fine. If you're not fond of black flecks from black pepper then white is right!

Coming up … the Chowder bits and pieces

A comfort blanket

In culinary terms it has to mean soup – what could be better than a steaming bowl of your choice.

My first offering is chicken soup for the soul – it makes you feel better when you're in need of comfort. It's a perfect way to use scraps of leftover chicken - remove the chicken left on the legs and wings – and anywhere else. Dice, box and fridge - ready for later.

Here's the recipe :

Cream of Chicken Soup

Serves 4

30g unsalted butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic – preferably roasted

500ml chicken stock

250ml whole milk

celery salt and white pepper

diced chicken stash

garnish of grated nutmeg

50-75ml double (heavy) cream

200g Charlotte potatoes, peel and cut

into small dice

a handful of frozen petit pois

Heat the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté gently for 2-3 minutes – there should be no colour, season with celery salt. Add the stock and diced potatoes and simmer gently for 15 minutes then add the milk and simmer again for 10 minutes Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Blitz 2/3 ladles of the soup until thick and return to the pan. Add the cream, nutmeg, peas, ground white pepper and chicken - heat gently until piping hot.

Don't forget to warm the soup bowls.

Here it is :

chicken soup for the soul – a generous

serving for supper - add good bread for dunking!

Freeze any leftover, ready to use on a cold winter day!

Next up – save yourself time and money ...

Save time and money – Part 2

Then again you could choose a soup - how about a hearty, cream of chicken soup?

This is “chicken soup for the soul” – it makes you feel better when you're in need of comfort.

Dice, box and fridge your leftover chicken - ready to add to your soup later – amounts don't matter, it's whatever is leftover.

You will need 500ml of stock – you can use your liquid gold – you have 250ml. Make up another 250ml using a Knorr stock pot .

Alternatively if you want to make your own stock, using a large saucepan, cover the carcass with water and any stock you've got - chicken or veggie - bring to the boil, turn it down to a simmer and let it do its magic for 30/45 minutes. Strain the stock, cool, cover and set aside until you're ready – you may find more chicken to add to your stash.

Another rummage produces a few Charlotte potatoes that need using plus a large onion that's always in the veggie basket – these additions will definitely make this soup more substantial!

Here's the recipe :

Cream of Chicken Soup

Serves 4

30g unsalted butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic – preferably roasted

500ml chicken stock

250ml whole milk

celery salt and white pepper

diced chicken stash

garnish of grated nutmeg

50-75ml double (heavy) cream

leftover Charlotte potatoes, peel and cut

into small dice

a handful of frozen petit pois

Heat the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté gently for 2-3 minutes – there should be no colour, season with celery salt. Add the stock and diced potatoes and simmer gently for 15 minutes then add the milk and simmer again for 10 minutes Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Blitz 2/3 ladles of the soup until thick and return to the pan. Add the cream, nutmeg, peas, ground white pepper and chicken - heat gently until piping hot.

Don't forget to warm the soup bowls.

If you don't have a huge amount of leftover cooked chicken adding the potatoes supplements and gives a hearty thick soup – a rib sticker as we say!

It's no big deal if you don't have the inclination to make a chicken soup - box and freeze your leftover chicken and likewise bag and freeze the strained stock, for another time, when you are in the mood!

The next idea is “a sandwich for the soul”

It's my take on a “takeaway” chicken idea for the weekend. If there are four in your household then you might want to consider slow cooking a whole chicken just for this purpose, lets be honest, it doesn't take a great deal of effort, nor break the bank either. I'd recommend too that you use the star anise option in the cavity, the flavour is divine. You'll also produce lots of moist chicken which shreds very easily, it almost melts before your eyes.

We've already had chicken soup for the soul – now here's a chicken sandwich for the soul – I have it on good authority that this is the best ever and well worth slow cooking a whole chicken solely for that purpose!

You'll need delicious bread and when I say delicious bread I mean a loaf (or may be two) that can be sliced into doorsteps.

Who likes what?

It wouldn't be a sandwich without the extras, here are my

suggestions and it is not an exhaustive list!

Avocado, sliced or mashed to suit, with lemon

juice

Crispy bacon – and bits are better!

Good quality mayo

Beef tomatoes, sliced thinly

Beetroot relish or slices if you prefer

Any salad item you love – spring onions, shredded

iceberg lettuce

capers, cornichons

A slaw of your choice – here's an Asian

recipe that will compliment your anise infused

shredded chicken

Asian Coleslaw

110g white cabbage, finely sliced – approximately

one third of a medium size cabbage

1 carrot – peeled and sliced with a

julienne peeler

1 spring onion – 15g finely sliced

if you want to create a basic slaw stash then

double the amounts given above

3-4 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp caster sugar

Half tbsp rice wine

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp peanut butter

Half tsp chilli powder

4 tbsp fresh coriander

Combine all the above ingredients except the fresh coriander.

Marinade for at least an hour – 2-3 is better still!

Just before serving strain off the excess liquid, stir in the coriander and serve!

If you don't want to go to the bother of making the coleslaw you could buy a good quality alternative, then serve with wedges sprinkled with a seasoning of your choice.

The perfect idea for a Saturday night supper – everyone can choose whatever they want – it's a win win. You can delete the takeaway delivery numbers you have on speed dial!

You should be feeling very pleased with yourself – you've used every last morsel of the chicken and it's not taken you three weeks of preparation, cooking and the aftermath.

I say every morsel, what you were left with, literally, was the carcass of the bird. If you have the time and are sufficiently enthusiastic you've made a stock. Making stock from scratch is a worthy but long winded process, but may be not appropriate for the time saving, speedy stuff.

These recipes are not set in stone – they are only a guide - not a rigid set of rules. I'm just trying to give you an idea or two that might inspire your own creation or an old favourite that you'd forgotten.

If it moves freeze it – in portions that are practical for you – you can always take out more if you need to.

One thing is for sure, slow cooking a whole chicken means you'll get the most from the bird and you'll use every morsel – it's the perfect emergency food!

Chapter XV – handy snacks and lunches …

...for an Autumn day! It's chilly outside so what could be more inviting for lunch than home-made bread and a bowl of soup – so comforting, so simple.

Not for nothing have I chosen this recipe – it's delicious, it's easy to make and it's very much in the cheap and cheerful category!

Soda bread

170g self raising wholemeal flour

170g plain flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

290ml buttermilk

an optional sprinkle of semolina – try a sprinkle of semolina

to flour your baking sheet and after you've added your “x”

on top of the loaf

Pre heat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Tip the flours, salt and bicarb into a large bowl and mix.

Make a well in the centre, pour in 290ml of buttermilk and mix quickly with a large fork until you have a soft dough formed. You may need an extra drop if your dough is too stiff but take care it should not be too wet or sticky.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly.

Form the dough into a round and flatten slightly. Place on a lightly floured baking sheet.

Slice an “x” on the top of the loaf and bake for 30 minutes – the base should sound hollow when tapped.

Just to confuse the issue I've found buttermilk in different weights. A low fat version weighing 284ml and a full fat version weighing 300ml – a tip – if you can only source the 284ml rinse out the pot with a drop of milk.

Here it is :

Then there's the soup, this is a firm favourite – as an added bonus it's healthy too!

Carrot, Coriander and Chickpea Soup

1lb/500g Charlotte potatoes, peeled and diced

l large onion, finely chopped

4 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 stockpots, vegetable or chicken

1 litre of water

1 tsp mild curry powder

1 heaped tsp coriander

Salt and black pepper

Rapeseed oil

1 can chick peas, drained

Soften onion and carrot in drop of rapeseed oil for approx 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add curry powder, coriander and black pepper, cook the spices with the onion and carrot for 2 minutes so that the flavours are released.

Add the stockpots, plus 500ml water and simmer until the pots have melted.

Add the diced potatoes and the remaining 500ml of water, bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes until the carrot and potatoes are cooked. Taste, then add salt to personal taste.

At this point you can set aside the soup until you are ready to serve.

Before serving pop 3 ladles of soup into a food processor/liquidiser and blitz. Tip the thickened soup back into your remaining soup, add the chick peas, heat and serve.

By blitzing a portion of the soup no artificial thickening is required. You also get visible vegetables with your chick peas.

Note

Don't put potatoes in with the carrots, onion and oil – the starch that is released from the potatoes means that they will cement themselves to the bottom of your saucepan!

If you're lucky you might get two lunches – yum.

Editor's July Pick #9: Soup De Loop

Editor’s note: I don’t know about anyone else but sometimes I have the urge for something completely unseasonal. Often, it’s soup in summer. People use it as a go-to in winter but I find that it’s the perfect meal when you can’t be fussed after a long day and it’s not too hot outside, ticks all the nutritional boxes and it's the perfect one pot meal. Of course if it’s too hot for a warm soup, you could always go with gazpacho!

What to do …

… with your stash of veggie stock.

Back in the day when I was working for my Cordon Bleu Certificate and, may I say, before there were such programmes as Masterchef one of the tasks we were given was an invention test.

The brief was - make a soup with a bowl of cooked peas, sweetcorn, carrot and broccoli.

Here's my recipe :

Soup de Loop

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 green chilli, chopped – seeds removed

glug of rapeseed/Canola oil

1 old potato, cubed

1 litre/1¾ pints of veggie stock

1 dessert spoon of medium curry powder

1 tsp mace

salt and black pepper

Dice the carrots and keep the broccoli in small florets and set aside.

In a large saucepan sauté the onion, garlic and chilli in the oil, add the curry powder and mace. Add the stock and cubed potato and bring to the boil, then simmer until the potato is cooked but firm. Place two ladles of the soup into a blender and blitz until thick.

If you want to gauge the texture the trick is to dip a spoon into the blitzed soup – check the back of the spoon – it will show the texture. If you're happy with the consistency add it back into your remaining soup. Complete by adding your cooked peas, sweetcorn, diced carrots and broccoli. If you want a thicker consistency repeat the “blitz” with two more ladles.

As with all soups taste and adjust the seasoning at the end and you're ready to serve, piping hot.

The result was a chunky, thick soup with visible veggies.

I passed!

Editor's February Pick #9: Classy Chowder

Editor's note: Now I absolutely adore the little historical tidbits that are peppered throughout the archives of MiamMiam. It could be the former student in me, spent too much time in the bar and not enough time getting the RDA of learning, but here we are. Someone says to me "chowder" I immediately go to clams, and immediately switch off - personal preferences and all that. But wait! I implore you to have a read through this, possibly learn a little and maybe even give the recipe a go. Veggie chowder, and not a clam in sight! More than likely vegan alternatives available if required.

Loop the Loop

Classy Chowder

There's a theme here – like the Vichyssoise. Where does the chowder originate? What is a traditional version? We could be here for some time! I must confess I'd always thought of the chowder as American and as far as clam chowder is concerned I think that's true. Originally it was a fish chowder or, if you like, a fish stew made with milk or cream. New England Clam Chowder uses crumbled crackers to thicken it. There are different types – I'd always thought of it as that delicious creamy white soup – but you can have clear and tomato versions too.

The word is thought to have originated firstly from the Latin word calderia – meaning a place for warming and later to mean cooking pot, that then evolved to French – chaudiere, meaning stew pot, moving on to Northern French and English – cauldron and then finally an old English word jowter, meaning a fish peddler. It was a popular with Northeastern American Indians, again principally because they made use of the fish they caught.

Before you get bored, here's a recipe which is vegetarian and uses the potato and flour to thicken.

Sweetcorn Chowder

50g unsalted butter

1 potato, finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

1 onion, finely diced,

1 red pepper, finely diced

2 cobs of sweetcorn or 175g canned

1 tbsp flour

1 litre of milk

salt and black pepper

chopped flat leaf parsley

Sweat the vegetables in the butter for 10 minutes – covered. Add the flour and seasonings. Pour on the milk. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Check seasoning. Blend a ladle or two and add back to the soup to thicken and enrich. Sprinkle with parsley.

Traditional accompaniments to a chowder are Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce, both should be served at the table.

Whilst it isn't authentic I'd serve the chowder with dumplings. If you wanted to add pieces of cooked chicken breast for the non-veggies, there are no rules!

What does seem to be a common thread, whoever the chowder belongs to, is that there is obviously a connection to fishing and making use of what was plentiful from the villages along the French and Cornish coasts to America.

There's plenty of room for everyone to take a share!

Soup's up!

This is deliberately a veggie soup – in the interests of balance – a rest from meat for the week.

Carrot, Coriander and Chickpea Soup

1lb/500g Charlotte potatoes, peeled and diced

l large onion, finely chopped

4 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 stockpots, vegetable or chicken

1 litre of water

1 tsp mild curry powder

1 heaped tsp coriander

Salt and black pepper

Rapeseed oil

1 can 400g/240g drained weight can of chickpeas -

(14oz/8½oz) drained and shucked

(optional – see notes to follow)

with veggie dumplings

Soften onion and carrot in drop of rapeseed oil for approx 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add curry powder, coriander and black pepper, cook the spices with the onion and carrot for 2 minutes so that the flavours are released.

Add the stockpots, plus 500ml water and simmer until the pots have melted.

Add the diced potatoes and the remaining 500ml of water, bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes until the carrot and potatoes are cooked. Taste, then add salt to personal taste.

At this point you can set aside the soup until you are ready to serve.

Before serving pop 3 ladles of soup into a food processor/liquidiser and blitz. Tip the thickened soup back into your remaining soup, add the chickpeas, heat and serve.

By blitzing a portion of the soup no artificial thickening is required. The potato is your thickener and the joy of using a variety like Charlotte is that those left in the soup retain their shape - together with the other veggies and the chickpeas it is definitely a soup of substance!

the notes

Without being too ridiculous try and keep your carrot, onion and potato a similar size so that they cook evenly.

Don't put potatoes in with the carrots, onion and oil – the starch that is released from the potatoes means that they will cement themselves to the bottom of your saucepan!

If you want to shuck your chickpeas i.e. remove the outer husk, have a look at the blog for Sunday 18^th March 2018 – Veggie Rendang – the shucking and the photos – The shucking stuff which gives you chapter, verse and photos.

The savoury equivalent to the “cherry on the top of the cake” is a dumpling. Vegetarian suet is out there!

the dumplings

100g/4oz self raising flour

50g/2oz vegetarian suet

pinch of salt – mixed together

Add 100ml cold water, gradually to mix

and form into balls – 4 large or 8 small

Bring your soup to a simmer then add the dumplings, cover and continue to simmer for 20 minutes.

Then there's the Croque ...

It's a cold day – perfect for soup!

My absolute favourite soup is cream of mushroom but the mushrooms have to be good - since my freezer stash of prepared mushrooms are Portobello – big fat tick!

Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 medium onion, finely diced

250g/8oz mushrooms, preferably portabello, finely sliced

(the frozen stash - defrosted)

50g/2oz unsalted butter

1 tbsp of plain flour

850mls/1½ pints of semi-skimmed milk or vegetable stock

285mls/½ pint of double cream

Grated nutmeg – optional

chopped parsley

celery salt and black pepper

Sauté the onion in the butter, gently, for 10 minutes. Using the same gentle heat, stir in the flour, keep it moving to allow the flour to cook for 1-2 minutes and then gradually add the milk or stock, whisking continuously. Simmer for 15 minutes, then add the mushrooms.

Season with celery salt, black pepper and nutmeg, then add the cream.

Blitz the soup to a smooth consistency. Set aside until you're ready to serve, re-heat on a low heat until piping hot.

Serve in warmed bowls, garnish with the chopped parsley and freshly baked rolls or baguettes on the side.

Here it is :

this soup falls into the “keep it simple” category –

in other words let the ingredients speak for

themselves – I'm sorry you can't experience

the delicious aroma of intense mushrooms

and cream!

My forage in the fridge, continued ...

Winter menu – option 2

                                     Is a home-made soup of your choice – if you like the idea

of making the most of your slow cooked chicken, try

cream of chicken, there's a recipe below - for a veggie

alternative and my favourite, carrot, coriander and chickpea

check out the soup label

This is “chicken soup for the soul” – it makes you feel better when you're in need of comfort. Dice, box and fridge your leftover chicken - ready to add to your soup later.

Using a large saucepan, cover the carcass with water and any stock you've got - chicken or veggie - bring to the boil, turn it down to a simmer and let it do its magic for 30/45 minutes. Strain the stock, cool, cover and set aside until you're ready – you may find more chicken to add to your stash. Another rummage produces a few Charlotte potatoes that need using plus a large onion that's always in the veggie basket.

Here's the recipe :

Cream of Chicken Soup

Serves 4

30g unsalted butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic – preferably roasted

500ml chicken stock

250ml whole milk

celery salt and white pepper

diced chicken stash

garnish of grated nutmeg

50-75ml double (heavy) cream

leftover Charlotte potatoes, peel and cut

into small dice

a handful of frozen petit pois

Heat the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté gently for 2-3 minutes – there should be no colour, season with celery salt. Add the stock and diced potatoes and simmer gently for 15 minutes then add the milk and simmer again for 10 minutes Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Blitz 2/3 ladles of the soup until thick and return to the pan. Add the cream, nutmeg, peas, ground white pepper and chicken - heat gently until piping hot.

Don't forget to warm the soup bowls.

If you don't have a huge amount of leftover cooked chicken adding the potatoes supplements and gives a hearty thick soup – a rib sticker as we say!

It's no big deal if you don't have the inclination to make a chicken soup - box and freeze your leftover chicken and likewise bag and freeze the strained stock, for another time, when you are in the mood!

Next up, options 3 and 4!

A soup and a cobbler – hints, tips and a gamble!

The original recipe says “about 14” blobs of cobbler and that's exactly what you'll get following the ice cream scoop measurements as a guide. Then another light bulb idea – I decided to cook eight blobs and then wrap the remaining six, bag and freeze so that I can see how they behave on another day when I need a cobbler – watch this space!

Here are the final photos :

the remaining six, ready for wrapping

the remaining six, bagged ready for the freezer

here's the soup and cobbler – I shouldn't

have done but I ate them both – yum!

This ticks more than one box. If you're tired and in need of comfort, the soup and cobbler is the answer, it absolutely hits the spot. The gamble paid off!

It's economical too – perfect for a mid week Autumn meal. Further news on the frozen cobbler soon.

P.s. Interestingly there are only 12 pieces of cobbler shown in the Waitrose Food Magazine – pages 60 and 61 – where are the other 2 – or is is that “about 14” actually means 12. Thank you to my ice cream scoop!

Coming up, more Autumn comfort food ideas ...

Autumn leaves – soup and a cobbler

My soup comes from the back catalogue and I make no apology for repeating it – if you'd like the recipe check out the Soup label Sunday 3 February 2019 Veggie or not – take 2! - Carrot, Coriander and Chickpea Soup is the perfect vehicle to “hold” a cobbler or a dumpling for that matter – it's thick, rustic and substantial and called a “rib sticker” from my neck of the woods.

I found the cobbler recipe – tweaked – in the September issue of Waitrose Food :

Cheese & Onion Cobbler

2 medium onions, finely diced

15g of unsalted butter

1

dessertspoon of rapeseed oil

a pinch of salt

The cobbler topping

375g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp sea salt

75g unsalted butter – diced and chilled

250ml milk – I used semi-skimmed

125g Gruyere, coarsely grated

Method

For the onions

Using a medium sized frying pan, melt the butter and rapeseed oil, add the onions and salt and cook on a medium to low heat for 15 minutes, stirring until soft and golden. Set aside to cool.

For the cobbler

Using a large mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt and butter and rub in with your fingertips until you've got a breadcrumb texture. Add the milk, cheese and onions and stir with round bladed knife until just combined. Spoon large blobs on to the top of your gently simmering soup. It will help if your blobs are of a similar size so that they cook consistently. The recipe says 14 – cook for 25-30 minutes until the cobbler is golden brown.

Sounds like a great theory, now it's time to put it into practice!

The Autumn leaves …

… are beginning to fall – chillier earlier in the evening as the nights draw in.

More comfort food is required and I think warrants another search for favourites in the back catalogue. I don't need to look in the back catalogue for what comes next – I immediately think of soup. You may think boring but as with lots of dishes it's what you serve with that elevates. In my opinion soup on its own just isn't right – it needs zhuzh and by that I mean either good rustic bread, garlic or otherwise for dunking purposes or a step up, either a dumpling or a cobbler.

What's the difference? A dumpling usually contains suet (veggie or not) although it's true you can make them using self raising flour, whereas a cobbler is a scone based mix. Cobblers can be both sweet or savoury. I thought we'd have a change and make a cheese and onion cobbler to adorn the top of the soup.

Before I begin with the recipe for the cobbler I think it's worthwhile repeating a tip I gave in April relating then to dumplings but which will be equally useful for the cobbler.

“Traditionally dumplings are placed on top of a casserole with a tightly fitting lid. Casseroles have a thicker consistency than soup and obviously, usually, slow cooked in the oven. Soup simmers on top of the hob and saucepan lids “sit” on top of the pan and are not what I'd describe as “tightly fitting”.

Here's my tip - tear off a sheet of foil large enough to overlap the pan, push down slightly and then secure with the lid. Make sure your soup is simmering gently before you add the dumplings and seal with foil. 20 minutes later you'll have dumplings the size of which you wouldn't believe!”

A bowl of soup with cheese and onion cobbler – bring it on!

Here goes …

Time on your hands – cheap & cheerful – Big Soup!

You can never predict the weather. It's Easter and Easter weather is fickle – it's warm and sunny, thank goodness, at the moment – I've known it to snow, more than once!

It was cold when I decided to use up my “past their best veggies” and make my favourite soup, Carrot, Coriander and Chickpea. There was only one small problem – no chick peas, eek! A search through my store cupboard yielded a box of Quick Soak dried peas – only two hours, a rinse and then twenty minutes gentle boil and hey presto a batch of mushy peas. Then I found a bag of Margheritine soup pasta too – result, or rather two results.

I used my normal soup recipe – check out the soup label for the original recipe - 3rd February 2019. I've always got half a dozen or so Charlotte potatoes, a couple of carrots and an onion. After I'd added the diced potato, brought the soup to the boil and simmered for 10 minutes (as per the recipe) I added 125g of the soaked and rinsed dried peas, brought the soup back to a boil and then simmered gently for twenty minutes to cook the peas.

The other plus – I cooked the remaining peas and turned into “mushy peas” used some and another box went into the freezer – they freeze well by the way!

Back to the soup. The peas thicken as they cook so no need to thicken the soup although you could blitz a ladle or two and add back if you wanted it thicker still.

The soup pasta only takes ten minutes to cook so I added 50g when I wanted to heat the soup ready for serving later in the day – check out the photos :

Quick Soak Peas – just so you know what

you're looking for

Ditto for the soup pasta

Big Soup!

Even though I say so myself it was delish – you

can loosen by adding a little water, to suit your personal taste

Coming next … are the kids bored?