"Two Soups?"

“Two soups?”

5 Days Post-Op


I woke up this morning in a foul mood. Really miserable, with no reason at all behind it. Went to bed and felt absolutely fine, had a good night’s sleep and woke up as if I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. Normally I have my dear friends Mr Biscuit and Mrs Cadburys to help raise my spirits but not now. All my friends and family work full-time so I couldn't even phone anybody up for a chat. As I keep harping on about, I’m determined to stick to the liquid diet phase, so I decided to therapy myself. I knew that if I stayed bored (not back at work until Thursday) and relied on the TV for entertainment I would risk: i) remaining in a foul mood; ii) dwelling on binge type thoughts. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone, make some soup. I'll admit I do enjoy cooking (I just love food basically) and I do find it extremely therapeutic, so at 8.45am I was down there in that supermarket buying some tasty ingredients.

Now, I totally acknowledge that what I am about to admit does make me sound like a lunatic but, at the risk of forsaking any credibility, here goes. I played celebrity TV chef. Oh. My. God. I can’t believe I am admitting this. I basically pretended to be the bastard love child of Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson. I was alone in the house (well, the cat paid me a brief visit before deciding I had lost the plot and buggering off upstairs). I had the radio chirping away in the back ground and the magic began …. I even went as far as photographing the various stages for your viewing pleasure. From 9.30am till lunchtime I played ‘domestic maniac’ and do you know what? I had a blast. My mood was totally lifted and by lunchtime I had 16 portions of well-tasty soup.

The recipes were adapted from New Covent Garden’s, “Soup and Beyond” book. A friend bought it for me for Christmas about 8 years ago and I hadn’t cooked a single thing from it before. I didn’t stick totally to the recipes and if you do attempt them, bear in mind that you may want to add more or less water, depending on your personal consistency preferences. I have now had 2 bowls of each – and I’m not sure if it’s because I’m not eating but, they taste luuuurvely. I have frozen half of each batch in individual portions for when I am back at work. What’s the saying? “Fail to plan, plan to fail”. I’ve also worked out the approximate cost and calories per portion (I told you I was bored).

BUTTERNUT AND SWEET POTATO SOUP

Makes approx 9 x 280ml portions (or 2 ladles-full :)
Cost per portion: 55p – 60p
Calories per portion: 140-150 cals

Ingredients:
5ml teaspoon Olive Oil
5 small – medium onions
1 Medium Butternut Squash
3 Medium Sweet Potatoes
1 Pint of Vegetable Stock – Either fresh in a carton or made up from cubes
70mls ( ½ of the smallest carton) of single cream
Grated whole nutmeg
15ml tablespoon Maple Syrup
¼ teaspoon of ‘Lazy Chilli’
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 – 1½ pints of water (depending on desired consistency)
1 clove of garlic and sprig of fresh corriander (optional – I used garlic today but wish I’d have left it out, the butternut flavour was a little over-powered - oooooh, get me, Master Chef :)

Method:

* Preheat oven to 220°
* Peel butternut squash and sweet potatoes
* Chop into medium sized chunks
* Using a little drop of the olive oil, grease a non-stick baking tray
* Place squash / sweet potatoes on tray
* ‘Paint’ them with a little olive oil (remembering to save some to cook the onions)
* Place in oven for ½ an hour
* Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a non-stick pan
* Chop onions finely and add to the pan, cover and ‘sweat’ them on a medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring often as they don’t need to brown.

* When ready add all of the ingredients + stock and water to a bowl / blender and whiz up until a smooth, creamy consistency. Add more water as needed.
* Return to stove and heat thoroughly to serve.

PARSNIP AND LEEK SOUP


Makes approx 9 x 280ml portions (or 2 ladles-full :)
Cost per portion: 45p-50p
Calories per portion: 160 cals

Ingredients:
4 Large Parsnips
1 Medium Sweet Potato
3 Large Leeks
1oz butter
2.5mls (½ teaspoon) of olive oil
1 Bay Leaf
70mls Single Cream
1 Pint Chicken Stock – fresh or cubes
3 Pints Water
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:
* Preheat oven to 210°
* Peel Parsnips and sweet potato, chop into medium chunks (don’t leave ends long and thin or they’ll burn :) Place on non-stick tray and brush with olive oil. Pop in middle of oven for 30 minutes.
* Wash and trim leeks (about two thirds of the length). Slice finely.
* Heat remaining olive oil and butter gently on low heat in non-stick pan (olive oil should stop butter from burning).
* Add leeks and 1 bay leaf to pan. Cover and sweat them over a low heat for 20 minutes, stirring regularly. (Add a little chicken stock if too dry)
* When leeks and parsnips are ready transfer them to either a mixing bowl or blender.
***REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE BAY LEAF BEFORE YOU BLEND!***
* Add stock, water, cream, salt and pepper.

* Whiz up until a smooth consistency.
* Return to pan and heat thoroughly before serving.

"Frankly I don't think the photo does it justice" ;)

There you go. Relatively foolproof in my opinion. I took some to my mom at work at lunchtime and she has now lost her butternut squash virginity, lol. Now, I must state for the record, don’t expect the same level of blogging after Thursday when I go back to work. I just needed to ‘play’ and it took all my energy to turn a negative mood into a positive outcome this morning but it was worth it. Let me know if you have a go at them… just popping off for another bowl – YUM.