Onion Soup with Red Wine

I had red wine.
I had lots of onions.
I felt like having soup.
So yes, I made french onion soup with red wine instead of the usual white wine.
Will I do this again? I'm not sure. It was a good soup but somehow I prefer white wine version... The recipe was supposed to be quick onion soup but trust me, you need to cook the onions over a low heat for at least an hour because that is the only way you will get them to be soft and sweet.
Here is a little illustration I made with pen and water colour of the BBC recipe ingredients:

Lentil Soup

I'm a big fan of soup.
It is one of the easiest ways for me to actually get vegetables into my kids.
The only condition being, and I've mentioned this before, the soup has to be green.
Heidi is a big fan of green soup, most days.

I've been adding lentils to all my soups lately.
It's so pretty and good for you too.
Just a hand full of dried lentils, lots of vegetables, water or stock and about 30 minutes later your soup is done.

Kids Food #6 - Broccoli Soup

Do you want to know the easiest way to get vegetables into kids?
Just make a soup!

Well it works for my kids :-)

Heidi likes 'green' soup so my favourite is broccoli soup.
Combine onion, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli and any other vegetable that you might find in the house.

Add a litre of vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Then let it simmer away gently for 20 minutes or so.

Blend and then add a tablespoon or two of cream cheese.

My secret ingredient is a sliced vienna sausage.
Just stir it through the soup before serving to the kids.

As usual, I use hardly any seasoning in the kids recipes, and the soup is no exception. I've added no salt since the vegetable stock already has sufficient salt in it.

Frozen Broccoli Soup - Part 2

In December I made a healthy broccoli soup which I froze.
It simply waited for us in the freezer compartment.
For about a month.

And then the moment arrived when Heidi asked for 'green' soup.
Yes!

I started off by placing the rock hard frozen soup in the microwave on defrost.
For a very long time.
At least 35 minutes.
Probably longer.
It took a while for the iceberg to melt away.

Eventually I heated up the soup and served it like I usually do with some fresh wholewheat bread.

It tasted fine... maybe a little watery.

Not sure if I will be freezing soup in the near future again but that's just because I do like my soup fresh. And since it took so long to defrost, I might as well have made the soup from scratch.

You live, you learn.

Frozen Broccoli Soup

For the first time in my life I decided to make something with the sole purpose to freeze it.
I am just not a big fan of frozen food but I find myself getting home later and later in the evening. That means that we sometimes end up eating very late, especially late for the kids.

Broccoli soup is my first experiment with freezing soup.

The soup is a basic vegetable soup with onion, carrots, broccoli, vegetable stock and a can of butter beans. Bring to the boil and then let it simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender and ready to be blended.

I used a hand blender to get it to a nice smooth consistency.

Then it has to cool down completely. Once it is room temperature you can pour it into the freezer container of your choice. I used a freezer bag since I don't have a very big freezer compartment.

Now all I have to do is take it out of the freezer first thing in the morning and heat it up in the evening when I get home.

Sounds easy enough so let's hope it works!

French Onion Soup

I bought a big bag of onions for less than a euro.
The first thing that came to mind was onion soup.
Not that I've ever made it before, but I've always been good at ordering it in restaurants.

So I searched the Internet for French Onion Soup recipes and found many, too many.
Luckily I came across this recipe from Nigel Slater.
What I like about it was the short list of ingredients and the clear instructions.
It worked like a charm.

Here is a copy of the recipe, I followed it step by step, except I found that I had to cook the onions for about an hour which is slightly longer than suggested in the recipe. I also used Parmesan cheese instead of the cheeses below.

The recipe

Serves 4-6

700g onions
40g butter
2 tbsp flour
1.75 litres beef stock
1 glass of white wine
Baguette to toast
Gruyère or Emmenthal

Peel and thinly slice 700g onions, then leave them to soften in 40g butter and a small glug of olive oil over a low to medium heat. Stir them regularly. They are ready when they are soft, sticky, sweet and deep gold in colour. Some add a pinch of sugar at this point to help the onions caramelise. Stir in a couple of tablespoons of flour, cook for 3 or 4 minutes, then pour in 1.75 litres of boiling beef stock and a glass of white wine. Partially cover with a lid and leave to simmer for a good 45 minutes.

Season, ladle into deep, heatproof bowls, place several thin slices of toasted baguette on to each, then cover with thinly sliced Gruyère or Emmenthal. Bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes or grill until the bread is toasted and the cheese has melted but not browned.

The magic

The trick to getting this soup right is that the onions caramelize – they must cook for at least 35-40 minutes over a low to moderate heat. Only when the onions are soft enough to crush easily between finger and thumb can you add the flour and stock.

The twist

Contemporary versions can involve roasting the onions in the oven to give a more concentrated sweetness. Red onions produce the sweetest version of all, so you might like to add thyme and bay as a balance. Parmesan in place of Gruyère produces a less fatty but just as tasty crust.

Thank you Nigel Slater!!

Leek and Celeriac Soup - the Very Basic Version

The rapid change in weather brought the cold and all of a sudden I found myself craving warm, comforting soup.

Soup that warms you up from the inside and makes you feel satisfied.

Leek and celeriac soup felt like just the right combination for this cold and rainy day. I decided to make a very basic version, since my ingredients were limited. It has pretty much only four ingredients: vegetable oil, leeks, celeriac and vegetable stock. That is it.

Take three large leeks, wash and trimmed, and then slice them into pretty rings. Peel and dice the celeriac. Add a dash of vegetable oil to a casserole dish (or whatever you happen to be using to make your soup in) and heat up the oil for a minute. Then place the leeks and celeriac in the dish and saute for a couple of minutes. Now add a litre or so of vegetable stock to the vegetables and season as per your personal taste.

Let is simmer for 30 - 45 minutes, stir occasionally and add water if necessary.

Once all the vegetables are nice and soft, take a hand blender and blend until you have a smooth consistency. Serve with fresh bread and enjoy.

Lentil soup anyone?

For the first time in my life I made lentil soup.

Seems like I've always known about it, but just never made it or even ate it before. I browsed the Internet for some recipe ideas and in the end improvised, like I usually do.

It turned out really well and I will definitely make lentil soup again.

Ingredients:
250 gr red lentils
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 big carrot
1 fennel bulb
3 sticks of celery
1.2 litre vegetable stock
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
half a teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon curry powder
salt & pepper

Method:
Chop the vegetables in even sized pieces.
Heat up the oil and saute the chopped onion until softened.
Add the garlic, carrots, fennel and celery. Saute for a minute or two.
Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
Add seasoning, curry and cumin powder.
Let the soup simmer on medium to low heat for about 45 minutes until everything is tender.
You might have to add some more liquid to the soup so stir and check it frequently.
Blend until smooth and creamy.

Yummy and healthy!! Thanks Deirdre for suggesting we try lentil soup - you are full of good ideas.

Leek and Celeriac soup

Soup is good.
It is easy and healthy.
Some days it is the only way I can get Heidi to eat her vegetables. She loves her soup and I love it when she eats vegetables.

Celeriac is an interesting vegetable.
Let's face it. It is ugly.
You almost feel sorry for it.
Even the teenager working behind the till in the supermarket didn't know what it was...
Don't let its looks deter you from using it though, it is great in soup or roasted or mash it with potatoes for an excellent twist on mash potatoes.

Here is my recipe for leek and celeriac soup.
Try it, modify it, do whatever you like but have some soup!

Ingredients:
One big leek, one celeriac, two cloves of garlic, 3 carrots, one medium sized potatoe
600 ml vegetable stock
Seasoning (Salt & pepper)
One tablespoon of safflower oil

Method:
Peel the celeriac and carrots, wash the leek.
Chop up the vegetables in even sized chunks - don't let the celeriac sit peeled too long since it will colour.
In a large pot (I use my casserole dish) heat up the oil and add the leek. Stir for a minute or two.
Add the carrots, celeriac and seasoning.
Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
Let it simmer covered for 40 to 50 minutes.
Once all the veggies are soft and the lovely aroma fills your kitchen, let it cool down slightly and then blend. I use a handblender - it should become silky smooth.

Serve with delicious wholewheat bread.