Leek and Potato Soup

I've already got two other variations of this recipe on this site, but this weekend, with one of my local shops having some enormous leeks that looked perfect for the job, I decided to make the plain old simple version of it. I always find that leeks from the supermarket are always over-trimmed for making this soup as you get none of the green part of the leek and so the soup can look a little pale. The previous photo of Leek, Potato and Carrot soup definitely highlights this fact.

This was probably the first soup I ever tried to make, and I remember asking my Mum for the recipe and thinking that it just sounded far too simple to taste as good as I remembered. The recipe she gave me is the same as below, although in those days, she just told me to use Water instead of the Bouillon. This still tastes good, but a little Bouillon definitely enhances the flavour.

It has been pretty cold and wet over the weekend, so I wanted to make the soup nice and thick, especially as I wasn't having any bread with it. It also helped in the detox process which was needed after the excessive alcohol consumption during and after the Rugby on Saturday. For the final day of the Six Nations, with all games being on the same day, I think I'm going to cook the night before (like last year) so that there is something here that I can easily reheat. With Wales looking good for the Championship, I'm sure there will be more excesses.

Recipe for the Leek and Potato Soup (Serves 4)

• 25g Lightly Salted Butter
• 2 huge Leeks, green bits and all, roughly chopped
• 2 Baking Potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 0.5 Litre Swiss Marigold Vegetable Bouillon
• 0.5 Litre Water
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Add the butter to a heavy bottom pan, and gently soften the leek in the butter for about 10 minutes. Add in the potato cubes and continue to gently cook for another 5 minutes. Add in the Vegetable Bouillon, Bay Leaves and lots of Fresh Ground Black Pepper and simmer for 40 minutes until the Potato is fully cooked. Add a little salt to taste, but personally, with there being Salt in the Butter and Bouillon, I prefer to just add Black Pepper myself.

You can serve the soup immediately, or blend to make completely smooth. Personally, I like to blend just half of it so that you get a nice thick soup with nice big chunks in it.

Lamb Korma and Masoor Dahl

The last time I made a Korma, it went down very well with my sister, so I decided to try again, only using Lamb this time. I modified the recipe a little after reading a few others on the internet, but it's basically the same technique. I also had another go at making Masoor Dahl (Red Lentil Dahl), and although I didn't use Sandra's technique of frying the spices, then adding the lentils and water to that, it did come out a lot better than the previous effort and had a lot more flavour. The main reason I think is because I made a lot less, but used the same amount of spices as last time.

Another reason for the difference with the Dahl could have been that I used Asafoetida for the first time in my cooking. Many Madhur Jaffrey recipes list it as an optional ingredient, however, in the Monisha Bharadwaj book I have, she often lists it as an ingredient and has two pages of the book devoted to it. It wasn't the easiest thing to find, although, I eventually found it in Waitrose, and I have to say, it's got one of the worst smells of anything in my spice drawer. It's kind of sulphurous, perhaps something like the worse pair of trainers worn without socks during a long hot summer. However, once a pinch is dropped into the hot oil, it doesn't smell nearly as bad. Monisha Bharadwaj says that it can make a dish. I'm not sure about that, but the Dahl was good, so I'm going to stick with it in future, although just a pinch. It really doesn't smell like something you should be putting into your food though, although, funnily enough, it's supposed to reduce flatulence among other things!

Although the Korma wasn't as hot as I would have liked, it was still pretty nice. I think I probably got the amount of Chili about right, but next time, I will leave the seeds in, or perhaps add a little more Cayenne Pepper. During cooking it really smelled like it was going to be a hot one, but the Coconut Milk really cools it down.

The nice thing about both recipes is that they taste just as good, if not better, the next day, and in fact, the photos were taken of my reheated curry lunch as the ones I took on the evening just weren't that great, and I much prefer shooting in daylight.

Recipe for the Masoor Dahl (Serves 4)

• 1 Cup of Red Lentils, washed
• 1.5 Pints of Water
• A few thin slices of Ginger
• 1 teaspoon of Turmeric
• 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• A pinch of Asafoetida
• 1 teaspoon of Cumin Seeds
• 1 teaspoon of Mustard Seeds
• 1 teaspoon of Ground Coriander
• Half teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
• 1 teaspoon of Salt

After washing the lentils, put them into a heavy pan along with the Water, Ginger Slices and Turmeric. Bring the pan to a simmer, then cook for an hour and a half, making sure to stir in the last half hour to make sure it doesn't stick. Remove the slices of Ginger.

Heat up some oil in another pan and drop in the Pinch of Asafoetida, Cumin Seeds and Mustard Seeds and once they start popping, add in the Ground Coriander and Cayenne Pepper, stir a couple more times, then pour into the Lentils. Finally add Salt to taste, and garnish with Fresh Chopped Coriander.

Recipe for the Lamb Korma (Serves 3)

• 500g Lamb Pieces
• 6 Tablespoons of Natural Yoghurt
• 5cm Piece of Ginger, grated
• 4 cloves of Garlic, chopped fine
• 1 Medium Onion, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves of Garlic
• 4 Green Chilies, seeds removed
• 3-4 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 1 Large Onion, finely sliced
• 5cm Cinnamon Stick
• 4 Green Cardamoms, broken
• 1 teaspoon of Ground Coriander
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• Half teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
• Half teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• Half cup of Hot Water
• 1 can of Coconut Milk
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
• 2 tablespoons Almonds, finely chopped
• Handful Fresh Coriander, chopped
• Juice of half a Lemon

Marinate the Lamb pieces in the Yoghurt, Grated Ginger and Chopped Garlic for a few hours at least (preferably overnight). Put the roughly chopped Onion, Garlic Cloves and Chilies into a blender, blend to a fine paste and set to one side.

Heat up the oil in a heavy bottom pan and fry the onion slices for about 5 minutes, until turning golden. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set to one side. Add a little more oil to the pan and add the Cinnamon Stick, Cardamoms, Ground Coriander, Turmeric, Cayenne Pepper and Black Pepper and stir. Now put the lamb and marinade into the pan, stir to ensure they are coated in the spices and cook for about 10 minutes. Next, add the paste and cook for a further 10 minutes. Add a little hot water to help de-glaze the pan a little, and add the Coconut Milk and the fried Onions. Cook for another 30-40 minutes, or until the Lamb is tender. Stir last of the ingredients and serve.

Carrot and Coriander Soup

This is another one of those recipes that I've wanted to make for a long time, but have somehow never got around to it. A few times, I've gone to the shop with the express reason of getting the ingredients, only to find there wasn't any nice looking Fresh Coriander, and so have ended up buying a couple of Leeks and Potatoes and making that soup instead.

I don't ever remember having this soup as a child, so couldn't just steal my mum's recipe on this one. In fact, I think the first time I ever tried this soup was when a friend had a carton of the Covent Garden Soup Company version in the fridge. Searching for a recipe on Google revealed lots of different variations on ingredients and preparation methods. A lot of the more 'British' sounding recipes seemed to keep things relatively simple, and just have the one clove of Garlic and relatively small quantities of Fresh Coriander (obviously from people who buy their Coriander in the Supermarket, rather than getting big cheap bunches from alternative retail outlets). Recipes from sites with a more Asian flare seemed to go for a lot more Garlic and Coriander, plus a few additional ingredients and in some cases, a much more complex preparation method.

There were also versions which included Tomatoes, others used Sweet Potatoes instead of Potatoes (and some no potato at all) and lots which called for the addition of Single or Double Cream, something I would maybe do if cooking it as a starter for a meal where health factors are not an issue, but as I predominantly made this Soup to take into work in a Flask for a healthy lunch, it was left out this time. However, I did add a little Semi-Skimmed Milk at the end as the soup was quite dark in colour and I wanted to lighten it up a bit.

With so many variations, I decided to try and go somewhere in the middle of them with my version, but with Coriander being one of my favourite herbs, there would definitely be a lot of it in there. I did think about using Sweet Potato rather than normal Potato, but I didn't want to make it too sweet, so for this first attempt at this soup, they're just normal white potatoes (in this case, a few small Vivaldi Potatoes).

Recipe for Carrot and Coriander Soup Serves 4

• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 large Onion (chopped)
• 1 rib of Celery (finely chopped)
• 6 cloves of Garlic (chopped fine)
• 5 medium Carrots (chopped)
• 3 small Potatoes (cubed)
• Half a cup of Fresh Coriander Stalks (finely chopped)
• 2 teaspoons Ground Coriander
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• Half teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
• Half teaspoon of Black Pepper
• 1 litre Swiss Marigold Vegetable Stock
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 1 cup Fresh Coriander Leaves (chopped)
• Half cup of Semi-Skimmed Milk (optional)

Heat the Oil in a heavy based pan, then fry the Onion, Celery and Garlic on a medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the Onion is translucent. Next add the Carrot, Fresh Coriander Stalks and Potato and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Add the dried Spices and stir into the vegetables so that they're all nicely coated, then add the Stock and Bay Leaves, bring to the boil, then simmer for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

Let it cool down a bit, then blend until you have a nice smooth soup. Add the remaining Fresh Coriander Leaves and gently reheat the soup (without boiling). My soup was darker than I'd like, so added about half a cup of Semi-Skimmed Milk at the end to lighten the colour a little, but this is definitely optional.

Welsh Cakes, and it's not even St David's Day

Since yesterday, Joseph has been nagging about making Welsh Cakes, but yesterday's fare took too long to start thinking about that. So, I made a deal that if we made them today, he would have to eat the fish ball things I was planning for later that day in return. Seemed like a good exchange to me. Also, it meant that I had a little helper to rub the flour and butter together so that I could carry on with working while Joseph got it to a breadcrumb texture.

Not having all the correct equipment to make these stove cakes was not a great problem. We used an empty wine bottle as a rolling bin (as was used yesterday for the pastie dough), glass to cut them out, and a big cast iron pan to cook them in, and so, presentation isn't perhaps their strong point, but they still came out better than the Welsh Rugby Team did against Scotland last weekend. Also, Sally was still at work, so I had to struggle with the photography myself.

Recipe for Welsh Cakes

• 220g Self Raising Flour
• 100g Butter
• 75g Granulated Sugar (should probably have been caster sugar, but this was what I could find)
• Handful of Sultanas
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 teaspoon of Mixed Spice

First, you need to rub the Butter into the Flour using your fingertips until it is the texture of breadcrumbs. Next add the Sugar, Sultanas and Mixed Spice and mix them altogether. Then add the egg and form into a slightly sticky dough. You can add a little milk if it is too dry, but I never need it.

Now just roll out the dough so that it's about 5mm thick and cut into circles of about 10cm in diameter. The pan should not be too hot and only lightly greased with a little butter before cooking the cakes. They should take a few minutes each side then can be served right away, the fresher the better.

Waiter, there's something in my ... Spicy Potato and Pea Pasties

There's something about the "who's eaten all the pies" expression which somehow puts me off making and eating pies. Plus the total lack of space or equipment to properly make a pie. However, for a few days this week, I'm looking after my nephew at my sister's place, and she's got a much bigger kitchen, gas hobs and more pots and pans. Plus she likes having food on the table when she returns from work. Still, she's not a big pie eater either, so I figured I'd have to do some mini pasties or something along those lines, so that the quantity of pasty didn't seem so great. These deep-fried, potato and pea pasties seemed to fit the bill, and made a good starter, but would also make excellent finger food.

There is also the added bonus that my sister has two cameras that are better than mine, and is a professional photographer, so I could utilise not just her kitchen, but her photographic skills, even if she's more accustomed to portraits than food photography. Even without using her tripod, she takes a much better photo than I do, so well worth getting her to completely take over the photo duties (hence the number of pictures as I'm lucky to get a couple which I like when I'm doing the photos).

Sandra, the original source of my Lamb Meatball Curry, has lent me a book of easy curry recipes, and one which caught my attention was one for Potato and Pea Pasties (well, they call them Potato and Pea Pastries, but they look like pasties to me, even if they are deep-fried). The recipe looked simple enough, although, once again, wasn't made totally to the letter.

Recipe for the Pastry

• 1.5 cups Plain Flour
• 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• A quarter cup Water

Sift the flour into a bowl, then make a well in the middle and add the oil and water, mixing, then kneading to make a firm but slightly elastic and smooth dough. You may need a little extra oil or water, but add early in the process, and only very small quantities. Cover the dough and leave it in the fridge for at least an hour.


Recipe for the Filling

• 1-1.5 Baking Potatoes, peeled and finely diced
• 1 cup Peas or Petis Pois
• 2 tablespoons Currants
• 2 tablespoons Fresh Coriander, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• Half teaspoon Hot Chili Powder or Cayenne Pepper
• Half teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• Juice of half a Lemon
• 1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Fish Sauce (omit if cooking for vegetarians)
• Groundnut Oil for deep frying

Boil the cubed Potato until softening, then drain, put in a bowl and mix with the Peas, Currants, Cumin, Chili Powder, Cinnamon and Fresh Coriander. Then add the Lemon Juice and Light Soy Sauce and stir in so as not to bread any ingredients up, but ensure that all the spices have evenly covered the other ingredients.

It's probably best to divide the dough into two before rolling it out on a well floured surface. The dough should be quite elastic without breaking so that you can get it just over a millimetre thick. Then use a circular pastry cutter, or other round implement (a bowl with the assistance of a knife in my case) to cut circular pieces of about 10cm in diameter. Spoon about a heaped tablespoon of the filling in the centre of each round, and fold in half, using a fork to seal the edges. You should be able to make about 20 or so from the above ingredients.


Next, they need to be deep-fried in batches in the hot oil, turning occasionally, until they turn golden brown. Then transfer to some kitchen towel to drain off the excess oil.

They tasted good hot and cold. Slightly spicy, but with the slight tang of the citrus from the lemon juice. My nephew loved them and probably ate more than he did of the rest of the dinner. My sister will be taking the leftovers in her packed lunch tomorrow.

Spicy Guacamole

With the stew sorted, I left producing the dips until closer to the time the guests were arriving, especially as guacamole has a tendency to go brown if made to far in advance. The hummus recipe was pretty well as before, only with the addition of fresh coriander. For the guacamole recipe, I got my inspiration from The Mens Cookery Club website and pretty well made it the same way they did, although with a couple of differences.

Guacamole Recipe

• 3 Avocados
• 4 Gloves of Garlic (crushed)
• 3-4 tablespoons of Olive Oil
• Up to half a teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
• Small handful of Fresh Coriander
• Juice from 1 Lime
• Salt and Pepper

Like them, I did it all in the blender. You could use a fork, but throwing everything in the blender for a quick spin just seems to make sense. However, with the garlic, I tend to crush it, then leave it for a minute or two before continuing the blitzing, as I do with the Hummus. Then add the rest of the ingredients, blitz together, taste and re-season if necessary. Then after putting it into the bowl, squeeze over the last bit of juice from the lime.

I made this just as people were showing up, as I didn't want it to turn brown, but to be honest, I think the lime juice prevents that pretty much as although the bowl was out and had some dregs left in the bottom, it didn't turn brown all and tasted great.

Still, I really like their website. Great fun, and some useful tips and recipes. Definitely worth a read.

Broccoli and Stilton Soup

I made this soup as a starter for a Shepherd's Pie. I have always wanted to try and make this soup, and although it's not as cheap to prepare as Leek and Potato, the results were pretty good for a first attempt. Marisha said that if she had been served it in a restaurant, she would have been very happy with it, especially as I didn't go too over the top on the Stilton. Still, it was a bit filling for a starter.

Recipe for Broccoli and Stilton Soup (serves 4-6)

• 2 medium Onions, chopped
• 2 Small Vivaldi Potatoes, cubed
• 2 heads of Broccoli
• 0.5 pint of Chicken Stock
• 0.5 pint of Vegetable Stock
• 0.5 pint of Water
  
• 0.5 pint of Milk
• 200g Creamy Stilton Cheese
  
• Splash of Single Cream
• 30g Butter
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Preparation of this is very easy. In a large heavy pan, soften the onions in the butter, then add the potato and broccoli and cook for a couple minutes. Next add the stock, cover, and simmer for about 20-25 minutes. You should then let it cool down for about 15-20 minutes and then blend the mixture until smooth.

Then gently heat the soup up again, and add the milk, cream and Stilton, stirring until all the cheese has melted. Add a decent amount of black pepper and serve immediately. If dinner guests never turn up on time, like in my case, leave this last stage until they arrive as it doesn't take long to heat the soup to get the Stilton melting.

Leek, Potato and Carrot Soup

I can't get enough of this soup. With only about 10 minutes of preparation time, and then about 40-odd minutes of cooking time, it's got to be my favourite soup. I grew up on Leek and Potato soup, and the addition of a carrot or two just adds a little more flavour. In a restaurant, they would probably put a drizzle of cream on the top to improve the presentation, etc., but I'm just as happy to put even more freshly ground black pepper on the top.

I always make enough for about 4 or 5 people as, even if there aren't that many people eating, it keeps for a few days, and I can easily reheat it. Plus, it's something I can never get bored with. You can buy the canned stuff, but it just isn't anything like as nice as cooking it yourself. It such an easy and inexpensive dish.

Recipe

• 3 or 4 Leeks
• 1 or 2 Potatoes
• 1 or 2 Carrots
• 1 pint of Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon
• 0.5-1 pint Water
  
• 1 tablespoon butter
• A couple of Bay Leaves
• Salt and a generous amount of Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Preparation is the same as with the Leek and Sweet Potato Soup, and then served with some cheese and onion bread.

Still Hungry?... Okay... Hummus and Pitta

Dave and Mark turned up late, and after a fairly ample portion of Spag Bog, still wanted more food. So, as I tend to ensure I have a spare can of chickpeas in the cupboard these days, I blended up some more Home-made Hummus, only as I didn't have red pepper, I used yellow pepper. Still tasted good, but I think red pepper is better for me. I know pepper isn't necessary, but I think it definitely improves the flavour if you have one.

Served with toasted Pitta bread, bread sticks and some carrot julienne. Definitely going to make some of the red pepper variety at the next poker night, along with some guacamole. Still undecided on the main course.

Leek and Sweet Potato Soup

I love Leek and Potato soup and make it fairly regularly, but I had this soup at a meal a couple of weeks ago and loved it, so tried to make it myself. Just as easy to make as the other variety, but more filling if anything, and just as good tasting. Just butter, leeks, sweet potato, vegetable stock with salt and pepper really, then blended with the new blender.

Recipe

• 3 Leeks, chopped
• 1 Large Sweet Potato, cut into cubes
• 1 Pint of Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon
• 0.5 Pint Water
• Salt and Pepper
• A Couple of Bay Leaves
• Tablespoon of Butter or Olive Oil

Heat the butter or oil in a sauce pan, then add the leeks and cook until softened. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for about 45 minutes. Depending on how you like your soup, blend either all or half the mixture with a hand blender.

You could also add some cream or milk at the end of cooking.

Homemade Hummus

I couldn't find any tahini in the shop, so decided to just get a load of sesame seeds and make my own. Also, I put small red pepper in there to sweeten it up. I got given a new blender for Christmas, and wanted to try it out, so this went down will with some cheese and onion bread. Really easy to make with a good blender.

Recipe for the Tahini

• 2 tablespoons Sesame Seeds
• Half teaspoon Sesame Oil
• Few tablespoons Tepid Water

Blitz the sesame seeds in the blender, then add the other ingredients, adding the water until you have a thin paste.

Recipe for the Hummus

• 400g can of Chickpeas
• Juice of a Lemon
• 2-3 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 4 cloves of Garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• 1 small Red pepper, de-seeded, de-veined and chopped
• Salt and Pepper

Add the Chickpeas to the tahini in the blender and blend until a paste. Then add the other ingredients and continue to blend until the hummus starts turning a bit redder in colour. You can use right away, or store in the fridge before using.