Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

Soup

7 Soups for Winter

It’s that time of year when all I want to do is curl up on the sofa in a toasty blanket with a delicious bowl of soup, and forget all about the wind and rain hurling itself around outside (and generally everything else!) So, let’s all get cosy while I bring you a batch of my favourite soups to warm up those winter months.

1. Slow Cooker Chicken Soup

Chicken Soup

Let’s kick off with a restorative bowl of Slow Cooker Chicken Soup, a Polish recipe I got from my mother. It’s a clear broth that uses a whole chicken cooked ultra gently in the slow cooker, so it requires very little fuss. It’s usually served with homemade egg noodles or dumplings and makes for a really decent meal.

Get the recipe

2. Chickpea, Chicken and Chorizo Soup

Chicken & Chorizo Soup

For a hearty meal in a bowl, try my Chickpea, Chicken and Chorizo Soup on for size. It’s packed with both texture and flavour, plus it’s a great way to use up any leftovers lurking in your fridge. I can totally recommend serving it up with some chunky slices of garlic bread for dunking. Here, I’ve used giant cous cous, but you could make this with brown rice, or a grain such as kasza, and don’t forget to add plenty of chopped kale or spinach for extra nutrients.

Get the recipe

3. Beetroot and Kale Soup

Beetroot and Kale Soup

If you’re on the hunt for a super healthy and nutritious meal idea, then take a look at this vivid Beetroot and Kale Soup with tasty Almond Crumble topper. As well as being ridiculously good for you, it’s also absolutely gorgeous to look at so makes for a pretty starter if you’ve got guests round for lunch.

Get the recipe

4. Rainy Day Pizza Pasta Soup

Pizza Pasta Soup

My kids made up the name of this soup Rainy Day Pizza Pasta Soup when I served up a quick family meal stretching out some bolognese leftovers, plenty of Parmesan and fresh basil. It makes a change from the usual after-school Spag Bol and is oh-so-warming. If you’re got a gaggle of kids to feed, this is the one to bring to the table.

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5. Polish Wild Mushroom Soup

Mushroom Soup

Another absolute winner. When I’m feeling poorly I crave either Chicken Soup or a bowl of Mushroom Soup which reminds me of home. This simple recipe really makes the most of the strong, earthy flavours of the mushrooms, with fresh cream for extra comfort.

Get the recipe

6. Chicken Soup Two Ways

coconut-courgetti-chicken-soup

A classic chicken soup is a thing of beauty, because once you’ve got it cracked you can customise it to your heart’s content. I love changing it up by adding things like coconut milk and courgetti or giving it a bit more bulk with some basmatic brown rice and spinach.

Get the recipe

7. Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Soup

Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Soup on feedingboys.co.uk

And finally, my favourite soup from around the web is this little number from Katie Bryson at Feeding Boys. It’s a thick, creamy and intensely flavoured soup using roasted cauliflower and garlic cloves blitzed up with stock and parmesan cheese. We all love cauliflower soup in our house, and roasting it adds a wonderful depth of flavour to this soup.

Get the recipe

What’s your favourite soup for the winter? Do you have a classic recipe you always turn to when you’re feeling under the weather? I’d love to hear your thoughts below!

Also, I’ll be pulling some more round ups together over the coming week so do let me know if there is anything you’d like to see.

Pizza Pasta Soup

Think of this as a hearty soup, suitable for stretching a little leftover bolognese. You could also use a jar of tomato sauce – a good quality one and add the same amount of stock to achieve a soup consistency. On other occasions, I’ve thrown in chopped, fried pepperoni, mushrooms or shredded chicken. A good sprinkle of mozzarella is a must and a big heap of grated Parmesan cheese for the top. Fresh basil or oregano is lovely, too. Get creative!

Pizza Pasta Soup

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Rainy Day Pizza Pasta Soup

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A great way to use up leftover tomato or Bolognese sauce. Simply add a handfull of pasta and some of your favourite 'toppings' such as chopped, fried pepperoni, mushrooms, or shredded chicken. Add grated mozzarella and a good handful of Parmesan cheese on the top.

Ingredients

  • 500g/two cups Bolognese or good quality tomato sauce (leftovers are ideal)
  • 250ml/one cup vegetable or chicken stock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • sea salt
  • black pepper
  • 280g/2 cups cooked pasta
  • 100g mozzarella, torn or grated
  • 100g fresh Parmesan cheese
  • 1 small bunch fresh basil, leaves and stalks separated
  • (optional - fried pepperoni, mushrooms or shredded chicken)

Instructions

  1. Pour the Bolognese or tomato sauce into a large pan. On a medium heat, bring to the boil. Add in the stock and stir well. Add in the bay leaf. Stir in half a teaspoon each of sea salt and black pepper.
  2. When hot, add in the cooked pasta and stir. Remove the bay leaf Add the optional extras, such as pepperoni, if using. Divide the soup between four bowls.
  3. Add the torn mozzarella, and top with grated Parmesan cheese and a few basil leaves per bowl.
  4. Serve straight away

Cuisine Italian-ish

Pizza Pasta Soup

 

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Beetroot and Kale Soup | Kale and Almond Crumble | Jumpstart2015

Beetroot and Kale Soup

Beetroot and Kale Soup with a Kale and Almond Crumble – virtuous! 

So, are you really, really fed up of healthy eating now? Have you fallen off the wagon? Or, are you still ‘being good?’

If you started a new healthy eating regime at the beginning of the year, you could be 22 days in, which is amazing, if you’ve stuck to the plan.

Happily, I’m still in the ‘being good’ category. Since the start of the new year, and with the support of some of my fellow bloggers following the #JumpStart 2015 plan, I’m ten pounds down and feeling much lighter and brighter.

…

Read more

Recipe: Polish Wild Mushroom Soup

Wild Mushrooms

Today is a mushroom soup day. The half-term school break was really busy, added to which, I’ve been flu-fighting. Polish wild mushroom soup reminds me of home. I crave warmth, and a strong, earthy flavour when I am sick.  A hearty bowl of soup, a thick blanket and a book. This is a lovely, simple family recipe, rich, yet simple to bring together allowing the mushrooms to speak for themselves.

Wild Mushrooms

A a really good, Polish mushroom soup is very often made with foraged mushrooms, since mushroom hunting is a national pursuit in Poland. I used some beautiful winter chanterelles (kurki in Polish) from Natoora UK, but you could very easily use a mixture of dried forest mushrooms (boletas/borowki/prawdziwki or porcini are the best) with a few fresh chestnut mushrooms thrown in. My mother adores mushroom hunting, just as her mother did, and the throw-back to my childhood is almost instantaneous whenever I cook with mushrooms. I’m very much looking forward to going foraging again when it’s time.

Mushroom Soup

I also separately cooked and added some kasha or kasza, which are pearl or hulled barley groats, which you’ll find in any Polish deli or shop. They added extra substance, and also made this meal stretch much further, since wild mushrooms can be expensive, particularly when out of their usual season. If you can’t find kasza, you could add whole pearl barley, or even some wild rice. You’ll also see instructions below for making a fresh stock (with or without pork ribs) but you can also use a porcini mushrooms cube stock or any vegetable stock as an alternative.

There’s also a Mushroom Soup recipe in my book on Modern Polish Recipes called Wild Honey and Rye, as well as recipes for Rosoł (Polish Chicken Soup), Sour Gherkin Soup, Beetroot Soup and my Mama’s Tomato Soup.

Mushroom Soup

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Polish Wild Mushroom Soup

Prep

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Total

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A a really good Polish wild mushroom soup is very often made with foraged mushrooms, since mushroom hunting is a national pursuit in Poland. I used some beautiful winter chanterelles (kurki in Polish) but you could very easily use a mixture of dried forest mushrooms with a few fresh mushrooms thrown in. It's worth the extra step making the stock, but if you are short on time, you could use shop-bought stock, too. 

Ingredients

To make the fresh stock:

  • 1 kg pork ribs (omit for vegetarian version)
  • 2 carrots 

  • 2 onions
  • 2 stick celery
  • 10g fresh parsley 
 

  • 2 litres of water 

  • 1 bay leaf 

  • 2– 3 allspice berries

Or, use 1.5 litres of shop-bought or stock made with chicken or mushroom stock cubes

  • 40g dried mixed forest mushrooms, soaked in 1 cupful hot water
  • A handful of fresh mushrooms, such as chanterelle, chopped
  • 1 tsp butter
  • 1 tsp olive oil 
  • 1 large onion, very finely chopped
  • 150 ml double cream 

  • 100 g wide egg noodles or kasza (barley groats)
  • 3 tsp cornflour (optional) mixed with a little cold water 
  • Fresh parsley to garnish

Instructions

  1. To make the stock: Roughly cut up the carrots, celery and onion. Add them to a large pot with with the pork ribs (if using) and pour over 1.5 litres of cold water. Add the parsley, bay leaf and allspice berries. Simmer the stock on a very gentle heat (barely boiling) for an hour. Skim any foam that forms with a large spoon and discard. Strain the stock. You can use the pork ribs to make these roasted ribs. 
  2. For the mushroom soup: Strain the soaked mushrooms to remove grit. Chop the mushrooms finely. In a large pan, add the butter and olive oil. Cook the onions for 5-10 minutes until soft.
  3. Add the mushrooms and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally. Pour in the strained rib stock that you made earlier (or 1.5 litres of bought stock) and bring to a boil. Add the liquid from the soaked mushrooms too, avoiding the grit. Simmer for 25 minutes.
  4. To finish: Cook the pasta or kasza/grains according to instructions and drain.
  5. Stir in the cream. If you would like a thicker texture to the soup add the cornflour and stir well. Simmer gently for a further 5 minutes. 
  6. Place the pasta or kasza in the serving bowls and ladle over the soup.
  7. Garnish with parsley. Smacznego! (Bon appétit!)

Courses Soup

Cuisine Polish

Recipe: Butternut, Coconut and Hazelnut Soup

Here in the UK, the sun is shining, the skies are blue and it’s the beginning of January. It’s a little disconcerting. The children have gone back to school, the Christmas tree is down (which means my big bay window and all our light is back) and everyone is on a health kick, including me. I’ve just finished reading a compelling a new book, a gift from my sister in the States, called It Starts With Food. The basic premise is to follow a Paleo-style eating plan, filled with grass-fed meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. The Whole 30 program itself is easy to follow. It’s designed to re-set your system so that you are no longer reliant on sugar or processed foods to fuel your body. It sounds straight-forward and sensible enough. However, eating like a caveman and cutting out wheat, sugar, chocolate, dairy, legumes and most carbohydrates for thirty days means that the plan requires a pretty high level of dedication. I’m happy to say I’m on Day 7 and feeling great. More clarity, less cravings, no desire at all to reach for the biscuit tin. I am missing milk in my tea, but I can start to reintroduce certain things at the end of the thirty days. I’ll give you an update and a little more information when I’ve reached Day 30. Below, I’ve posted my first paleo-friendly recipe for butternut, coconut and hazelnut soup and some helpful links I’ve come across so far.

It Starts With Food

I’m easing myself back into blogging, too after a long break, the longest break I’ve had in two years. I started writing a ‘highlights of 2012’ post and gave up. I started writing a handy ‘how to make your blog shine in 2013’ post and ended up writing half an ebook, so I’m going to plug away at that and see what comes of it. I’ve written and submitted a cookery book proposal. I’m testing and developing recipes for two brands. Things are generally looking bright and shiny. Here’s to a happy and healthy new year.

Butternut Squash and Coconut Soup

Some useful sites that I’ve found while on my new paleo-friendly challenge

Whole 9 Life – including

Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken Soup

A cold winter’s day really only demands one thing – a warming bowl of chicken soup. My favourite word this week when describing soup was ‘restorative’ – exactly what this soup is. This is my mother’s Polish recipe for a soup called Rosół z Kury, a clear soup, usually served with homemade egg noodles or dumplings. It can be made on the stove, in which case it just needs to simmer very, very gently for up to two hours, but I discovered this week that it’s even easier to make slow cooker chicken soup, which needs hardly any babysitting at all. The trick to making a very clear stock soup is to never  let it boil rapidly, which is why it works so well in the calm and consistent heat of a slow cooker. Usually I make my own plain, poured noodles, or Lane Kluski, but this week I tried it with some tiny egg gnocchetti, similar to Spatzle, I found in the fresh pasta section of the shops.

Chicken Soup

[recipe id=”12904″]

Chicken Soup

Lots of you have been getting in touch to say that you’ve been trying my recipes – the Chorizo, Chicken and Chickpea Soup was a big hit, as was the Slow Cooked Beef Brisket. Keep letting me know how you’re getting on. I’d love to see you photos on my facebook page, too.

Happy slow cooking.

Recipe: Chorizo, Chicken and Chickpea Soup

I love making a big pan of soup that uses up lots of ingredients from my store cupboard or leftovers. This chorizo, chicken and chickpea soup ticks both boxes.

The inspiration came to me via Dom’s Random Recipe challenge. This month, we were tasked with selecting a cook book from the shelf to correspond with our birthday date. My birthday is 15th of March, so I picked out the 15th book, which was Ros Dobson’s Whole Food Kitchen. Appropriately for ‘Random’ Recipes, I remember finding this book in a clothes shop sitting beside a large pile of winter clothes as part of their display. I didn’t buy any clothes, but they did sell me the cook book. You can see that my priorities do not lie in fashion!  

Whole Food Kitchen

Anyway, I flicked open the book to page 41 where I found two recipes – Creamy cannellini, leek and sorrel soup or Smoky chorizo and haricot bean soup. Although they both sounded delicious, I had more chance of finding the ingredients for the chorizo soup in the kitchen, so went with that one.

Chicken & Chorizo Soup

As with all good cooking adventures, I departed from the list of ingredients. The basic recipe calls for chorizo sausage, red onion, garlic, Spanish smoked paprika, chopped tomatoes, chicken or vegetable stock, haricot beans and flat leaf parsley. 

I didn’t have haricot beans or Spanish smoked sweet paprika, but I did have a packet of diced smoky chorizo and a tin of chickpeas. I also found a bag of spinach  to use up, a couple of carrots and some leftover roast chicken. For extra texture, I sprinkled in some giant wholegrain cous cous, too. A one-pot meal, bursting with flavour.

Along with some garlic bread, it will make the perfect fodder for keeping warm whilst watching the fireworks in our back garden tonight.

Chicken & Chorizo Soup

Here’s how I made it:

Chickpea, Chicken and Chorizo Soup

Adapted from Ros Dobson’s Whole Food Kitchen

Original recipe – Smoky Chorizo and Haricot Bean Soup

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 150g/one cup smoky chorizo sausage, cubed
  • 1 red onion, chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and grated
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 400g/one  tin chopped tomatoes or passata
  • 750ml/3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or use harricot beans or even lentils)
  • A handful/one cup leftover roast chicken, shredded
  • 150g/one cup giant wholegrain cous cous
  • 160g bag organic spinach
  • A handful of fresh curly parsley

Method:

  • Heat the oil in a large pot, add the chorizo sausage and fry for a few minutes. Once crispy, take out a little bit of chorizo to garnish.
  • Add the red onion, carrot and garlic to the pan and fry for another few minutes until the onion softens.
  • Add the tomatoes, stock, chickpeas, leftover roast chicken and giant cous cous. Cook for around fifteen minutes on a gentle heat, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the bag of spinach and stir through until wilted. Take off the heat and sprinkle over the parsley and some of the crispy chorizo.
  • Serve while piping hot, enjoy!

Chicken & Chrorizo Soup

As well as linking this up to Random Recipes, I am also sending this across to Karen’s Herbs on a Saturday challenge, too as I love adding curly parsley to soups!

Herbs on Saturday

Don’t forget, Simple and in Season is back home this month, you can link up here.

Any ‘random’ clothes shop cookery book purchases on your shelves?!

 

Sweetheart Cabbage and Basil Soup

There are times when I seek simple, wholesome food. Perhaps it’s the weather (we’ve had a rainy spell here) or perhaps I’m slightly panicked by the fact that we’re officially in school holiday territory and my ‘uniform’ of black and baggy simply won’t do for much longer. Either way, my two favourite soups for this kind of mood are homemade chicken soup and this one, homemade Sweetheart Cabbage and Basil Soup.  Both are prescribed in very specific circumstances! 

Sweetheart cabbage is also known as ‘pointed cabbage’ and is pale green in colour. Really, any cabbage can be used for this soup.  Obviously, there is a very well-known cabbage soup diet – and no, I’m not on it. However, I do like cabbage (it is a requirement of being Polish) and this soup uses a whole assortment of seasonal ingredients – British Sweetheart cabbage (I adore the name), courgettes (Zucchini) and baby carrots. If you use fresh tomatoes, they would be in season too, perhaps even home grown. I always keep a pot of fresh basil growing on my kitchen window – so technically, that’s in season too. If you wanted to add extra substance, you could add a tin of organic chickpeas or perhaps butter beans.

You could also very easily give this soup a French makeover, by adding a tablespoon of fresh green pesto at the end, making it a more like a Soup au Pistou. It also tastes even better with a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan over the top. Far from being reminiscent of over-boiled cabbage of school days, this soup is light, the cabbage has a ‘bite’ and it is strangely comforting.

It goes without saying, I’m adding the link to July’s round of Simple and in Season…don’t forget to add your seasonal recipes too.
 

Tomorrow I’ll be back to baking cakes for an end of term party. I also have a chocolate making course I attended to tell you about and a lovely baked blueberry cheesecake recipe to share…  

Sweetheart Cabbage & Basil Soup
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

A few sprays or one tablespoon of olive oil
1 Large white onion, chopped
8 Baby carrots, chopped into small cubes
1 Sweetheart/Pointed cabbage, shredded
3 Courgettes/Zucchini, cubed 
1 Tin tomatoes or 4 fresh tomatoes, peeled and de-seeded
1 Tablespoon tomato puree
1.5 litres chicken or vegetable stock ( a cube made up is fine)
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 Fresh basil leaves

Method:

1. Spray a large pan with olive oil spray or heat one tablespoon of olive oil.

2. Gently fry the chopped onions until they start to soften. Add your chopped carrots and cook for a further few minutes.

3. Add in the shredded cabbage and pour in the vegetable or chicken stock, add the tin of tomatoes and tomato puree. Make sure all the vegetables are covered with stock, if not, add some more liquid. Simmer for fifteen minutes.

4. Add in the cubed courgette/zucchini and cook for a further five minutes.

5. At the end, season with a twist of black pepper, a tablespoon of soy sauce and throw in a handful of basil leaves.  

 

Tom Yum Soup – World Foods Taste Team Challenge

This week I’ve been sampling more products from the World Foods range as a member of their Fusion Taste Team.

Challenge #3 was to try out a Tom Yum soup using the World Foods Thai Tom Yum Paste.

Tom Yum is a soup which has quite a distinctive orange colour and is quite fragrant, usually fairly spicy and a touch sour. The World Foods Tom Yum paste is with lemon grass, kaffir lime, galangal, lime juice, fish sauce and chilli.

This one was very quick and easy to make, I just added the Tom Yum sauce to a wok, added some water, brought it to the boil, threw in some prawns (to make a Tom Yum Kung) and used coriander to garnish. It is optional to add coconut milk and I did add a tiny bit towards the end just to soften down the spice a bit. My husband tried it and said “Wow, that’s got a kick to it, lovely” (translate: I love spicy food, why don’t you cook it more often?!” For me, it was really quite spicy so I added more coconut milk. It definitely had a very authentic Thai flavour and was easy to use, so a great store cupboard stand-by.
You could add chicken which makes it a Tom Yum Kai or fish for a Tom Yum Pla. You can add rice to the soup and straw mushrooms too. You can also use to paste to make a fried rice so as a basic paste I would say it is quite versatile.
Don’t forget to pop over to the World Foods Facebook Page and “like” them as they very often host some great giveaways and competitions.  The products are available at Tesco stores.