Marrowfat Pea and Ham Soup

I haven't posted anything for a while, but I made this for taster night at group this week, so thought I'd share the recipe. It's very filling, and just the thing to warm you up as the nights start drawing in.

It's based on a recipe I found for Lancashire Pea and Ham Soup, but I've simplified and slimmified it.  The original recipe calls for a ham shank, but I used a cooked ham joint instead.  It also has chopped carrots in it, but my other half isn't keen so I left them out. Add them back in if you like.

Ingredients

500g dried marrowfat peas

500g cooked ham joint, cubed

2 onions, finely chopped

3-4 celery sticks, finely sliced

A few sprigs of thyme

2-3 chicken stock cubes

Water 

A handful of chopped fresh parsley

Method

1. Prepare your dried marrowfat peas. Either: 

- soak them in tepid water overnight (about 8 hours) 

or

- boil them up in a pan of water for 3 minutes, and then cover and simmer for a further 45 to 60 minutes until the peas are tender.

2.  Drain your prepared peas, and put in a large heavy saucepan / stockpot with the ham, onion, celery, thyme, 2 chicken stock cubes and 4 pints of water.  Bring to the boil then turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours.

3. At this point the original recipe says to liquidise half the soup, but I skipped this step.

4. For best results, make a day in advance and refrigerate overnight.  Reheat for 15-20 minutes the next day, adding water to loosen it if necessary.

5. Before serving, stir the parsley through and check the seasoning. You might want to add another stock cube if you think it needs it, plus the usual salt and pepper of course.

Euro 2016 Food Challenge: Romania: Sour Chicken Soup

This is very definitely sour, but I quite like it!  You can put noodles in it too, but it's weigh day today so I'm being extra good.

Ingredients

2 chicken thighs, bone in but skin removed

2 small onions, diced

2 celery sticks, sliced

3 medium carrots, diced

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 pints chicken stock

A handful of fresh parsley, chopped

4 tbsp reduced fat soured cream

Juice of 1 lemon

Fry the onion, carrot and celery until the onion is translucent. Add the chicken thighs and brown them on each side.  

Stir in the garlic, parsley and stock. Simmer on the hob until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove the chicken thighs, strip the meat off the bones and shred the flesh.  Add the shredded chicken back into the soup.  Stir in the lemon juice and soured cream. Season and serve.

Euro 2016 Food Challenge: France: Summery Pistou Soup

Having holidayed, studied and lived in France at various points in my life, I'm no stranger to French cuisine, so for the Challenge I wanted to do a dish I've never tried before. So I found this. A summery, minestrone type soup characterised by its Pistou sauce - basically a French pesto.  Intensely garlicky, but simple, fresh, healthy, and very tasty.

Ingredients 

2 leeks

1 courgette

3 tomatoes 

100g green beans

1 can cannellini / haricot beans, drained and rinsed

2 pints vegetable / chicken stock

Frylight

Basil

Garlic

Olive oil

Chop all the veg.  Spray a stockpot with Frylight and fry the leeks until wilted. Add the rest of the veg and the beans and fry for another minute. Add the stock and cook for about 20 minutes.

Now make the Pistou sauce.  Chop a handful of basil. Peel 1-2 garlic cloves, chop roughly, then sprinkle over some rock salt and grind the garlic to a paste with the back of your knife. Stir through the basil and add enough olive oil to bring it together as a sauce (synned as necessary - I used 1 tbsp).

Serve the soup with a spoon of the Pistou sauce on top.

Euro 2016 Food Challenge: Ukraine: Borscht

This could probably count for a few countries, but my recipe book says it's Ukrainian so I'll go with that.

This recipe is incredibly easy, and makes loads so you can freeze some for another day.  The original recipe used raw beetroot, but I'm lazy so use pre-cooked!

Ingredients
1 large onion
3 fat garlic cloves
3 large carrots
1stick of celery
600g cooked beetroot (2 Asda packs = 10 beets)
A big squirt of tomato puree
1 chicken stockpot
2 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp paprika
2 pints boiling water

Peel the onion, carrots and garlic.  Finely chop all the veg (or blitz in a food processor).  Put in a large stock pot with the rest of the ingredients.  Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 45-60 minutes.

Serve as it is if you want to leave it chunky, or blend for a smoother texture. Season to taste. Serve with a dollop of soured cream if you have syns to spare.

Euro 2016 Food Challenge: Portugal: Caldo Verde

Caldo Verde, a.k.a. Portuguese Green Soup.  This is the only Portuguese recipe I know, but it's one of my favourites, and as chorizo is so high in syns I thought I'd have a bash at a syn-free version. 

I first saw this on one of the Hairy Bikers' programmes, and I've cooked their recipe so many times I know it off by heart:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/caldoverdeportuguese_73565

In my slimmed-down version, I've swapped the chorizo for gammon and smoked paprika, and used a mix of swede and potato to up the speed food content. 

Ingredients

Frylight

2 large onions, peeled and sliced

4 garlic cloves, sliced

1 large potato, peeled and diced

300g diced swede

250g lean smoked gammon / bacon, cubed

1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

1 tsp hot smoked paprika

2 pints chicken or vegetable stock

2 bay leaves

A large bunch of spring greens, finely shredded

Spray a large stock pot with Frylight and sweat the onion over a low heat until translucent.  Add the garlic and gammon, and fry for another couple of minutes before adding the potato and swede.

Add the paprika and stir well to combine. 

Fry for a couple more minutes then add the stock and bay leaves. Simmer over a lowish heat until the potato and swede are cooked.

Use a potato masher to mash the potato and swede into the soup.

Put the greens into a pan, pour over boiling water and leave to stand for a minute.

Drain the greens and add to the soup one spoon at a time until you get the consistency you like (if you want a heavy soup add more, for a lighter soup add less).

Season and serve.

Carrot, Coriander, Quinoa and Ginger Soup

Another recipe adapted from the Best of Quinoa book. I cooked this up for my parents at lunchtime, and they loved it.

1 onion

4 cloves garlic

5 cm fresh ginger root

2 tsp ground coriander 

1kg carrots

3 pints hot vegetable or chicken stock

80g quinoa

0.5 pints hot water

1 handful coriander leaves

Peel and slice the onion, garlic and ginger (quick tip: the easiest way to peel ginger is by scraping the skin off with the back of a teaspoon).

Spray a large stockpot with Frylight. Fry the onion, garlic and ginger on a low heat, until the onion has softened.

Peel and roughly chop the carrots. Add to the pot with the ground coriander and fry for a further 30 seconds before adding the stock.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 40-50 minutes. 

Blend the soup.  Return to the pan and add the quinoa and hot water.  Simmer for another 10 minutes.  

Chop the coriander leaves and stir them through the finished soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted Squash and Sage Soup

I confess this is my other half's concoction... Super easy and super tasty, the instructions are a bit approximate though (that's how we cook in our house).  The amount of stock will depend on the size of the squash and how thick you like it. I'd start with a pint and add more if you need it.

• 1 Squash (any variety), peeled and in thick slices / chunks

• 1-2 Red Onions, peeled and roughly chopped 

• 1-2 Carrots, peeled and roughly chopped 

• Garlic Cloves, peeled

• A handful of sage leaves 

• Frylight 

• Chicken Stock

1. Toss the veg and sage together with some Frylight and roast in the oven until the veg is cooked (200C, keep checking on it until it's soft).

2. Mix with chicken stock

3. Blend

4. Heat through and serve