Category: Soup

Autumn has arrived in England and soup is back on the menu. My mother wasn’t big on prepared or convenience food when we were young. One thing that slipped through her objections was Campbells Bean & Bacon soup. It was my favourite. Time to re-create Bean & Bacon as part of my project to reclaim convenience foods.

I use dried beans in my cooking, they are easier to store than canned beans and last more or less forever. Covid lockdowns made me a bit of a hoarder and some of my dried beans are from 2020. Still good. The other reason to use dried beans is that you can use the ‘hot soak’ method to soften them. Hot soak method reduces the amount of gas that bean dishes produce in humans. Nothing eliminates the consequences of bean consumption but hot soak, in my experience, reduces it significantly.

The recipe below includes instructions for using dried beans and canned beans. The only difference is cooking time. A mini-chopper is very useful for the vegetables and a stick blender great to puree some soup to thicken.

Let’s cook.

Recipe

Ingredients

380 grams (2 cups by volume) dried white beans (navy beans) OR 2 x 425 gram (15 ounce) cans of beans

8 strips of smoked streaky bacon, cut into small pieces

Lard or butter to sauté bacon and vegetables

1 medium onion, finely diced

3 medium carrots, diced

3 stalks of celery, diced

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

110 grams (4 tablespoons) tomato paste

500 mls (2 cups) of pork or ham stock

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons of brandy or cognac

Method

1. If using dried beans, follow instructions here for soaking methods. Otherwise, open your tins of beans.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
3. Sautè the bacon until crisp in the lard or butter in a large deep oven proof casserole (Dutch oven) or a skillet. Your le Creuset or similar is perfect. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon to drain on kitchen towel.
4. Add the onions to the pan and cook over medium high heat until transparent. Pour the brandy over the onions and turn up to high to cook off the alcohol.
5. Return heat to medium, add the carrots and the celery and cook until they start to soften – 5 minutes or so.
6. Add the spices and the tomato paste, stir to coat the vegetables well. Add the stock and the beans and bring to a simmer. Stir in the bacon.
7. Put the cover on the pot and transfer to the oven. Check once an hour or so, stir and add more water if necessary. Canned beans – may be ready in 90 minutes, if you started with dried beans the soup may take 2 1/2 or 3 hours for the beans to reach the desired softness.
8. Remove from the oven; transfer one or two ladles of beans to your blender or liquidiser. Blend and return to the soup to thicken it.
9. Garnish with additional crispy bacon or slices of sausage if desired, serve warm with crusty bread.
   

Thank you for reading the blog. Let me know how the recipe works (or doesn’t) for you in the comments or tag me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

We have a weekly delivery of box of organic vegetables. It’s a self imposed challenge to use up whatever they send. I’ve got 3 choices for ‘do not send’ – these are currently occupied by beetroot (beets you Americans), Brussell sprouts and avocado. It’s not just organic – they work hard on reducing the travel miles on the vegetables. Hence, the humble swede appears frequently in the box.

Why is it called rutabaga in America? And what is a turnip if its not a baby swede? Who knows, the weird and wonderful names of vegetables are beyond my expertise.

When a boring root vegetable appears – soup is the answer. Oven roasting does wonders for root vegetables going into soup, really adds a layer of taste. It’s worth the extra prep time and clean up. I like to really scorch the swede just to the edge of burnt. I did it by accident – oh the dangers of multi tasking a well known recipe – and now it’s required by the Davinator.

Handy tools for this recipe: parchment paper for roasting, a mandolin for slicing in the vegetables, a stick blender to puree the soup at the end. Or a good sized blender. Can also be done in a food processor but both of those alternatives add messy clean up steps.

I add croutons and sautéed chorizo to make the soup a meal. If you’re feeling a need for more vegetables, a green salad on the side would be lovely.

Make this recipe vegan by omitting the butter and avoiding cream or chorizo.

Let’s get cooking.

Ingredients

The recipe proportions are for 450 grams of swede. Adjust if your swede is larger or smaller. Usually larger, in my experience.

• 1 swede, peeled and cut into 2 cm (1 inch) cubes
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 onion (mandolin into the soup or chop well)
• 2 tablespoons of brandy (trust me)
• 2 medium carrots (mandolin into the soup or chop well)
• 2 stalks of celery (mandolin into the soup or chop well)
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1.25 litres vegetable stock
• Optional garnish: cream, croutons, fried chorizo
• Plain bread croutons – 6 to 8 generous sized croutons per bowl of soup
• 50 grams of chorizo per bowl of soup

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C(fan)200C(nonfan)/400F
2. Peel the swede and cut into 2 cm (1 inch) cubes
3. Put some olive, salt and pepper in a bowl, add the cubes of swede and toss
4. Line baking trays with parchment paper and put the well coated swede in a single layer on the baking trays. Don’t crowd the cubes together because then it steams more than roasts.
5. Roast for 20 mins, remove, turn thoroughly with a spatula, return to the oven for another 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the swede, you want to caramelise not burn but the more brown the better.
6. Meanwhile, heat another tablespoon of olive oil and a similar amount of butter in a large deep saucepan. Add the onions – either pre-chopped or mandolin. Cook over medium heat until well translucent. Pour the brandy or cognac over the onions and turn up the heat to burn off the alcohol. (Sniff the vapours, you’ll know when the alcohol is gone).
7. Return pan heat to medium, add the carrots, celery and thyme. Cook for another five minutes, add the stock and the roasted swede.
8. Bring to a gentle boil, cover and cook for 25-30 minutes. Turn the heat down once you’ve covered the mixture so it’s just ticking over.
9. Purée the soup by your chosen method – if you tneed the exercise, you can put the soup through a ricer or a potato press as an alternative. Return the soup to the pan and cover while you prepare the garnish.
10. If you’re adding chorizo, slice into diagonal rounds and add to a warm skillet, sauté to release the oil and throw the croutons in. The chorizo will shrink and look a bit dry but it makes the flavour more concentrated and the fried croutons are little flavour bombs.
11. Serve in pre-warmed bowls, with a swirl of cream if you want and your choice of garnish.

Thank you for reading and sharing the blog and the recipes. Tag me on Twitter or Instagram @mamadolson if you post a photo.

This is one of our favourite winter soups; traditionally we have this on Christmas Eve with the world’s greatest toasted cheese sandwiches. This recipe is based on one from the original Silver Palate cookbook. I’ve adjusted the seasoning and changed how the cheese is incorporated. The soup keeps much better when the cheese is added as a topping when serving it. Also – cheese can curdle unpredictably. Nothing like making a big vat of soup and then ruining it at the list minute.

Making this soup is easy, especially if you have a quality stick blender. I have a commercial standard one that could double as an outboard motor – if I could only find someplace to plug it in.

Another useful gadget is a handheld mandolin slicer; I slice the onions and the carrots straight into the pot with mine. Be careful – until you get used to the mandolin, you may lose the skin on the ends of your fingers. Several times in my case.

Easy to make a vegan version of this soup – substitute a light vegetable or nut oil for the butter and be careful with your vegetable stock. Remember that many commercial stock cubes are not vegan or even vegetarian (even vegetable stock).

Let’s get straight to the recipe.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 85 grams unsalted butter
• 150 grams chopped or sliced onions
• 350 grams chopped or sliced carrots
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 2 litres vegetable stock, divided
• 900 grams of potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes
• salt and pepper to taste
• Cheddar cheese for grating to serve.

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in a deep stock pot.
2. Add the onions and the carrots, cook over a low heat until these are tender and lightly coloured, about 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the pot so it doesn’t scorch on the bottom.
3. Add the parsley, 1.5 litres of the stock and the potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until potatoes are very tender, about 20 minutes.
4. Puree the soup; easiest in the pot using a stick blender. Also can be done in a blender or a food processor. Separate the stock and the vegetables, retaining the stock. Put the softened vegetables in the blender or food processor, add enough stock to moisten (300 mls) and puree. Return the pureed soup to the pot.
5. Adjust the consistency using the extra stock if necessary. It will thicken as it cools. Taste for salt and pepper and season as necessary.
6. The soup will keep at this point for 3 days in the refrigerator; remove and heat up to serve.
7. Grate enough cheddar cheese to allow for a generous topping for everyone’s soup.
   
   

I’m trying to post all of my festive period menus and recipes. More coming soon.

It’s that time of year – the clocks have gone back, it’s cold, damp and dark. We need comfort food. I hope the baking followers are not too disappointed with a blog or two on great autumn and winter food. I’m also on a mission to eat more vegetables – not that easy for someone who doesn’t really like salad.

This roasted cauliflower soup ticks all the boxes. And it is suitable for those on a keto or low carb diet. Easy to make a vegan version – omit the bacon and swap in some grated vegan cheese at the end. If you’re trying for a vegan version be careful about stock cubes – even vegetable stock cubes may not be vegan.

The cauliflower is oven roasted before being included in the soup. This gives another layer of flavour to the soup, making it even more satisfying. If you’ve never had roasted cauliflower before you may find yourself just eating the roasted cauliflower and abandoning the soup. At least the first time.

My soup comes out with a dark tint because of the rich vegetable stock I use, my tendency towards lots of black pepper and very caramelised cauliflower. You could use a lighter chicken stock and less pepper if you wanted a whiter soup.

The Davinator has suggested an explanatory note. I made the soup, garnished it and then we ate it. Forgetting to take a photo. So the next day when we ate the leftovers I said ‘where is the leftover bacon?’. Apparently ‘someone’ had eaten the rest of the bacon. So we tore some lovely prosciutto into shreds and had that on our soup.

Makes four generous servings of soup.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 large cauliflower head
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• 200 grams unsmoked bacon lardons
• 3 additional tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 large leek, chopped small
• 2 celery stalks, chopped small
• 1 large carrot, chopped small
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 30 mls cooking brandy
• 2 vegetable stock cubes
• Approximately one litre of boiling water
• 50 grams of cheddar cheese
• Fresh chopped chives or parsley to garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 220C (450f).
2. Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil, with sea salt and pepper in a roasting tin and then in the oven.
3. Chop the cauliflower into florets. Don’t need to be elegant, you’re going to blend the soup at the end. However, you want smaller florets for more even caramelisation and quicker cooking.
4. Carefully remove the hot roasting tin, tip the cauliflower in and stir to coat the florets in the hot oil and spices. Put the tin back in the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Meanwhile work on the other vegetables and soup base.
5. Use a deep heavy bottomed stock pot – coat the bottom with additional olive oil then add the bacon lardons. Cook until crisp. Remove from the stock pot with a slotted spoon and drain on some paper towel.
6. Add the vegetables and the garlic to the pot. Cook over medium heat until well wilted. Add the cooking brandy, turn the heat to high and burn off the alcohol.
7. Turn back to medium heat. Drop the stock cubes in, add the hot water and bring to a boil, dissolving the stock cubes.
8. Add the cauliflower and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes.
9. Puree your soup using a stick blender or your actual blender.
10. Grate the cheese and chop the herbs.
11. Serve in bowls topped with cheese, bacon and herbs.

Thank you for reading, following, commenting and cooking along. Please send requests, comments and questions.

I don’t like beetroot (beets for los Americanos).  It tastes like dirt to me – just saying. But there are some in my household who do love beetroot and I cook it for them.

Here’s my go to borscht,  based on a Martha Stewart recipe. Like all soup recipes, it’s flexible so you can add and subtract vegetables and seasonings based on what you have on hand and what you like. Other than the beetroot obviously.

My top tip for working with beetroot – wear thin rubber globes and put a layer of cling film or plastic wrap on anything you don’t want stained a red and purple.  People will be thinking there’s been a murder in your kitchen if you’re not careful.

The beetroot and other vegetables must be roasted before being included in the soup, so leave time for roasting.

Make this recipe vegetarian or vegan friendly by eliminating the bacon and serving with some fried chunks of tofu on top.  Also be careful with your stock cube.  Many commercial stock cubes – even the vegetable stock – can have animal products in them.

Ingredients

1 kilo of beetroot – scrubbed, peeled and cut into chunks about 2.5 cms square

500 grams of potatoes – scrubbed, peeled and cut into chunks about 2.5 cms square

500 grams of carrots – scrubbed and cut into chunks

8 rashers of streaky bacon

2 large shallots

Generous slug of cooking brandy

2 tablespoons high quality olive oil plus another tablespoon and a pat of butter

5 sprigs fresh thyme

Coarse salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 litre of high quality vegetable stock

Sour cream, creme fraiche or greek yogurt for serving, plus fresh chives or parsley

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 180c fan or 200 non-fan.  Combine beets, potatoes and carrots with  2 tablespoons of olive oil and thyme in a roasting pan or pans – in a single layer.  Cook for 45 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through.
2.  About 10 minutes before vegetables are finished roasting, chop shallots and cut the bacon into small chunks.  Saute in remaining olive oil and butter over medium heat in a soup pot until lovely and soft.  Add the cooking brandy, and cook over high to cook off all the alcohol.    Get the vegetable stock ready.
3. Combine roasted beets, potatoes and carrots with the bacon and shallots and vegetable stock  in the soup pot.   Bring to a simmer over medium high heat.  Cook until all vegetables are tender.
4. Puree with a soup blender for a super smooth texture or use your potato masher for a coarser texture.
5. Stir in the vinegar.  Put in the bowls, add the Greek yogurt and chives, pair with some of Mama Dolson’s famous rye bread and enjoy!