Category: Soup

Pumpkin Soup

  • All the shops here in England are filled with pumpkins for Halloween, which is celebrated by many.
  • In Poland it is the Christian feasts of All Saints & All Souls on November 1st & 2nd that are celebrated with many people trying to get home to their relatives graves to clean them up and put grave candles on them.
  • As there are all these pumpkins – dynia -in Polish- I thought I would try out a pumpkin soup.
  • This is a very tasty yet simple soup.
  • I have added a couple of options.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pumpkin – small to medium – around 500g of flesh.
  • 1 large onion
  • Butter for frying the onion
  • 1½ litres of vegetable or chicken stock
  • ¼ teaspoon of ground paprika
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • *
  • OPTION 1 – ½ a red pepper
  • OPTION 2 – 1 red pepper
  • OPTION 3 – roasted pumpkin seeds (not tested)

METHOD

  • Peel the skin off the pumpkin.
  • Cut the pumpkin into pieces – leaving the core.
  • Cut the flesh into small chunks.
  • Chop the onion into small pieces.
  • Fry the onion until it is golden – even turning slightly brown.
  • Add the pumpkin and the fried onion to the stock and heat to boiling.
  • Turn down to simmer.
  • Simmer until the pumpkin flesh is soft.
  • Add the paprika.
  • Use a stick blender to purée the soup.
  • Bring back to boiling and serve straight away.
  • *
  • OPTION 1
  • Chop up ½ a red pepper and blanch and simmer for a few minutes.
  • Add some to each serving of soup.
  • *
  • OPTION 2
  • Chop up  1 pepper and add it after you have puréed the soup.
  • Simmer for around 10 minutes.
  • *
  • OPTION 3 – NOT TESTED
  • Add some roasted pumpkin seeds to each serving.
  • You can clean up and roast the pumpkin seeds from your own pumpkin.
  • *
  • Royal Doulton Carnation rimmed soup plate 
  • Royal Doulton Burgundy rimmed soup plate 
  • Johnson Snowhite bowl.

White Fish & Pepper Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 onions
  • 2 red peppers
  • Around 250g of white fish – cod, plaice, basa etc
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • ½ teaspoon hot paprika
  • A little sunflower oil
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • *
  • Optional – chopped parsley or chives to garnish 

Method

  • Cut the onion in half and then slice it thinly.
  • De-seed the peppers and then cut into long thin slices.
  • Lightly fry the onion and peppers in a little sunflower oil till soft.
  • Add the paprika and the vegetable stock.
  • Bring to the boil and then simmer gently for around 10 minutes.
  • Add the pieces of fish and simmer for around 15 minutes.
  • Take out the fish, remove any skin and cut into chunks.
  • Put the fish back into the soup.
  • Stir.
  • Season if necessary.
  • *
  • Garnish with green herbs if you have them.
  • *
  •  Great with crusty French style bread.

Served in a Royal Doulton Burgundy rimmed soup plate.

Celeriac & Apple Soup

  • I tried out this new recipe yesterday and it was delicious.
  • The balance of flavours can be adjusted depending on how large your celeriac is and how many apples you have.
  • Bramley cooking apples or other sour apples are needed as the soup is not intended to be sweet – more the sourness that is so popular in many Polish dishes.
  • This soup is one that is served warm.

Ingredients

  • 1 celeriac
  • 3 – 4 large Bramley apples.
  • 2-3 tablespoons of butter
  • 1½ litres of vegetable stock ( I use Marigold powder)
  • 125ml of dry sherry or wine
  • Salt & Pepper to taste.

Method

  • Peel the celeriac and chop it into small pieces.
  • Peel and core the apples and chop them into small pieces.
  • Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the celeriac and apples.
  • Heat then gently to soften but do not brown.
  • Add the stock and bring to the boil.
  • Put the lid on the saucepan and then simmer until the celeriac is soft.
  • Use a stick blender to purée the soup.
  • Season to taste.
  • Stir in the sherry and serve.

Meakin – Spanish garden soup dish

Salmon & Pepper Soup

  • This soup is delicious and I think it will be the basis of at least two other recipes.
  • It is based on one found in one of my recent book purchases in Wrocław.
  • Łosoś is salmon in Polish
  • Did you know that Poland is a big importer of salmon, much of which comes from Sweden?

Ingredients

  • 2 onions
  • 3 peppers – different colours
  • 200-300g fresh salmon -(1-2 whole pieces best)
  • 1½ litres vegetable stock
  • ½ teaspoon hot paprika
  • A little sunflower oil
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • *
  • Optional – chopped flat leaved parsley or chives to garnish 

Method

  • Cut the onions in half and then slice then thinly.
  • De-seed the peppers and then cut into long thin slices.
  • Lightly fry the onion and peppers in a little sunflower oil till soft.
  • Add the paprika and the vegetable stock.
  • Bring to the boil and then simmer gently for around 10 minutes.
  • Add the pieces of salmon and simmer for around 15 minutes.
  • Take out the salmon, remove the skin and cut into chunks.
  • Put the salmon back into the soup.
  • Season if necessary.
  • *
  • Garnish with green herbs if you have them.
  • *
  •  Great with crusty French style bread.

Served in a Royal Doulton – Carnation Soup Plate.

Peach Soup

  • This is a super soup which can be served warm or chilled.
  • A dollop of yoghourt is good with the chilled version.
  • I prefered it warm even though this is summer fruit.

Ingredients

  • 6 peaches or nectarines
  • 250 ml white wine
  • 80g granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of ground cloves
  • Pinch of ground ginger
  • *
  • Optional – dollop of yoghurt for serving when chilled 

Method

  • Quarter the fruit and remove the stones.
  • Put the fruit, sugar and spices in a pan with the wine.
  • Simmer the fruit in the wine for around 15 minutes until they are soft.
  • Blend the mixture with a stick blender.
  • Serve warm or chilled.

Served in Royal Doulton Burgundy and Bavaria China

White Bean Soup – Ułańska

  • I made this soup recently and it was delicious.
  • I am very curious about the name – maybe one of you knows the history?
  • The ułani are the Uhlans – The Lancers.
  • A cavalry regiment famous in many patriotic folksongs such as  
  • ‘Hej, Hej ułani’
  • *
  • What is the relationship between them and this soup?
  • I cannot envisage them having these ingredients on their travels!

Ingredients

  • 200g thick cut bacon – cut into small pieces
  • 2 onions – chopped fine
  • 2 cloves of garlic – chopped
  • 1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 tin of cannellini beans – drained
  • 60g ‘big’ dried pasta
  • 250 soured cream
  • Pinch of paprika
  • Ground pepper to taste
  • Sunflower to fry the onions

Method

  • Gently fry the onions in sunflower oil till soft.
  • Add the garlic, mix and fry a little more.
  • Add the bacon and fry for a few minutes more.
  • Add the pinch of paprika.
  • Add the chicken stock and simmer for around 30 minutes.
  • Add the beans and the pasta and simmer until the pasta is cooked.
  • Add ground pepper to taste.
  • Stir in the soured cream and serve.
  • *
  • Option – you can omit the soured cream – still nice.

Served in Royal Stafford – Blossom Time

Rhubarb Soup – 2

  • This is a  variation on my earlier post of rhubarb soup,  in fruit soups, which is usually served chilled.
  • This one is best served warm.
  • It is based on one in a recent book purchase from my trip to Wrocław. 
  • Some of the sweetnest is achieved by using prunes.

Ingredients

  • 100g prunes
  • Rind of 1 lemon
  • 400g of  rhubarb – chopped into small pieces
  • 1½ litres of water
  • 100g of granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of potato flour
  • 180ml of soured cream

Method

  • Put the prunes in the water and leave to stand for an hour.
  • Add the lemon rind and simmer for a while.
  • Add the chopped rhubarb and bring to the boil.
  • Simmer gently until the rhubarb is cooked.
  • Sieve the liquid.
  • Add the sugar to the liquid.
  • Mix the potato flour with a little cold water.
  • Add the potato flour mix.
  • Heat gently with stirring until the soup thickens.
  • Add the soured cream.

Served warm

Can be served with sponge fingers.

Alfred Meakin – Spanish Garden Dish

Cauliflower & White Bean Soup

  • This is a lovely “creamy” soup

Ingredients

  • 1 small cauliflower – cut into chunks – including the stalk
  • 1 tin of cannellini beans (haricot beans should be okay) – drained
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 litre of chicken stock (can be from a cube, powder or concentrate)
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • *

  • Optional

  • Sprinkling of finely chopped rosemary or chives
  • Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil for each serving

Method

  • Heat the olive oil gently and add the cauliflower.
  • Cook gently for around 5 minutes.
  • Add the stock and simmer gently for around 10 minutes until the cauliflower is soft.
  • Add half of the beans and heat together for around 5 minutes.
  • Remove from the heat and purée with a stick blender.
  • Add the remaining beans and a little water if the soup is too thick.
  • Reheat gently and simmer for a few minutes.
  • Season to taste.
  • *
  • Sprinkle each portion with rosemary or chives.
  • Drizzle with extra virgin olive.

Served in a Bavarian china dish

Butternut Squash Soup

  • I was looking for a recipe for pumpkin – dynia in Polish – soup and found one in what I call my Polish Classic “bible”.
  • I will try this out in the autumn but as there are lots of butternut squashes – dynia piżmowa  or dynia orzechowa– in Polish – in the shops at the moment I decided to try this instead.
  • I have never really cooked with butternut squash before and my main piece of advice is to be very careful peeling it.
  • I found it is best to slice off the top and bottom with a sharp knife or cleaver.
  • I found it easier to then cut it into two horizontally  and have the cut surface on a board.
  • Then use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin.
  • The soup has a mild sweet taste.

Ingredients

  • 1 butternut squash
  • 2 onions
  • 2 red or orange peppers
  • 1 ½ litres of vegetable stock
  • Around 3 tablespoons of butter
  • 125ml soured cream
  • Salt & pepper & sugar to taste.
  • *
  • Extra teaspoons of soured cream to serve

Method

  • Peel the butternut squash,
  • Chop the squash into chunks.
  • Chop the onions into small pieces.
  • Chop up the peppers and remove the seeds.
  • Gently fry the onions in the butter till golden,
  • Add the peppers and fry for a minute or two.
  • Add the vegetable stock and simmer for around 10 minutes.
  • Add the butternut squash and simmer for another 10 minutes or so.
  • Use a stick blender to purée the soup.
  • Season to taste.
  • Add the soured cream and stir before serving.
  • *
  • Add an extra teaspoon of soured cream to each serving if you want,

Meakin – Spanish Garden soup dish.

Another Carrot Soup

  • This is a French recipe known as Potage à la Cressy because the best carrots are said to be grown in France in the area of Cressy.
  • There are several versions of this soup with potatoes being added in some.

Ingredients

  • 8 medium/large carrots
  • 1 head of celery
  • 2 onions
  • 2 tablespoons of butter
  • 100g boiled ham
  • 4 grains of allspice
  • 1.5 litres of vegetable stock
  • Salt & pepper to taste 
  • Sugar – optional
  • *
  • A few chopped celery, lovage leaves or chives to garnish.

Method

  • Chop the onions into small pieces.
  • Gently fry the onions in the butter until golden.
  • Chop the celery stems into small pieces and add these to the onions.
  • Peel and chop the carrots into small circles.
  • Chop the celery into small pieces.
  • Chop the boiled ham into small pieces.
  • Place then all into a large saucepan with the stock.
  • Add the all spice.
  • Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and leave it all to simmer.
  • Place the lid on the saucepan and let the soup cook for until the carrots and celery are soft.
  • This may take over an hour.
  • Use a stick blender to purée the soup.
  • Season to taste.
  • Add a little sugar – optional.
  • *
  • Garnish with chopped leaves if available.
  • Royal Doulton Burgundy soup plates.