So I decided to kill two birds with one stone. She needed entertaining and I needed to use up the potatoes that were starting to take root in the veg rack (the problem with buying veg from a supermarket is you never know how long it's been there for) and a couple of tins of creamed sweetcorn that were edging closer to their expiry date (end of this month actually - ekk! Not sure how that happened!) The first thing that sprung to mind was a big pan of potato and sweetcorn soup, normally a winter staple (quick, easy, filling, and warming) but given the less than summery weather we've been having, it seemed perfect!
I love making soup, I just don't do it very often unfortunately (could that be one of my resolutions in my quest for Domestic Goddess-ness??) There's nothing better, or more satisfying, than turning a pile of veggies into a delicious hug in a bowl, and that is what a good soup should be in my opinion. You can keep your poncey gazpachos (cold soup is just wrong!)just give me a thick broth that nearly takes the roof off your mouth in its quest to give you a big, fat cuddle. It probably comes from my childhood of chicken broth, full of pearl barley, veggies, potatoes and whatever was left in the cupboards by the end of the week (and actually very little chicken but made with the stock from the carcass) that we used to get for tea on a Thursday night if we'd been lucky enough to have chicken the Sunday before.
I used to follow a recipe for sweetcorn soup, once upon a time. But that didn't last long and now I just fling in ingredients depending on my mood. This soup had an onion and some potato, sweated down in olive oil and butter, garlic, chili flakes, 2 tins of creamed sweetcorn, the remnants from the bag of frozen sweetcorn and a bit of vegetable stock. I'm currently favouring the knorr stock pots, expensive but worth it, especially the herby infusion one I 'treated' myself to last week. (Yes, I am aware that as a fledgling Domestic Goddess I should be making my own stocks, but I am sure Nigella would excuse the shortcut) It was done in half an hour or so, although I like to keep it just off simmer for up to an hour or more, til the potato is so soft some of it melts into the soup. Now once finished most people would get out the liquidiser and blitz away to make it all velvety and soft. Not me. I like it just the way it is, and the presence of the creamed sweetcorn gives it a lovely thick texture without all that unnecessary blitzing. And in my opinion, chunky soups are way more satisfying! I should have taken a photo to tease you all with its deliciousness but I was too eager to get it in the bowl, and get it eaten! And even Caoimhe tucked in, not bad for a fussy toddler!
But just in case you are missing a lovely picture of food to tickle your taste buds, here's the chocolate bread we made while the soup was cooking:
Don't get too excited, I have to shamefully admit it was from a mix. In my defence I didn't buy it, Himself did on one of the rare occasions he went shopping without me, he thought I would like to make it with the Flip Flop, which is just what we did. The verdict: quite tasty but not very satisfying to make ( mix wet ingredients into this tin with the dry in, leave to rise and then whack in the oven, where's the fun in that??) and not really worth the cost, but it did kill a bit of time.
Another child-free, and husband-free afternoon beckons this afternoon, will have to see what I can do to amuse myself!
Til next time!
2 comments:
Enjoy your afternoon with your feet up doing nothing, Caoimhe probably feels that something is in the air and changes are afoot but not yet able to understand the whys and wherefores. At her age she's a bit of a butterfly, flitting here, flitting there but not able to stay long with anything, when mine were that age they loved dusting, my little boy once dusted most of the pebbles in the garden.
Enjoy your quiet time.
Jan x
Sounds like you both had fun,packet or not!
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