Category Archives: Soup

Aug21

vegetable soup = slow warm hearty comfort

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Vegetable Soup – A couple of weeks back I invited a few foodie friends over to watch the finale of Mastechef SA, as it was winter I thought it would be appropriate to put on a large pot of my vegetable soup for the occasion. It went down a treat; the problem came about when they all asked me to share the recipe. This proved to be quite difficult as I don’t have a recipe for this soup. The way it works in my house is that I make soup on Sundays. I open the fridge, take out all the veggies + herbs that I did not use over the previous week and make a steaming pot of soup with it. So…to be frank, the recipe below is a list of all the items leftover in my fridge from last week…

If you think the recipe seems a bit long, do not be put off, once you get the hang of it and taste of it you will be making this soup for generations to come. The thing about soup is, you have to make it your own … put in the effort and spend that little extra time…I can promise you it is worth every little spoonful. Enjoy making it and remember to serve it with love.

I do have 10 tips that I have picked up along the way that I would like to share with you when making this soup:

1. Don’t be in a hurry – take your time… and love the process – that is why I normally do it on Sundays – it takes time to grate and chop. Make big bowl of this soup… the soup freezes very well and will never go to waste!
2. Use the veggies + herbs – even lettuce, rocket – whatever you have in your fridge or veggie basket…..the stuff you did not use during the week and want to throw away.
3. Look in your freezer and use all those small packets of frozen veg that you still have not got around to using…
4. The five basic vegetable ingredients that you have to put in to your pot are the following: potatoes, carrots, onions, celery + tomatoes.
5. I always leave the skin on all my vegetables.
6. I grate my vegetables …that is if they are grate-able – it cooks faster and I feel the flavours infuse just that much better.
7. Veggies like broccoli and cauliflower – use the stems – cut them into thin slices – it adds to the beautiful chunkiness of the soup.
8. Parmesan skins – when you buy and use parmesan – don’t throw the skin or rind away – keep them in your freezer and use this in your soup – it adds a wonderful richness.
9. The secret ingredients of my soup : cloves, pesto (any flavour), whole pepper corns, parmesan cheese skins and grated, instant tomato cream soup, oats, good stock to cover the veggies, Worcestershire sauce, sun-dried tomatoes and always a bit of butter.
10. To serve always finish your soup with a drizzle of olive oil , chopped parsley and some parmesan shavings.

Preparation time: 40 min
Cooking time: 60 min
Serves: This recipe makes a pot of soup large enough to feed an army – you can just half or quarter the quantities as your mood takes you…

Ingredients

A.
300g Grated large potatoes +- 2 large
300g Grated large carrots +- 2 large
220g Grated medium onions +- 2 medium
250g Grated butternut squash +- 2 generously thick slices
350 g Tomatoes either chopped or rosa tomatoes halved
200g Baby marrows – sliced
150g Cauliflower – cut into chunks
130g Broccoli – cut into chunks
2 Long pieces of celery – chopped
70g Lettuce
80g Cucumber – chopped
300g Frozen peas
50g Sundried tomatoes – chopped
10g Fresh coriander – chopped
25g Garlic – grated
6 Cloves
20 Black peppercorns
20g Fresh parsley – chopped
1t Chillie flakes
410g Tinned chopped tomatoes (1 tin)
2 Stock cubes (Vegetable or chicken)
75-100g Parmesan skins
3L Water (or 3L of good stock – then omit the stock cubes and remember to add more salt)

B.
100g Dry pasta (I use spaghetti and normally break the spaghetti up into small pieces)
100g Oats
2x 410g Sugar beans (drain the fluid) – you can even replace this with tins of baked beans
60 ml Olive oil
1 Packet cream of tomato soup mixed with 500 ml cold water

C.
1T Worcestershire sauce
100g Pesto (any basil or rocket pesto)
100g Parmesan cheese grated
50g Butter
1t Salt
1t Black pepper

Method

1. Put all A ingredients into a large pot and bring to boil. Simmer for 30 minutes on medium heat. Please remember to stir frequently. As this is a big pot of ingredients, it can easily burn if you don’t keep a watchful eye on it.

2. Now add all the B ingredients and simmer for a further 20 minutes.

3. Then add all the C ingredients – stir well – and simmer for 10 minutes.

4. At the end please taste for seasoning – adding salt and pepper as per your individual taste or preference.

5. To serve: Drizzle some olive oil over the soup, add some chopped parsley and some parmesan shavings.

Jun22

roasted cauliflower soup with brie + smoked paprika + little toasts

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Derick Henstra is the Chairman of the company that I am very fortunate to work for. He is an amazing individual, architect, artist, food lover and wine connoisseur. A while ago he told me about a cauliflower soup with brie, smoked paprika and crostini (“little toasts” in Italian) that he ate in Durban. I immediately decided that I would have to make and taste this – I made it a bit different…choosing to roast the cauliflower … well, I cannot tell you how amazing it tasted. The smoked paprika certainly compliments the roasted cauliflower and the melting brie inside gives it just that extra edge. There is not one flavour that overpowers the other and all seems to come together in perfect harmony … it is a simple + beautiful bowl of joy! This one is for you dh … carpe diem.

Note: Smoked paprika is a wonderful ingredient but please use it sparingly + with respect. You can easily overpower the dish with its strong flavour. I bought the smoked paprika at Newport Deli in Cape Town.

Serves 6
Preparation Time: 10 min
Roasting and Cooking Time: 50 min

Ingredients
2 Cauliflower heads – cut into bite-sized florets
1 Big onion – cut into quarters
2T Olive oil
2 Cup water
1 Chicken or Vegetable stock cube
2 Cups full-cream milk (if you want it richer you can replace one cup of milk with cream or you can use fat free milk as a more healthier option)
20g Butter (or more 🙂 )
1 Large pinch of salt
Black pepper to taste
125g Brie cheese – cut into 6 pieces
Smoked Paprika to sprinkle over the soup.

Preparing the “little toasts”
Cut a French loaf into thin slices and toast in toaster.

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
2. Put cauliflower and onion in bowl – pour the olive oil over it and swirl the contents around in the bowl until all the vegetable pieces are lightly covered in oil. Place on baking tray and bake in the oven for +- 25 – 30 minutes until roasted and browned.
3. Take a pot, add the water and the stock cube.
4. Add the cauliflower and onion and simmer for about 20 minutes.
5. Add the milk and liquidize. It will have a nice thick consistency. If you find the consistency too thick just add a bit of extra milk.
6. Add the butter and season with salt and pepper. Please taste and use more salt if needed.
7. Pour piping hot soup into bowls. Put a wedge of brie in each, then add the “little toasts” on top and sprinkle lightly with smoked paprika!

Tuck-in and enjoy!

May31

20 minutes + salmon + asian broth = healthy hot winter warmer

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I am by nature a foodie and as foodies go, we all have our foodie idols … One of my foodie idols is Chef Peter Tempelhoff – not only is he a great chef but also not too shabby on the eye – oh, who am I kidding everyone … he is hot! And if you come to my office you will see an A3 poster of him hanging next to my desk … but to my utter dismay two of my wonderful colleagues Johann and Pieter gave Chef Tempelhoff a mustache and a tattoo 🙂 … Anyway, two weeks ago I attended the Table of Peace and Unity lunch on the slopes of our wonderful Table Mountain and Peter Tempelhoff was one of the chefs responsible for the starter [miso sesame cured salmon and ginger prawn spring roll with soja jalapeno dressing]. I don’t know if it was the dish or perhaps him walking past that inspired me to do something hot with salmon. So later in the week I visited my Chinese supermarket for some ingredients and over the weekend made this really delicious, salmon in a hot and sour Asian broth. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! It’s so easy … so tasty and so fresh … and cheers to the hot chef who inspired me to make this dish!

Serves 4
Preparation and cooking time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients
150g x 4 Skinless salmon steaks
Salt and black pepper
Oil for frying
For broth
1L Chicken stock (I use stock cubes for this – that’s what they do in Asia :-))
2-3 Green chillies (…if you like things a little hotter, spice it up with one more … but not too many as it will overpower your dish )
+-20cm piece of lemongrass – crushed with the back of your knife and cut into pieces (if you cannot find it but you do stay in Cape Town – contact me, I have a huge bush in my garden!)
1 Garlic clove – finely sliced
1 Thumb size piece of fresh ginger – finely sliced
¼ Cup of soya sauce
4ml Sesame oil – just under a teaspoon (be very careful that you don’t overdo the sesame oil)
Juice of 2 limes (small) or 1 lemon
2 Spring onions – chopped diagonally into thin slices
Handful of fresh coriander – roughly shredded by hand
Bean sprouts to garnish and to add some crunch

Method
In a saucepan or pot add all the ingredients for the broth – except the spring onions, coriander and bean sprouts. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5-10 minutes allowing all the flavours to infuse.
In a griddle pan heat the oil and fry the salmon until brown on both sides – +-2 minutes on each side should do. The salmon must still be rare inside – but you must be able to flake it with a fork. Season with salt and pepper.
To serve:
Pour some of the broth through a sieve into a 4 bowls, add some spring onion and coriander. Put the salmon in the middle of the bowls and add some bean sprouts to garnish. I love fresh ginger so I always add the ginger I used for the broth in my bowl.

Tuck in and enjoy!

May17

malay infused seafood soup

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This is my all-time favourite winter soup recipe. It lies very close to my heart for two reasons – I was introduced to this recipe by my wonderful chef friend, Louis Verwey (the recipe was very different then and I developed it as I went along into what it is today) and secondly this recipe took me through to the Top 50 of Masterchef SA and earned three overwhelming and resounding yes’s from judges Andrew, Bennie and Pete. My Masterchef journey was an incredible experience, it was an amazing roller coaster ride of emotions, nerves and sheer excitement but the best part was meeting all the fantastic people who all share a common passion – cooking! This adventure re-ignited in me the fire and a burning desire to learn and share in the fun, frivolity and sheer pleasure that comes with cooking and everything culinary. I am very proud to have made it into the Top 35 only to be booted out on the potato challenge. Needless to say I have not cooked or peeled a potato again – but that is a story for another day…enough about me…back to this exquisite soup …

Serves 6
Preparation and cooking time: +- 45 minutes

Ingredients
For the stock:
1 celery stick, chopped (with the leaves)
1 onion, cut in half (I keep the skin on – I only peel the onion if I want to make a clear stock)
1 carrot, chopped (…again keep the skin on – didn’t we learn that all the nutritional value lies in the skin?)
5 black pepper corns
2 cardamom pods
1 clove of garlic cut in half
1 small bunch of parsley
350g white fish – I use small whole hakes which I cut into chunks
800ml water
1 clove garlic, finely grated
Seafood:
24 mussels in ½ shell
400 g kingklip (or any other firm white fish), cut into cubes of +- 2.5cm x 2.5cm
12 de-veined prawns with shells – I love to keep heads on – if you do take the heads off, don’t discard these….add them to your stock
Other ingredients:
30g butter
45 ml flour
10 ml masala (I mix my own from the following ground ingredients: 15 ml turmeric, 15ml cumin, 10 ml coriander, 10 ml fennel, 15 ml hot “curry powder” this you can get from your local spice shop or supermarket)
30 ml tomato paste
1 ½ chicken stock cube, crumbled
2 large tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
Juice of ½ small lemon
For the gremolata:
30 ml chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, finely grated
Zest of one lemon
One big squeeze of lemon juice
30 ml olive oil

Method
1. Prepare your stock by adding the first 9 ingredients in a pot and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Take the mussels and place them in a sieve and then put it in the stock to cook for 2 minutes. I do this to infuse the juices in the stock (and to defrost if still frozen). Take out and leave aside.
3. Repeat the same process with the prawns – leave to simmer for about 3-4 minutes in the stock. Take out and set aside
4. Take the stock and strain through a very fine sieve. Set aside. (You can discard the stock ingredients but it does make for a very nutritious and fishy treat for my two canine children!)
5. Add the finely grated garlic to this stock.
6. Now, melt the butter in a pot. Add the flour to make a roux. Stir for about 2-3 minutes. Then add the tomato paste and masala. Stir well.
7. Add the warm stock – ladle by ladle – whisking briskly to make sure it does not form lumps. Once you have added the stock, bring it up to simmer – you will see that it has now thickened.
8. Add the stock cube and the chopped tomatoes. Cook for about 5 minutes. Stir well.
9. Now add the raw fish and let it simmer for +-3 minutes, then add the prawns and mussels.
10. Add the lemon juice and stir lightly – be careful not to break the fish! Season for taste by adding salt and pepper, lemon juice.
11. Simmer for a 5-10 minutes.
12. Lastly, mix the last 4 ingredients together to make the gremolata and set aside
13. To serve – in the bottom of a soup bowl put a dollop of the gremolata. Take the prawns out of the soup and place 2 prawns on each plate, add 3 or more pieces of fish. Strain the fish soup through a sieve and pour in the bowl around the fish and prawns. Add 3-4 mussels on top.
14. Garnish with a few drops of gremolata on top.
15. Serve immediately.

Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy.