The beauty of leeks

LEEKS are one of the easiest and most delicious vegetables to grow.

In today's Weekly Times, Peter Cundall has an excellent article on growing these great vegies.
 

 Here's a nice recipe to make and share with friends and family. 

Leek and Spud Soup

 

Ingredients

 

60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil

1 brown onion, halved, chopped

3 cloves of garlic clove, crushed and chopped

4 medium (about 700g) peeled desiree, pink eye or pontiac potatoes, cut into 2cm cubes

2 leeks, pale section only, washed, dried, thinly sliced

1.25L (5 cups) vegetable stock

4 thick slices day-old white bread, crusts removed, cut into 2cm cubes

125ml (1/2 cup) low-fat greek yogurt or thickened cream

Pinch of salt

2 tbs finely chopped fresh chives or corriander

Method
Heat 1 tbs of the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

 

Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for three minutes or until the onion softens.

 

Add potato and leek and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until leek softens.

 

Add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium and gently boil, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until potato is soft. Remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes to cool.

 

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180°C. Place bread in a roasting pan. Drizzle with remaining oil and toss until bread is evenly coated. Toast in preheated oven, shaking pan occasionally, for 10 minutes or until crisp. Remove croutons from oven and set aside.

 

Transfer one-third of the potato mixture to the jug of a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a clean saucepan. Repeat in 2 more batches with the remaining potato mixture.

 

Place the soup over medium heat. Add the cream and stir to combine.

 

Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until hot, then taste and season with salt.

 

Ladle the soup among serving bowls and sprinkle with chives and top with croutons.

 

Enjoy with friends!

Lentil as...

LENTILS are coming into their own as winter rolls on.

You have to love 'em - delicious, nutritious, easy to cook and as cheap as chips.

And as the coriander is going gangbusters and the two go so well together, it seems rude not to combine them.

Yesterday in between weeding, removing old bean plants and keeping the hens out of the brassica beds, I made a big pot of red lentil and vegetable soup.

I meant to save it for dinner and then decant into smaller containers for lunch this week, but it smelled so yummy I did have a bowl for elevenses.

Alison's Red Soup

Ingredients
I x pkt red lentils
1 x onion, chopped
1/2 of a big pumpkin, chopped
1 x red capsicum, chopped
3 x carrots, chopped
2 x tins of chopped Italian tomatoes
handful of coriander chopped
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 litres water

Method
Rinse lentils then place in deep heavy bottomed casserole dish with water
Simmer for 25 minutes, removing foamy scum
Add carrots, capsicum, pumpkin, tomatoes, spices and cover with more water if needed
Simmer for an hour
Vitamise smooth
Serve with Greek yogurt and a sprinkle of coriander

Winter gardening the go

NEXT week it's winter as Peter Cundall notes in his latest Weekly Times column.

He notes that in the southern states it's a good time to plant broccoli and garlic.

So as along as it's not raining, I'll be out there in my gumboots and hand-knitted cable pure wool fluro orange jumper ($3 at the local op shop courtesy of someone whose grandma or aunty's fabulous knitting skills), turning over the compost and sowing some spring crops.

I'll also be harvesting some pumpkin to make soup and pumpkin risotto - yum.

Not to mention chasing the moulting chooks about and encouraging them to eat any caterpillar or aphids still handing about.

This pumpkin is now even bigger and about to turned into soup!

Leek & Potato Soup

Woke up at 5 am today and my first thought was soup, hot soup, leek and potato soup.

It's a very simple recipe and takes no time at all.

Instead of cream swirled on top, I like a dollop of greek yogurt and some scattered corriander or thyme.

Served with fresh garlic toast, it's going to be a yummy lunch by the fire on such a cold, autumn day.

Leek & Potato Soup

4 Leeks - chopped
5 big spuds - cubed
2 carrots - cubed
1 brown onion - chopped
4 cloves garlic - squashed and chopped
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs thyme
water
Butter
Olive oil

Method

Add a glug of olive oil to 40g butter in a pot

Add all vegetables and garlic to low heat

Sweat veggies with lid on - about 10 minutes - you can tell when the leeks look transparent. Be careful not to use too high a heat or they will burn.

Remove lid, add bay and thyme and just cover veggies with water

Simmer with lid off until spuds are tender

Puree (I use an old vitamiser) then season to taste with salt and pepper

Serve hot with garlicy-toast - mmmmm!

                                         Leek & Potato soup ready to enjoy

Soup it up

Spring may have sprung but the sight of a hambone at the deli at 7 o'clock this morning (too wet to cycle so I did the shopping instead and Sunday early is the best time, no children squealing or hung-over tourists blocking the spice rack).
This recipe freezes really well so I often make up a huge batch and freeze single-serves for those times when you feel tired, cross and cold and need an internal hug.

To die for pea and ham soup
1 ham bone (hock's don't cut it, so chat up your local butcher for the real deal)
1 packet split dried peas
3 litres water
handful of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
Couple of grinds of fresh ground pepper
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped,
3 cloves garlic, chopped

1. Put everything in a heavy-based pot and simmer for at least one hour.
2. Remove ham bone and any meat which has fallen off and (wearing disposable gloves), remove fatty bits and gently chop or tear apart the meat.
3. Discard hambone - give to the dog or chooks to enjoy.
4. Remove bay leaf and remains of thyme.
5. Place the liquid mixture in a blender and whizz until smooth.
6. Place meat and liquid back in the pot and gently stir.
7. Serve with rye or sourdough bread toasted with oil or garlic or both.

Best enjoyed in front of a roaring fire after a winter / spring surf, cycle or day in the garden.

Pea and ham soup on the stove - mmmm!