Will hoey

[Charlottechicken]

I hope one of you lovely Omleteers has a really good vegetable soup recipe I can borrow?

 

I am cooking for friends in a few weeks and have dessert all sorted (apple tart, toffee sauce and vanilla ice cream, all home made and it tastes divine ) just need to practice starter and main now.

 

I have a pack of soup and broth mix I want to use, and I want to make my own restaurant quality bread rolls too. I will have to do these from scratch as I can never get the dough mix out of the breadmaker or off my hands, it's too sticky!!

 

It doesn't help that one of my friends has an Executive chef for a son (Hyatt hotel) and another only ever eats from M&S so I want to show them that cheap home made stuff is easy, tasty and do-able

 

I hope I'm not doomed before I start, or it'll be straight on the sloe gin followed by dessert

[BeckyBoo]

Is it mixed veg soup you want to make? I love parsnip soup - very seasonal and quite sweet and spicy, lovely with black pepper, a swirl of creme fraiche and fresh bread. Can't help with the rolls, I can never make them, they always end up like pancakes! but I can make a mean wholegrain plait which looks the bizzo and I love (sadly none of my lot will eat it so it tends to disappear along with about half a pound of butter during the course of the day!)

 

BeckyBoo

[majorbloodnock]

OK, first things first. If they've got a chef for a son, don't feel you have to compete. Professional cooking simply tastes different - more "clinical" if you like - and they'll know that already. Anything cooked at home with more of a "bucket chemistry" attitude will taste more rustic, more homely and more comforting.

 

Next, the bread. The best recipe I've found actually did come out of a breadmaker recipe book, and is for dinner rolls. Even better, considering this site, is that it uses an egg.

 

Ingredients:

 

8floz water

1 egg

1lb strong white flour

3tbsp sugar

1tsp salt

2oz butter

2 1/2 tsp yeast.

 

I recommend that you do use the breadmaker for this, since I've not found the resulting dough too sticky at all. If you do take that advice, it's simply a matter of adding the ingredients in the above order, selecting the dough cycle and switching on. In theory, it makes 18 rolls.

 

Baking is supposed to be at 180degC for 20 mins, but I have a fairly fierce oven so simply go on the colour as the guide - that lovely yellowy golden brown is perfect. Once done, you'll find the rolls are soft crusted and very light inside; real melt in the mouth.

 

Finally, the veg soup. I haven't a recipe as such, but a few pointers that work for me, so pick and choose from them as it suits you.

 

Personally, I like soups that haven't been blitzed, and where the liquid is still a relatively clear stock; at very least, not thickened. I also think the most important part is not rushing it. Slicing the onions and making sure they're fully softened before adding any other ingredients, then adding the other vegetables one at a time, allowing enough cooking time between them for the last added ingredient to properly release its flavour.

 

I don't have a set list of vegetables to add, preferring simply to use what's available, but I like a fairly wide selection, all chopped relatively co"Ooops, word censored!"ly to provide texture. I'll always use plenty of onion (by preference a really large Spanish one), and will usually use a mixture of green and red peppers (particularly the green, since the less sweet flavour tends to counteract the sugars in many of the other vegetables and give a more savoury touch). Celery's also good for adding a savoury note, and a veg soup wouldn't be a veg soup without some carrots. Whatever you choose, choose for a reason (for the sweetness, the savouriness, the strength of flavour, the sharpness, the bitterness) and pick several contrasts to give the soup a bit of complexity.

 

I know you could go the whole hog and make up a really fantastic vegetable stock, browning the veggies first to bring out the flavour and colour, but I'll admit to almost always cheating and using the Kallo veggie stock cubes. They give a good tasty stock that's not overpoweringly salty, allowing you, when it's combined with all the veggie juices, to reduce it quite a bit in order to concentrate the flavour, but still retain a balanced.

 

Regarding the soup mix, a good soaking and rinsing is important. If it's a mix containing a reasonable amount of pearl barley, go easy on it in the soup, since the pearl barley will thicken it up quite considerably.

 

Hope that helps

[Charlottechicken]

Ooh, thanks for the great advice folks, I feel confident enough to have a try over the next few days, and might give those bread rolls a go too, I can do half the roll recipe as I have a couple of bantam eggs left (now they have stopped laying )

 

I would like to try a mixed veg soup, preferably without any dairy so it is light and not too filling. I must admit to thinking of cheating a bit here and there, I have a bottle of OXO veg stock which is tasty without being salty and will use it in my trial run to see how it goes (and it always works well in my risotto!). I was going to blitz half the mix and leave half lumpy, I mean rustic, as I prefer a thick soup, so interesting tip about the pearl barley, thanks!

 

I never thought of putting peppers in a veg soup, but I can try that too, I have some prepared and frozen in the freezer. I thought of onion, carrot, celery, maybe a parsnip but might not bother with potato if the pearl barley will thicken.

 

Beckyboo, the plait sounds great, I know what you mean about not being able to leave it alone. I have a pumpkin/linseed/sunflower seed wholemeal loaf I made on Sunday, and I keep chiselling a bit off every time I go into the kitchen

 

Maybe we should have a sticky where we can add bread recipes

 

It's OK, I'm not too intimidated by the chef, he's a lovely modest chap, his cooking is superb though, he has won awards!! (but he still enjoys his mum's home cooking )

[Becka]

I've made these rolls and my family loved them. They're very easy, I used my standmixer and they're made with plain flour not bread flour which gives them a 'crumb' texture.

 

http://www.recipezaar.com/Gwens-Butter-Rich-Dinner-Rolls-104703

 

I'd be very interested in a bread making sticky as I'm constantly looking for new bread recipes to try.

 

Becka

[Couperwife]

kev makes a scrummy multi-veg soup, it has a sort of parmesan pesto stirred into it just before its served, we usually make it in bulk (imagine biggest saucepan lots of portions and 3 meals later - each )

 

I dont have time to post it tonight, ill dig it out tomorrow if your interested)

 

cathy

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[chickencam]

Yes please I love soup

[chickencam]

I've made these rolls and my family loved them. They're very easy, I used my standmixer and they're made with plain flour not bread flour which gives them a 'crumb' texture.

 

http://www.recipezaar.com/Gwens-Butter-Rich-Dinner-Rolls-104703

 

I'd be very interested in a bread making sticky as I'm constantly looking for new bread recipes to try.

 

Becka

 

It says 2 packages dry yeast what do you use? I usually use allinson's easy blend yeast sachets, should i use 2 of those, it seems like a lot of yeast, that is all I would normally use for 825g of bread flour.

[Couperwife]

sorry for the extended delay in soupiness

 

but here it is , enjoy...

 

green vegetable soup with basil pesto

 

serves 4

 

1tsp olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

1 large leek split and thinly sliced

1 celery stick thinly sliced

1 carrot quartered and thinly sliced

1 garlic clove finely sliced

1.4 litres water

1 potato diced

1 parsnip finely sliced

1 small khol rabi or turnip diced

150g green beans cut into small pieces

150g fresh or frozen peas

2 small courgettes quartered lengthwise and sliced

400g canned flagolet beans, drained and rinced

100g spinach leaves cut into thin ribbons

salt and pepper

 

Pesto

1 large garlic clove finely chopped

15g fresh basil leaves

75g parmesan cheese grated

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

 

heat oil

add onion and leek, cook for 5 mins

add celery, carrot and garlic, cover and cook for another 5 mins

add water, potato, parsnip, kholrabi and green beans, bring to the boil, reduce to simmer, cook for 5 mins

add peas, courgettes, flagolet beans, season generously, cover and simmer for 25 mins until veg is tender

 

make the pesto, shove all ingredients into a food processor and whizz up

 

add spinach to the soup and simmer for 5 mins

season to taste, add about a tablespoon of pesto and stir in.

 

serve up and add more pesto to the bowls as required

 

we have made this and not added the pesto, its yummy, adding the pesto makes it more yummy

oh, and we rarely add all the listed ingredients, just add what you have that seems similar

 

enjoy

 

cathy

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