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Potato and Leek soup August 23, 2009

Posted by croissantandbagel in healthy, soups.
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soup

P and I went out for dinner the other night and rather ambitiously ordered the degustation. It was good because I got to try things I ordinarily wouldn’t have ordered (even if there was more food than I knew what to do with). One of these things was potato and leek soup. We don’t eat a lot of soup, except perhaps pumpkin but after this I decided we were missing out. This soup is a healthier recreation of the one we had. It was hard to imitate the flavour of about 2 cups of cream and copious amounts of butter while still keeping it heart friendly, so I didn’t really try. The end result was still creamy and tasty without being (too) unhealthy. After all, if you are going to blow your health regime you may as well do it on something more exciting than soup. Like cake.

Potato and Leek soup

  • 1 brown onion (chopped)
  • 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
  • 2 leeks (green removed, white chopped)
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • Salt and pepper
  • 6 potatoes (peeled and chopped into quarters)
  • 2.5 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 tin evaporated milk
  • Chopped parsley
  1. Fry up onion and leeks in 2 tbsp olive oil until they begin to soften (5+ minutes)
  2. Add garlic, salt, pepper and cumin and continue frying for a few more minutes.
  3. Add vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Add potato and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover.
  4. When vegetables have softened, use an immersion blender to puree the mixture.
  5. Pour in the evaporated milk and leave to simmer until the correct consistency.
  6. Correct seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with chopped parsley.

I pureed the soup until it was very smooth because I wanted a very liquid consistency. I also pureed it again the next day while I was reheating it because it thickens overnight. I used pink skinned potatoes.

Chicken sausage with lentils August 13, 2009

Posted by croissantandbagel in healthy, savoury.
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lentils

I feel a bit like all I write about are recipes from Gourmet Traveller, but at least I get good value out of the one magazine. I’m not actually a fan of lentils, but after reading an article in New Scientist about good foods to eat  I thought I should give them a try. And they were actually quite nice. Well, my sister hated them but I don’t really consider her as a litmus test for whether something is edible or not. She ate the sausage, so that’s something. I used sausages made from coarse minced chicken breast with pine nuts and herbs. I think that made a difference, I’m not sure it would taste so nice with ordinary sausages. I also soaked the lentils in cold water for a few hours before using them to soften them up.

Chicken Sausage with French Lentils

  • 3 rashes bacon (chopped)
  • 2 small carrots, finely diced
  • 2 celery stalks, finely diced
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 2 cups beef stock
  • 1.5 cups lentils
  • 1tsp Dijon mustard
  • 4 thyme sprigs
  • 1 bay leaf sprig
  • 6 chicken sausages
  • Handful of coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley
  1. Cover the lentils with about an inch of water and leave to soak for 2 hours
  2. Fry up the bacon, vegetables and garlic with olive oil until the vegetables start to soften (5-10 minutes)
  3. Add vinegar, then wine, then stock, lentils, mustard and herbs.
  4. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and stir occasionally until lentils have softened (about 20 minutes).
  5. Meanwhile fry up sausages until browned and cooked through.
  6. Add chopped sausages and parsley to lentils and serve.