Cod & Vegetable Chowder

Serves 4

This week I like to share my recipe for a very tasty and nutritious chowder. The potatoes, vegetables and chunks of cod make it a rather filling soup and for us a perfect summer meal. I don’t use any cream or milk in this chowder, which makes it perfectly suitable for anyone who has lactose intolerance too. The combinations of ingredients makes it a very natural, healthy and flavorful dish, enjoy.

 Ingredients

2 tbsp.  butter

2 white onions, diced

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 carrots (medium-sized), peeled & diced

2 potatoes (medium-sized), peeled & diced

2 red peppers, diced

500g fresh or frozen cod, boneless and skinless

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 L/4 cups vegetable or fish stock

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. dried thyme

3 bay leaves

salt

black pepper, coarsely ground

fresh leaf parsley, chopped

Preparation

Melt the butter on medium heat in your stockpot. Sauté the onions and when they are about done add the garlic, ground cumin and dried thyme.  Once translucent add the diced carrots, potatoes and red peppers. Stir and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes until lightly golden and soften.

In the meantime, lightly season the cod fillets with salt and black pepper and set aside.

Add the chopped tomatoes, bay leaves and stock to the diced vegetables. Stir, cover and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Lay the cod fillets on top of the vegetables and cover the stockpot. Simmer for a few minutes until the fish is just cooked through. Before serving, remove the bay leaves, and season the soup with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into the bowls and place flakes of the cod on top of the soup.  Sprinkle the fresh leaf parsley and serve immediately.

Bon Appetite 😉

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Pea & Mint Soup

Serves 4-6 

Spring is finally here and what better way to celebrate than with this delicious Pea & Mint Soup. I love this soup, the taste is fantastic, and so easy to make.  Whether you use frozen or fresh peas, you simply can’t go wrong. A nice extra is that you can also serve this soup cold on a hot summer day or as an amuse.

Ingredients

3 tbsp. butter

1 white onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 leek, finely chopped

750g fresh and shelled peas or frozen peas

75g fresh mint leaves, washed and roughly chopped

1.2 L vegetable stock

100ml half-fat crème fraîche

salt

black pepper, coarsely ground

Preparation

Melt the butter on medium heat in your stockpot. Sauté the onion and leek for 10 minutes or until soft but not brown. When they are about done add the garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes.

Add the peas and the chopped mint leaves. Pour in your stock and bring to boil. Once boiling reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let the soup cool down for a few minutes. Then purée the ingredients with a hand blender in the stockpot or puree in batches in your blender.  Return the soup to a clean pan, add the 100ml  half-fat crème fraîche and season to taste with salt and coarsely ground pepper.

When ready to serve, bring back to a simmer and ladle in to bowls.  Garnish with a few leaves of mint, and if you like a swirl of the crème fraîche.

Bon Appetite 😉

Jane’s Butternut Squash and Lime Soup

Jane’s Butternut Squash and Lime Soup

Serves 6 people

When I was visiting our dear piano teacher and neighbor, Jane, the other day, I found out that she can cook too! This gorgeous recipe is so tasty and in a way quite impressive yet easy to prepare, just the way we like it. Give it a go and tell me if you share my enthusiasm.

Ingredients

1 butternut squash  (0r 4 bags pre-cut)

2 limes finely grated, zest and juice

2 cloves of chopped garlic

1 white onion diced

2 tbsp of clear honey

¼  tsp.  of (fresh) thyme

½  tbsp. olive oil

½ tsp. salt

¼  tsp. black pepper

200ml half fat crème fraîche

750ml vegetable stock

2 sprigs fresh parsley

40gr flaked almonds

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F. Peel and dice the butternut into 1 inch cubes. If you have difficulties with peeling and dicing the butternut squash than please, take a look at http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_peel_and_cut_a_butternut_squash/ and you will never struggle again ;-)!

Peel and chop the onion and cloves of garlic and place into a large roasting tray together with the squash. Drizzle the olive oil and honey on top and finish off with sprinkling the thyme. Roast for about 25 minutes or until tender and slightly brown.

Once done, take out your roasting tray and pour in your stock. Leave for a minute and carefully transfer all the ingredients and stock to your stockpot leaving nothing behind.  Now, add the crème fraîche and the grated, zest and juice of the limes. Then purée the ingredients with a hand blender in the stockpot or puree in batches in your blender. Taste your soup and season with salt and pepper.

Before serving bake the flaked almonds in a dry frying pan until they are golden brown.  Serve  with a spoonful of crème fraîche and some flaked almonds.

Bon Appetite 😉

My Grandmother’s Chicken Soup

My Grandmother’s Chicken Soup

Serves 6 people

Now that the outside temperatures are starting to drop and more and more people are starting to get a cold or a flu, it is time for me to share my Grandmother’s Chicken Soup recipe with you. My darling Grandmother, Josephine, is 93 years old and alive and kicking. I can’t help but think the weekly doses of chicken soup has something to do with it 😉

 

Ingredients

4 big chicken legs (approx. 850 gr)

1.5 L of water

1 clove of garlic

1 white onion cut into four pieces

1 big carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 celery stalks with leaves, coarsely chopped

2 sprigs of parsley

1 sprig of thyme

1/2 tsp.  salt

1/4 tsp. white pepper

¼ tsp. of mild curry powder

75 gr fine egg noodles

2 or 3 chicken stock cubes

Preparation

Put the chicken legs in your stockpot and add 1.5 L of water. Add the garlic, carrot, celery, parsley, thyme, salt, pepper and curry powder.

Bring to a boil and, once boiling, reduce the heat.  Allow to simmer for approximately 2 hours or until the water is yellow and the meat is tender. The meat should almost be falling off the bones.

Turn off the heat and let the soup cool down. Drain the vegetables and chicken from the soup. Now it is time to refrigerate the stock preferable for one night. A layer of fat will rise and harden at the top of the stock. Now you can easily skim the fat of with a spoon.

If you don’t have the time to leave the soup for the night you could pour it into containers and leave them in the freezer for an hour to hasten this process.

Boil the soup again, once skimmed, and add the chicken stock cubes. Once the cubes have dissolved add the pieces of deboned chicken and fine egg noodles. Before serving you can garnish your soup with some chopped parsley leaves.

Bon Appetite 😉

Courgette/Zucchini Soup

Courgette/Zucchini Soup

Serves 8 people

The first time I tasted this soup was at my dear friend Tessa’s house. Since then I can’t imagine life without it :-)! Why? Because it so easy to prepare and tastes divine.  My mom, aunt and friends all love this soup and everybody gives it their own twist. This is the way I like to prepare it:

Ingredients

3 tbsp.  butter

2 cloves of chopped garlic

2 white onions diced

3 courgettes/zucchini

1/2 tsp.  salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1.5 L vegetable stock

Optional:

2 tbs. cream cheese (for instance Philadelphia light) or crème fraîche.

Preparation

Wash the courgettes/zucchini thoroughly as we will leave the skin on. Slice them in width; thickness should be around 1cm/1 inch.

Melt the butter on medium heat in your stockpot. Sauté the onions and when they are about done add the garlic.  Once translucent add the courgettes/zucchini tranches, salt and pepper. Cover the ingredients and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes or until softened and translucent (not brownish).

Pour in your stock and bring to boil. Once boiling reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the courgettes/zucchini is very tender.

Turn off the heat and let the soup cool down for a few minutes. Then purée the ingredients with a hand blender in the stockpot or puree in batches in your blender. Once done add two tablespoons of cream cheese and heat through without boiling.  If the cream cheese is not completely solved you could use or hand blender for a few second but do be careful not to burn yourself.

Bon Appetite 😉

Celery Pear Soup

Celery Pear Soup

serves 6 people

This soup, with its Canadian origin, is truly delicious and feels like velvet on your tongue. Many people are not fond of fruit in their savoury dishes, but I promise this soup will not turn out sweet, it will turn out heavenly. Hope you will give it a try and tell me your experience.

Ingredients

3 tbsp.  butter

2 bags of green celery finely chopped

2 white onions diced

1/2 tsp.  dried thyme

1/2 tsp.  salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1.5 L vegetable stock

3 pears peeled, cored and diced

125 mL half fat crème fraîche

Preparation

Melt the butter on medium heat in your stockpot. Fry the onions until translucent and add the celery, thyme, salt and pepper. Cover the ingredients and stir occasionally for about 15 minutes or until softened and translucent (not brownish).

Pour in your stock and bring to boil. Once boiling reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the celery is very tender. Now add the pears and cook for another 5 minutes or until pears are tender.

Turn off the heat and let the soup cool down for a few minutes. Then purée the ingredients with a hand blender in the stockpot or puree in batches in your blender. Pour in the crème fraîche and heat through without boiling.

Bon Appetite 😉