Simple savoury soups to tickle jaded appetites

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 14, 2 September 1986, Page 13

Simple savoury soups to tickle jaded appetites

Like most good things in life a soup depends on its background. If your soup is out of a shiny packet, you can only expect what you pay for. As soup is the starting point to most meals, it is essential that this first impression be a good one. There is nothing worse than a lukewarm, poorly made soup. It can destroy your meal from the beginning and drive the host to an awful lot of drinks. Therefore, let's start with your stock. Without sounding mean or tight, even though I have Scottish blood, you can use up quite

a few little goodies which are usually thrown away. These may include skins from onions, scruffy celery bottoms and carrot peelings. I personally like to start my stock with roasted beef bones when they are nicely browned off. I place them in the bottom of a large pot, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Into the mix goes all the goodies I've saved. Sometimes,if I amdoingachicken breast dish and have a leftover body or two, I will start a tasty chicken stock. After a day or two of simmering your stock, it is ready to use. A stock is the proud mother of the soup to

come, that full flavour you have developed will be money in the bank for your broth. FRENCH ONION SOUP Ingredients 500g white onions 4 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon sugar 6 cups stock 1 70g grated Gruyere cheese 1 cup of white wine to taste - salt, pepper, garlic, bay leaves. Rounds of oven-toasted French bread. Method Peel and thinly slice onions. Melt butter in heavy

saucepan with some sugar. Add onions and cook very gently over a low flame, stirring as you go. When the onions are golden brown, add your stock. Then add salt, pepper, bay leaves and garlic to taste. Bring the soup to the boil and simmer for an hour. Add white wine if there is any left. Fill an oven-proof dish with toasted French bread rounds. Fill the dish with soup and cover with freshly grated Gruyere cheese. Bake until cheese is golden brown. Serves 6. PABLO'S PUMPKIN SOUP Ingredients I medium pumpkin (butternuts use 2) 1 large onion 5 cups of stock pepper, salt, garlic, nutmeg to taste 2 tablespoons of butter 1 cup of sour cream Method Cut the pumpkin into chunks (flesh only), slice onion. Cover the pumpkin, onions and seasoning with stock, and cook until the pumpkin is soft. Either whisk to smooth, or use a blender if you prefer, and add sour cream and simmer. Don't bring the soup back to the boil as sour cream will separate in the process. Add nutmeg for garnish and serve. Serve 4-6.