Soup Glorious Soup

Following the delicious bread and cheese, I had to find the winter equivalent bread accompaniment. Soup!

The fresh food market just across the road has every vegetable or fruit I could ever need at incredibly cheap prices. 

This is a picture of only one row of the many...taken during summer - it is not sunny or warm here anymore... (I sometimes pray for rain, because that means it will be warmer out... just glad I invested in a hot water bottle!)

One good thing came out of all that rain, frost and excessive layering though; glorious soup! in hundreds of varieties.

I was very lucky, then, to get an awesome stick mix blender for my Birthday! Just in time for winter...

So that this stunning fresh butternut can easily be turned into this...

...Soup! Note the freshly baked bread in the background...

Only problem is recipes and me generally don't get along. I tend to see them more as tentative suggestions rather than any kind of tried and trusted guide to a delicious meal. I also tend to just add random ingredients from the pantry and fridge all willy nilly. Usually works out.... ?

Next on the menu was a potato and spring onion soup garnished with cayenne pepper and spring onion...just because they were sitting in the kitchen looking at me...waiting to be used... 

...accompanied by rushed home baked tomato puff pastry. Yum! 

I seem to have a serious spicy food addiction too. I also made a kumara and carrot soup (didn't photo) and I was a bit heavy handed with the cayenne pepper...lets just say I was grateful to still have milk in the fridge. Was really a great winter warmer though!

I managed to polish off a second batch of butternut soup last night and tonight decided to try a spiced kumara soup. No bread or time to bake tonight so for extra sustenance I cooked up some thinly sliced chicken in garlic and Ina Paarmans Braai & Grill Spice. Perfect meal!

I got this recipe from Alison Holst's Soup Book (also a gift for my Birthday) and I actually followed the recipe! ... mostly... well, I only put in 1 and 1/2 t curry powder instead of going crazy (the recipe only says 1/2 t). It's progress... 

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Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic (I just used bottled to taste)

1/2 to 1 t curry powder

75g butter

600g kumara

1 1/2 C water

2 t instant chicken stock powder or 1 t salt (I used the stock)

3 C milk (this was waaaaay too much, would have completely eradicated the spiciness  and I like my soup thick. Just add to                  right consistency)

1/4 C cream optional (if the milk was too much, this would be extravagant - didn't even consider making a shop run for this)

Add finely chopped garlic and curry powder to the butter in a large pot (Oh, forgot I also added onion and spring onion, just for kicks).

Peel the kumara thinly and cut them in half lengthways. Slice 1cm thick, crossways.

Cook the vegetables gently in the butter without browning, for 1-2 minutes, then add the water. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the kumara is tender.

Stir in the instant chicken stock or salt, then puree the vegetables and cooking liquid, thinning the puree with milk until the soup is the thickness you like.

Add cream for a richer soup, and reheat without boiling.

This recipe can also be made with parsnip instead of kumara.

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Also, just for the record, I didn't suddenly go on a soup diet. I made these soups (and more) over the space of 3 months, froze some and gobbled the rest. I'll need to make another trip to the market on Sunday!!