Leek and Potato Soup, Scones
I did cooking in the weekend, cooking new things. I am obviously very clever. Both recipes are very simple, so you should make them.
First I made leek and pototo soup. I can give you the recipe because I modified it from what was in the book, reducing the amount of butter, cream and stock, thus making it healthier, and also enabling me to actually eat it without feeling ill from too much fat and salt.
Leek and Potato Soup
olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 leeks*, stem only, sliced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
200g (7 oz) potatoes, chopped
1 cup chicken stock, 2 cups water
~160ml (2/3 cup) cream
some chopped chives
black pepper
Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onion, leek, celery and garlic and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally, and cook till softened, not browned.
Add the potato, stock and water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and cook covered for 20 minutes.
Allow the soup to cool a little (this is where I tried to find the parts for the food processor) and puree in the blender or food processor.
Return to the cleaned saucepan (who cleans the saucepan just to put the same food back in?! I did not do that) and bring gently back to the boil. Stir in the cream. Season with your pepper and salt if you think stock is not inherently salty enough. Reheat without boiling (because of the cream). Serve hot or chilled. Add chives.
Serves 6 - 6 helpings is probably correct.
I didn't puree mine enough I think. Also, in the picture in the book, it was a lot whiter than mine, which was a bit green looking - they actually say to use the "white part" of the leeks, but I used the whole stalk, even though it was a bit greener at the top, and green inside. Actually, when you cut the leek into slices, the rings of different shades of green look really pretty, and nicer than they do when cooked, so you should make this just so you can see that. Also, my chives were a lot less artistic and I couldn't be bothered to cut them very small
I don't even like Leek and Potato soup if bought in one way or another from the supermarket, but I liked this one.
*I'm not sure if leeks come in different sizes, I've never bought them before. However, mine were pretty damn large.
I can give you the scone recipe because, ummm, it's from a really old book :D
Basic Scones
3 cups flour
3 tsps baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
25g butter
~1 cup of milk
Preheat oven to 230C/450F.
Sift dry ingredients, rub in butter, mix to a soft dough with the milk (I guess you can add a bit more or less milk as needed). Lightly knead on a lightly-floured board, roll out to 1/2" to 3/4" thick, cut into pieces however you want, put on a cold lightly greased or floured tray. Cook for 10-15 minutes (I'd go with 10 rather than 15 I think).
Sultana scone variation
You can also add 1/2 cup of sultanas, currents or presumably other, similar things, and 1 dessert-spoon of sugar to make sweeter ones.
Cheese scone variation
You can also omit the butter but add 4-6 tablespoons of grated cheese (I'm sure I did more than that though) and a pinch of cayenne pepper to make cheese scones. For these it says bake 10 minutes at 215C/425F but I did mine at the same temperature as the other ones, because I didn't notice this at the time.
I rolled mine out way to thin and they ended up quite flat, but still edible. The thing is that they are quite resilient to recipe changes and random errors, which is nice. Also, don't put paper on the tray, or you'll be lucky not to have it catch fire; my paper was very crisp at the edges.
First I made leek and pototo soup. I can give you the recipe because I modified it from what was in the book, reducing the amount of butter, cream and stock, thus making it healthier, and also enabling me to actually eat it without feeling ill from too much fat and salt.
Leek and Potato Soup
olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 leeks*, stem only, sliced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
200g (7 oz) potatoes, chopped
1 cup chicken stock, 2 cups water
~160ml (2/3 cup) cream
some chopped chives
black pepper
Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onion, leek, celery and garlic and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally, and cook till softened, not browned.
Add the potato, stock and water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and cook covered for 20 minutes.
Allow the soup to cool a little (this is where I tried to find the parts for the food processor) and puree in the blender or food processor.
Return to the cleaned saucepan (who cleans the saucepan just to put the same food back in?! I did not do that) and bring gently back to the boil. Stir in the cream. Season with your pepper and salt if you think stock is not inherently salty enough. Reheat without boiling (because of the cream). Serve hot or chilled. Add chives.
Serves 6 - 6 helpings is probably correct.
I didn't puree mine enough I think. Also, in the picture in the book, it was a lot whiter than mine, which was a bit green looking - they actually say to use the "white part" of the leeks, but I used the whole stalk, even though it was a bit greener at the top, and green inside. Actually, when you cut the leek into slices, the rings of different shades of green look really pretty, and nicer than they do when cooked, so you should make this just so you can see that. Also, my chives were a lot less artistic and I couldn't be bothered to cut them very small
I don't even like Leek and Potato soup if bought in one way or another from the supermarket, but I liked this one.
*I'm not sure if leeks come in different sizes, I've never bought them before. However, mine were pretty damn large.
I can give you the scone recipe because, ummm, it's from a really old book :D
Basic Scones
3 cups flour
3 tsps baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
25g butter
~1 cup of milk
Preheat oven to 230C/450F.
Sift dry ingredients, rub in butter, mix to a soft dough with the milk (I guess you can add a bit more or less milk as needed). Lightly knead on a lightly-floured board, roll out to 1/2" to 3/4" thick, cut into pieces however you want, put on a cold lightly greased or floured tray. Cook for 10-15 minutes (I'd go with 10 rather than 15 I think).
Sultana scone variation
You can also add 1/2 cup of sultanas, currents or presumably other, similar things, and 1 dessert-spoon of sugar to make sweeter ones.
Cheese scone variation
You can also omit the butter but add 4-6 tablespoons of grated cheese (I'm sure I did more than that though) and a pinch of cayenne pepper to make cheese scones. For these it says bake 10 minutes at 215C/425F but I did mine at the same temperature as the other ones, because I didn't notice this at the time.
I rolled mine out way to thin and they ended up quite flat, but still edible. The thing is that they are quite resilient to recipe changes and random errors, which is nice. Also, don't put paper on the tray, or you'll be lucky not to have it catch fire; my paper was very crisp at the edges.
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