I'm a reader of blogs, not a writer (as colleagues looking for content for our work blog will tell you) but we find ourselves in strange times and Melinda & Liz were kind enough to invite me to contribute to the Confined Kitchen blog. So forgive my poor formatting as I contemplate unfamiliar widgets and settings and poke about with buttons best left unclicked.
As it happens I find I'm struggling a little with my usual distractions - for some reason I'm finding it difficult to find the motivation to sew or knit, even though I defiantly cleared my home office of work kit to free up the sewing table for the weekend. I'm lucky that my main hobby of reading does not seem affected by my underlying sense of Things Are Not Normal. If I couldn't escape into the friendly world of fiction right now I really would be in trouble. I'm even hoping my usual bookclub will meet up online in some way. Despite my loathing of video calls (I avoid cameras wherever I can) I find I'm looking forward to seeing familiar faces and, as I wouldn't be driving to join the meeting, I can actually have a glass of wine this time. Win! (I'm taking them where I can).
I've enjoyed reading posts from others and I do post recipes on Twitter sometimes but a blog is new to me. I'm more from the 'write it on a "From the kitchen of..." index card with a jaunty picture of a tomato on it and pass it on' generation - or at least I was taught any cookery skills I have by people of that generation. My mum has a box of recipe cards sourced from friends & family that contains many family standards and I have my copies of them too, tucked into random cookery books in a far less organised manner.
I finally had the chance to head to the shops on Saturday after 7 days of self-isolation (slight cough, no temperature, probably tree pollen but still...) and at least 14 days since I last hit a supermarket. That prompted me to take a good long look at the back of cupboards and deep in the freezer to work out what I had already and what I actually needed. Whereupon I hit #ArchivedIngredients gold - a jar of roasted red peppers in brine with a best before date of November 2019 and a mystery frozen stock of unknown vintage (probably chicken? tasted like chicken).
No clue what I actually intended to do with the peppers originally but the presence of an already opened tub of garlic & herb cream cheese rapidly approaching end of life in the fridge prompted me to remember a cream of garlic & pepper soup recipe from...somewhere ... and I decided that Cream of Garlic & Pepper Soup was the comfort food my Saturday required.
1) Glug some oil (or fat of your choice) into a Big Soup Pan over a low heat and gently sweat off (well, first melt) the frozen onion, ignoring the meltwater that forms.
2) Stick the iceberg of stock into the microwave and give it a blast to start the thaw. I gave it about 3 minutes on 30%, then lost patience and gave it 2 mins at full whack. If you have no microwave add it to the pan and hack at it with a wooden spoon till it all melts again.
3) Drain and rinse the peppers. Give them a poke and see if they seem ok.
4) Transfer the stock from its bag to the pan. Break up major chunks of slush with a wooden kitchen tool of choice.
5) Bring the stock to a low simmer by turning up the heat and add the drained peppers.
6) Add some black pepper and leave to simmer for as long as it takes to deal with the cats, who are demanding their tea. It was about 15 mins. If I'm doing this with fresh peppers I chop them into chunks and leave them till soft - about 15-20 minutes.
7) Assemble the liquidiser. You can probably do this with a hand blender thing, you could even squish it through a sieve if you are without any gadgetry.
8) Transfer the hot stock/pepper combo to the liquidiser by the safest method. (I favour a ladle rather than the daring 'pour it at arms length from a hot pan, avoiding splashes' method). Give it a few minutes to cool a little (but not that much. Just not actively boiling).
-- I come from a long line of Kenwood Chef users and have been merrily ignoring warning stickers and bold bits in instruction manuals about liquidising hot liquids with them since I was yay high. The trick is...make sure the lid's on. Really, is it on? Check again. It'll be fine then. And be careful when you take the lid off again) --
9) Give it a zhuzh till it goes from stock with pepper bits in it to red liquid.
10) Carefully take the lid off (if it's really hot, beware steam etc.) and add in the cream cheese.
11) Blend again, till a smooth creamy colour takes over.
12) Gently pour back in the Big Soup Pan. Add a bit more black pepper. Or season to your taste.
Ta da. Soup. Eat with bread. Or crackers. I did add a dollop of yoghurt, but it sank.
Verdict - not bad. Could've done with a larger pack of cheese for a creamier feel. As I only ever add salt to bread or chips the brined peppers made it a touch more salty than I prefer, but I'd do that again.
As it happens I find I'm struggling a little with my usual distractions - for some reason I'm finding it difficult to find the motivation to sew or knit, even though I defiantly cleared my home office of work kit to free up the sewing table for the weekend. I'm lucky that my main hobby of reading does not seem affected by my underlying sense of Things Are Not Normal. If I couldn't escape into the friendly world of fiction right now I really would be in trouble. I'm even hoping my usual bookclub will meet up online in some way. Despite my loathing of video calls (I avoid cameras wherever I can) I find I'm looking forward to seeing familiar faces and, as I wouldn't be driving to join the meeting, I can actually have a glass of wine this time. Win! (I'm taking them where I can).
I've enjoyed reading posts from others and I do post recipes on Twitter sometimes but a blog is new to me. I'm more from the 'write it on a "From the kitchen of..." index card with a jaunty picture of a tomato on it and pass it on' generation - or at least I was taught any cookery skills I have by people of that generation. My mum has a box of recipe cards sourced from friends & family that contains many family standards and I have my copies of them too, tucked into random cookery books in a far less organised manner.
I finally had the chance to head to the shops on Saturday after 7 days of self-isolation (slight cough, no temperature, probably tree pollen but still...) and at least 14 days since I last hit a supermarket. That prompted me to take a good long look at the back of cupboards and deep in the freezer to work out what I had already and what I actually needed. Whereupon I hit #ArchivedIngredients gold - a jar of roasted red peppers in brine with a best before date of November 2019 and a mystery frozen stock of unknown vintage (probably chicken? tasted like chicken).
 |
| Elderly Pepper Jar |
No clue what I actually intended to do with the peppers originally but the presence of an already opened tub of garlic & herb cream cheese rapidly approaching end of life in the fridge prompted me to remember a cream of garlic & pepper soup recipe from...somewhere ... and I decided that Cream of Garlic & Pepper Soup was the comfort food my Saturday required.
Ingredients
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| Obligatory ingredients portrait |
- 1 jar of out of date roasted peppers in brine (I usually use fresh peppers for this, but needs must)
- The last of a bag of frozen diced onions (about half an actual onions worth, with ice shards)
- Bag of frozen stock of unknown age (possibly chicken, most likely chicken, enough to need the Big Soup Pan)
- 2/3s of a 200g pack of garlic & herb cream cheese best before 31st March (happens to be low fat)
- Black pepper (because soup)
- Glug of olive oil (oil not shown)
Method
1) Glug some oil (or fat of your choice) into a Big Soup Pan over a low heat and gently sweat off (well, first melt) the frozen onion, ignoring the meltwater that forms.
 |
| Onions melting before they sweat |
2) Stick the iceberg of stock into the microwave and give it a blast to start the thaw. I gave it about 3 minutes on 30%, then lost patience and gave it 2 mins at full whack. If you have no microwave add it to the pan and hack at it with a wooden spoon till it all melts again.
3) Drain and rinse the peppers. Give them a poke and see if they seem ok.
 |
| Peppers draining after their rinse |
4) Transfer the stock from its bag to the pan. Break up major chunks of slush with a wooden kitchen tool of choice.
5) Bring the stock to a low simmer by turning up the heat and add the drained peppers.
6) Add some black pepper and leave to simmer for as long as it takes to deal with the cats, who are demanding their tea. It was about 15 mins. If I'm doing this with fresh peppers I chop them into chunks and leave them till soft - about 15-20 minutes.
 |
| Soup on the simmer (I put the pan lid on for a bit) |
7) Assemble the liquidiser. You can probably do this with a hand blender thing, you could even squish it through a sieve if you are without any gadgetry.
 |
| Liquidisers Assemble! |
8) Transfer the hot stock/pepper combo to the liquidiser by the safest method. (I favour a ladle rather than the daring 'pour it at arms length from a hot pan, avoiding splashes' method). Give it a few minutes to cool a little (but not that much. Just not actively boiling).
-- I come from a long line of Kenwood Chef users and have been merrily ignoring warning stickers and bold bits in instruction manuals about liquidising hot liquids with them since I was yay high. The trick is...make sure the lid's on. Really, is it on? Check again. It'll be fine then. And be careful when you take the lid off again) --
9) Give it a zhuzh till it goes from stock with pepper bits in it to red liquid.
 |
| Redified. See step 10 for lid removal tip. |
10) Carefully take the lid off (if it's really hot, beware steam etc.) and add in the cream cheese.
11) Blend again, till a smooth creamy colour takes over.
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| With added cream cheese. In an ideal world I'd have doubled the cheese amount. |
12) Gently pour back in the Big Soup Pan. Add a bit more black pepper. Or season to your taste.
 |
| Back in the pan |
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| Soup. In a bowl, with crackers. |
Ta da. Soup. Eat with bread. Or crackers. I did add a dollop of yoghurt, but it sank.
Verdict - not bad. Could've done with a larger pack of cheese for a creamier feel. As I only ever add salt to bread or chips the brined peppers made it a touch more salty than I prefer, but I'd do that again.
Welcome! This looks excellent for a using up recipe. The action-packed commentary too (oh how I love freezers and wish I had a bigger one, and yet oh how annoying it is defrosting stuff).
ReplyDeleteSoup is definitely a comforting thing both to make and to eat in these uncertain times. This looks lovely, and kudos for using up so many bits and bobs.
ReplyDeleteOoh, this is very much my recipe and cooking style. Lovely-looking soup.
ReplyDelete