Pea Soup

Morianna

• 1 bag green split peas (the one I used was 16 oz.)
• 3 carrots
• 1 yellow onion (not a monster, just good size)
• 4 or 5 potatoes (again, not humungous, just a decent size)
• 4 basil leaves
• salt
• Optional: Pasta, dumplings, or wheat berries

Dump the peas into a big cooking pan. Peel and dice carrots, onion, and potatoes and add to the pan. Fill the pan with water so that it covers your ingredients by two or three inches. Add basil leaves (to be removed after cooking) and salt to taste (hint: it will take what looks like an awful lot of salt to make it taste right, but if in doubt be conservative...you can always add more later).

Cook to a rolling boil, stirring every 10 minutes or so. (If you don't want to stir so often you can cook it on a lower temperature, but it will take longer.) You should continue to cook until the peas loose their consistency. (Last night this took me a couple of hours to do to my liking.) If you have decided to add pasta or dumplings you should cook them at this time..the wheat berries should be added earlier with the other ingredients. (Sorry I don't have measurements...just do what looks good to you without overdoing it but make sure you choose only ONE, or none, of these.) You will probably have to add more water at some point (I usually do, sometimes more than once), but do it to the consistency you prefer.

If any of that was unclear please let me know. I usually just add stuff until it looks right, but tried to make it into more of a recipe. Be warned though, it will make a LOT of soup. It makes lovely leftovers though.

Not Your Ordinary Tomato Soup

• 1 large onion sliced or
• 10 green onions sliced
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger finely chopped
• 1 64 oz can tomato juice or
• 4 15 oz cans of plain tomato sauce
• 2 cups of water
• 1/4 cup cooking wine/table wine
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped
• 8 oz fresh mushrooms sliced
• salt and coarse pepper

In a big pot or kettle, add onions, ginger, tomato juice/sauce, and water. Cook on medium-high for 30 minutes with lid on, stirring occasionally. Stir in wine, and lightly sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Add in cilantro and mushrooms. No need to stir in. Cook on medium heat for 15 minutes with lid on. Stir lightly once or twice.

The soup can stay hot for up to 1 hour with a tight lid on. Before eating, add more salt and pepper to taste.

Add more water or tomato sauce for a larger quantity. It makes a perfect soup for an appetizer, and is light and healthy. Open up the meal with it, and then have a spinach or green leaf salad with raspberry vinagrette. It is also great with any meat - preferably beef, lamb or broiled fish.

Simply Water Soup

Ingredients:

• 8 cups of water
• 4 large chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 large onion sliced
• 1 cup of rice, preferably not instant
• 8 oz of mushrooms sliced
• 1 tbsp lemon grass finely sliced (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. coarse ground pepper
• 1 hard-boiled egg (optional)

Put the water and bouillon cubes in a big pot or kettle, and heat on a medium heat. When the bouillon cubes have dissolved, add the onions, mushrooms, lemon grass, and pepper. Place lid on top and cook for 20 minutes. Place the hard-boiled egg whole in the soup.

Chicken Soup

Blob

• 1 medium sized boiling chicken or 4lb chicken pieces
• 2 chicken stock cubes
• 1lb carrots

Run chicken under boiling water to dissolve fat, and pull off any excess. Peel carrots and cut longways into quarters or eighths, then place into pressure cooker with chicken on top, skin side up.

Dissolve stock cubes in one pint of boiling water and pour into pressure cooker. Add extra boiling water (about a pint) to cover chicken. Heat with lid off, until liquid is boiling (about 10 mins).

Spoon off scum floating on the surface of the liquid. Put lid on pressure cooker and cook on a high heat until a steady jet of steam comes out of the lid (about 5 mins), then put on weighted cap. Keep cooking on a high heat until pressure builds up and it starts hissing violently. Turn down to a more gentle heat until the cooker is hissing steadily and cook for about 50 mins.

When cooked, strain to separate soup from chicken and carrots. Add the carrots to the strained soup in a bowl, cover and leave overnight in the fridge or freezer. Remove chicken from the pot and de-bone (bone should easily pull out from meat)

The ext day, remove soup from fridge (or freezer) and scoop off the layer of fat. Reheat and serve. The soup can be frozen as ice cubes (carrots separately) and reheated as desired.

Ex-BF Soup

Newt

• 4 cups diced potatoes
• 1 14oz can of creamed corn
• 1 cup of each of the following (add or subtract as you see fit):
  • celery (but not for Newt!)
  • onion
  • carrot
  • peppers
  • peas
  • beans
  • any other veggie you want
• spices to taste

Basically, as long as you have the creamed corn and the potatoes,. just throw in about 3 or 4 cups of whatever veggies and spices you want.. It's quite flexible that way! Throw it all together, and heat it all up. Mmm.. soup.

Enjoy!

Variation:
Adding chunks of cheese to the soup gives it a bit of flavour, and if you don't stir them into it too much, they remain lumpy.. Mmm!

Potato, Bacon, and Mussel Soup with Oatmeal Herb Crust

Curry

• 1 pound mussels
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup wine
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 pound potatoes, peeled and diced
• 8 ounces traditional Irish bacon (or just bacon)
• 3 leeks, diced
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 1 quart chicken stock or canned chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon chopped herbs (chives, parsley, dill)
• 1/4 cup Irish oatmeal
• salt & pepper to taste

Mussels: In large saucepan, bring water and wine to boil. Add mussels. Cover and steam for 5 minutes, or until mussels open. Discard any mussels that do not open. Reserve cooking liquid and remove mussels from their shells.

Soup Base: Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add the bacon, leeks and onions. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Add potatoes and saute 2 more minutes. Add the stock and the thyme, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the reserved mussels and cooking liquid. Cook 4-5 minutes longer.

Meanwhile melt butter in a saute pan, combine the oatmeal and herbs and toast in the butter until light brown.

Creamy Potato Soup

• 4 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup celery, sliced 3/4 thickness
• 1 cups onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 cups water
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 3 tbsp butter or margarine
• 1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
• 1/8 tsp pepper

Combine potatoes, celery, onion, water and salt in a large Dutch oven.

Simmer, covered about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Mash mixture once or twice with a potato masher, leaving some vegetables whole.

Stir in remaining ingredients.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until soup is thoroughly heated.