Kevin Dundon - Recipes That Work

75ml/3fl oz/ 1/ 3cup pouring cream

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the leek, celery, onion, potatoes, parsnips and apple and sauté for a few minutes until they are golden brown and beginning to soften.

2 Next add the Thai curry paste and stir into the vegetables then add a mixture of stock and cream. Add just enough to cover the vegetables – you can thin the soup further later with the additional stock if you like. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until all of the vegetables have softened completely.

3 Remove the pan from the heat and, using a hand-held electric blender, blitz the soup until smooth. Alternatively, use a food processor. Adjust the consistency with the addition of some more stock, if you like, then season to taste. Return the pan to the heat and reheat gently.

4 Serve immediately.

PEA AND MINT SOUP

A small portion of this soup is plenty, so it is delicious just as a taster at the start of a dinner party. Sometimes I add smoked bacon lardons or crisp Parma ham (prosciutto) to give the dish an extra element. The cheesy toasts can be prepared well in advance if needed.

SERVES 6

25g/1oz/¼ stick butter or sunflower oil, for cooking

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

1 medium potato, peeled and chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

450g/1lb/3 cups frozen peas

Salt and cracked black pepper

700ml/1¼ pints/3 cups chicken or vegetable stock (see Chapter 5) Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

125ml/4fl oz/½ cup pouring cream

3 tbsp chopped fresh mint

CHEESY TOASTS

1 ciabatta bread loaf or 1 medium bread roll

50g/2oz/¼ cup garlic butter

75g/3oz/¾ cup freshly grated cheese of choice

1 Melt the butter or heat a drizzle of oil in a large saucepan, add the onion, potato and garlic and sauté for a few minutes until lightly browned. Add the frozen peas and stir for a moment or two until they begin to defrost (they will begin to sizzle the moment they hit the pan). Add a pinch of salt and a grinding of black pepper at this stage.

2 Next pour in the stock and the cream and bring the mixture to a rapid boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 12–15 minutes or until the peas have softened yet still retained their green colour.

3 Add the mint 1–2 minutes before you are ready to blitz the soup. Transfer the soup to a food processor and blitz in batches until smooth. Return the soup to a clean saucepan, taste and adjust the seasoning accordingly and reheat gently.

4 To make the cheesy toasts, preheat the grill or if using the oven preheat to 190°C (375°F) Gas mark 5.

5 Thinly slice the bread and butter lightly with the garlic butter then place on a baking tray and grill or bake in the oven for 4–5 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle lightly with the grated cheese and return to the oven or place under the grill for a further moment until the cheese has melted. Store until required.

6 Serve the soup with the cheesy toasts.

CHICKEN AND CORN CHOWDER

Soup is always a great recipe for home entertaining, as it can be made in advance and just reheated as required. For dinner parties I like to serve just a small amount of this soup in little china cups, which makes it look more attractive and turns a basic bowl of soup into something a little bit special.

SERVES 8

2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

3 celery sticks, sliced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 leek, trimmed and sliced

1 medium onion, peeled and diced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

50g/2oz/½ stick butter

3 large fresh thyme sprigs, plus extra to garnish

50g/2oz/ 1/ 3cup plain (all-purpose) flour

About 900ml/1½ pints/3½ cups chicken stock (see Chapter 5) Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

400g/14oz cooked chicken

200g/7oz/¾ cup tinned (canned) sweetcorn (corn)

250ml/9fl oz/1 cup pouring cream

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Place the potatoes, celery, carrots, leek, onion and garlic in a large bowl.

2 Heat a large saucepan with the butter, toss in all the vegetables together with the thyme sprigs and cook gently over a low heat and without colouring for 8–10 minutes or until the smaller vegetables are beginning to soften. Sprinkle in the flour and stir until any liquid in the pan has dried up.

3 Next add the stock (about three-quarters of the stock would be enough at this time) and bring the mixture to a slow boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for a further 15–20 minutes or until all of the vegetables including the potatoes have softened down completely.

4 Shred the cooked chicken (I find that chicken legs left over after Sunday lunch are ideal for this). Remove the pan from the heat and add the shredded chicken to the soup together with the sweetcorn. Mix in the cream at this stage.

5 Return the pan to the heat and bring back to a very gentle boil. If you would like a thinner soup, now would be the best time to add any additional stock or cream to thin it down. Taste and adjust the seasoning accordingly.

6 Divide the soup among serving bowls or cups, garnish with a sprig of thyme if you like and serve.

TIP

I like to serve this soup as a nice chunky chowder-style soup, but alternatively, you can blitz it down to make a puréed soup.

OXTAIL SOUP

Oxtail soup has been around for ever. It is a gravy-like soup, which became popular in the UK in the eighteenth century and is now enjoying a renaissance.

SERVES 6–8

25g/1oz/¼ stick butter

150g/5oz turnip, diced

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

1 large onion, peeled and diced

2 celery sticks, diced

2 fresh thyme sprigs

50g/2oz/ 1/ 3cup plain (all-purpose) flour

1 tsp tomato purée (tomato paste)

900g/2lb oxtail, jointed

1.25 litres/2 pints/5 cups beef stock (see Chapter 5) Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.