Easy Carrot Soup

A tasty carrot soup and one of my favourites that was handed down from my mother. It is something she made in large quantities for the freezer. I have halved the quantities, deciphered her instructions (she used to make it in the Aga) and converted the ingredients to metric.

1800g carrots, peeled and sliced

450g onions, peeled and sliced

60g butter

splash of olive oil

1200ml vegetable or chicken stock

75ml of white wine

Salt and pepper

1 tsp of dried thyme

NB. If you want to freeze this, make a concentrated stock - 2 stock pots or cubes to half the amount of water. Once defrosted, add the other half of the water and heat through. You can also mix the water with orange juice to taste.

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and cook on a low heat with the lid on, for about 10 minutes. (Keeping them covered stops them catching on the bottom of the pan).

Splash in the white wine to deglaze the pan and allow to reduce slightly. Then add the chopped carrots, stock and thyme. Cook until carrots are soft and allow to cool slightly before blending in the pan with a stick blender. You could also purée this in a food processor. Check seasoning and adjust as necessary. To serve, ladle into bowls and top with chopped coriander or a teaspoon of crème fraîche and serve with croûtons or my golden cornbread.

Homemade croûtons

Croûtons are an essential accompaniment to a winter soup or a summer salad. And they are so easy to make - about ten minutes prep time and only ten minutes in the oven! The amount below will be enough for 3 or 4 bowls of soup but if you double the recipe, you will have some for next time. They will keep in a sealed container for up to a week.

50g day old bread

1 tbsp olive oil

a large pinch of sea salt

1 tbsp grated Parmesan (optional)

1 clove garlic, grated (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Firstly, you can use whatever bread you want - a crusty white or wholemeal loaf, a French stick, or sourdough or cornbread.

Simply cut your chosen bread into small cubes, put into a bowl with the olive oil and stir around so they are thoroughly coated. Make sure your cubes are the same size so they cook evenly.

If you want garlic croûtons, grate in the garlic clove now and if you want Parmesan croûtons, (essential for a Caesar salad) add that too. Then mix everything together.

Transfer your croûtons onto a lined baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes. Once cooked, allow to cool before storing in a sealed container.

Sweet cucumber pickle

I am a pickling and canning novice but when I found small cucumbers for sale in our local supermarket, I remembered the 'bread and butter pickles' we used to buy when we lived in Canada. These are sweet, crunchy and full of flavour - the perfect pickle for a cheddar cheese sandwich, as an aside to cold meats and of course with a beefburger.

So I decided to see what I could do and this is what I came up with ...

You will need -

500g small cucumbers

half an onion (or 1 shallot), very thinly sliced

25g fine salt

225g light brown sugar

250ml cider vinegar

¼ tsp turmeric

½ tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp yellow mustard seeds

If you don't have any fennel seeds, you can use 2 teaspoons of mustard seeds.

First of all, slice the cucumbers into thin slices (about 3mm thick) and put into a large bowl with the onion slices. Add the salt, mix together and cover. Put them into the fridge for a couple of hours minimum. This helps to get the water out of the cucumber, ensuring they stay crisp. When the time is up, drain them into a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold water.

Next put the sugar, spices and vinegar into a saucepan and heat slowly, stirring occasionally. Once the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat and allow to boil for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the sliced cucumbers and onion. Leave to cool slightly before pouring into your sterilised jars. When cooled, label and keep for up to a year (although they can be eaten straight away!).

This amount will make 2 large or 3-4 small jars.