After me making my signature Chinese chicken and sweetcorn soup the other week and then a wonderful Minestrone last week for us to scoff, Mrs Coolhandluke was most impressed, especially as I made it up as I went along (after reading a few recipes and then deciding I knew better).

My wife has thrown down the gauntlet and is planning to make her veg soup tomorrow with me making one the following week.

Can you help me out here with a good recipe for me to crib from?

It must contain no "hard to get" things though.

Leek & potato soup
1 large potato
1 large leek
1.5 pints of stock.

melt some butter in a pan, add your leeks
and cook for 5 minutes or so, add the potato
and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
Add 1.5 pints of chicken or vegable stock and
simmer for 30-35 minutes.

Leek & potato soup
1 large potato
1 large leek
1.5 pints of stock.

melt some butter in a pan, add your leeks
and cook for 5 minutes or so, add the potato
and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
Add 1.5 pints of chicken or vegable stock and
simmer for 30-35 minutes

a slight variant on this; use 3 leeks, chopped up, and a large bunch of chopped flat leaf parsley too.
once the leeks and potatoes are soft in the stock, chuck in the parsley (i use A LOT) then blend it with a stick blender to a smooth creamy consistency.

Beef* broth:

King Edward spuds (disintegrate nicely)
Onions, chopped
Leeks, chopped
Carrots, both chopped and grated
Leftover beef* (eg from a roasting joint)
Veg stock cubes
Bay leaf
Olive oil
Water

Chop up all the veg into bite size portions. Cook in olive oil until they start to soften – stir lots to prevent sticking.

Add water, a bay leaf and a couple of stock cubes and bring to boil.

Simmer for 20 mins or so.

Add the meat and simmer for another 20 mins.

Season to taste.

Best left for a day for all the flavours and texture to develop. VERY tasty.

*Lamb or venison work just as well.

Some good ones there so i'll share my Signature dish with you

Boil half a chicken in water with an 1.5" of ginger and an onion, some pepper and salt to make a stock.

Strip the meat off the chicken and strain the stock. chuck in 2 tins of creamed sweetcorn to about 1/2 of the stock and the chicken meat, chuck in a chicken stock cube too if you feel the need

simmer and add a dash o sesame oil and a handfull of chopped spring onion.

Wonderful.

Ooooh!

Gotta try that one.

brocolli and cauliflower say about 1-2 lb
chicken stock, thin not a bisto effort please
1 fine diced onion
salt pepper
nice cheese, goats or blue if thats your bag
good brown bread
butter

saute onion
add stock
Boil veg till cooked
blend it all up
grate cheese
add cheese
stir
season to taste.

takes 20 mins and is loverly

Sweet potato and butternut squash with bacon lardons:

500g sweet potato
500g sutternut squash
1 Tbsp curry powder ( or spice how you like it)
1Tbsp olive oil
1 onion
800ml chicken stock
400ml coconut milk
3 rashers of bacon

Dice onion, fry in oil to soften then add curry powder. Cube sweet potato and squash, add chicken stock and coconut milk and simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cut bacon into strips and fry until crispy. Blend soup, then stir in bacon bits. Perfect winter soup 🙂

parsnips
garlic
onion
corriander seeds
cumin seeds
chilli
stock

my favourite at the moment, acorn squash and broccoli is good too:

1 acorn squash, deseeded, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 large head of broccoli, chopped into smallish florets (chop up most of the stem too, silly wasting perfectly edible bits)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 litre veg stock

fry the onion gently in the oil until soft, then add the squash and broccoli and stock.
bring to a boil then turn heat down and simmer for 20-25 mins, until the squash chunks are quite soft.
remove from heat and blend to a smooth texture with that stick blender thing. season with sea salt and black pepper, and serve with good crusty bread.

Roughly equal weight of the following (250g of each is about right).
Puy Lentils
Onion
Leek
Celery
Carrot
Stock if you have it, else enough water to cook the lentils.

Simmer until the lentils are cooked.
Whiz in a blender if you want a smooth texture.
Serve with lots of black pepper.

(I think this is a French or Italian recipe & they add Sausage).

Also makes a great base for veggie burgers, when thickened with similar weight of ground soaked chickpeas.

the leek and potatoe soup as above…. (an alternative…… we have CHICKEN and leek soup.. (and add boulion for the stock),,,,…tis yummy

pea and mint soup

1lb frozen peas
2 small potatoes
1 onion
1.5 pts veg stock (depends how thick you like it)
1/2 tsp dry
black pepper

you can add a bit of garlic if you wish

saute onion (in butter), couple of mins add tatties, added stock, black pepper, add peas and mint, bring to boil, simmer for 20-30 mins, blend.