Mexican Vegetable Soup with Cornbread Muffins

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground sweet paprika
2 teaspoons ground coriander
400g canned chick peas, rinsed, drained
400g can red kidney beans, rinsed, drained
700 ml passata
2 sticks celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 litre chicken stock

Cornbread Muffins
1 cup self-raising flour
½ cup polenta
¼ cup caster sugar
260g can corn kernels, rinsed, drained
2 teaspoons ground coriander
3 eggs, lightly beaten
60g butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk

Heat oil in pan, add onion, garlic and spices, cook, stirring, about 5 minutes or until onion is soft. Stir in chick peas, beans, undrained crushed tomatoes, paste, celery, carrot and stock, simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Serve with cornbread muffins.

Muffins: Grease 12-hole muffin pan. Sift flour into bowl. Add the remaining ingredients.Mix until just combined. Spoon mixture into pan.Bake at 180 C for about 30 minutes or until golden.

Serves 6 - 8.

Cream of Chicken Soup

1.25kg chicken boneless thighs
2 litres (8 cups) chicken stock
2 large onions
4 sticks celery
90g butter
1 medium potato
1/3 cup plain flour
Salt and pepper to taste
2 chicken stock cubes
½ cup cream

Melt butter, add peeled and finely-chopped onion, finely-chopped celery and peeled and finely-chopped potato, cook gently until onion is tender. Add flour, stir until combined, cook 1 minute, remove pan from heat. Add chicken stock to pan all at once, stir until combined. Return pan to heat, stir until soup boils and thickens, reduce heat, simmer gently for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, add crumbled stock cubes. Cover pan, simmer gently 10 minutes.

Brown chicken in a separate pan. Cut meat into very small pieces. Just before serving, add chicken and cream to pan, heat through gently. Serve.

Curried Lentil and Pumpkin Soup

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 ½ cups dried red lentils
1.75kg butternut pumpkin, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped
5 cups vegetable stock
Natural yoghurt, to serve

Heat oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cooking for 2 to 3 minutes until soft. Stir in curry powder and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.

Add lentils, pumpkin, and stock. Stir until well-combined. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, partially covered, for about 20 minutes, stirring regularly until pumpkin is just tender.

Serve immediately, topped with a dollop of natural yoghurt if desired.

Pea, Bacon and Zucchini Soup

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 brown onion, halved, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
250g bacon, rind removed, finely chopped
3 (about 500g) green zucchini, ends trimmed, coarsely chopped
500g peas
2 liters vegetable stock
2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and half the bacon, and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or until bacon is light brown. Add zucchini and peas and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until heated through. Add stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Remove from heat. Stir in mint.

Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan over high heat. Add remaining bacon and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until crisp. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel.

Place half the pea mixture in the jug of a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a clean saucepan. Repeat with the remaining pea mixture. Place over low heat and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until heated through. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with crisp bacon and serve.

NOTE: We didn't blend our version of this soup

Vegetable, Bacon and Risoni Soup

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
125g bacon, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
1 potato, peeled, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
2 small zucchini, chopped
6 cups beef stock
400g can diced roma tomatoes
1/3 cup dried risoni pasta
1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, bacon and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add carrot, potato, celery and zucchini. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add stock and tomatoes. Stir to combine. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes or until vegetables are soft.

Stir in risoni. Cook for 12 - 15 minutes or until risoni is tender. Season with salt and pepper. Stir through parsley. Serve.

Minestrone

440 g can chickpeas or kidney beans, drained
2 Tablespoons oil
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ C chopped bacon pieces
4 egg (Roma) tomatoes, peeled and chopped
¼ C fresh parsley
9 ½ C beef or vegetable stock
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
¼ C tomato paste
2 zucchini, sliced
½ C green peas
½ C small macaroni
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan cheese and pesto, to serve, optional

Heat the oil in a large fry pan and cook the onion, garlic and bacon pieces, stirring, until the onion is soft and the bacon golden.

Add the tomato, parsley, beans and stock. Simmer, covered, over low heat for 20 minutes. Add the carrot, swede, potato and tomato paste, cover and simmer for a further 15 – 20 minutes.

When you are nearly ready to serve, add the zucchini, peas and pasta. Cover and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes or until vegetables and macaroni are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with a little grated parmesan and a little pesto.

Wonton Soup

4 mushrooms, very finely sliced
4 spring onions, very finely sliced, to garnish
125 g pork mince
Salt, to taste
3 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 spring onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons grated ginger
1 T finely chopped water chestnuts
24 wonton wrappers
5 C chicken stock

In a bowl mix together the mushrooms, mince, salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, spring onion, ginger and water chestnuts.

Working with only one wonton wrapper at a time (cover the other wrappers with a clean, damp tea towel) place a level teaspoon of the filling in the centre of each wrapper. Moisten the edges of the wrapper with a little water and bring the sides up to form a pouch. As you fill the wontons set the aside on a plate dusted with flour while making the others.

Cook the wontons in batches in a large pan of rapidly boiling water. Bring the stock to the boil in another pan. Place the wontons in small bowls, garnish with the curls of spring onion and pour into hot stock.

Creamy Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup

2 chicken breasts, cut into very fine strips
1 onion, finely diced
5 C chicken stock
2 Tablespoons cornflour
1/3 C water
440 g can creamed corn
440 g can corn
8 spring onions, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Heat the stock in a medium heavy bottom saucepan and add the onion and chicken. Reduce the heat and leave the stock to simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes.

Blend the cornflour and water together until smooth. Add to the pan, stirring continuously, and stir over medium heat until the soup boils and thickens slightly. Reduce the heat, add the creamed corn, spring onion and cream and stir gently to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper and leave to simmer for a further 2 minutes before serving immediately.

Pie Crust Mushroom Soup

400 g large field mushrooms
2 Tablespoons butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
¼ C plain flour
3 C chicken stock (or vegetable stock for a vegetarian recipe)
2 Tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1 C cream
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to moderately hot 200 C. Roughly chop the mushrooms, including the stems. Melt the butter in a large heavy based saucepan and add the onions, cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute further. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft. Sprinkle the flour over them and stir for 1 minute.

Stir in the stock, add the thyme and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Allow to cool before processing in batches. Return the soup to the pan, stir in the cream and pour into 4 ovenproof bowls.

Cut rounds of pastry slightly larger than the bowl tops and cover each bowl with pastry (use small deep bowls rather than wide shallow ones or the pastry may sag into the soup).

Seal the edges of the pastry and brush lightly with the beaten egg. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden and puffed. Serve immediately.

Double Potato Soup

Serves 6

1 Tablespoon butter
2 large potatoes, chopped
1 medium onion, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 ½ C water
½ large chicken stock cube, crumbled
¼ C cream
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Sweet Potato Soup
1 Tablespoon butter
1 large kumara (chopped
1 ¾ C water
½ large chicken cube, crumbled
2 T cream

Potato soup: Melt butter in medium saucepan, add potatoes, onion and bay leaf, cover and cook over medium heat for about two minutes or until onion is soft. Stir in water, stock cube and cream and bring to the boil, reduce heat and cover, simmer for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Remove bay leaf, blend or process mixture, in several batches until smooth. Stir in chives.

Sweet Potato Soup: Melt butter in medium saucepan, add kumara, cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir in water, stock cube and cream. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until kumara is soft. Blend or process mixture in several batches until smooth.

Place each soup in separate jugs, pour simultaneously into serving bowls. Pull skewer through the soup for a marbled effect.

Hanoi Beef Noodle Soup

2 onions, unpeeled, halved, and studded with 8 whole cloves
3 shallots, unpeeled
5 cm fresh ginger, unpeeled
3 litres water
500 g beef soup bones
2 pieces star anise
3 cm stick cinnamon
1 teaspoons whole peppercorns, crushed
1 Tablespoon salt
450 g rice stick noodles
2 Tablespoons fish sauce
450 g beef steak
2 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced crossways
450 g bean sprouts
2 limes or lemons, cut into 8 sections
4 chilies, sliced crossways
Fresh coriander, coarsely chopped
Fresh Vietnamese mint leaves

Stir fry the onions, shallots and ginger until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Place into a large stockpot. Add the stock, star anise, cinnamon, peppercorns and salt to the stockpot. Bring the mixture to the boil over medium heat, skim the scum from the surface, and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 2 hours. Meanwhile, soak the noodles in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside. In a large saucepan, bring water to cover to the boil and add the noodles. Drain immediately, rinse with cold water, and place in serving bowl. Remove the beef from the stock, making sure these are tender.

Thinly slice the sirloin or flank steak into thin stir-fry strips and set aside. Season the soup with fish sauce and continue to cook over low heat. When the meat is cool enough to handle, slice the beef shank into uniform slices the same size as the sliced raw sirloin or flank steak. Discard the bones.

To serve, place a portion of noodles in a soup bowl and layer the beef on top of the noodles. Then place onion slices and bean sprouts on top of the meat. Ladle the hot broth over the ingredients. Garnish with several slices chilies and fresh coriander. Pass the extra onions, bean sprouts, fresh chilies, lime sections and basil on a platter. Season with additional fish sauce, if needed.

Our Miso Soup

1 packet dashi powder

1 litre water

50 g miso paste

250 g tofu, diced

2 green onions, sliced diagonally into ½ “ pieces

Udon noodles, cooked and drained

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine dashi granules and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and whisk in the miso paste. Stir in tofu. Separate the layers of the green onions, and add them to the soup. Add noddles. Simmer gently for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.