Category: food

food, recipe

Recipe – Christina’s Chicken and Veggie Get-Well Soup

christinahopgood
I was talking to my brother on the phone (who is a great chef at a well known restaurant) and saying how I wanted a recipe for a nice chicken and vegetable soup.  I said “I want it to have celery, carrots, potatoes, and corn…” and he said “You don’t need a recipe, just make a soup with that!”


Tonight we dined on the most filling, hearty, tasty, and healthy home made soup.  It makes enough for 8 serves, so we have 3 boxes of soup in the freezer for next time!


Ingredients (everything chopped to your liking): 


3 chicken breasts
1 packet of bacon (3-4 rashers)


3 large carrots
1 huge onion
5 – 6 stalks of celery (I really like celery)
2 large potatoes or 4 small (I used two medium-large and one small)
1-2 large corn cobs or two small tins of corn kernels (corn is quite sweet so this alters the flavour quite a bit)
a whole lot of kale/spinach/silverbeet
1 cup pearl barley
500ml chicken stock
500ml vegetable stock
herbs – whatever tickles your fancy. I used tarragon and rosemary I think.


Firstly fry your bacon a bit.  It doesn’t need to be super crunchy, just cooked a little.  Now add in all the things except the kale, mix, and cook it up!  We used a pressure cooker set to high pressure for 30 minutes, and then put the kale in last.  If you don’t have a pressure cooker, just put it in a large pot and simmer for a couple of hours.  I recommend getting a pressure cooker though!


When it’s done you might need to add some water to thin it out, I added about 2 cups and brought it back to a boil.  Eat with a bit of buttered toast for pure luxury!


Enjoy!

books, food, recipe

Recipe: The Bunnies’ Get Well Soup

christinahopgood
When I was little, one of my favourite books was The Bunnies’ Get Well Soup, by Joan Elizabeth Goodman.

This is the heartwarming tale of Mother Rabbit who wanted to make some nice get-well soup for her six sniffly baby bunnies.

But she only had four celery stalks, three peas, and a wrinkly potato.  She wanted to go to market, but there was a snowstorm that prevented her from going!

So she went to all of her friends’ houses to ask for some extra vegetables.  They all said they would LOVE some soup, and they would come and bring a bit to add to the soup.

Mother Rabbit was really worried, because she had so many people coming and didn’t see how she was going to be able to make enough soup!  But when everyone came, they all brought a little of this, and a bit of that, and there ended up being plenty of delicious soup for everyone!

And the end of the book goes like this:
“My dear friends,” said Mother Rabbit, “with a little of this, a bit of that you have all made this the best Get Well Soup ever!  Now eat up.  There’s plenty for everyone.”
So they did. And when they were done, “Hooray!” they said. “Hooray for Mother Rabbit and her wonderful Get Well Soup!”

The best bit about this charming book is that it has the recipe in the front.

Mother Rabbit’s Get Well Soup

4 celery stalks
3 peas
1 potato
6 carrots
1lb chard
1 garlic bulb
2 turnips
5 beets
1lb lentils (cooked)
1lb green beans
8 yellow onions
6 big yams
1lb rice
1lb spinach
parsley, oregano, thyme, bay leaves, salt & pepper.

Wash, peel, pare, slice, cube, dice, and chop all the vegetables. Half fill your biggest pot with water. Set it on the stove to boil. Add all the ingredients, reduce to simmer.  
Cook for one hour or more.  
Serve with buttered toast and hugs.

This recipe looks gigantic!  The yams and onions and rice and lentils would really make this a hearty meal.  If anyone tries this out, please let me know!