Roasted White Vegetable Soup- Always Room for Improvement

My friend JT liked my post of the White Soup
and decided to make her version, with the ingredients she had.
She experimented by par -boiling the vegetables and then slow roasting them in butter and oil.
Into the blender, whiz up and voila Potage.

I cut the vege into large chunks I didn’t want them to be over roasted.
Plus I sautéed the cabbage instead of roasting. I think the flavour is improved this way
So here we go
A lovely soup

1/2 Cauliflower 350 gms 88 cals
1 large potato 235   164 cals
1 leek white part only 200 gms   122 cals
2 med parsnips 220 gms   165 cals
1 med swede 260 gms  68 cals
2 x stalk of celery 75 gms  11 cals
1 large onion peeled and quartered 200 gms   84 cals
1/2 white cabbage 500 gms  120 cals

20 gms olive oil   162 cals
50 gms unsalted butter  359 cals
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

10 gms olive oil 81 cals
1 tablespoon Stock powder
Cold Water about 2 litres
 

Cals  1423

Weight  4092


Cut all the vege except for the cabbage into large chunks
Cover with water
Add salt and bring to boil

Simmer for about 8 minutes till just starting to get tender
Strain and keep the stock
Set aside
Pre-heat oven to 160C

Into a roasting dish add butter and 20 gms olive oil
Pop into the oven to heat up
Add the drained vege toss around to coat with oils
Season with Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Into the oven around 50 minutes
After 30 mins take out the leeks and cauliflower before they get too caramelized.
It makes them bitter

Meanwhile
Slice cabbage
And sauté in 10 mls of oil for 5 minutes
Season with Stock powder, Vegeta is good but any chicken stock powder is also good
(Vegeta is Vegetarian and also Gluten Free)
Add reserved stock and simmer for about 10 minutes till cabbage is soft

Put the cauliflower and leeks that you have removed into the cabbage

Then add the rest of the roast vegetables 
Mix well and into the blender
Whiz till smooth
This amount will take 2 gos in the blender
Back into pot
Taste and adjust seasoning
I found it needed more salt and freshly ground black pepper

I popped some into a plastic container for my daughter to have for her dinner.
We had it for lunch.

4 ladlefuls only 139 calories
Filling and gorgeous.

Oh My friend Phil also made it and he added some spinach.
Nice addition

Soups One Thin, One Thick - Perfect for Lunch

Its that time of the week again. Lunch at Juice TV.
Soup is proving very popular. I decided to do some research and find something new.
I have always admired Nick Nairn and he has a cookbook called New Scottish Cookery.
This may seem like an Oxymoron, given The Scots are responsible for The Deep Fried Mars Bar.
But, there are always exceptions!
Anyway, I loved the look of his Soups.
I picked two.
First I made
Spicy Fish Soup
I have made a few changes to his recipe so I guess it’s mine now.
I decided to steam bake the fish first, till just cooked, then flaked it and added to the stock.
Total weight = 2308 gms
6 servings = 1106 cals
So approx 200 cals per serving

1 tablespoon Rice Bran Oil 125 cals
2.5 cm piece of root ginger cut into tiny matchsticks (julienne) 11 cals
2 large cloves of Garlic sliced into slivers 9 cals
1 large red mild chili sliced finely 17 cals
1 birds eye chili chopped finely (This add that extra heat)
1 stick lemon grass bashed
2 Kaffir Lime leaves
1200 mls chicken stock (I used Massels Chicken stock powder) 87 cals
3 tablespoons Fish Sauce 45 cals
1 tablespoon Gluten Free Soy Sauce 11 cals
Juice of 1 lime 8 cals
1 tablespoon brown sugar 53 cals
4 spring onions finely shredded 8 cals
200 gms sliced mushrooms 44 cals
10 cherry tomatoes halved 18 cals


500 gms of a meaty fish  588 cals
(I used Ling, it is cheap and worked well)
Oil spray 41 cals
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
50 mls white wine 42 cals
1/2 spring onion finely sliced

Spray of oil  41 cals
Garnish
3 tablespoons roughly chopped coriander 1 cal
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large pan
Add ginger, garlic, chilies and lemon grass
Cook over a low heat until just softened about 8 minutes
Add stock, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice and sugar
Bring to the boil
Add mushrooms and spring onions,
Simmer about 10 minutes
Add tomatoes

Meanwhile, lightly oil a gratin dish
Add the fish
Season with a little salt, freshly ground black pepper
Pour over white wine
Spray with a little oil just to moisten it.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes
Take the fish out of the dish,
Reserve the stock for use later

Flake and add to the pan
Just bring back to a simmer
Garnish with coriander and freshly ground black pepper
Serve

To accompany this soup I made a Potage (Thick Soup)
Parsnip, Parmesan and Chili Soup

Another great choice. I used Vegeta for the seasoning .
I love it with soups like this.
Total weight = 2228 gms
Cals =1398
Serves 6
230 cals per serve


50 gms butter 359 cals
200 gms onions sliced    84 cals
900 gms parsnips, peeled and finely sliced     675 cals
1 red chili finely sliced    9 cals
1 Vegeta    57 cals
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1 litre hot water
50 gms Parmesan 216 gms

Snipped Spring Onions Tops or Chives to garnish

Melt the butter in a large pan
Add onions and sweat till just soft BUT not brown
Takes about 8 minutes
Add Parsnips
Then Chili and seasoning
Toss everything together
Add hot water bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes
Stir grated Parmesan into the soup
Into the blender, whiz till smooth
Check and adjust seasoning if necessary

Serve with snipped Spring Onions/Chives

Gilli's Thyme and Cheddar Scones

This is a very good recipe
They are so light and flaky

1 Batch is 1672 Calories
627 grams

Heat oven to 220C

2 cups flour  910 cals
4 teaspoons baking powder  19 cals
1/2 teaspoon salt    0 cals
54 gms butter   387 cals
1 cup buttermilk   137 cals
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese  218 cals
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme  1 cal
Pinch Cayenne Pepper


Sift dry ingredients into large bowl
Grate butter into flour
and rub between fingers till it looks like breadcrumbs
Or use a pastry cutter

Make a well and add cheese thyme and butter milk.
Mix quickly and you may need to add a little extra milk.
I like the dough to be wet

Turn out onto floured surface and pat out to about ¾ inch
Cut into pieces
And place on oven tray I like to line my trays with baking paper.
Brush with a little milk

Cook 17 minutes
They were lovely just as they are
I didn't even need to butter mine.
Yum

Gillis Chilli Soup

This soup was devised to use up some leftover Meat Sauce.
Just add some black beans, some Chilli spices, a few vege and Voila a delicious Sunday Lunch.
In My Net Diary... it's Called Gilli's Chilli Soup.

The whole soup was only 696 Calories

2 bowls for me, just 146 Calories
May have to make something tasty for afternoon snack.



1 tablespoon Olive oil 120 cals


1 Med Onion finely chopped 42 cals
2 cloves Garlic finely chopped 9 cals
1 med Carrot chopped into cubes 41 cals
55 gms Celery finely chopped 8 cals


180 Meat sauce 136 cals
700 Water 0 cals
1 can Cherry Tomatoes. 65 cals
1 can Black beans drained and rinsed 203 cals
1 tablespoon Sugar 45 cals


1/2 teaspoon Chili powder 1 cal
1/2 teaspoon Celery salt 3 cals
1/2 teaspoon Cumin 11 cals
1 tablespoon Oregano 3 cals
2 tablespoons lime juice 8 cals
2 tablespoons chopped parsley 3 cals

Heat the olive oil in a pot
Add onions
Season with Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper and sauté till tender
Add garlic continue to cook another 3-4 minutes
Add carrots, celery and Black beans
Season with the spices
Chili Powder. Celery salt. Cumin and Oregano

Gently cook about 5 minutes to cook out the raw taste of the spices.

Meanwhile put the leftover Meat Sauce in a blender with the water
Whiz
Add to pot
Place the tomatoes in the blender just a quick whiz just to break it down
Into the pot
Add sugar
Bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 – 40 minutes
You need the carrots to be tender
Taste and adjust the seasoning it will probably need a little more salt
Just before serving add lime juice and parsley

Perfect for a cold wet Winters Day

Kid's Favourite Lasagne - and Chocolate Lava Puddings - What a dinner

The request for Thursday dinner this week, was "Your Lasagne Please Grandma"
Of course Old people and kids eat early, so we were eating the lasagne as well, and I was pleasantly surprised how few calories I consumed, from such a lovely rich dish.
Mind you I didn't do my usual "clean up everyone's plates" tricks.
I was under control!!!
This quantity fed the six of us.
You could stretch it to 6 adults with a salad and some yummy garlic bread

Gilli's Basic Meat Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil      120 cals
930 gms Beef Mince      500 cals
100 gms carrot              41 cals
145 gms onion                60 cals
2 cloves garlic                9 cals
1 stalk celery                 40 cals
1 tablespoon tomato paste         13 cals
150 mls white wine                   125 cals
100 mls milk                              60 cals
2 teaspoons dried oregano       6 cals
1/2 teaspoon sea salt                0 cals
Freshly ground black pepper 0 cals
1 teaspoon sugar                    15 cals
400 gms can tomatoes           68 cals
Massel’s beef stock cube       11 cals
Hot Water 250 mls                 0 cals

Heat oil in a hot pan
Add mince
Season with Salt and Pepper
Brown well
Remove and set aside
Put all vegetables in the food processor to chop very finely
Throw into pan and scrape up all of the meaty bits
Cook about 5 minutes
Add tomato paste
Cook that out for a couple of minutes

Add white wine
Reduce
Add milk
Mix well
Season with oregano, a little salt and freshly ground black pepper
not too much there is salt in the stock cube
Pop tomatoes into food processor to whiz them up
Add to pan
Return beef to pan
Add sugar and beef stock cubed dissolved in hot water

Bring to boil and simmer gently for about 1 hour

This yields 1775 gms of sauce 1330 calories.

First make a Basic Bechamel Sauce
1 litre whole milk 619 calories
1 bay leave
1/2 onion studded with 3 cloves
8 black freshly ground black pepper corns
75 gms butter 538 cals
50 gms white flour 182 cals
110 Cheddar cheese grated 443 cals
1 egg    61cals

Heat milk with the bay leave, black peppercorns onion and cloves to infuse flavour
The melt butter in pan
Add flour and cook for about 5 minutes to get rid of raw taste
Strain milk and add to pan

Whisk well to combine and bring slowly to the boil stirring all of the time
To make sure there are no lumps
Simmer for about 5 minutes

Take off heat and add cheese.
Weight 1327  gms
Calories 1872

Now to assemble my Lasagne

Meat sauce 400 gms 302 cals
Dried Lasagne Pasta 12 sheets 210 gms 757 cals
Bechamel Sauce quantity as above

Lightly Grease a Gratin dish
Place a little Bechamel Sauce to just cover the bottom
Layer pasta
1/2 of Meat sauce
More Pasta
1/3 of remaining Bechamel sauce
Then add beaten egg to rest of the Bechamel sauce
Set aside
Layer pasta
Rest of the meat sauce
Final layer pasta
And top off with reserved Bechamel sauce

Cover with foil and bake about 40 minutes @ 180C

Cook to this stage earlier in the day or even overnight
Bring to room temperate

Cover off and back into 180C oven till golden brown and bubbling
Finished lasagne weight 1939g
Calories 2930

My portion 245 gms  only 370 calories


Yipee... Room for this delicious Chocolate Fondant Pudding

I have never made a Chocolate Fondant Pudding before... on TV Shows, it seems there are frequent disasters. But thank you Laura Calder "French Food at Home", screening on Food TV.
I love her food and her recipes are dotted around my blogs.
This is so so simple
The beauty of this is, that you can prepare it earlier in the day and just pop into a hot oven, just before serving.
So I have "Calorised"  it...Surprising how much you can eat, providing you are not too greedy
Thumbs up from the kids and Dale


115 gms dark chocolate        633 cal
160 gms butter                       1147 cals
4 eggs                                     240 cal
130 gms sugar                      17 cals
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

60 gms flour                         218 cals


Weight 705 gms
Calories 2368



Method
I used Dariole Molds and I think they are better than Ceramic Ramekins
Butter six molds
Line with a disk of parchment,
Then butter the parchment.
Very gently melt the chocolate and butter together over a water bath.
Beat the eggs and sugar until thick, pale, and ribbony.
Beat in the flour, and finally the chocolate mixture. 
Pour into the molds and chill.
Just before serving, heat the oven to 400°F/200°C.
Place the molds on a baking sheet and bake until the top is set, 12 to 14 minutes. 
Remove.

Let sit five minutes, before unmolding onto plates.

 Cut in and the Chocolate Lava will flow

Serve with caramel sauce or a scoop of ice cream.
So so rich but delicious
One portion =  396 cals

Gillis Carrot and Lentil Soup

Red Lentil and Carrot Soup  (In My Net Diary look under Gillis Carrot and Lentil Soup)
I used the food processor to chop the vegetables and it was brilliant
You may notice Vegeta. We discovered this in Croatia, they put it in everything.
You can buy it here. It is a Vegetable Stock powder. Gluten free Great flavour.
A must for the pantry


55 gm unsalted butter        394 cals
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger  6 cals
1/2 tsp ground allspice      3 cals
1/2 tsp ground cumin      4 cals,
1/2 tsp ground ginger      3 cals
and 1/2 tsp ground chili powder   4 cals
1tsp curry powder  7 cals
1 tsp ground coriander  5 cals
300 gms onions finely chopped    126  cals
143 gm parsnip       190 cal
100 gms chopped celery 14 cal
1 k g sliced carrots     406 cals
200 gms swede peeled and chopped   52 cals


85 gms split red lentils      283 cals
25 gms long rain rice      91c cals
1 . 75 litres water        0c
Vegeta 3 tablespoon     12 cals
400 ml can lite coconut cream   256 cals
2  tablespoons fresh lime juice   8 cals
Method
Melt the butter in a heavy based pan and
Add ginger, allspice, cumin, chilli powder
and Curry powder and coriander


Cook over a low heat for about 3 minutes stirring constantly
Add the vegetables and Vegeta

Stir to combine and cook about 8 minutes
Stir in lentils and rice
Then the water

 Bring to boil and simmer around 30 minutes till the vege are tender and the lentils break up


Into the blender
Bring back to boil

Add coconut milk and lime juice
Taste and adjust if necessary


Don't boil again, just reheat
Just add Fresh coriander and serve

I think ordinary old bread, is not is not quite right to accompany Asian Style Soup.
So I have devised these Asian Style Scones. Soy sauce to replace normal salt and a little sugar which always helps to develop a nice crust

On My Net Diary look under 
Gillis Asian Style Scones No 2


2 cups Self Raising Flour                         800 cals

1 tablespoon Soy Sauce                             11 cals
150 mls cream                                          525 cals
150 mls soda water                                      0 cals
1 teaspoon brown sugar                            15 cals
25 gms finely chopped Shallots                 7 cals
1 teaspoon finely chopped Red Chilies     3 cals
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley         5 cals

Add  SR flour,  and sugar to bowl
Whisk around to aerate
Add spring onions, chilies, and parsley to dry ingredients
Add cream and soy sauce mix
Then add most of the soda water until you get a nice stiff but wet dough.
You probably need to add it all but just be a little careful
Onto a floured board
Knead a little and roll out to about 2.5 cms thick

Cut into shapes
This should yield 8 scones One scone approx 140 calories add a little butter say 4 gms and away you go. Nice snack only 168 calories

Basic Beef Stew and Basic White Bread

I have just posted this recipe on So Simple. It is a stew which I made for the Grand Kids dinner the other night
This version gives weight and calories of all the ingredients.
On My Net Diary it is called Gillis Basic Beef Stew
My helping at dinner was 240 gms only 217 calories of a nourishing stew.




840 gms Blade Steak     2134 cals
2 tablespoons seasoned flour 57 cals 
3 tablespoons Olive oil    360 cals 

185 gms  Chopped Onions    78 cals
Sea Salt and Freshly ground black pepper
198 gms Carrot chopped    80 cals
55 gms Celery chopped  8 cals
150 gms finely chopped Mushrooms    33 cals
130 Grated Courgette    23 cals
50 mls white wine    42 cals

2 Massel Beef Stock cubes    24 cals
2 litres hot water
2 tablespoons Tomato Ketchup   30 cals

Cut beef into cubes and dust with seasoned flour
Put 2 tablespoons olive oil into a med hot pan
Drop in the beef and brown.
Don't overcrowd the pan, you want a nice crust on the beef, for that extra flavour
Pop the cooked beef into your casserole dish
Add onions cook gently till soft
Season with little salt and pepper
Add celery, carrot and continue to cook till soft
Add to casserole

Add 1 more tablespoon oil to pan and add mushrooms
Season and after about 2 minutes, add courgettes
Continue ot saute about another 3 minutes
Add white wine and reduce down
Place in the casserole
dissolve the stock cubes in hot water
Use a little to get any scraps from the pan
All into the casserole along with the tomato ketchup
Stir well, Make sure everything is just covered.

Into 160C oven
Cook for about 2 hours
The aroma filled the kitchen.
Yum

I am making a really nice white loaf and I have "Caloriefied" it
I am using the food processor and it is working really well
Nice crust and a good crumb and it has a wonderful taste
Never quite sure how much water you will need should be 200 mls approx but have extra ready just in case.
I cut myself 4 slices for lunch
They weighed 100 gms
That was 187 cals
I had some rare roast beef
Tomato and lettuce on lightly buttered bread
Just 381 Calories.
Excellent lunch.
1149 Cals left for dinner and wine tonight

2 cups white flour   910 cals
1 tsp salt                  0
1 tsp sugar               15 cals
1 tablespoon olive oil 120 cals
1 packet yeast (8gms)   24 cals
230 mls hand hot water

Put yeast and sugar in 200 mls of hand hot water
Stir
Leave about 5 minutes to activate the yeast
put the other ingredients into the food processor
Let it whiz not too fast
If it is not forming into a ball slowly add more water until it does

Turn out onto bench and start kneading by pulling edges into the middle
like a little parcel

Turn the ball over so it has a nice smooth skin
and place into a greased bowl
Toss it around to make sure it is oiled
Leave to rise about 1 hour
Punch down and do the same knead again
Into a nice smooth ball and leave for a second rise
Around 30-40 minutes

Grease and flour a baking tray
Shape the bread into a rectangular shape about 3 cms thick
One more rise while you heat the oven to 210C
Cook about 15 minutes
Take off the tray and put back in the oven on your pizza stone if you have one
It should have a nice hollow sound when you knock it on the bottom
Remove from oven


Cool on a rack

I made soup with the leftovers the next day
On the Net Diary Gillis Beef Stew Soup


Soup
Carrot 152 gms                             62 cals
Onion 76 gms                                32 cals
Olive oil    1 tbs                          120 cals
Leftover Basic Stew 286  gms    259 cals
Chicken stock 750 gms                90 cals



Saute Onion and Carrot in olive oil
Throw in the rest of the ingredients
Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes
Great lunch
 
My Portion 275 gms
Seconds 190 gms

Total  only 207 calories

Roasted Potato and Leek Soup

This a recipe I have posted before on SoSoSimple but this version has been weighed and measured for My Net Diary.I got the idea from Ina Garten and of course have adjusted it with the Gilli twist.
Roasting the potatoes gives a wonderful depth of flavour,

Potatoes Peeled and cut into small cubes 1145gms
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 leeks, white part finely sliced  990 gms
6 tabs Olive oil 
1 packet  of Baby Spinach 130 gms
White wine 200 mls
Chicken meat no fat  shredded 365 gms
Homemade Chicken stock 4 ltrs

Finishing touches
White wine 200 mls
Cream 200 mls

This yielded 20 cups of finished soup 
1 cup = 141 calories
A good sized lunch
Accompanied with bread and in this case a nice little Muffin
Perfect

Heat oven to 195C
Toss the cubed potatoes with 3 tablespoons olive oil
And S & P
Roast about 30 minutes or till tender
Add the spinach
Mix around and back into the oven about 4-5 minutes, to wilt the spinach

Meanwhile in a pan on the stove
Saute the leeks in the remaining olive oil
Season with S & P
Add a little chicken stock to braise the leeks
Set aside a couple of spoons of the leeks for garnish

Take the potatoes and spinach out of the oven
Reserve some potatoes as a garnish 

Put the rest in a large stock pot
Add white wine to roasting pan
heat on top of the stove and get all those lovely golden bits up from the bottom of the pan

Add this with the leeks and the chicken stock to the stock pot
Bring back to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes
When cool enough to handle
Add second lot of wine
Into blender and whiz away till smooth
To make this amount of soup you will to blend in batches
Add  cream and chicken

Before serving,
Carefully reheat
Add Potatoes and Leeks for garnish
Serve
Guaranteed to please.

Carrot Salad with Marinated Sirloin

How does a lovely refreshing Carrot Salad sound
Got the idea from Ina Garten but of course as usual, changed it.
I also mixed it with some cooked Orzo and that made it a complete accompaniment to this delicious Sirloin Steak

First the steak

Make a marinade of
1 bottle red wine
3 strip of orange peel
3 cloves
1 stick of cinnamon
A good grate of nutmeg
and 1 tablespoon of sugar

Bring everything to the boil and cool
Add steaks and marinate for at least 4 hours or you can leave them for a couple of days.
When you have removed the steaks,
Bring the marinade back up to the boil and you can keep it in the fridge for a few days for future use. You could even freeze it.
Now that's a Good idea.

Lift the steak out and drain
Season with Salt and Pepper and spray with a little oil to get to started
Heat oven to 190C
Onto hot pan
Sear one side about 2 minutes
turn over for another 2 minutes
Into oven and cook another 3 minutes
Rest for about 3 minutes
This should give you med rare for a 1" thick steak
Slice and serve with the Salad.

Gilli’s Chili Ginger Mayo = 598 Calories
100 gms Good Mayonnaise
1 teaspoon ginger grated
1 teaspoon each lemon zest and juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 chili finely chopped

1 cup carrots grated
1/2 apple cored and grated
1 spring onion finely chopped
35 gms Craisins covered with hot water for about 5 minutes and drained
50 gms of mayo

This yields 280 gms of Finished salad = 520 Calories

Plus 1 cup cooked orzo = 220 gms= 802 Calories

Now to complete the meal mix the Salad with Orzo
Serve with the sliced steak Perfect Med rare steak.
Presentation a little naff sorry, but a place piece of steak with some salad, onto your fork.
Pop into your mouth. The sweetness of the salad with the winey crusted steak
Excellent.

 My husband is not really fond of meat so he got Smoked Salmon with his.

He loved it. Good brain food for the Quiz night.

Butternut Soup

Monday Queen's Birthday Lunch
I have for years been making an excellent Curried Pumpkin Soup that I originally sourced from the wonderful Triple Tested Cookbook.

I have had this book since the early 70's
Well loved, as you can see

If it is still available, it's perfect for young cooks starting out.
I have played around with the flavours.
Roasted the pumpkin. originally it was boiled and you used the stock
But as we know roasting makes extra flavour.
This soup has a delicate curry flavour with the hint of thyme.
This was so delicious, we nearly ate it all
These quantities, made 1500 mls of soup.
Whoops I nearly forgot to take a photo.
There was just enough left.
Might have to turn that into risotto, to have with steak tonight for dinner.

My portion was 600 mls and it was only 225 calories.
Has left me plenty of calories for dinner
including a glass of wine.
So.Curried Butternut Squash Soup

775 gms Butternut sliced peeled and de-seeded
1 1/2 tablespoon Olive oil
S&P
2 rashers bacon (55 gms) chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon Chicken stock powder
2 cloves Garlic finely chopped  5 gms
1 Med Onion finely chopped 
Water
1 tablespoon Thyme leaves

Toss the peeled and sliced butternut in some salt and pepper and 1/2 tablespoon of oil

Into 180C oven for about 25 minutes

Meanwhile
In a pot heat 1 tablespoon olive oil
Add bacon
render down a little
Add onions and garlic
Saute 2-3 minutes
Add Curry Powder and Chicken Stock Powder
I like to use Massel Stock Products or Vegeta
These are Gluten and everything free, but they have great flavour.

Stir well
Add about 100 mls of water and bubble away till it is reduced
You have a lovely fragrant paste.
Add roasted Butternut
Stir well to coat in the paste.

Add 1200 mls water
and 1 tablespoon thyme leaves
Bring to boil and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Pop in a blender to make a lovely smooth puree

And just serve
Lovely

Brussel Sprout Soup - Perfect Lunch or Starter

On Saturday morning, I went into the fridge to clear it out and there was a packet of Brussels Sprouts, they were looking a little sad.
I nearly threw them out. BUT NO...Waste Not, Want Not. Just cut off the sad pieces and there was enough to make some soup.
I posted a recipe for Brussels Sprout Soup on my So Simple Blog 4 years ago, click here to get the original.
I adjusted it for Calorie counting, also I removed any Gluten for my friend JT to cook.
In the original I made a roux made from Flour, Butter and whole milk...I have replaced that with homemade chicken stock and a little cream.
It's important to cook the Sprouts until they are well soft so that you can make a lovely puree.
You may wonder at the Butter and Cream, but used in moderation, they are not that high in calories.
Also that little bit of sugar and lemon juice makes a difference, so do put it in. It cuts the slightly sulphorous flavour, that well cooked sprouts can give. Don't be put off with the aroma. The finished soup is wonderful.
I am making another batch this morning and I have increased the amount of Brussels Sprouts to 450 gms and Chicken Stock  1500 mls...but kept the same amount of butter and cream and there is very little difference in the calorie count. This will feed 4 people very well

Brussels sprout finely chopped 300 gms
1 spring onion finely chopped
Butter 50 gms
Chicken stock homemade 620 mls
1 tablespoon Massels stock powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
100 mls cream

Sauté sprouts and spring onions in butter
Add chicken stock, sugar and lemon juice
Cook till vege are very tender

Add cream
Whiz in blender

Serve.
There was enough for two people, with some leftovers.
We had some hot buttered toast with it.
Delicious
Dont panic about the butter
5 gms is enough for 2 toasts
That's only 36 calories. You have to miss out on the good stuff. Just don't be so greedy which is my normal problem. Ohhh and I do like my wine. Oh well.


Sunday, didn't want to go to the shop
Not enough soup for two of us for a dinner.
So I decided to make a Potato, Onion and Spinach Bake

So for two people
3 medium potatoes sliced finely 520 gms
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 medium onions  217 gms
74 gms Baby Spinach
Brussels Sprout Soup 334 gms
200 mls whole milk

Put the finely sliced potatoes into a pot
Cover with cold water
Add salt and bring to boil
Simmer about 5 minutes
Drain
Meanwhile Saute the onions in olive oil
cook till translucent
Season with Salt and pepper
Add spinach
Toss and set aside

Add Milk to Soup

Lightly oil a Gratin dish
Cover the bottom with a layer of cooked potato
Season with Black pepper
The the onion mix.

Next another layer of the rest of the potatoes

Cover with the soup
Press down
Bake at 180C about 45 minutes.
Golden and bubbling

You can make it elegant, by cutting out circles of the bake.
I reckon with an excellent steak, this would be fantastic

My portion was 482 gms and that came in at 457 calories
Filling and very tasty.
My intake for the day, 1639, including wine not bad.