Tag: soup

Slow Cooker Leek and Potato Soup

Hearty Slow Cooker and Leek and Potato Soup with Crispy Bacon Bits

Slow Cooker Leek and Potato Soup

Apparently we have a rather large storm on the way, which is going to be comparable to the one in the 1987.  However, I wasn’t in the UK in the 80s so I missed it but I have read ‘Rumours of a Hurricane’ by Tim Lott so I have an idea how bad it was and I’m aware of Michael Fish’s infamous blunder when he assured people as a weatherman that there wasn’t a hurricane coming.  Whoops!

My storm preparations haven’t extended beyond securing the bins, bringing my washing in and having my groceries delivered this morning.  I just need to dash out and get some wine.

I can’t help thinking that it’s going to be perfect weather for soup and in this case Slow Cooker Leek and Potato Soup.  I originally got the recipe from Sainsbury’s and have made very few changes to the original.

Modifying for Slow Cooker

Like the original recipe I sautéed the leeks, potatoes, onions in a frying pan for about 10 minutes but instead of adding the stock and simmering for 20 minutes on the hob, I transferred the contents to the slow cooker and then added the stock, stirred, covered and cooked on low for 6-8 hours.   The benefit of slow cooking the soup is that we can all eat at different times if need be.  Full recipe can be found at the link above or in the description of the video.

If you do try it do pop back and let me know how you get one.

 

Slow Cooker Sunday: Black-eyed Bean Soup with Peppers and Coconut Milk

 

Slow Cooker Sunday: Black-eyed Bean Soup with Peppers and Coconut Milk

Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: Slow Cooker
Author: Mediocre Mum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Weirdly, when I first came across this recipe I was attracted to the coconut milk, but when I thought about the combination of tastes I wasn’t sure, but it really did work well.
Ingredients
  • 1 TBSP of Sunflower Oil
  • 1 large leek, trimmed and sliced
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • 1 yellow pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp of dried chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp of cumin seeds crushed
  • 500ml of vegetable stock
  • 1 tsp of light brown sugar
  • salt and pepper to season
  • 2x 400g tins of black-eyed beans, drained and rinsed
  • 400 ml tin of light coconut milk
  • Dried Coriander
  • lime wedges to serve
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the leek and peppers and sauté for 3-5 minutes until the onions soften. Add the chilli flakes and cumin seeds and mix well for about a minute.
  2. Add the stock, stir in the brown sugar until it dissolves and season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
  3. Put the beans into the slow cooker and pour over the stock mixture. Add the coconut milk, stir, cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
  4. Serve with wedges of lime, garnish with dried coriander and some crusty bread.

 

If you have any recipes you’d like to share, please do add them to the Linky below.

And if you need extra inspiration, don’t forget to check out our Pinterest Board, with over a hundred recipes.

Google+ fans, we also have a Community ‘All Things Slow Cooking’ feel free to join in.

And if you subscribe to my blog, using the form in the sidebar you can get a free copy of my first ever eBook ‘There’s More to Slow Cooking than Stews – 10 Recipes to get you going’.



Slow Cooker Sunday: Oxtail Soup

You should have seen my face!  I ‘was’ a vegetarian for nearly 20 years.  I now enjoy a good steak and don’t mind handling meat.  However, a South African friend shared a Slow Cooker Oxtail recipe and she even pointed me in the direction of a local South African butcher.

My husband loves Oxtail soup but we normally buy it in a tin.  I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the look on my face when the Butcher walked out of the fridge carrying a 3 foot long tail must have said it all.

If I’m honest, I was a bit squeamish handling it but got over it in the end and it was worth it as the soup was absolutely gorgeous.  So gorgeous that we had it two nights in a row.

Slow Cooker Sunday: Oxtail Soup

Recipe Type: Slow Cooker
Cuisine: South African
Author: Mediocre Mum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 tin [url href=”http://www.napolina.com/text_only/our_range.html” target=”_blank” title=”Butter Beans”]butterbeans[/url]
  • 1.5kg (3 pounds) oxtail, segmented with fat trimmed (ask local butcher to do this for you)
  • flour, seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 30ml (2 tablespoons) olive oil
  • 3 onions peeled and chopped
  • 4 – 6 carrots – peeled
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 250ml (1 cup) red wine
  • 500ml (2 cups) beef stock
  • 60ml (4 tablespoons) tomato purée
  • 45ml (3 tbsp) brown sugar (optional)
  • 1 bay leaf (optional)
  • 2.5ml (1/2 tsp) dried thyme (optional)
  • 2.5ml (1/2 tsp) teaspoon dried sweet basil (optional)
  • 2.5ml (1/2 tsp) teaspoon dried parsley (optional)
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Dust the oxtail in seasoned flour, brown on all sides and transfer to the slow cooker.
  2. Add the onions, garlic, wine, tomato puree and stock.
  3. Add the sugar to the tomato mixture to neutralise the acidity.
  4. Rinse the beans thoroughly under running water and add to the meat.
  5. Add the herbs if desired.
  6. Cover and cook on low for a minimum of 6 hours until meat falls off bone. (Note: I found that the meat didn’t fall off the bone so I fished it out of the slow cooker, scraped it and returned the meat to the dish.)
  7. Remove excess fat
  8. Serve with rice, mash potatoes, polenta, fresh bead.
  9. It also tastes delicious if left overnight and reheated the following day

 

As always I’m on the hunt for some new recipes to try out.  Do you have any you would like to share?

And if you need extra inspiration, don’t forget to check out our Pinterest Board, with over a hundred recipes.

Google+ fans, we also have a Community ‘All Things Slow Cooking’ feel free to join in.

And if you subscribe to my blog, using the form in the sidebar you can get a free copy of my first ever eBook ‘There’s More to Slow Cooking than Stews – 10 Recipes to get you going’.



Slow Cooker Tomato and Basil Soup with Olive Bread

 

Slow Cooker Tomato and Basil Soup with Olive Bread

Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Slow Cooking
Author: Mediocre Mum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
A lovely, easy to make soup using ripe tomatoes. Much better than the tinned variety and a lot less sugar.
Ingredients
  • 1 TBSP of olive oil
  • 450 grams of ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 1 Onion, chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 TBSP of Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 300 ml or 430g jar of Passata with Basil
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 900 ml of vegetable stock
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 TBSP of Corn Starch
  • 2 TBSP of water
  • Crème freche
  • Couple of pinches of dried basil to Garnish
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, sauté the onions, garlic and tomatoes for 3-5 minutes until they soften.
  2. Transfer to the Slow Cooker. Add the Vinegar, Bay Leaf, Passata, Stock and season with salt and pepper. Leave to cook for 3 hours on high or on low for 6 hours.
  3. Thirty minutes prior to serving, remove the Bay Leaf and use a hand held blender to puree the soup. Mix the corn flour with water and stir into the soup. This should help thicken it.
  4. Ladle into large bowls and top with a dollop of crème freche and some basil.
  5. Serve with some nice bread

Slow Cooker Sunday: Boxing Day Hearty Vegetable Soup

I’ve eaten so much I won’t have to eat again till 2013!  We didn’t have a turkey this Christmas as we’re only a small family of 3, we opted for beef,  so luckily we aren’t dealing with the ridiculous amounts of left over bird.

However, on Boxing day we planned a day out, Geocaching and building forts and if I’m honest I couldn’t face more food so I thought I’d put on a hearty soup to come home to.

NOTE:  LENTILS NEED TO BE SOAKED THE NIGHT BEFORE!  The reason I put that in capitals is because I missed this step.  However, I managed to salvage dinner.  I put it all on and then noticed that they needed to be soaked.  I got around it by turning the slow cooker onto high and cooking for about 8 hours.  However, in future, I may by tinned lentils.

 

Slow Cooker Sunday: Boxing Day Hearty Vegetable Soup

Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: Soup
Author: Mediocre Mum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 TBSP of oil oil
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 50g of yellow lentils
  • 50g of green lentils
  • 50g of red lentils
  • 1 tin (400g) butter beans drained and rinsed
  • 80g pearl barley
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
  • 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1 parsnip, peeled and diced
  • 1 litre of vegetable stock
  • Salt and pepper
  • Dried Parsley
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the onions for about 3 minutes until soft.
  2. Transfer to the slow cooker
  3. Add lentils, butter beans, barley, carrots, potatoes, parsnip, stock and season with salt and pepper. Stir, cover and cook for 8 hours on low. Add a pinch of dried parsley, ladle into bowls and serve with crusty bread.

 

It was a lovely, thick hearty soup.

Do you have any recipes to share?