Soup Kitchen

[BBMmk2]

Borscht, innit

That's the one! :)

[amateur51]

That's the one! :)

Lots of variations available, I like versions with added grated ginger or grated horseradish - that'll bring the shine to your eyes

[Flay]

Soup is a good way of getting rid of those veg we have forgotten about in the back of the fridge/larder, that have gone a bit soft and just about past it. Bung them in and smash them up with the blender. Delicious!

[BBMmk2]

Indeed it is Flay. That's what my wife has done to day for lunch. Quite filling as well. Including butternut squash. Inlcuded with garlic, turmeric and pepper, ah and onions.

[umslopogaas]

I just made a pan of runner bean soup, as a way of using up the tail-end of the crop, which had got too tough and stringy to use as a vegetable. As I am rather prone to do, I put it in the fridge and forgot about it for several days, but on spotting this thread I have just fished it out, warmed it up and served myself a bowl. Very tasty. The recipe I made up as I went along, but it was something like this.

Chop the beans into one inch lengths, put in a saucepan and cover with water to about an inch depth. Simmer for an hour or so, cool and force through a fine metal sieve. Add more hot water to the remains and repeat. Through away the stringy residue. Add salt, pepper and other herbs to taste. Cool again, then add some cornflower to thicken, and heat until the cornflower thickens. I think I then gave it a quick blast with my Kenwood electric blender, to smooth out any lumps. Voila, runner bean soup.

Not being vegetarian, I thought I enormously improved it by adding some finely chopped bacon rashers and heating up again for half an hour or so to cook the bacon. It would also be even better with a meat stock cube or two, and I may have used some, but I cant remember.

[Flay]

I just made a pan of runner bean soup...

We await the emissions of umslopo's gas with dread...

[umslopogaas]

It was runner beans, not the Heinz Beanz Meanz Fartz kind! So far barely a breeze ...

[Anna]

Runner beans are my absolute favourite summer veg but - try as hard as I can - I just cannot imagine what a soup made from them tastes like! But, I do like the sound of BBM's butternut squash with turmeric but wonder if the squash is roasted first? Teamsaint's celery soup surprised me, I had somehow imagined more a creamy soup, but I'll give it a go (always having celery in the house!) I've never had beetroot soup, only having recently been converted to the joys of this root veg.

[umslopogaas]

Anna, I wish I could tell you, but since I knocked myself unconscious by falling off a steep bank a few years ago, my sense of taste has all but disappeared. Also, my soup tasted of bacon, because I added some to the mix. But I think its fair to say that there was an underlying flavour of runner bean, just like the taste of the vegetable when its on your dinner plate.

I love them as a veg. when they are tenderer, but these were the end of the crop and as tough as boots, soup was the only thing I could think of doing with them.

[Anna]

Anna, I wish I could tell you, but since I knocked myself unconscious by falling off a steep bank a few years ago, my sense of taste has all but disappeared.

Oh, my goodness, that's terrible, a real disability, I'm so sorry to hear that. Gosh, that must deprive you of so much pleasure.
I grew runners this year, wonderful crop, you can make chutney with them (although I haven't) which sounds as if it may be nice and crunchy.

[umslopogaas]

Thanks Anna, it could be a lot worse. I've recovered well and my appetite is not affected, I still enjoy food, its just that I cant taste much. Since I'm well past sixty its not surprising my sense of taste is fading, the same thing happened to my mum: she lived past eighty, but complained towards the end that she couldnt taste things ... shame, she was a very good cook. But dont waste expensive wine on me, the cheap stuff works just as well and I cant taste the difference.

I have long belonged to The Wine Society, and got a letter from them recently asking why I didnt buy much wine from them any longer. I wrote back and explained that since I could no longer tell good wine from supermarket half price plonk, I was sadly (for them) saving money by going for the latter. But should you be interested, I'd be happy to propose you for membership. If you are interested in food, they take the burden of selecting a nice accompanying bottle off your shoulders. I've never met anyone who argued with the choice of a Wine Society bottle.

[doversoul1]

I love them as a veg. when they are tenderer, but these were the end of the crop and as tough as boots, soup was the only thing I could think of doing with them.

I let them mature on the plants until ‘beans’ inside are nice and fat. With late tomatoes from the green house, these beans make absolutely wonderful baked beans, or bean soup if you prefer. Or bean salad (cook them and just mix with small amount of chopped onion, salt, pepper, vinegar and oil) when you want an extra dish. You can eat them fresh or dry them for winter use. The timing of harvest is tricky, as they tend to rot in their cases if the weather is wet but pick them too early, they don’t have much taste. It’s worth a try if you have to chase after neighbours and friends to give away the beans they don’t really want.

[Nick Armstrong]

turmeric and pepper, ah and onions.

Is 'ah' some sort of oriental vegetable, Bbm?

[french frank]

Is 'ah' some sort of oriental vegetable, Bbm?

Or as in 'Ah, Bisto'?

Parsnip and ginger, with a swirl of cream and some toasted flaked almonds to finish, as a change from croutons.

[Dave2002]

Runner beans are my absolute favourite summer veg but - try as hard as I can - I just cannot imagine what a soup made from them tastes like! But, I do like the sound of BBM's butternut squash with turmeric but wonder if the squash is roasted first? Teamsaint's celery soup surprised me, I had somehow imagined more a creamy soup, but I'll give it a go (always having celery in the house!) I've never had beetroot soup, only having recently been converted to the joys of this root veg.

It is clear that beetroot based soups are very popular in some countries, but I think they have a lot more than beetroot in. During a recent trip to Lithuania several members of our party had such soup - seemed rather thick - but apparently tasty, and probably more interesting than the very large dumplings I had. Cakes with beetroot in are also tasty, though often the beetroot flavour dissipates, but the beetroot gives the cake moisture which it probably wouldn't otherwise have.