SOUP OF THE DAY (soup maker recipe)

I know I have waxed lyrical before about how useful I have found my soup maker but.........

Having made the Caesar salad for lunch one day I decided to use the veg and liquid from poaching the chicken the next day in a soup.  It worked really well using a random selection of other veg.  I poured the poaching mixture through a sieve into a jug first to pick out the veg then strained the liquid again to avoid using any unwanted bits in the soup.

My soup maker is a very basic design, doesn't have a sauté function, simply cooks either smooth or chunky but can be used as a blender only.  This is handy if I have made a chunky soup, such as minestrone, then decide I want the chunks a bit smaller.  A quick zap on the blender function makes it a bit finer.

My machine is essentially a large kettle with a blender in it.  Whilst I know that there are some soups that are better made using other means, for everyday lunches and most soups it works perfectly well.  There’s no simmering, stirring, or ladling into a blender to be done.  Once the veg are chopped and you switch it on it does all the work while you do something else and a perfectly good home made soup is ready less than thirty minutes later.  You can add a little spice, a few chopped herbs and a swirl of cream when served in the bowl or, my personal favourite from a Nigella Lawson recipe, a splash of dry sherry and some freshly grated nutmeg.  

There are numerous websites and cook books available to give you ideas, although many of them use machines with extra functions.  If a recipe needs fried or roasted ingredients I do that while chopping the rest of the veg.

One of the veg I like to use now is Jerusalem artichokes as a couple of these add a unique smokiness to the flavour of any soup.  I always buy a few when I see them as they also seem to keep quite well in the fridge.

For this soup I used

The veg and parsley from poaching the chicken (celery, carrot and garlic)

1 large carrot

1 largeish potato

1 medium onion

1 large leek

2 smallish Jerusalem artichokes

3 broccoli stalks, woody outer layer removed

1 chicken stock pot

Method

Having put the poaching veg into the soup maker add enough prepared other veg to fill to the bottom line.

Add the strained poaching liquid and enough water to fill to the top line.

Add the stock pot, give it a good stir and cook on smooth.

Makes 4 generous bowls of soup.