I came back from a couple of days away with a horrible cold. There's nothing worse to bring you down than a cold. Not sick enough to take to your bed but not well enough to be around anybody, for fear of passing the lurgy on. Constant nose blowing and coughing and spluttering - it's enough to drive anyone mad.
To help soothe my soul, the lovely Mr M came back from the Village Shop with a small joint of beef from the wonderful people at Oaktracks. Oaktracks is a small holding in Charlton, just outside of Andover. Tina and Jim, who run the small holding rear their meat with the best possible husbandry and in a small, low impact way. It really is the best meat you can buy for provenance, as well as taste and locality. Happy animals, well kept make the best meat. If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself. Tina is happy for people to go and visit the animals.... bet Bernard Matthews wouldn't let you do that, if you know what I mean.
So Saturday night, instead of going to a fabulous party Mr M and I donned our PJ's at six thirty and had a wonderful roast beef with yorkshire puds, roasted potatoes and parsnips, carrots and peas. All from the shop and very gorgeous.
It did little to abate my cold however and Monday with the rain I was feeling more down than ever. I knew exactly what I needed. There is only one thing to warm the soul when it's lashing it down with rain and your nose seems to be coming out in sympathy.... soup. Good, wholesome, homemade soup. From the shop I bought an onion, parsnips, celeriac, carrots, watercress, chicken stock, almond milk and some creme fraishe and here's what I did with them..
Homemade Soup
Quarter an onion and roughly chop 2 parsnips, a small celeriac and 3 carrots. Heat the oven to 180 degrees C, heat a small amount of olive oil in a roasting tin and then add the vegetables and roast until soft and golden.
Make about a litre of chicken stock and put in a saucepan. Add a generous handful of watercress to the hot stock and let steep for a couple of mins.
Blitz the roasted veg and chicken stock in a blender until smooth and transfer to a saucepan. Add a good couple of dollops of creme fraishe to the soup and almond milk to get the desired consistency.
Serve with a good chunky loaf of bread with lashings of butter and a sprinkle of watercress and black pepper over the soup.
Guaranteed to make any soul better!
To help soothe my soul, the lovely Mr M came back from the Village Shop with a small joint of beef from the wonderful people at Oaktracks. Oaktracks is a small holding in Charlton, just outside of Andover. Tina and Jim, who run the small holding rear their meat with the best possible husbandry and in a small, low impact way. It really is the best meat you can buy for provenance, as well as taste and locality. Happy animals, well kept make the best meat. If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself. Tina is happy for people to go and visit the animals.... bet Bernard Matthews wouldn't let you do that, if you know what I mean.
So Saturday night, instead of going to a fabulous party Mr M and I donned our PJ's at six thirty and had a wonderful roast beef with yorkshire puds, roasted potatoes and parsnips, carrots and peas. All from the shop and very gorgeous.
It did little to abate my cold however and Monday with the rain I was feeling more down than ever. I knew exactly what I needed. There is only one thing to warm the soul when it's lashing it down with rain and your nose seems to be coming out in sympathy.... soup. Good, wholesome, homemade soup. From the shop I bought an onion, parsnips, celeriac, carrots, watercress, chicken stock, almond milk and some creme fraishe and here's what I did with them..
Homemade Soup
Quarter an onion and roughly chop 2 parsnips, a small celeriac and 3 carrots. Heat the oven to 180 degrees C, heat a small amount of olive oil in a roasting tin and then add the vegetables and roast until soft and golden.
Make about a litre of chicken stock and put in a saucepan. Add a generous handful of watercress to the hot stock and let steep for a couple of mins.
Blitz the roasted veg and chicken stock in a blender until smooth and transfer to a saucepan. Add a good couple of dollops of creme fraishe to the soup and almond milk to get the desired consistency.
Serve with a good chunky loaf of bread with lashings of butter and a sprinkle of watercress and black pepper over the soup.
Guaranteed to make any soul better!
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