Broccoli, leek and Pea Soup

Your all going to think I'm a big weirdo for saying this but I actually kind of like all the rain were having at the moment, I know it's July and we should be spending long lazy day's in the park playing Frisbee, eating ice cream and drinking Pimms, and I really do love doing all those things.
But I also love wearing snugly socks, listening to radio 4 whilst watching the rain drip down my window eating a big bowl of homemade soup even though that does make me sound about twice my age.

Broccoli, Leek and Pea Soup

Large Head of Broccoli
2 big leeks
4 big handfuls of frozen peas
home-made chicken/veg stock or Swiss bouillon
Salt and Pepper
Creme Fraiche to serve (optional)

Saute the leeks in butter and little a little oil until soft then add your chopped broccoli and cook for a few minutes before adding your stock. Season with a little salt and pepper and leave to cook until your veg is starting to soften. At the last moment add your peas as cook very quickly. Now blend it all together and add any more seasoning if it needs it and stir a dollop of creme fraiche in which I think go's really well with peas.
It's a lovely fresh tasting soup but with all soups I think it will taste better the next day when the flavours have had time to mature.

Spring Chicken with Braised Leeks and Mashed Peas

As it's been so God damn hot recently instead of the usual roast dinner that I always try to make on a Sunday I decided to go for something lighter.
Chicken, peas and leeks seems decidedly Spring themed to me so I went with that. I roasted a whole chicken because you can get a couple of days worth of meals out of it and it's good to be a bit frugal every now and then!
For my mashed peas, I cooked frozen petite pois in butter, white wine and chicken stock for a couple of minutes, then added pepper and creme fraiche before blitzing.





I also made some delicious braised leeks by slicing them length ways, putting in a dish with white wine, chicken stock, butter and black pepper so basically all the things I put in my peas apart from the creme fraiche!


It was a truly delicious meal to eat on my breezy balcony watching the sun set on my ever loved Brighton.

Prawn and Pea Risotto.

I wanted something relatively indulgent and filling but also fresh and summery to eat for my dinner this evening, so though a sweet pea and prawn risotto would be perfect enjoyed outside in the afternoon sun with a glass of white wine, so that is exactly what I did.
Mercer does not like sea food because he is mentally unbalanced but luck had it that he was going to spend the evening with friends so I had free reign to cook what I wanted in the kitchen and by God I knew it had to be seafood.

Prawn and Pea Risotto

Knob of butter
olive oil
1 small onion , finely chopped
2 garlic cloves , crushed
300g arborio rice
100ml white wine
800ml vegetable stock fresh
250g cooked peeled prawns
100g frozen peas
80g Parmesan , grated

First melt a knob of butter with a dash of olive oil in a wide, shallow pan and add the onion. Cook until softened, then add the garlic and cook for a minute but don't brown. Tip in the rice and mix well. Add the wine and stir till it evaporates. Pour in stock to just cover the rice and gently simmer, staying with it the whole time and stirring from time to time.
As the stock evaporates, add more stock and stir until all the stock is used, this will take about 12-15 minutes. Finally, add the prawns, peas and season. Simmer for 2 minutes, mix in half the Parmesan just before serving then sprinkle the remainder over the top and you can add a squeeze of lemon juice if you fancy and have a green salad with it, if you fancy but it's very perfect as it is as well!

Thai Spinach and pea soup

I have only been writing this blog since April and seem to have already done two soup recipes and I'm about to do another one, so there! I do love home-made soup and can eat it even if it is hot outside and other people are eating ice cream or salad and I'm sitting there with a steaming bowl of thick soup!
I like to think of this soup as a summery one as it is fresh and light with delicious Thai flavours, I just made this for myself so there isn't large amounts of ingredients but you can very easily adjust it to your needs and taste!

Ingredients

1 Bag of spinach
1 onion chopped
clove of garlic
1/2 stalks lemon grass
Knob of ginger
Handful of frozen peas
Half a tin of Coconut milk
500ml home made chicken stock or just ready bought veg/chicken stock
1 small green chili
Lime juice
black pepper

Start but gently frying the onion until soft then add the garlic and chili and fry for a further two minutes. Then stir in the vegetable stock and while that is simmering peel the outer layer from the lemon grass and finely chop the lower bulb part of the lemon grass and discard the top parts before adding to the soup and cooking for 10 Min's.
Next add the frozen peas and cook for 3 Min's before adding the spinach and cook for a further 4-5 Min's.
Now add the coconut milk, lime juice and some black pepper and gently re-heat. You can add some cream, sour cream or Greek yogurt if you want to.