I've just made a big pan of leek+potato soup, using 1 leek, 1 onion, 5
or so potatoes (all part-sauted in butter first), a handful of barley
and the beans from what is left in the green and french beans in the
garden, about a third of a celeriac and some stock. Oh, and a handful
of frozen peas
The stock was made from boiling the outside of the beans, the top off
the leek and the cleaned skins of the potatoes and celeriac.
Because I was serving it to a small child, I didn't add any salt or
stock cubes whilst cooking, which has left it rather bland tasting.
I added a little black pepper at the end, but it hasn't really done
any good.

(He's happy enough with it, I served it over noodles, with a little
organic milk added, and some chopped cheese)

Any advice for making it taste a bit better (I would have used double
cream instead of milk if I had any, but at the moment I'm mostly
using up stuff from the cupboards+fridge rather than buying new) would
be greatly appreciated. Other than "use bacon stock" and the like,
obv. :-)
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Vicky Conlan wrote:


> Because I was serving it to a small child, I didn't add any salt or
> stock cubes whilst cooking, which has left it rather bland tasting.
> I added a little black pepper at the end, but it hasn't really done
> any good.
>
> (He's happy enough with it, I served it over noodles, with a little
> organic milk added, and some chopped cheese)

If your child is happy with it, then just leave it. Never pays to repair
things that ain't broken.

For consumption by adults you can add caraway seeds (if the stock is for
a todler, add the caraway in a bag during cooking and remove before
serving), cayenne pepper, garlic, nutmeg. Very good is a strong
flavoured cheese, which should dissolve during cooking (parmesan or ripe
ceddar, for example). All these help to reduce the need for salt.

According to >:
>> (He's happy enough with it, I served it over noodles, with a little
>> organic milk added, and some chopped cheese)
>If your child is happy with it, then just leave it. Never pays to repair
>things that ain't broken.

I suppose. But he liked this week's attempt much more. :-)

>For consumption by adults you can add caraway seeds (if the stock is for
>a todler, add the caraway in a bag during cooking and remove before
>serving), cayenne pepper, garlic, nutmeg. Very good is a strong
>flavoured cheese, which should dissolve during cooking (parmesan or ripe
>ceddar, for example). All these help to reduce the need for salt.

Thanks. The problem with adding cheese during cooking is that then
it doesn't keep so well. But I can add cheese whilst re-heating rather
than after it's served, which may help.

This week's soup seems to have improved a lot by having extra onions,
a little sliced celery and fennel and some tomato skins, then having more
onion and some tomato in the soup itself. It seems to have made a large
amount of difference to the amount of flavour. And the stock was a huge
amount darker when I drained it.

I guess I just need to practise more. I don't get that much control
over the veg I use, as it's just what's left from my fruit+veg box that
I get delivered. :-) But I always seem to have a lot of onions left
each week ...
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Hi ,
I generally like to use one of the veggie broths from Pacific or one of the
other brands... they are usually without salt etc...

--
Bill

How about miso?
Cyndee

--

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[ whole article quoting removed by moderator ]

According to >:
>How about miso?

I've tried that in the past, but all of the powdered miso I have
been able to find has seaweed in it, and I really don't like the
taste. (the miso itself is fine, mind)

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Hello, I experienced that almost every soup gets a real wonderful taste when
adding some fresh lemon juice. Give it a try!

Regina
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