Winter warmers

Winter is here! And when it starts to get cold, you want comfort food… something tasty, wholesome and easy to prepare. LIANA REINERS believes soup is just the thing.

I probably shouldn’t say it out loud, but I kind of enjoyed the initial hard lockdown period. All three the men in my life were at home, I could walk around in my pajamas all day and I didn’t need to leave the house. Yes, I realise it was a traumatic and uncertain time and I myself did not have an income for a few months. But allow me to explain: I don’t like winter. When the temperature starts to drop, I get cranky. I want to wrap myself in warm clothes, put on my slippers and hide from the world. The problem is that I tend to want to eat more than usual too. Comfort food. I’m like a Farmer Brown chicken… I look so good because I eat so good! And what could be better than a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter’s evening?

Old-fashioned bean soup

Ingredients

500ml dry beans (soak overnight in water)

1 chopped onion

10ml oil

125g diced bacon

3 potatoes cut into eighths

5ml pepper

1 block beef stock dissolved in a litre of boiling water

2ml turmeric

250ml cream or milk

10ml vinegar or lemon juice

Method

Place the beans in a suitable pot and cover with water. Boil until soft. Fry the onions in butter until translucent. Add the bacon and fry until crispy. Mix the onions and bacon with the beans. Add all the ingredients except for the cream/milk. Boil until the potatoes are soft. Mash the beans and potatoes or puree in a food processor. Stir in the cream/milk. Add the vinegar/lemon juice and mix well.

Butternut soup

Ingredients

1.5kg diced butternut

2 cubes of chicken or vegetable stock

500ml cream

1 potato, thinly sliced

1 chopped onion

5ml nutmeg

7.5ml curry powder

60ml sugar

500ml water

60g butter

80ml cake flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Place the stock cubes, water, butternut, potato, onion, curry powder, nutmeg and sugar in a large pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let simmer until the vegetables are soft. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Sprinkle in the cake flour and stir until completely absorbed. Add the cream and stir until thick and smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Puree the butternut, potato and onion mixture in a food processor. Place back in the pot and add the cream sauce. Mix well.

Biltong soup

Ingredients

250g finely carved biltong

60g biltong powder

1 punnet chopped mushrooms

125g butter

250ml cake flour

1 cube beef stock dissolved in 1.5 litres of boiling water

10ml black pepper

250ml grated cheddar cheese

500ml milk

125ml cream

Salt to taste

Method

Fry the mushrooms in the butter for seven minutes. Add the stock. Mix the cake flour, milk and cream in a separate bowl. Add to the mushrooms and stir over medium heat until the mixture is cooked through. Add the cheese, biltong, pepper and salt. Mix through and serve. Garnish with a few pieces of biltong and chopped parsley.

Like this article?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linkdin
Share on Pinterest

You might also like