COOKING LESSONS
Measurements general cooking baking terms
RECIPES
TOMATO SOUP
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1-1¼kg/2lb 4oz-2lb 12oz ripe tomatoes
- 1 medium onion
- 1 small carrot
- 1 celery stick
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 squirts of tomato purée (about 2 tsp)
- a good pinch of sugar
- 2 bay leaves
- 1.2 litres/ 2 pints hot vegetable stock (made with boiling water and 4 rounded tsp bouillon powder or 2 stock cubes)
- Firstly, prepare your vegetables. You need 1-1.25kg/2lb 4oz-2lb 12oz ripe tomatoes. If the tomatoes are on their vines, pull them off. The green stalky bits should come off at the same time, but if they don't, just pull or twist them off afterwards. Throw the vines and green bits away and wash the tomatoes. Now cut each tomato into quarters and slice off any hard cores (they don't soften during cooking and you'd get hard bits in the soup at the end). Peel 1 medium onion and 1 small carrot and chop them into small pieces. Chop 1 celery stick roughly the same size.
- Spoon 2 tbsp olive oil into a large heavy-based pan and heat it over a low heat. Hold your hand over the pan until you can feel the heat rising from the oil, then tip in the onion, carrot and celery and mix them together with a wooden spoon. Still with the heat low, cook the vegetables until they're soft and faintly coloured. This should take about 10 minutes and you should stir them two or three times so they cook evenly and don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Holding the tube over the pan, squirt in about 2 tsp of tomato purée, then stir it around so it turns the vegetables red. Shoot the tomatoes in off the chopping board, sprinkle in a good pinch of sugar and grind in a little black pepper. Tear 2 bay leaves into a few pieces and throw them into the pan. Stir to mix everything together, put the lid on the pan and let the tomatoes stew over a low heat for 10 minutes until they shrink down in the pan and their juices flow nicely. From time to time, give the pan a good shake – this will keep everything well mixed.
- Slowly pour in the 1.2 litres/ 2 pints of hot stock (made with boiling water and 4 rounded tsp bouillon powder or 2 stock cubes), stirring at the same time to mix it with the vegetables. Turn up the heat as high as it will go and wait until everything is bubbling, then turn the heat down to low again and put the lid back on the pan. Cook gently for 25 minutes, stirring a couple of times. At the end of cooking the tomatoes will have broken down and be very slushy looking.
HOMEMADE CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP
READY IN:20mins SERVES:
6UNITS:US
INGREDIENTS Nutrition
DIRECTIONS
READY IN:20mins SERVES:
6UNITS:US
INGREDIENTS Nutrition
- 8 ounces fresh mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons onions, chopped
- 1 -2garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 -3tablespoons flour(separated)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup light cream or 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
- 1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg
DIRECTIONS
- Cut the mushrooms into slices.
- Melt butter in large frying pan. Add in onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until onions are soft.
- Blend in 2 T. flour and stir.
- Add in the chicken broth and heat until slightly thickened while stirring frequently.
- Stir cream with additional 1 T. flour and seasonings. Add in cream to soup. Heat to thicken while stirring frequently.
- Serve and enjoy!