Page 45 - Phonebox Magazine August 2011

Soup Kitchen Cook Off VOTE NOW
Nothing like a gorgeous soup to go with beautiful fresh homebaked bread. So we set about challenging our local eateries to provide us with their best recipes. We have four in all, printed here and also posted on the Phonebox Foodie Facebook page. We want you to vote for your favourite. All you have to do is visit facebook.com/phoneboxfoodie and ‘like’ your favourite soup recipe. The restaurant with the most likes by the BIG OLNEY FOOD FESTIVAL will then cook up a big batch of the soup and send it off to one of the homeless shelters in Milton Keynes. So get voting now...
Soup 1: THE BULL, OLNEY
Potato, rocket and parmesan soup
1 medium Onion (diced)
2 sticks celery (diced)
1 large leek (trimmed & diced) 100g rocket
500g potatoes (peeled & diced) 100g parmesan (grated)
100mls cream
Salt & Pepper
Method
Sweat onion, celery & leek gently in a little olive oil until soft. Add potatoes & cook for 2 - 3 mins stirring constantly. Add salt & pepper. Add water to just cover ingredients. Cook until potato is soft. Blend with a hand blender adding rocket & parmesan until smooth. Add a little boiling water until serving consistency is obtained. Whisk in cream. Serve with Amazing Grains crusty bread (sourdough or the potato and rosemary cob would be ideal) and for really special occasions, drizzle the top of the soup with a little truffle oil.
Soup 2: THE BELL AND BEAR Fennel soup (serves 6)
1 star anise
2 tsp fennel seeds
50g & 25g unsalted butter
1kg fennel, finely sliced
4 shallots, finely sliced
1 potato, finely sliced
2 tbsp Pastis / Pernod
750ml warm chicken stock or veg stock 100ml double cream
Salt and cayenne pepper, to taste
Method
Place the fennel seeds and star anise in a muslin bag and tie it up to make a bouquet garni, tie it with string to the handle to stop it getting lost. Put a large pan over a medium heat, melt 50g of butter and cook the sliced fennel, onion and potato with the bouquet garni, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes, until slightly softened. Add the Pernod and bring to the boil for a couple of minutes to reduce it. Now add the warm stock to the vegetables, then simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the bouquet garni. Blend the soup using either a hand blender or by putting batches in a food processor, then pass through a sieve. Return the soup to the pan, add the cream and 25g of butter to enrich the soup and whisk together. Remove from the heat, season with salt and cayenne pepper and serve with Pan de Campagne Sourdough.
Courtyard Brasserie
A GREAT VENUE FOR ALL YOUR PARTIES
OUR FULLY LICENSED RESTAURANT IS AVAILABLE ANY EVENING OF THE WEEK FOR PRIVATE HIRE (Birthday, Anniversaries, Business Meeting) OUTSIDE CATERING AVAILABLE
GREAT ENGLISH BREAKFAST (ALL DAY) HOME MADE PIES, PASTAS, FRESHLY MADE SALADS, CIABATTA & GRILLS Try our great guest coffee every month
For details please visit our website
www.courtyardbrasserie.co.uk
Tel: 01234 713925
8-9 Rose Court, Olney MK46 4BY
VOTE FOR THE SOUP YOU WANT TO SEE COOKED FOR THE HOMELESS
VOTE NOW More soup recipes overleaf
FACEBOOK.COM/PHONEBOXFOODIE
Phonebox Magazine 45