Tuscan Bean Soup

Serves 8


Hearty soup and fresh bread, it's a quick, nutritious and very satisfying meal.  We're into the Bacheldre rustic crunch bread mix at the moment shaped into a round country floured cob.  The soup takes the same amount of time as the bread takes to rise and cook.  A good school holiday lunch with easy washing up.


2 sticks celery
2 carrots
2 rashers smoked streaky bacon (optional)
2 onions/leeks
olive oil


Finely chop and fry for 10 minutes.


Add:


1L stock (ham hock was good, but cubes would do)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can berlotti beans/calenninni
1 long squirt tomato puree
2 tbsp redcurrant jelly
2 slices stale bread, finely crumbed
5 new potatoes chopped (optional)
2 cloves chopped garlic
pepper to taste
salt if the stock isn't salty enough


Boil gently for 15 minutes until the veg is tender, stir occasionally to stop it sticking.  


Serve with:
Grated parmesan
Chopped parsley
Pesto (mix some olive oil into it to thin it, then you can make a pretty swirl).

Welsh Cakes - Cacenau Cymraeg

Welsh Cakes - Cacenau Cymraeg

For St David’s Day, 1^st March, or for tea time treats any day, best cooked on the griddle when the Rayburn is alight, but also fine on a heavy based pan with the gas down low… eat them fresh.

Heat up the griddle pan on a LOW gas.

Flour, self raising, 1lb

Butter, salted, 1 pack 250g

Sugar, 6oz

Mixed spice, ½ level tsp

In the food processor mix all the dry ingredients with the butter to make crumbs. Add:

Eggs, 2

Currants, a handful

Pulse to a dough, kneed together if necessary (you don’t want to chop up the currants). Roll out onto a floured board, to just under a centimetre. Griddle slowly until brown, turning once. Cool on wire rack, sprinkle with some:

Sugar, caster.

Serve warm with tea and Welsh conversation.

Maen nhw’n arbennig!

Chowder for Chow

Chowder for Chow

A good quick healthy one pot weekday meal

Serves 6

340g smoked haddock (undyed)

1 pk raw prawns (x27)

1pt semi skim milk

Poach for 10 mins until JUST cooked. Take out the fish and prawns and leave on a plate. Remove skin and any bones. Break into flakes. To the remaining milk, add:

1pt boiling water

1 chicken stock cube (or fish stock)

1 onion chopped finely

5 carrots chopped finely

5 potatoes peeled and chopped finely

1 sprig thyme

Peas, 250g

celery would be nice (optional)

Boil 15-20 mins until the potato is cooked, add:

Sweet corn, half tin

Berlotti beans, 1 tin

Cream, double, 4 tbsp – a good slosh (optional)

Pepper, freshly ground, lots

Cook for 5 mins,

Flour, plain 1 dsp, with 3dsp water to a paste, stir into cowder to thicken, taste it, add more pepper if necessary.

Parsley, a large handful chopped for garnish

Gary Rhodes who inspired this serves his with soda bread, sounds good doesn’t it?