A basil plant! It cost us GBP1.19, which, we thought was reasonable, but that is assuming it doesn’t wilt within a week and the seedlings do continue to grow. It was an interesting experience for the both of us, primarily because we’ve never consumed anything freshly plucked from a plant, and also because we’ve never taken care of anything else other than ourselves.
We decided to cook this dish because of the memorable taste that lingered after the visit to the Beamish Museum. I can still vividly remember the taste, inside one of the cottages, in the hearth of the fireplace where a warm fire was cooking up. The friendly servant was cooking this dish using the most traditional method: a ceramic pot hung over the crackling logs with bubbling broth ready to serve the guests.
Ingredients:
- Potato: 1 big piece, diced
- Chicken stock cube: 1
- Salt: 1 pinch
- Boiling water: to cover potatoes
- Butter: 1 tbsp
- Onion: 1 small, chopped finely
- Leek: 1/2 stalk, chopped finely
- Mixed vegetables or cauliflowers: 3 tbsp, defrosted
- Salt: 1/2 tsp
- Powdered coffee creamer: 2 heaped tbsp
- Ground black pepper: 1/2 tsp
- Corn starch mixture: 1 tbsp corn starch + 2 tbsp water
- Basil leaves: 4, chopped
Method:
- Add diced potatoes, chicken cube and salt in boiling water. Microwave on high heat for 5min.
- While microwaving the potatoes, heat up a saucepan and add butter.
- Add onions and stir fry 2min till transparent.
- Add leek, mixed vegetables and salt. Stir fry 1min.
- Mash microwaved potatoes into chunky bits.
- Pour potatoes and stock into saucepan. Add creamer and leave it to cook on medium heat for 15min.
- Mash the rest of the vegetables till desired consistency is achieved.
- Add more salt if necessary and pepper to taste.
- Add corn starch mixture to the soup and stir for a while before switching off the heat.
- Garnish with basil leaves and serve with dry bread, croutons or biscuits.
Tricks:
- Blend the soup in a soup blender after step 9 if you prefer a creamier texture (or want to impress). I personally prefer to have more chunks in the soup.
- Use drier types of bread so that it can easily soak up the soup and chunky bits.
- Milk can be used in place of the powdered creamer, but using the powdered version makes the soup taste creamier, thicker and more fragrant!
Serving:
1 – 2 persons
