Cream of Celery Soup

print
Celery soup (2)

Successful soup-making is one of those useful things that has eluded me all my life. All my life, that is, until today :)

Whoever it was said that thing about ‘old dogs’ and ‘new tricks’ was talking rubbish.. I got a big head of organic celery at St Georges yesterday. I wanted it for our family favourite vegetable dish Celery in White Sauce (I’ll tell you about that another time) which I duly made, but was then left with a decent amount of fresh celery, which was looking, I’m sorry to say, a little wilted. That’s when the words ‘Cream of Celery soup’ popped into my head. So I decided to go for it. This is a really easy soup, and very creamy and rich too. Perfect for a substantial lunch with some wheaten bread; or in a cup, as a tasty starter. If I can turn out something as impressive as this with very little effort, so can you :)

EQUIPMENT:

  • A medium/large high-sided saucepan
  • A hand blender or processor
  • Measuring jug

INGREDIENTS: This made about enough for 4 hungry people.   Celery soup (1)

  • 25g butter
  • 350g of celery, including the leaves, well washed and roughly chopped
  • half a medium onion, roughly chopped
  • 110g peeled raw potato, chopped and well rinsed
  • 600ml hot vegetable stock (I used Bouillon powder – See NOTES)
  • 200ml whole milk (cold)
  • 100ml single or whipping cream
  • Freshly grated nutmeg, to serve.
  • ground pepper

METHOD: I made this soup while I was doing something else in the kitchen – it meant I wasn’t standing around waiting for the celery to soften etc. In that respect, it almost made itself..

  • Melt the butter on a med-high heat

Celery soup (3)

  • Add the celery, the potatoes and the onions, and stir to coat all the pieces in the butter.
  • Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and allow to cook gently for about 15-20 minutes.
  • Add the hot stock and some pepper, and stir in. I don’t add salt as that Bouillon powder can be quite salty anyway.  Allow to cook for a further 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are fully cooked (try squeezing a piece of potato against the side of the pot – it should mash easily)
  • Remove from the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes before you blitz it.( It’s always going to spit a bit, as you blend it, so the 5 minute cooling-off period is so you don’t get burned) This is also why a high-sided pot is best.
  • Using your stick blender (preferably), blitz the soup until there are no visible bits left – it should be really quite smooth. If you’re a real perfectionist, you could strain it as this stage. I know that this will come as a shock, but I didn’t strain it.. 😉
  • Before you return it to the heat, add the cold milk, and then the cream – it becomes a beautiful, smooth, creamy colour.
  • Taste for seasoning, and adjust as required.
  • Ladle into bowl, then grate some nutmeg over the top just before serving.

NOTES:

  • Stick blenders: you could go out an buy yourself a state-of-the-art version, they’re not hugely expensive. Or you could do what I do – buy a supermarket’s own brand from the ‘small appliances’ aisle – my last one was a fiver. I usually buy two, so that I always have one in reserve, in case the present one dies, or falls into a sink of sudsy water. Yes, this is my life… anything that can go wrong in your kitchen has already happened in mine! :)
  • Bouillon powder – this can make things very salty if you don’t follow the instructions on the packaging, so make sure you don’t make the stock too strong.
  • Handy hint: if you do make something too salty, you can save it by putting a whole, peeled, uncooked potato into the dish and allow it to cook – it seems to absorb extra salt
  • Before you trot this lovely soup out to a crowd, make sure no one’s allergic to Celery..

 

About

I started writing down recipes in an old copybook when I was about 16. With 6 children at home, my Mother was always glad of a hand in the kitchen, and really allowed us to experiment - as long as we washed up afterwards, and left the kitchen immaculate! Having a tidy kitchen has followed me through my life, as has the habit of writing down my favourite recipes; except that these days I write them for my website, and add photographs when I can. The website really started when it occurred to me that my daughter might like to have these recipes when I've forgotten them. In my early days of cooking for family and friends, I used to phone my Mum all the time to ask her for the recipe for some of our favourite family dinners. She rarely had a recipe to hand - I think, like me, she made a lot of it up as she went along.. So welcome to Eating for Ireland - these are the recipes that my friends and family having been eating these past 40 years.. yes, I truly am ancient! They are tried and tested, and have worked for me for all that time - I have updated them as new ingredients became available - I really hope you'll find something that you can make into a family favourite of your own. You don't have to tell anyone where you found these great new dishes that you're serving up - it can be our little secret, but I'd really love it if you could give me a sneaky 'follow' on Facebook and Instagram.. So off you go - have a good rummage around, you're bound to find something new! My sincere thanks to all of you who have found a recipe that you liked and dropped me a line to tell me - I really do love to hear from you! Happy Cooking! Becks xx

Posted in