Let down by Celery Soup, bonus Baked Apple & an unexpected supper

With roasted butternut squash - just in case you wondered!

You might remember that I was, last week, planning on making a Chicken Supreme.  The intention was to use (as per the recipe) a tin of Cream of Mushroom Soup to make the sauce.  What happened though, was that I picked up the tin of Cream of Celery Soup instead (in error) and had opened it before I realised my mistake.

I was committed to using the Celery soup then, as I wouldn't be able to use it the following day for lunch (I had half a stir-fry mix to use up).  I had a bit of a ponder and thought it might do.  So I put the mushrooms and garlic back in the fridge and went with chicken and sweetcorn.


Oh dear.  Well, it wasn't disgusting or unpalatable - but it was bland.  Very, very bland.  Oddly, it seemed to be quite rich as well because both hubby and I had problems getting through our chicken ration.  I'm sure we wouldn't have had those problems with the mushroom version.

So, there's two lessons learned.  One, look before you open the can and two, Cream of Celery Soup needs some help when used as a base for a sauce.

One day last week, I forget which now, we had our lunch and dinner upside down (lunch at dinner time and dinner at lunch time), which meant I missed out on my dinner (for some reason which I've also forgotten!).


Later on that evening, after sitting for a while listening to my tummy growling, hubby went out in the kitchen and rustled and clanked with packets and plates.  Eventually, this is what he turned up with :

Isn't it just lovely?  He'd tried to keep it all within the anti-inflammatory diet guidelines and did so very well with that.  From the top, we've got smoked salmon & capers on rice cakes, then a blob of taramasalata with two celery sticks with which to eat it.  A pickled gherkin, some pickled onions, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and a piece of cheese.  Gorgeous!

Something else that wasn't especially planned, was the two baked Bramley apples that I made for Son & heir's (and my) dessert recently.  Hubby doesn't like baked apple, so he abstained.

The recipe is very similar to my Rum Soaked Baked Apples, in that I drizzled rum over them before baking, but this time I filled them with sultanas and glace cherries (2 at the bottom, 3 at the top), then added the brown sugar and butter.

Half an hour in a medium oven (mine was 180deg C) and they're bursting with juice and delightfully foamy.


Somehow - goodness only knows how (hollow legs, I think!) - son & heir managed to eat his entire apple in one sitting.  Mine lasted for two and was just as good second time around as it had been the day before.


I tend to forget about baked apples, but I really should make them more often.  Son & heir loves them - and I really enjoy the smell of them baking, as well as the eating part!


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Cream of Celery Soup, using Fenland Celery

I have just finished the most delicious bowl of warming, but light, cream of celery soup.

I was determined to make the soup for lunch today and woke up full of good intentions which, for once, didn't get swallowed up by other things happening, or running out of time.

I was contacted recently and asked whether I would be interested in receiving a bunch of Fenland Celery to "play with" in the kitchen.  Of course, I said "yes please!", celery being one of my favourite veggies (oh yes, I know, they're all my favourites - I'm a bit like Bruce Forsyth where that's concerned).

I gather that Fenland Celery is one of the older types of celery, which has a relatively short season in that producers begin harvesting it in November and it is available in the shops through to December/January, depending on the harvest.  Apparently it is making something of a comeback in that you can find it in Waitrose this year.

 

I also gather, from the Love Celery website, that Celery is a good source of potassium that helps to control blood pressure and counteract the negative effects of too much salt on the diet. It also contains ‘3-n-butyl phthalide’ which helps to reduce blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels and is one of the components that gives celery its characteristic smell and taste.  Who knew?

Sweating the celery, leek & potato - smelling gorgeous!

Something else that I absolutely love about Celery is that it takes more calories to eat a stick of celery than it contained to begin with.  Now there's not many veggies you can say that about!

I'd had sneaky taster of the raw product when it arrived.  Now ordinary old celery is a bit unpredictable where the finer points of its flavour are concerned.  They can be a bit hot and peppery, or sweet and juicy, there's no real way of telling which you've got.  Now this 'ere Fenland Celery is predictably (or so I'm told) sweet, delicately nutty and fresh flavoured.  My bunch certainly was!

Coincidentally, I'd been looking for celery soup in the shops for a while.  Why can't it be found any more?  It's completely bonkers!  What happened to Heinz Cream of Celery soup?  It's one of the flavours of my childhood and I can't believe it's not available any more.  Not only Heinz, but Campbells - they used to make a Condensed Cream of Celery soup that made a fabulous casserole base, much in the way we use Cream of Mushroom.  Can't find it now, though.  I just don't understand - although thinking on, it's taken me donkey's years to notice that it's not available any more, so I suppose I'm as responsible as anyone else for it's demise.

Couldn't you just tuck right in?

However, now I've worked out how to make a fabulous (and quick!) Cream of Celery Soup at home, I'm not so bothered about not being able to find it in the shops.  This one is going to appear on our lunch menu very often, I'm sure of that.


CREAM OF CELERY SOUP  (serves 3 as a lunch, or 4 as a starter)


Ingredients :


350g celery stalks, trimmed, de-stringed, sliced finely and leaves reserved
25g butter
110g potato, peeled and cut into small dice
2 medium leeks, trimmed & washed, sliced finely
570ml hot vegetable stock (I used Marigold Swiss vegetable bouillon)
150ml double cream
150ml whole milk
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper (or white, if you've got it!).


Method :


1.  In a large saucepan, melt the butter over a low heat.  Add the celery, potatoes and leeks to the pan and stir well, ensuring the butter coats the vegetables.


2.  Cover the pan and cook gently - ensuring none of the vegetables brown - for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes begin to break up.

3.  Add the stock, some pepper and a tiny pinch of salt.  Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for some 20-25 minutes or until the vegetables are really tender to the point of a knife.

4.  Blend the soup (I used a hand blender), then add the cream and milk and stir through.

5.  Re-heat the soup, but do not let it boil, and taste to check the seasoning.  It's probably best that you are accompanied at this point, so that your companion can stop you from eating the entire panful of soup.

6.  Serve, adding the celery leaves and a little pepper as garnish.  Delicious!

Inflammation Factor (approx) : +62 (21 per person)

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