Caldo Verde Soup

For an experiment, I randomly bought some vegetables and then had a look around for a soup recipe that used them.  The vegetable I bought was some lovely dark kale, which I decided to make into the Portugese soup called Caldo Verde.  I had some chorizo sausage that Mrs Soup brought back from a work trip to Belgium of all places and some stock that I made from last Sunday's roast chicken left-overs, so this soup was rather economical, and also very tasty

Beer and Cheese Soup with Bacon

I'm always on the lookout for strange and interesting combinations of flavours, and when someone told be that beer and cheese soup was an actual thing, how could I resist making it?  Combining, as it does, three of my most favourite ingredients in the world - namely beer, cheese and, ummm, bacon (which you have already guessed, due to the fact that this IS a recipe for Beer and cheese soup with bacon...)

I know it sounds like a very strange combination of ingredients, but trust me, once you try this soup you will be a convert.  As well as tasting delicious, it is possibly the most manly soup possible.

The beer flavour isn't too strong, and neither is the cheese, but combined with the bacon, it's a really nice and savoury taste.  I imagine this is the soup that lumberjacks eat before chopping down trees in the Canadian wilderness, or perhaps contestants in The World's Strongest Man eat before lifting cars with their ears, or whatever it is that they do.

Anyway, eat this soup and put hairs on your chest.  Grrr....

Callaloo Soup

Today's soup recipe is a Caribbean soup, the main ingredient of which is Callaloo.  You might have a bit of a problem getting hold of this, so spinach is a pretty good substitute.  Okra is pretty easy to come by these days in most supermarkets, so that shouldn't be a problem.

However, in making this soup, I did discover one thing - some versions of it use salt beef, which I always assumed was corned beef, like the stuff that comes out of tins made by Fray Bentos.  I have since found out that salt beef (and by this I mean what Americans refer to as corned beef) is completely different stuff, and much, much nicer!

Also, you could substitute cooked bacon for the salt beef, and some people also add coconut milk to this soup.  Have a play around and see what works for you!

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

 This is a perfect way to make fresh strawberries last a little longer - if you can manage not to sit and eat the frozen yogurt all in one go! Making a syrup (quite like the first steps in making strawberry jam) stops the strawberries developing ice-crystals as they freeze.

Strawberry and Cardamom Soup

I was thinking about whether, in the quest for more variety of soups to write about, I could include any recipes for sweet or desert soups.  Did such things even exist?  And more importantly do they count as soup at all.

A quick search later revealed at least two varieties of sweet soup (and a rather odd Korean soup that is said to be a fertility aid, that has sweet ingredients as well as frog's fallopian tubes - which may well be sweet as well - but the local supermarket was out of them when I stopped by)

So here is the first of two sweet soup recipes, a Strawberry soup, which I decided to put up today as I have just been to a pick-your-own strawberry plantation and am in the middle of making all sorts of strawberry related food and drink (including strawberry liquor!)

Is it a soup, or just a glorified smoothy eaten from a bowl with a spoon?  Why don't you try it on a hot sunny afternoon and make up your own mind?

(Oh, the other sweet soup recipe is a Scandinavian one that seemed so Christmassy that I'll post it nearer December.  If you come across any more, feel free to let me know)

Asparagus Soup

Summer is here, with all the associated trappings - my hay fever playing up again, the English guy losing at Wimbledon (or has he gone back to being Scottish again yet?)

But most excitingly, as soon as the sun starts shining properly, we get to enjoy all the summer fruits and vegetables in their glory, especially asparagus.  It really is the perfect soup for a day when the sky is blue and the bumble bees are buzzing.  Goes well with a glass of Pimms, I can tell you