Krupnik - Polish Barley Soup

So, because I like to have themes on the blog (mainly as it's a good way to get inspiration for new soup recipes), welcome to Polish Month on Soup Tuesday!

I used to live down the road from a rather brilliant Polish restaurant - the food was cheap and cheerful, but blimey it was filling, and I think that's where I first got addicted to Polish cuisine.  The owner / waiter was always helpful in pointing out what was the special of the day and they did some killer pirogi, but one thing I never tried was the soup - being equally as addicted to dumplings as I am to soup, I always went for them first - and occasionally, the restaurant did serve tripe soup (which will be coming to the blog shortly...)

Since starting this blog, I've done a number of East European soups, and they have always been brilliant.  This one is no exception.  Krupnik is a sort of Polish minestrone, it seems - with various recipes adding or subtracting different elements - you could always try it without the mean - but the constant is the pearl barley.  Its a chunky soup that works well (as you would imagine) on a cold night.

Krupnik is not to be confused with the honey sweetened alcoholic drink of the same name, but I'm pretty sure it would go well with this soup too!  Also, the dried mushrooms I used in this recipe were given to me as part of a foodie pen pals parcel ages ago and I'd never used them until now, but they gave a nice meaty edge to the soup.



Ingredients
250g Chicken Breasts
150g Pearl Barley
1 Large Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
2 Carrots
2 Potatoes
1 Leek
1 Stalk Celery
2 Bay leaves
25g Butter
15g Dried Mushrooms
1/2tsp Ground Allspice
1.5l Chicken Stock
Fresh Dill

Method
1. In your soup pan, heat the stock, bringing it to the boil.  Cut the chicken breasts into small cubes, then put them in the stock, poaching them for 3 minutes until the meat is cooked.  Skim any scum from the stock as you do this.  Remove the chicken from the stock and set aside.  Take the stock off the heat for the moment

2. Heat the butter in a large frying pan.  Into this add the finely chopped onion and celery.  Cook until the veg starts to soften, then add the garlic, cubed carrot and leek, cook for another few minutes and then add the cubed potato.  Cook for another few minutes until all the veg is softened.

3.  Add the vegetables to the stock with the pearl barley, allspice and bay leaves.  Wash the dried mushrooms to remove any grit and then add these to the pan also. Bring the soup to the boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. 

4.  Check the mushrooms and barley are cooked and soft, then add the chicken back into the pan and heat through.

5.  Adjust seasoning to taste and then serve.  Garnish the bowls with plenty of finely chopped fresh dill.  Enjoy!

Scotch Broth

Another cold day, another warming soup for you!  This one involves the left-overs from a rather lovely Sunday lunch (well, the meaty / gravy parts anyway) and is an old favourite of mine.  If you don't have any left over lamb, you could just get a lamb chop and use the meat from that, it will work just as well.

This is a slight adaptation of Scotch Broth, with the mint and balsamic vinegar being my own additions, as I think both flavours go particularly well with lamb, and help to cut through the fatty taste that you can sometimes get with that meat.  If you want to be more traditional, leave those two ingredients out (and don't write me emails saying I got the recipe wrong, please...)

Also included in this recipe is some pearl barley, which I think in another brilliant but under-rated ingredient, although it does show up quite a bit in Scottish recipes.  It makes a brilliant risotto instead of rice, and can be used in countless stews and soups - indeed, I suspect that as the nights grow darker, more and more people will be reaching for the pearl barley as well as their favourite stew recipes.

Ingredients
2 Large Carrots
1 Small Turnip
1 Large Onion
1 Small Leek
1 Medium Potato
50g Pearl Barley
250g Lamb
2l Stock
3 Cloves Garlic
1tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Handful fresh chopped mint leaves

Method
1. Cut the carrot, turnip, potato and lamb into small cubes. Finely chop the onion, leek and garlic.

2.  Heat your stock in a soup pan.  Throw in any left-over gravy from Sunday lunch at this point too, and add the balsamic vinegar.

3.  Bring the stock to the boil, put in the vegetables and lamb then cover and bring to a simmer.  Cook the soup for 2-3 hours on a low heat.

4.  30 Minutes before serving, add the pearl barley.

5.  Check seasoning, adding plenty of black pepper before serving and garnish with a handful of chopped fresh mint leaves.  Enjoy!

Haggis Soup

So, there was lots of snow when we went away.  Please look at this lovely picture of a church and then we will never mention snow again...

It's time to talk about something serious - something some of you might find disturbing, but nonetheless, I think it's time we addressed this thing.

OFFAL

A word that  can often strike fear into the hardiest of souls.  But I come to praise offal, not to bury it.  I am an addict.  Liver and onions is one of my favourite dishes, the kidney in a steak and kidney pie is the bit I eat first.  On a recent trip to a Chinese restaurant, my starter was tongue, tripe and heart in a chili and peanut sauce.  I get stared by the women behind the checkouts in the supermarket for buying things their Grandfather probably ate.

And I think you should embrace the offal too!  It's cheap, it's tasty and it's a bit unusual (plus it appeals to the same part of my brain that made me giggle like a child when the fishmonger chap at my local Morrison's asked me if I wanted the tentacles with my squid (yes please!) so banish your memories of tough, overcooked liver for school meals, and explore the exciting world of innards!

Probably the most accessible of the offal based meats is haggis.  Pay no attention to the fact it is heart, liver and lungs wrapped up in a sheeps' stomach - just think of it as super tasty mince and you should be okay) And it's not just for Burns' Night either.  I've made lasagna and Shepards' Pie with haggis instead of minced beef and both were delicious.

So give it a go (and I'm sorry that today being Valentine's Day I didn't make a soup with heart in it, which would have been much more appropriate, don't you think?) This is another wintry warmer type of soup - very rich and great for this time of year.  Try and get good quality haggis for that extra special taste!

 Ingredients
2 Red Onions
2 Turnips
2 Cloves Garlic
450g Haggis
1 Leek
1tbsp Oil
1.5l Chicken Stock
100g Pearl Barley
Salt and Pepper

 

Method
1. Finely chop the onion, garlic and turnip - about 1cm sized cubs should be okay for the turnip

2.  Heat the oil in your soup pan.  Then add the onion, garlic and turnip and gently sweat for 5 - 10 minutes until they are soft.

3. Slice half of the leek and add that to the pan as well.  Save the rest for garnish

4.  Cut your haggis into chunks - this will help it break up in the soup.

5.  Add the haggis, stock and pearl barley to the pan. Bring up the heat and stir, breaking up the haggis even more.

6.  Simmer the soup for 35-40 minutes, until the haggis and barley are thoroughly cooked. Remember to stir regularly, so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.  Check the seasoning at this point, and add more salt or pepper to taste.

7.  Cut the remaining leek into thin strips.  Place them in a pan of boiling water for about 1 minute, then remove.

8.  Serve the soup and then dress with the strips of leek

 Enjoy!