Chicken, Rice and Bean Soup

Black and white rice cooked originally for a risotto. The black rice was cooked separately for fifteen minutes, and then drained.

Made with red kidney beans, chickpeas, diced leek, carrot, plus vegetable and chicken stock, and tomato puree. With the addition of black pepper, oregano, and coriander leaf.

The chicken came from roasted chicken thighs, and the meat was diced before being added to the soup.

The soup was simmered under glass for an hour and fifteen minutes. Served with home made bread, made with Khorasan wheat (Kamut).

Salmon and Cod Potato Pie

The base of the pie was a thick vegetable stew (from the fridge) of sweet potato, potato, carrot, diced mushrooms, and spring onion, plus kamut grains, a little chopped red chilli, chopped garlic, and cardamom seed, fresh from three crushed pods.

The fish pieces were placed on top of the vegetable stew in a roasting dish, distributed evenly.

On top of that, a layer of potato mashed with a knob of butter was added (and a little salt and pepper), and textured with a fork.

The roasting tray was placed on the middle shelf of an oven preheated to 190 deg C, uncovered. Depending on the depth of the roasting dish, the cooking time will be somewhere between 45 minutes and one hour (it will be properly cooked after 45 minutes, but it may take longer for the desired browning of the potato topping - judge by eye!).

Served with a little American or German mustard.

The fish pieces were sourced from Sainsbury's, who often make up inexpensive packs for making this kind of dish.

Cumberland Sausage Stew, with Sweet Potato and Spring Onion

Chopped Cumberland (pork) sausages, with a vegetable stew of sweet potato, potato, carrot and spring onion, plus kamut grains, red chilli, chopped garlic, and cardamom seed. What is the best and tidiest way to get cardamom seeds out of cardamom pods? I use a metal garlic press.



The sausages had been cooked for an earlier meal, and came with a spring onion and vegetable stock gravy. They were added to the vegetable stew, which had been simmered for about forty five minutes. Chilli, garlic and cardamom seeds had been added, along with more vegetable stock, and two pinches of oregano and one of sage.

Cooked for at least twenty minutes before serving. Serve hot!

Turnip and Potato Soup

Essentially a delicious and warming winter soup, made with half a turnip (bought to accompany a haggis), a large handful of chopped curly kale (a form of cabbage), diced potato, and some grains of Kamut (wheat grains).

The ingredients were boiled for about an hour, and then lightly mashed. I added vegetable stock, some black pepper, and the herbs Rosemary and Thyme.

Serve with potato bread.

Pea and Ham Soup, with Kamut Grains

A traditional soup made with simple ingredients: freshly podded peas from Somerset, boiled in salted water. Cook for thirty minutes until soft, along with diced spring onion.

Add diced ham (almost any kind of ham will do) and vegetable stock. Add a handful of Kamut grains (adds flavour and acts as a thickener for the soup).

Simmer for at least half an hour before serving (an hour is good). The peas can be mashed, but the soup is fine without doing this.

Serve with black pepper. Good with buttered bread of any description.

Minimal Wheat Brown Bread

Made with Dove's Farm wheat-free brown bread flour, with 20 per cent of Khorasan wheat (Kamut), which is an ancient variety that is often ok for people with a wheat intolerance to eat. So this is not a wheat-free loaf, but eighty per cent of it is wheat-free.

Essentially the process is easiest if you use two glass bowls, one for the wet ingredients, and the other for the dry ones.

Weigh out 400g of the wheat-free brown bread flour and add to the dry bowl. Weigh out 100g of the Khorasan flour, and add to the bowl also. Add sugar (one dessert spoonful), and a teaspoonful of quick acting yeast. Blend together thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

Add 400g of whole milk to the wet bowl. Add one beaten egg, six dessert spoonfuls of olive oil, one dessert spoonful of vinegar, and blend together with a whisk.

Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet bowl, and stir together. When it gets stiff, use an electric blender the rest of the way. Beat the mixture for five minutes and allow it to rest for a while. Then beat the mixture for another five minutes.

Allow the dough to rest, and to begin to rise. Then decant the dough into a standard bread tin (silicon ones are the easiest to use), and allow the dough to rise to the desired level in a warm dry place.

Bake in the oven at 190 deg C for around 45 minutes (middle shelf), checking by eye frequently toward the end of the process.

Generally the bread will keep for around a fortnight in the fridge in an airtight container.

Chorizo Stew

A simple stew made with chorizo sausage, sun-dried tomato, sweetcorn, leek, onion, spinach, kamut, vegetable and ham stock, paprika, white pepper, and garlic.

Bring water to the boil in a deep pan, and add chopped leek, onion and spinach. Slice the chorizo and add to the pan, along with the vegetable and ham stock. Add 4 crushed garlic cloves. Add the sweetcorn and the sundried tomato (cut into small pieces).

Return the contents to the boil, and add a large pinch of paprika, and a quarter teaspoonful of white pepper (or according to taste). Add a small handful of kamut grains, which acts as a thickener, as well as adding a flovour of its own. Simmer at a low heat for ninety minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve with toasted pita bread. Dampen the pita and drain before putting it into the toaster. Use it as a tearing bread. The garnish is a baby leaf salad of chard, spinach, purple lettuce, and rocket.

Tomato and Celery Broth

Some bargain vegetables were bought in the local co-op on a Sunday afternoon, including salad tomatoes, carrots and leek. With celery from the fridge, I had the ingredients to make a tasty tomato and celery broth. 

Chop up one mid-sized leek, four sticks of celery, shred half a dozen salad tomatoes, and 750 grams of carrots.  Add to 2 litres of boiling water, and cook for half an hour. Add two ham stock cubes, and one vegetable stock cubes. Plus a teaspoonful of black pepper. I also added a handful of Khorasan wheat (Kamut), for flavour and thickening (adding that means this is not a wheat-free recipe). 

After the first period of cooking, mash the contents of the pot. Cook for another 45 minutes under glass at a low simmer. Add some shredded basil leaves, and cook for a further 10 to 15 minutes before serving. 

Tomato and Celery Broth

Chicken, Mushroom and Black Bean Soup

Found some cheap chestnut mushrooms in town this afternoon, so this dish is the result.

I had some leftover roast chicken in a black bean sauce, to which I added chopped red chilli, a chopped clove of garlic, two spring onions, and 300 grammes of chopped chestnut mushrooms. I also added some water, a handful of khorasan wheat (also known as Kamut), and two dessert spoonfuls of oyster sauce. Cooked for forty minutes at a low heat under glass. Delicious!

A note from 20 May 2018. This is my most popular dish by a mile, and I don't know why. Sometimes I withdraw the recipe for a bit, to see what else might take its place at the top of the list. I did that over the past month, before restoring it. And it is back at the top in just a few days! It is a really delicious soup, which I've made a number of times since posting the recipe. Enjoy!

Chicken, Mushroom and Black Bean Soup