Ilse's Kitchen - culinary adventures of a girl who loves to eat

I was in the mood for some good old fashioned vegetable soup with meatballs - the kind my grandma might have made. It’s one of those soups you’ll find throughout Europe from north to south, all with slightly different details but very close to this. This version is an Italian variant using half beef half pork meatballs, oregano and acini di pepe and popularly known as as ‘Wedding Soup’.  Ingredients (serves 3): meatballs 250g minced meat, 50% beef 50% pork 2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper  1/4 cup breadcrumbs 1/4 cup grated parmesan 1/2 egg soup 1 stalk celery, finely chopped 50g spinach, roughly chopped 1 cup baby carrots, cut into 1/2 cm thick slices 1 medium-sized onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1.25L chicken broth 1/3 cup acini di pepe  2 tablespoons olive oil  Instructions: 1. Put the minced meat in a large bowl and add the oregano, parsley, breadcrumbs, parmesan, egg and salt an...

It’s already that time of year for picknicks, and lunches beneath parasols, and soaking up the sun. The warmth has had me wanting cool foods to eat and gazpacho is a definite summer favourite. It's packed with healthy veggies, but still refreshing and light. Here's a lovely subtle watermelon version.  Ingredients: 400g fresh watermelon (preferably seedless), peeled 2 large roma tomatoes, cored 1/2 cucumber, peeled and seeded 1/2 red bell pepper, core removed 1/4 red onion, peeled 2.5 tablespoons fresh mint 1.5 tablespoon olive oil 1.5 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon cracked fresh black pepper 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin 1 slice of white bread Garnish: a few finely chopped veggies. Instructions: 1. Take the bread and remove the crust. Run it under cold water until it is soaked, then squeeze the water out with your hands. 2. Take all the ingredients including the soaked bread and toss them in a blender. 3. Refrigerate for 3-...

I’d never made mushroom soup before, and I hadn’t realised you needed so many mushrooms. Now I understand. What I like about this soup - or better said about this version of it in particular - is that you don’t blend it but use the mushrooms sliced, as they are - and thereby keep a nice bit of bite in the texture. And it looks lovely too, don’t you think?   Ingredients (for 2 decent-size bowls with a little for seconds): 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 tbsp olive oil 2 small onions, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 750g fresh brown button mushrooms, sliced 125mL dry white wine 2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped 500mL chicken stock 3 tbsp all purpose flour 1 beef bouillon cube 125mL cream freshly ground black pepper fresh parsley and thyme to garnish Instructions: 1. In a large soup pan, heat the butter and oil. When foaming, add the onion. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, then add the garlic and sauté for 1 more minute.  2. Add the mushrooms and thym...

Eat healthy and you’ve got a better chance of staying healthy - and that’s especially important now that we’re in the middle of a global pandemic and on corona-lockdown. So I got down and dirty with a big bag of spinach and made some spinach salmon soup. Ingredients (serves 4): 3 tbsp butter 1 medium-size onion 2 shallots 3 cloves garlic 300g fresh, washed spinach 200mL cream 1L vegetable bouillon 4 salmon steaks (mine had the skin on one side) Instructions: 1. Chop the onions and shallots and glaze in butter. Sauté for 4-5 minutes. 2. Finely chop the garlic and add to the onions/shallots. Sauté for another minute or 2, then add the spinach and stir until it reduces in size. 3. Add the vegetable bouillon and boil for 15 minutes. 4. Finely mix with a hand blender or blender. 5. Add the cream and stir through. Reheat the soup but do not boil 6. Heat some olive oil in a large skillet and carefully place the salmon steaks in the pan, skin side down. Sauté for 5 ...