Homemade Stocks

• When preparing vegetables for everyday dishes, don’t throw away the trimmings. Woody stalks, onion skins, carrot ends all add wonderful flavours to a stock base. Pop the trimmings in a freezer bag and store in the freezer until you have enough to boil up for a stock or soup.


• When you are preparing a meal, save any meat trimmings, including bones, or bits of fat that still have meat attached. While cooking the meal at hand, place the meat trimmings in a saucepan of water and boil. Add leftover vegetable trimmings from the freezer, and continue boiling gently for as long as possible.


• Remove from heat, cool for a short while, and then pour the hot stock liquid through a sieve, and into a glass container. Seal with a lid, and then cool on bench until suitable temperature for freezing.


• The stock is now fully prepared. As it cools, the fat will rise to the top and form a distinct layer that can easily be removed before use. You will be left with a full flavoured, low-fat stock that can quickly and easily be defrosted for use in any meal.


• Try boiling up the ham bone after Christmas and use the ham stock in spaghetti Bolognese or lasagne dishes.


• To make a lovely seafood udon style soup, buy green prawns, boil gently until cooked. Remove prawns, peel, and store. Return the prawn heads and shells to the water, add vegetable trimmings, and spices. Boil stock for immediate use, or prepare and freeze for later.

Pumpkin and Red Lentil Soup

This is a great way to add more lentils to your family's diet. Very lightly spiced, the soup tastes fabulous with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and a garnish of fresh coriander.

Suitable for the whole family. Use a salt-free stock and consider omitting the sweet chilli sauce if cooking for babies under 12 months.

Pumpkin and Red Lentil Soup

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 garlic clove

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

1L salt-reduced or homemade (salt-free) chicken stock

1 cup red lentils

800g peeled diced pumpkin

2 tbsp peanut butter (no added salt or sugar if cooking for infants)

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

1. 
   
   Heat olive oil in a deep saucepan. Add onion, garlic and spices, frying lightly until fragrant and onion soft.
2. 
   
   Pour in chicken stock
3. 
   
   Add red lentils, pumpkin, peanut butter, and sweet chilli sauce
4. 
   
   Simmer gently for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally
5. 
   
   Once cooked, remove from heat and puree with hand blender
6. 
   
   Serve with a dollop of yoghurt and fresh coriander



Clear Asian Soup Base

This is a simple clear soup base that is quick and easy to make and so versatile. Make it as spicy as you like, add noodles, dumplings, mushrooms, vegetables, prawns, or anything else you can think of.

Clear Asian Soup Base

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 chilli, finely sliced

1 tsp crushed or finely grated ginger

Lemongrass stalk, finely sliced

1L salt reduced chicken stock

1 lime, juiced

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp palm sugar or firmly packed brown sugar

Fresh coriander

1. 
   
   In a large pot, gently fry chilli, garlic, and ginger in sesame oil
2. 
   
   Pour in chicken stock and all remaining ingredients, except coriander
3. 
   
   After adding in any extra ingredients (noodles, meats, etc), sprinkle with fresh coriander and serve.

Lamb, Vegetable, and Barley Soup

A warming winter soup with low GI pearl barley. I used homemade chicken stock made the night before from a leftover organic BBQ chicken carcass.

For the healthiest version of this soup, make it a day ahead to skim the fat off before reheating and serving.

Lamb, Vegetable, and Barley Soup

1 tbsp olive oil

Chicken stock

600g lamb neck/shoulder on the bone

1 onion, finely diced

1 carrot, diced

1 swede, peeled and diced

2 sticks of celery, thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs of rosemary

1/2 cup pearl barley

Salt and pepper to taste

1. 
   
   Heat oil in pressure cooker. Cook onion until soft.
2. 
   
   Add lamb and seal on all sides.
3. 
   
   Pour in chicken stock until meat is covered
4. 
   
   Add remaining herbs, vegetables, and barley
5. 
   
   Simmer with lid on until meat is tender and begins to fall off the bone
6. 
   
   Season to taste with iodised salt and cracked pepper