Watercress Soup

In case you're wondering, I'm not a vegetarian although I have friends who are. This is yet another recipe based on one from Rose Eliot's Vegetarian Cookery. I picked up a copy that was being deleted from our library and have found it really good for soups.
A word of caution here. Some ingredients are not sold in any particular weight or volume. Watercress is one of them. You either get a bag (which is labelled with the weight) or a bunch which can vary in size depending on where it is packed. My local greengrocer sells a bunch which weighs about 80 or 90 grams including stalks (which you can chop and cook with the potatoes and onion) I used 165 grams for this recipe (two bunches) Don't stint on the watercress, you need a lot to get the lovely peppery flavour!

For 4 servings

1 medium onion, sliced
15g butter
700g peeled and diced potatoes
900ml light vegetable stock (see previous post) or water
165g watercress (reserve 4 sprigs for garnish)

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the onion and cook gently (without browning) covered, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.

2. Add the potatoes and any watercress stalks (cut them into 10mm lengths otherwise they may wrap themselves around the blade of your liquidiser) cover the pan and cook on low heat, without browning, for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the stock or water, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked.

4. Add the watercress leaves to the pan and liquidise with a hand blender or transfer to a liquidiser. Season with salt and pepper and serve in warm bowls topped with a sprig of watercress (you can also swirl in some cream)



The Photograph
This lighting set up was very similar to the last bowl of soup, a 60cm soft box above the table, a 30cm soft box to the rear left and my polystyrene block reflectors below the lens lifting the shadows in front of the bowl. I needed to crop this quite close. There was a lot of empty space top right. Once I have sorted out the lighting, I must concentrate on the styling!

Light Vegetable Stock

These soups all require a pale vegetable stock. Using stock cubes is quick and convenient but I have found that some of them are too strongly flavoured, particularly with celery. To make a light coloured stock, use this recipe. (based on Rose Eliot's) What you put into it can vary with what's available and each batch of stock will always be slightly different . I store mine in a Kilner jar in the fridge for up to a week.

For 900ml to 1100ml of stock you can use as a basic batch:

1 large whole onion, peeled
1 carrot, scraped
1 celery stick
2 garlic cloves
a bouquet garni (use fresh herbs if you have them (parsley, thyme and a bay leaf tied together) or you can use dried herbs prepacked in a bag.
Cover with cold water (I find that 1½ litres is fine)

Bring the pan to a boil then simmer gently for an hour with the lid partly off. If you are not using  it straight away, let it cool before straining and storing. The volume will have reduced down to about 900 - 1000ml.

You can use leek tops (make sure you rinse any soil out of them before adding) and  peelings from well washed potatoes. Allspice and juniper berries (a couple of each) and thinly pared lemon zest also add flavour. Use brassicas with care or not at all, the flavours can be quite stong and can overpower delicately flavoured soups.



The Photograph

I tend not to photograph in the kitchen as there is very little space. This was hand held (I use a tripod otherwise) and lit by one 30cm soft box over my right shoulder. I don't like using on camera flash where there is a lot of reflective metal. Even with a diffuser it is too harsh and brings up too many highlights. I was quite pleased with this lighting.