"Cooking on a budget!"

Maybe a new series to feature on my blog - "Cooking on a budget" I found myself with a bit of time on my hands, and some fresh veggies that needed to be used up! So I made a quick visit to my local supermarket to see what I could find on a late Sunday afternoon!

making a bouillon 

I found some 'interesting' pieces of meat at the deli counter - some beef, bone-in and some nice rich veins of beef with a surrounding fat; perfects. Into the pot they go with some bay leaves, mixed peppercorns, and a couple of cloves of garlic!

mirapoix

I fine-diced a couple of carrots, some small potatoes, a couple of onions, three cloves of garlic and two celery stalks; which I sauteed off in butter ( with a splash of Olive Oil, because I didn't want it to burn!) I clarified my bouillon, topped up the water, a couple of tbsp of  'Swiss bouillon', and then added a couple of beef stock cubes, more garlic, sliced onion and a red sweet pepper, some splashes of Worcestershire sauce, some tomato puree, creamed horseradish, smoked paprika, English mustard powder and a small tsp of Hungarian hot pepper paste!

The finished article!

I then combined the two, and added some sticks of carrot & potato (Julienne cut!), along with a tin of peas, a tin of white beans, some halved pitted black olives, diced (Hungarian!) salami, some slices of reindeer sausage, and a couple of handfuls of macaroni! Of course I then seasoned it to taste!

"aaaahhhh, lunch is served"!

I decided to sample my soup for my (late!) lunch, with a nice soft bread roll that I spread liberally with butter!

And dinner too!

I took two bowls to my neighbours, a lovely elderly couple (who had invited me in to watch the boxing on TV saturday night!). We often 'feed each other', which is very nice, and a very neighbourly thing to do! And having decided that this tasty rich spicy soup was quite filling, I had some more for my dinner with some wedges of crusty bread and a glass or three of vodka!

I also have four more portions portions ready for the freezer! Very easy to make, very cost-effective, healthy too - all in all eight portions of wholesome homemade soup!