Frosty On The Toes.

Fool that I am, I was out there this morning gleaning beads from the kiln in my Pyjama's wading through frost up to my ankles. Yes its up to my ankles because the grass still needs cutting before winter sets in but the PS has been so busy ripping out the old bathroom, re-tiling, plumbing and electrocuting ready for the new one that he's not had time so up to my ankles it is. Anyway the beads were fab. I've been making a few buttons lately, think I'm going to have to knit myself a new winter woolly soon to sew them onto.

I'm digressing, while I was plodding down to the shedio in the frost I collected a handful of mushrooms growing next to the pond, had a couple for breakfast on toast and threw the others into a pan of vegetable soup later on. Very nice they were too, a much woodier flavour fresh from the garden than when they've been sitting around in a plastic container in a warehouse, lorry and finally the supermarket, they smell gorgeous too. Anyway this soup I made, its a wonderfully thick wintery soup full of hot goodness It's fab for keeping in the fridge and coming home to on a cold evening with a hunk of crusty bread and some cheese. Perfect as a winter warmer and wonderful after a bonfire. Makes a great base for a chicken pie too.

Leek and Potato Soup

4 Leeks washed and sliced.
6 Medium sized potatoes
Water
2 Chicken or veg stock cubes
I large onion
1 tbsp olive oil

These ingredients are not written in stone and can be taken away or added to as desired.

Heat the oil in large pan and fry of the chopped onion and leeks until softened.

Cut up the potatos into inch sized pieces and add to the leeks. I leave the skin on but take it off if you prefer.

Add the stock cubes and the water and bring to the boil. Simmer until the potatos have cooked and the water as reduced to give a good flavour. Depending on the quantity of water you add the soup will be thicker or thinner, reduce it more for a thicker soup.

When the potatos start to mush up a bit use a stick blender (the type you can put in the pan) and blend the soup slightly to break up the potato and thicken the soup. If you prefer a smooth soup just blend it until its the consistency you want.

If you don't have a stick blender or like me you have a battery one that you've forgotten to charge, you can put a potato masher into the soup and give it a good mash around.

This is delicious with crusty wholemeal bread and I like to drop some cubes of cheddar into the soup when its in the bowl.