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Cold weather has now arrived – both in the sense of ambient temperature and annoying minor ailments.
That means it's time for soup. And I am on a quest for soups that are (a) delicious (b) do not contain ludicrous quantities of salt and (c) preferably can be stored for long periods of time — so I can always have them on hand and just pull them out on a whim, or when a cold has made me too miserable to venture to the shops.
Well, Yorkshire Provender Mushroom Soup isn't really designed for long term storage. You can freeze it and keep it for a month... but then that's true for just about everything.
But it's not too high in salt (about half a gram per 100 grams, which is pretty standard for non-canned soups).
And it really is delicious.
And I'm not just saying so because it makes that boast on the carton.
It also boasts the addition of "wholegrain black rice". I wasn't sure what the rice would bring to the party, but in fact it's an inspired addition, giving the soup a meaty density and good depth of flavour. Also, perhaps not surprisingly, a kind of pleasant risotto aftertaste.
I'm including a photo of the carton and also the soup on my table — tarted up with a bit of rosemary from my garden (he boasted) and a splash of milk...
As with all the other soups in this tasting, it was served up with Poilane sourdough toast liberally slathered with organic unsalted butter.
And a glass of water.
With a slice of lemon in it.
This is a terrific soup (well done, Yorkshire Provender) and I will definitely buy it again.
I just wish it could be stored for many months in a cupboard, like the Duchy Organic soups I wrote about before.
I'll be trying their own mushroom concoction as soon as I can get hold of it.
Stay tuned.
(Image credits: The pack shot is from Waitrose. The served-up shot is from my own fair camera.)
As I explained in a previous post, I always like to have some good quality soup in the store cupboard (I don't literally have a store cupboard, but you know what I mean).
And when winter arrived this year, with its grim weather, early darkness and annoying colds, my cupboard was bare.
So I went on a quest for some really nice soups which can be stored for long periods.
I was attracted by the new range of Duchy soups at Waitrose. These can be stored at room temperature for a year or more, so that was a big point in their favour.
And they're organic.
I was mostly looking for vegetarian soups, but the only two Duchy long-life soups available at my local store were chicken and ox cheek.
I went for this chicken one, as the lesser of two evils.
And, I have to say, it was really great. It's a small portion, just right for an agreeable bowl for one person, and the flavour was first rate. Complex and rather mouthwatering.
I'm going to stock up on these Duchy soups. Half a dozen stashed in a cupboard will prove very useful indeed.
And, thanks to a bit of internet research, I find they do produce a vegetarian option — mushroom.
I can't wait to try it.
(Image credits: The pic is from Waitrose.)
I love soup and I always order it when I'm in a promising-looking restaurant.
I am, however, not organised enough to make it for myself at home. And, since I regard it as the ultimate comfort food for when I'm in a hurry or under the weather, I am very much on the lookout for good quality soup that can be stored for long periods and served up at short notice.
I have fond memories of New Covent Garden soups, and they can be frozen for long term storage, so this leek and potato concoction was a natural choice when I recently was on a quest for soup at Waitrose.
However, Mr Potato & Leek proved disappointingly lacking in flavour. I ended up adding all sorts of things in an attempt to jazz it up, but it still fell short.
It also contains a lot of salt (I don't buy canned soup because they're basically tins of salt with a touch of added soup) — so this managed the paradoxical achievement of being both too bland and too salty.
I haven't given up on New Covent Garden, but this one gets a thumbs down. With regret.
(Image credits: The pack shot is taken from the company's own website.)
