TBK cooks some of his favourite Soup recipes

In 2014 my best friend Jane Frost gave me a Soup recipe book for Christmas and then my soup making really took off! 

It was fueled by supply and demand. 

The supply was from my garden in Awali which produced 20 kg of lovely tasty red ripe tomatoes and wonderful cabbages , which had to be used quickly before they rotted. 

The demand was from my diet which for 5 years told me to have soup and a bread roll for lunch.

Broccoli and Avocado soup at work

It is then you realise that there must be more soups than Tinned Heinz Tomato , and that actually they are really easy and cheap to make and most can be frozen.

So it was that my house in Awali turned into a soup kitchen producing 8 portions of soup every weekend . 

These were based on what was coming out of my garden. They were all portioned up into reusable plastic containers ( yogurt pots) , labelled, and then reheated during the week as needed at work. 

Blending the ingredients for my Watermelon Gazpacho

This soup production also saved me 2 bd a day for lunch at work.( That’s 4  pounds for my British readers, 5 USD$ for my dudes, and 270 Pesos for my Kabayan ) . 

Yes I know my Kabayan could feed a family for a week on 270 Pesos but we lived well in the Middle East.

So I thought I would share my top 3 soups with you in today's blog!

                                                                                                                              

    The first one I ever made, and the simplest, a very tasty cold summer soup ( great when its 50 degrees outside in Bahrain in the Summer)

My brother, Andrew, saw this on TV in an advert produced by Sainsbury’s supermarket promoting their ingredients.  The soup was made in 2 minutes by TV Chef Jamie Oliver, so my brother named it:

"POTAGE a Mme Sainsbury " 

( For the non-French speakers among you that is Mrs. Sainsbury’s soup) .

I still have the recipe he gave me in 1992 on a scrap of paper!

Potage a MMe Sainsbury ( Tomato and yogurt soup) ( chilled) 

 

I stuck it in the recipe book my mother gave me in 1976, over 40 years ago, where you will find my favourite recipes ( all a bit splashed with the ingredients).

Just so he does not feel left out my other brother, Richard, was telling me it was 22 years ago that our mother died, so if you are reading this Mum, I am still using your recipe book and thinking of you!

My 1976 Recipe book , a gift from my mother.

In 2014 I decided, based on a suggestion by Mark Johns,  to preserve the recipes by having them all typed and I created ( with the help of Jay, Jeyboy and Jenan )  my first "Chef Neil" recipe book.

 

My 2014 recipe book, based on an idea by Mark Johns

From there I add the typed version of the Chilled tomato and yogurt soup recipe:

Potage a Madame Sainsbury (cold Tomato soup – ideal for Bahrain’s summer)

 Ingredients

2 tins tomatoes

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon Worcester sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon of sugar

Salt and Pepper

500gm Natural low fat Yogurt

Method:

Place all the ingredients except the yogurt in a bowl and blend. Then add the yogurt. Blend. Chill. Serve – simple eh?! And great when it’s 50 degrees in the Bahraini summer

And this is what it looks like!

My second favourite soup of all time I first tasted at Fusions Restaurant at the Gulf Hotel when I came to Bahrain in 2010. I finally managed to get their recipe and I am sharing it for the first time ever with you in this blog. It is a delicious and healthy cold soup with lemon croutons and its very easy to make.

Gazpacho -  Ingredients  for 10 portions

700 g watermelon ( seeds removed)

200 g red pepper

200 g cucumber (de-seeded)

120 g garlic confit

10 g coriander

80 g onion

10 g black pepper

600 ml olive oil

80 g vinegar

100 g sugar

200 g country bread

Rosemary Oil

100 ml Olive oil

40 g Rosemary

Lemon Croutons

400 g Brown bread

40 g Lemon skin

80 g Lemon Juice

Method

Rosemary Oil

Warm the olive oil and place Rosemary sprigs in the oil and simmer for 30 mins

Lemon Croutons

Dice the bread into small pieces and squeeze the lemon juice all over the croutons and grate the lemon skin over them and bake in the oven until crispy

Gazpacho

Bake the red pepper and remove the skin . Using a blender blend the seedless watermelon , red pepper, seedless cucumber, garlic confit, coriander and onions together. Then add the black pepper, vinegar, sugar and continue blending. Finally add the country bread and slowly our in the olive oil while blending to thicken.

To serve:

Pour the Gazpacho into a chilled serving bowl , swirl the rosemary oil over and garnish with croutons.

As a footnote I first tasted this in 2010 on one of my first visits to Fusions and managed to get the recipe sometime later. I made it once or twice after but it never tasted the same at home so I filed it away. 

When I started writing this blog in 2020 I started looking for the recipe, made it one more time  and the memories started flooding back. It tasted just as good as that first time at Fusions in 2010- so give it a try!

The Gulf Hotel, Bahrain, Chilled Watermelon soup with Rosemary oil and Lemon Croutons


Finally from the Soup Book:

Tomato Borscht

In Russia and the Ukraine borscht often includes tomato as well as Beetroot. This version may seem unusual but you will love its rich colour and fantastic taste


My Tomato Borscht- below

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. Olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

225 g raw beetroot, peeled and finely grated

1 tsp freshly ground toasted cumin seeds

Quarter teaspoon ground Cinnamon

225 g ripe tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped

250 ml tomato juice

1 tbsp. sun dried tomatoes very finely chopped

600 ml vegetable stock

1 tbsp. light soy sauce

Salt and Finely ground black pepper

Toasted cumin seeds to serve

Soured cream or Crème Fraiche to serve

Method:

Heat the oil in a heavy pan over a low heat, Gently cook the onion and galrlic for about 5 minutes, then add the beetroot. Sweat gently for a further 10 minutes , stirring from time to time until softened but not browned.

Add the ground spices, tomatoes, tomato juice and sun dried tomatoes , then pour in the stock. Bring to the boil. reduce the heat slightly, cover , and simmer for 15 mins or until all the vegetables are soft.  Remove from the heat and blend or process until velvety smooth.

Check the seasoning , adding the soy sauce , salt and pepper to taste.

Serve chilled , at room temperature or slightly warm. If you do reheat the soup, do so gently over a low heat,

To serve , spoon into serving bowls and garnish with the toasted cumin seeds and a spoonful of soured cream or Crème fraiche.

Well that's my 3 favourite soups, I hope you enjoy making an eating them as much as I did and if you want more soup recipes let me know.

Until the next time.....