Let there be soup!

In return for all the recipés I've seen and researched (I must get round to adding Andy Oliver's excellent blog to the list), I add my own humble contribution; you'll note below that I've already said what a p**s poor photographer I am, so please forgive.

Things You'll Need: * Potatoes – about 1lb roughly the size of ½" – 3/4 " cubes
* Water to cover – with Salt to taste (0-2 natural, but not too much)
* 1 bay leaf
* 1 clove of garlic (optional) – or in my case, a flat teaspoon of pureed garlic
* 1 yellow or white onion
* 2 stalks of celery
* 1 large mild chilli (that's optional)
* 1 cup of chicken stock
* milk or cream (optional)
* white or black pepper to taste
* a little butter or oil
* A large, heavy-bottomed stew or casserole dish
* A frying pan
* a spoon for stirring
* a sharp knife and cutting board

Ingredients: For chicken stock - I don't cook whole chickens as I can't use one and so my stock is packet stock - here it is Knorr, which is reasonable and inexpensive...

The kettle is hiding a water filter - otherwise the kettle would last about 6 months here. More importantly, the water would have horrid limescale in it...

The spuds on the hob - I use dried bay leaves as they're fine and an occasional ingredient and lo-salt is a necessary evil *sigh* A quick thought, but if you're not planning to blitz this to a paste, then leave as much of the skins on as you can, as that will add both vitamins and texture...

1. Prepare the spuds and place them into the pot and add the salt (I use lo-salt, courtesy of high blood pressure), a bay leaf and just enough water to cover. Add the garlic at this time if you are using it. I use some caterer's purée, which is pretty damned powerful, but don't substitute garlic salt [thereby hangs a tale of cooking for three gorgeous girls, and using garlic and celery salt to substitute for the lack of the real thing and one of them ate it and said she enjoyed it! and no reader, I married one of the other girls - she was wife number 1] I'm better now, promise! Put the lid on and bring the potatoes and water to a boil, then remove the lid and reduce the heat so the potatoes are simmering gently, uncovered.

2. Chop the onion and the celery into pieces about half a finger thick and ½" long. Finely slice the chilli, seeds and all, if you don't like it leave it out, but this recipe is pretty bland without this and add the chilli, celery and onion to some melted olive oil in the frying pan – you can use butter, but I can't eat this quantity in one go and intend to freeze it, so butter won't work as well. Saute this on medium heat until soft, and even a little brown at the edges, but at the first sign of browning remove from the heat. Don't worry if there's more, provided it's only the edges. Set them aside until the potatoes are done.

3. When the potatoes are cooked, but not flouring (i.e. of their own accord becoming one with the remaining water), take a hand blender (I use the mighty Dualit [advt] because it's less than half the price of the Bamix and is really tough and effective). On the lowest setting blend half the water and potato (after removing the bay leave). Then, add the onion and celery mixture to the pot, deglaze the pan with the cup of stock and add that too. Put the lid on and on the lowest heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Let simmer for about 20-25 minutes.

Then if you must, add milk or cream to make the soup white and soupy. Once the milk or cream has been added, DON'T ALLOW IT TO BOIL! (another reason I don't do this – on re-heating in the microwave it can go, freezer > microwave > strain into sink > throw into bin).

The milk or cream will curdle and you'll have something foul to get rid of. And yes, I know it was 11.00 a.m. but I was having a hard job to remember to take photos, do/adjust the recipe as I went along; so I had a Floyd moment and opened a Pinot Grigio from Chile...

4. You can serve the soup now, as is, or you can embellish it in various ways. I intend to try this with some dried cheese as they now call the unofficial Parmesan substitute, or if you use enough to warrant buying it, reheat and then sprinkle Parmesan on top (much better, I grant you but £1.55 for a garnish is a bit rich for my budget).

This is actually a very flexible recipe – this is just my take on it. I love cooking - didn't start properly until I was 40 and sometimes bitterly regret that I didn't realise what an absolute pleasure it is.