FOOD FRIDAY - THE LARDER CHEF

“What is food to one, is to others bitter poison.” - Titus Lucretius Carus

The week has been very full and very busy, just like the weeks before it, I guess. I am glad it’s Friday evening and the weekend is still ahead. Hopefully, it will be a relaxing one. I have some chores to do around the house and garden, but nothing urgent. We have had some nice Spring weather these past few days, but showers and a drop in temperature is forecast for the weekend. We’ll see what eventuates…

Sometimes when we are rather lazy in the kitchen we raid the pantry and concoct some “Larder Chef” dishes. These are quickly prepared meals manufactured from some components of the pantry (usually canned, semi-prepared foods or somehow preserved foods) together with fresh ingredients (usually whatever is in the fridge or whatever has been seasonally available at the market and bought on a whim), and thrown in for good measure some produce gathered from the backyard (usually herbs or some seasonal vegetable). The result is usually very good and would mislead a lot of people tasting it that it is a ritually prepared genuine gourmet dish…

Here is the Larder Chef’s version of a robust Spring soup.

Cream of Mushroom and Leek Soup
Ingredients

1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
250 mL of cream
A few good dobs of butter
1 large fresh leek
5 large Portobello mushrooms
Ground mace
Freshly ground pepper, salt
Fresh chives, chopped (or parsley)

Method
Wash and clean the leek, discarding the green leaves. Chop finely the white part and reserve.
Clean the mushrooms and chop up finely.
In a heavy skillet melt some butter and sauté the leeks until tender and golden. Put this in a saucepan.
In the same skillet melt the rest of the butter and sauté the mushrooms. When they are cooked, add the cream and the can of soup.
Stir well and add the mace, pepper and salt to taste. Add to the leeks in the saucepan.
Simmer and stir until well cooked.
Ladle into soup ramekins, top with chopped chives (or parsley) and serve with buttered toast.