Tag Archives: Soup

Rustic Camp Oven Soup

This Rustic Soup has to be one of my favourites. It is so tasty and a perfect warmer for a cold, blustery night. However, cold and windy was not the case when I cooked the soup this time. In fact, we were camped at Litchfield National Park in the tropical heat of far north Australia.

Having spent much of the past few years in South East Asia, where getting such produce as smoked ham hock and chorizo is not an easy task, I was yearning for this soup and could wait no longer. Yes, if I had waited until we were further south, I would have found plenty of wintery weather that this soup would have suited perfectly. For example, once we arrived in Alice Springs, the nights were a frosty 2 degrees Celsius! However, the weather did not detract from its yumminess, and I devoured it along with some long-coveted crusty bread.

Australia ham hock bacon chorizo

Our Camp Kitchen

We cooked this delicious soup while camped at Florence Falls Camp Ground at Litchfield National Park in the Northern Territory.

Waterfall Northern Territory. Australia

Rustic Camp Oven Soup

Ingredients

1 Can of mixed beans
1 Stick celery, roughly chopped
1 Carrot, roughly chopped
1 Medium onion, finely chopped
3 Cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 ½ Tablespoons of olive oil
300g Bacon, chopped
1 Smoked Ham hock
4 Chorizo, sliced (approx 500g)
700g Potatoes, cut into large pieces
Crusty bread to serve

Camp Oven Method

Heat oil in a 9 quart camp oven. Add celery, carrots and garlic, cook stirring for a couple of minutes, until veggies soften.

rustic soup

Add the ham hock and 2-3 litres of water. Hang the camp oven over the fire using a tripod and bring to the boil. Then, to simmer, reduce the heat of the fire – move the fire, i.e. burning wood away from the bottom of the camp oven. Simmer for 1 – 1 1/2 hour. Remove hock from the pan and set aside to cool.

campfire cooking in a camp oven

Add beans, bacon, chorizo and onions and cook for another 30 minutes.

Add potatoes to the pan and cook for 10 minutes until they are almost tender.

Remove meat from the hock and chop into bite-size pieces. Add meat to the camp oven and heat for 5 minutes.

Serve with chunks of fresh crusty bread.

rustic soup with ham hock cooking in the camp oven

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Pork

Green Pea Soup with Tarragon

This recipe came about because Dwayne wanted peas with his roast chicken. What…? It is simple really, we don’t have a freezer at the moment but had to buy 500 grams of frozen peas to go with the roast chicken dinner we cooked the night before. Therefore, we had 3.5 cups of defrosted peas to use… hence green pea soup. It is so simple and easy to make and, believe it or not, it is delicious.

We live on a boat… have you see our website about our travels? Check out – www.trippinturpins.com

Ingredient

1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon of oil
3 1/2 cups of frozen green peas, defrosted
2 cups of chicken stock
1 teaspoon of dried tarragon
Cream to serve (optional)

green pea soup tarragon recipe

Method

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the garlic and onion, sauté for 3 to 5 minutes to soften.

Add the green peas, stock and tarragon and cook for 10 minutes.

Place peas in a food processor and process until smooth.

To Serve

Pour the soup into bowls and add a little cream.

Bon appetite

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green peas soup tarragon recipe

Mussels with Garlic, White Wine, Tomato & Basil

This recipe comes from a time in Langkawi, Malaysia, when we visited a nearby island to smoke some fish. Deciding that a big bowl of mussels and some crusty bread would be the perfect thing to accompany our crisp white wine, we sailed to Pulau Singar Besar. There, there is a small shelter with a table and a fireplace. We lit a fire to cook on, and as our fish smoked away, I cooked up the yummy mussels.

We love these days, cooking on the fire, the beach to ourselves, wine and entertaining ourselves with a game of cards. Yes, some days, you do feel you are in paradise.

Mussels3

Ingredients

2 Tbs olive oil
6 Large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2-3 large chillies, sliced
1 1/2 cups of white wine
2 cups of fish stock
1 cup of small grape tomatoes, halved
salt and pepper to taste
1kg of New Zealand green-lip mussels
6-8 spring onion, finely sliced
1/2 cup basil leaves, finely shredded

Mussels2

Method

Wash the mussels, scrub the shell and remove the bearding if still present. Set aside in the fridge until ready to use.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the garlic and chilli, cook for a couple of minutes. Add the wine and simmer to reduce a little. Then add the fish stock. At this stage, I add a few of the tomatoes to allow that to help flavour the broth and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for five minutes.

Add the mussels cover and cook for about three minutes.

Add the spring onions and tomatoes, toss well to incorporate, cover and cook for a couple of minutes.

Then add the basil, toss well, cover and cook for another minute or two.

Divide mussel and tomatoes between two large bowls, pour over the broth and serve with crusty bread. Yummo!

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Mussels with White Wine, Garlic, Tomato and Basil #recipe #chilli #tomato #wine #mussels

 
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Smoked Fish Chowder

After our first attempt smoking fish in our make-shift disposable smoker, I had a craving for smoked fish chowder. I based my chowder on the type of chowder I had made before, using smoked haddock or cod. The smoke perch or barramundi from the previous recipe was just perfect. This chowder had nice chunky bits of fish, potato and a smoky creaminess to die for!

chowder

Ingredients

2 Tbs of butter
2 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely diced
1-2 rashers of streaky bacon, finely diced
1 stick of celery, finely diced
2 Tbs of plain flour
1 cup of white wine
4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups fish or vegetable stock
2 cups of water
1 tsp crushed peppercorns
400g smoked fish
1 cup of cream
fresh parsley, finely chopped

Method

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add bacon, onion, garlic and celery. Sauté for a few minutes to soften then add the flour and cook stirring continually for a minute.

Add the white wine and simmer on low heat until it starts to thicken. Then add the stock, water and potatoes. Bring to the boil and then cook uncovered until potatoes are cooked.

Add the smoked fish and cream and bring almost to the boil. Add the black pepper and some chopped parsley. Continue to heat until warmed through and of good consistency.

Serve with another sprinkle of fresh parsley.

OMG! This is perfect after a long sail, or on a cold night. Serve with some crusty bread for a perfect “comfort food” meal.

Bon appetite!

Chowdder2

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Smoked fish chowder #recipe #dinner #soup #fish #chowder #creamy #potato #smoked #smokedfish

Tom Kha Gai

Sawadee Ka!

Tom Kha Gai, aka Thai Chicken Coconut Soup, is one of my absolute favourites! Now that we are back in Phuket I thought it was about time I made it. I first discovered this soup when Dwayne and I visited Phuket in 2007. I gotta say, I was a little reserved about trying a coconut soup… it didn’t look that appetising, but it was delicious! So flavoursome in fact, that I sat there tasting it and deciphering the flavours so I would be able to make it myself when I got back home. I think my tastebuds did a good job of recognising the ingredients and my Tom Kha Gai is delicious….. if I do say so myself! However, I don’t have a recipe to share with you as I cook it by taste every time I make it, and I forgot to write it down as I cooked it this time for the blog… doh! But I do remember what goes in it and what I did so I will explain it the best I can.

Tom Kha Gai
Tom Kha Gai

This is what I did…

I heated 1 cup of chicken stock and added about 8 kaffir lime leaves bruised and ripped apart, two sticks of lemongrass – the hard part remove and the inner white part bashed with a mallet; a couple of crushed garlic cloves, a 2cm piece of galangal, thinly sliced, a 2cm piece of ginger, thinly sliced and some chopped chilli.

I simmered it for 1/2 hour, then I added some chopped chicken and simmered for 10 minutes before adding the coconut milk (approx 250ml) and a handful of enoki mushrooms*. I simmered the soup for another 5 minutes and then added fish sauce, to taste, and a handful of coriander.

To serve, I ladled the soup into two large deep bowls and garnished with some more chopped coriander.

It is so easy to make and delicious!

Tom Kha Gai
Tom Kha Gai

Notes:

When I make Tom Kha Gai for Dwayne and me, I do not remove the chunks of ginger, galangal etc when I serve it, as this is how I have had it served to me most of the time in Thailand. However, when I have prepared this soup for guests I have strained the soup before I add the coconut milk, chicken, mushrooms, fish sauce and coriander.

*Shitake, or oyster mushrooms are more often used in Tom Kha Gai but enoki mushrooms were what I had at the time.

Enjoy!

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Tom Kha Gai  - Thai Chicken and Coconut Soup. #chicken #coconut #coriander #galangal #thai #asian #dinner #lunch #lemongrass #mushroom #chilli #soup #recipe