A Recipe to Keep you Going.

When I was a trainee Keeper back nearly one of the things I found difficult was feeding myself specially back then I was only getting £45 a week ,

Well things haven’t changed these days, in speaking to some young keepers surviving with no money is no funny matter. Many Head Keepers and even Underkeepers forget what they had to go through to survive to get where they are today, and they also forget what a young lad or lass has on to survive is pocket change to the £22 thousand + per year that they are making as well as the extra snippets they have access too. With many of whom are like what I was not having the benefit of family backing it can be very hard being a trainee keeper.

What people do not know about me is that I love to cook, like many Highland lads and lass’s when the money was tight or jobs were few I worked in the Service industry as a Hotel Manager and being a good cook I learned some of the ins and outs of cooking under the guidance of some very good chefs.

So once a week I am going to put up a great little recipes for  young keepers that are easy to make, highly good for you, no bloody jargon and most of all cheap.

I am going to start of with a recipe that is used in some very fancy restaurants and hotels as a starter but can be frozen and is a great nutritious meal for lunches and dinner and it truly warms the cockles on those really nippy days.

Leek and Potato Soup 

Soup you say?? Well it is soup like this that makes and breaks whether you are getting what you need in your diet.

Soup is great, it is not only nutritious and warm but it also helps with dehydration and energy keeping you going on those days where you want something quick, and best of all, you can make it up in a load and freeze it and use it over a week or two its brilliant,

Ingredients 

3 large potatoes – 75p or a pack of new Potatoes £1

3 leeks – 50p

1 Large onion – 20p

4 veg stock cubes – Pack of 12 is a £1

200 grams of unsalted butter – £1 for 500g

pepper, salt and parsley to flavour and garnish – Not needed but you can add if you like.

water

Instructions 

Wash then Peel the potatoes (keep the peelings as you can dry them off and fry them for fried tatty peels , lovely too salted)

clean off the leaks and chop of the Leaves.

Chop the potatoes into little cubes

Slice the leeks and Onions

Take the butter and cut into cubes then melt gently in the soup pot 

Once butter is runny add the chopped potatoes, sliced leeks and Onion to the soup pan

cook the mix on high heat until veg is soft usually takes around 15 minutes but depends on the amount but keep stirring and mixing the butter through the veg.

After the veg has softened take two Veg stock cubes and add to 300ml of boiling water (have a Measuring jug)

Stir until cubes have dissolved, then add to the veg mix and stir in keeping on the heat.

Then repeat with a further two stock cubes.

Then add Boiling water until there is enough water to cover all the veg.

bring the soup to the boil and then lower heat and simmer four around 30 minutes. Tasting and seasoning to taste with salt and pepper or parsley etc.

At this point it is fine and tasty with the chunky veg, BUT, for better freezing and added taste it is better to blend it up a bit.

Once soup is ready decant it into another pan and clean out your main soup pan and then lets get blending.

Once blended smooth put it back into the soup pan and simmer (not boil) for around 15 minutes on a low heat and stirring occasionally and there you have it perfect lovely soup ready to freeze and enjoy later or just leave in the pan for a day or two and pick away when you want it.