The Thrifty Cookbook: 476 Ways to Eat Well With Leftovers by Kate Colquhoun Read Free Book Online Page A

with a slotted spoon. Then use this flavoured oil for frying the bread.
Buttery croûtons Use butter instead of oil. Heat it until it is foaming but be careful that it does not burn – butter turns brown and bitter if overheated.

Soups are just about the simplest things to make, because they cook themselves while you get on with something else. They are the most natural way of using up leftovers or languishing vegetables – with, perhaps, a few extras from the store cupboard. They come in every colour and texture too, from an almost transparent broth to the deepest, chunkiest meal-in-a-bowl.
Soups almost always start with a chopped onion, a crushed clove of garlic and a little chopped carrot and/or celery, which are softened in oil before you add the main ingredient plus some stock or water. Once you’ve got the basic method taped, whatever you make will be limited only by the ingredients available and your own particular taste.
Home-made stock (see pages 27 - 30 ) really comes into its own now, especially if what you feel like eating is a simple, clear broth with just the addition of a handful of fresh herbs, a few shreds of leftover meat or fish or a couple of meatballs. In this case, follow the instructions for clarifying stock on page 29 . Of course, you can use stock powder or cubes instead – just make them fairly dilute, and go easy when adding extra salt. Or, just use water – the flavour from the onion, carrot and celery with perhaps a bay leaf is often all you really need.
Texture is a matter of personal preference. If chunky soups are your thing, chop all the ingredients to your ideal size. For smooth soups, simply let the cooked soup cool and then blitz it. To serve, reheat the soup in a clean pan, but don’t let it boil. If it looks too thick, thin it down with a little water or stock, or swirl in some cream or crème fraîche just before serving. But, if thickness is what you are after, add a diced potato or some starchy canned beans to the soup as it’s cooking.
Soups taste even better the next day, though they often thicken up in the fridge and may need to be thinned with some stock, water or cream. And they freeze brilliantly, though be cautious with soups containing rice or pasta – the carbohydrate will just turn to mush. Remember that liquids expand when frozen, so don’t overfill your bowl, bottle or bag.
Often at the very end of the culinary food chain, soups are also a fantastic way of using up leftover-leftovers. For example, if you make the Tomato, Chorizo and Chickpea Stew on page 74 and don’t quite finish it, you’ll find that overnight the flavours sink into each other and deepen. With a ladleful of stock or water, this will make an excellent soup – blitzed or chunky, as you like. Try doing this with almost any bake or stew.
Finally, most soups crave a partner: grated hard cheese, a spoonful of cream or plain yogurt, soft cheese such as goat’s cheese, or a drizzling of good olive oil. No soup is at its best without warm crusty bread, plain toast or small cubes of bread gently fried to make croûtons (see page 52 ). Frozen breadcrumbs (see page 49 ), nuts or seeds can also be lightly toasted in a frying pan (keep them moving with a spoon in either case to prevent them burning) for scattering over the top.
It is worth bearing in mind two things when making soups: firstly, that you need to use a large pan: if you want a smooth soup, this will mean that you have room to blitz it all with a hand-held blender without it erupting like Vesuvius. Secondly, it stands to reason that if you use a pressure cooker your cooking time will be reduced, which is helpful for large amounts. (Follow the instructions that come with the cooker.)

The multiple variations on this soup will take you right through the year, from autumn celeriac to summer beans and beetroot. Handy, then, not just for leftovers but for veggie-plot gluts or when fresh food is at its seasonal best and cheapest. Always make sure