Behind the scenes at Lieven's

Seasonal winter soup ideas

Here are some great soup recipes that will keep you on budget, nourished and warm over winter.

You do need a blender or food processor though. I bought a blender at Countdown which still goes after four years, and you can perhaps pick up a blender or food processor cheaply at either Cash Converters or charity shops.

Here are broccoli and blue cheese, French onion and maple pumpkin.

Soup #1 Blue cheese and broccoli soup

Less than 30 minutes cooking time
Serves 4

350g broccoli, florets and stalks cut into small pieces
400ml vegetable stock
25g butter
1 onion, finely sliced
50g blue cheese, crumbled, or to taste
100ml double cream (I always keep long life cream in the pantry for occasions like this)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Preparation method
For the soup, place the pieces of broccoli into a glass bowl. Pour over the vegetable stock.

Cover the bowl with cling film and place in the microwave.Cook on full power for four minutes, or until tender. Or, boil broccoli in a sauce pan until tender.

Meanwhile, heat a frying pan until hot then add the butter. When it starts to foam, add the diced onion and cook for one minute.

Transfer the cooked broccoli and stock to a food processor. Add the fried onion, blue cheese and cream and blend until smooth.

Transfer the blended mixture to a pan and bring gently to a simmer.

Season the soup with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.

Divide the soup equally among four warm bowls.Serve.

For more ompf! add some potatoes in the mix!
How? Boil three potatoes, chuck into the mix to blend with broccoli and onion.


Soup # 2 French onion soup

Clever little classy onion soup.Cheap, filling, easy to make, and heart warmingly good at any time of the year.

Less than 45-50 minutes cooking time
Serves 4


50g butter
1kg brown onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp thyme, picked leaves
3 tbsp dry sherry
beef stock fresh, cube or concentrate made up to 1.2 litres
1 baguette, sliced
1 garlic clove, halved
extra-virgin olive oil
100g tasty, grated

Preparation method
Heat the butter in a large pan and gently cook the onion and thyme until the onion is softened but not browned - about 20 minutes.

Increase the heat slightly and cook for 15 minutes, until the onion becomes dark golden, sticky and caramelised, stirring now and again to stop it catching.

Add the sherry and simmer for 2-3 minutes, then add the stock and bring to the boil. Season. Simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, toast the bread, rub each slice with garlic, then drizzle with a little oil.

Sprinkle with the cheese and grill until golden and bubbling. Serve the soup with the cheese croutons on top.

Makes a perfect entree to a meaty meal.

Soup #3 Pumpkin soup

Less than 45 minutes - 1 hour cooking time
Serves 10+

For all you pumpkins out there.

1 pumpkin
1 onion
knob of butter
1 can of coconut milk
1.5 litres of vegetable stock ( 6 Oxo cubes in 1.5 litres of water)
Curry powder (Mild, medium or hot)
Maple Syrup

Preparation method
Chop and peel pumpkin into manageable size.

Soften pumpkin by either cooking or baking it.

Chuck a knob of butter in a large sauce, dice onions and soften them over medium heat.

Add can of coconut milk, and a tablespoon of curry powder to the sauce pan.

Now start adding pieces of pumpkin and with a hand blender begin processing the pieces of the pumpkin as you put them in, adding vegetable stock as required until there are no lumps left and the soup is nice and smooth.

Constantly taste to see whether the soups need more seasoning.

Add a squirt of maple syrup when serving the pumpkin soup. A dollop of sour cream goes well too.

To add more ompf! fry up some bacon and sprinkle over the top.



Four others to be added over the next months. They are:

Mushroom with zucchini
Potato and leek
Pea and ham
Carrot and coriander

Once I have trial and error'ed these, tested them again myself and written down each individual recipe, I will immediately update this blog with these new recipes, so you can keep taking it easy because I find that making soup is child's play and a lot of fun.Watch this space!

Bad jelly the witch elderberry jelly jam

Elderberry jelly jam ...Spike Milligan would have liked Lieven's elderberry jelly-jam I think.Made from the plumbest organically grown elderberries in Gibbston Valley, this jelly jam is guaranteed to liven up your mealtimes and keep you flu-free over this coming winter.


Excellent in sponges, self saucing and rolly polly puds.

Smear some on your pancakes, French toast and waffles with a dollop of cream.

For avo tea serve your warm doughy scones with a side of jelly jam and cream.

Or, spread on toast, Ryvita or bagels with cottage or cream cheese!

Stir under a spoonful of hot rice pudding, custard and in the morning porridge with full cream milk.

Best yet to come, use as a condiment for hot and cold venison, lamb, pork and beef.

Makes a great reduction for sauces too.

Thank you to all who are interested in my preserves. These have been selling like hotcakes at the Remarkable Markets and the market continues to grow, grow as well as help us,the cottage industries, grow, grow and grow each week.