Scotch Broth in the Thermal Bag
Tradition Rocks!
I don’t think there is a country on the planet that does not have its speciality soup .. and having been brought up in a country that can be chilly, grey and wet much of the time, soup played a huge part in my upbringing.
Soup as Memories
A visit to Grannies - meant a vast vat of soup blipping on the hob. Often the meat cooked in the soup and then served as a second course after hunger was stopped by a vegetable or grain rich soup.
Scotch Broth is a “stick to your ribs” kind of soup - thick with barley, lentils and peas and sweet with onions, carrots, swedes and leeks .. but what makes a real Scotch Broth is the flavour of lamb and lots and lots of black pepper.
So throughout the year I stash in my freezer any little bits of lamb or mutton that I come across when “Reduced to Clear” so that when the Autumn mists start rolling through I have enough bits and pieces to make many pots of flavourful soup. Half the secret of living frugally is being able to build up a store of ingredients to use later so you never have to be reliant on the expensive local convenience shop or a takeaway to feed your family.
It's also the perfect soup for making in the Thermal Cooking Bag - grains and root vegetables are made for long slow cooker to meld their flavours and soften their texture. The barley in my soup mix swells to huge creamy grains without melting into the broth and all the flavours remain inside the soup rather than being boiled off if you cook on the hob.
It's also my favourite kind of lunch to prepare - because it can all be done as I am making that morning cup of coffee.
I soak my broth mix overnight in plenty of water - the barley and lentils would be totally OK with just a few hours of cooking but the dried peas are the hardest substance known to man and need to be hydrated well before you try to cook them or they remain as unpleasant inedible little green bullets.
The next morning I boil the kettle and make myself a mug of coffee!
Take one of my “Soup Packs” from the freezer (Just half a cup each of finely chopped carrot, cabbage, swede, carrot and leek.
I drain and rinse the soaking broth mix..
Pop everything into my cooking pot and tip the rest of the kettle of water over the whole lot!
Whack the heat on high and grind plenty of black pepper into the pot.
Lid on and up to a good rolling boil for three minutes.
Lift the covered pot into the Thermal Cooking Bag and tie up tightly.
Then ..well then you wait .. about four hours I think until we gathered for lunch in the kitchen.
The soup was still piping hot - but if yours is not then another minute or so on the hob won’t do it any harm as you fish the piece of lamb out and chop it up finely.
Stir it back in and check your seasoning .. it will probably need salt as I leave it till this stage to add as a salty broth makes dried peas and beans cook with a hard skin.
The barley is perfectly tender and creamy to the tongue.. No nasty little hard surprises.
And the peppery, lamb flavoured broth is the perfect foil for mouthfuls of gentle grains and tender veggies.
Scotch Broth is both cheap and nutritious when you have a family to feed .. but when you factor in the cost of keeping a pot simmering for multiple hours on your hob it no longer looks quite so affordable and you may instead be tempted to reach for the tin opener.
The Thermal Cooking Bag means that you are preparing a whole pot of soup on just five minutes of fuel … seems like a very good idea to me!!
So is there a downside? Yes - there is!
Sadly my kids won’t have the same memories of walking into a kitchen full of steam and glorious lamb smells and knowing it will be broth for lunch .. the Thermal Cooking bag not only traps all the residual heat inside but the smells too!
Never mind - they enjoy inhaling the aroma as I served them each up a decent bowlful .. and as it's now four hours since we have eaten and no one has come looking for a snack .. I think it has filled them up too!
I’d love to know what memories of soups you have from being a kid - let me know below!
