Summer Tomato and Courgette Soup.

This soup is a great way to use up an abundance of home grown courgettes and tomatoes.

Ingredients.

25g butter

1 small onion peeled and chopped finely

½ kg courgettes finely sliced

½ kg tomatoes roughly chopped

1 tbl spoon flour

900ml chicken of vegetable stock

½ tsp turmeric powder

salt and freshly ground black pepper

grated parmesan to serve

Method.

Melt the butter in a sauce pan

Add the onion and courgettes, cover and cook gently for 5 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally.

Add the tomatoes, then stir in the flour and continue cooking for a further 2 minutes.

Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil.

Lower the heat, half cover the pan and gently simmer for 20 minutes.

Puree in a blender, then work through a sieve.

Return to a clean pan and reheat.

Taste to check the seasoning, serve hot with grated parmesan.

Serves 4-6

Old English Summer Soup.

If your crop of summer vegetables threatens to overwhelm you, use them to make this delicious old fashioned recipe. You can serve this soup cold in chilled bowls in really hot weather or hot if the temperature is less than sunny!

Ingredients.

350g salad potatoes thoroughly scrubbed and finely diced

4-5 good sizes spring onions finely chopped including the green parts

1 small round lettuce, washed, patted dry and shredded

½ medium cucumber unpeeled and chopped

75g butter

850ml chicken or vegetable stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper

fresh chives to garnish

Method.

Melt the butter  gently in a medium saucepan.

Add the potatoes, spring onions, lettuce and cucumber.

Stir to coat everything in butter, keeping the heat very low put a lid on the pan and allow the vegetables to sweat for 10 minutes.

Pour in the stock, add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Leave the soup to cool a little, then puree in a blender.

Check the seasoning before reheating gently.

Serve with freshly snipped chives sprinkled into each bowl at the last moment.

Serves 4

Raspberry Bakewell Cake.

This raspberry cake recipe is just perfect for a summers afternoon tea.

Ingredients.

140g ground almonds

140g butter, softened

140g golden caster sugar

140g self-raising flour

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

250g raspberries

2 tbs flaked almonds

icing sugar for dusting

Method.

Heat the oven to 180C/160 fan/gas 4.

Base line and grease a deep 20cm loose bottomed cake tin.

Mix the ground almonds, butter, sugar, flour, eggs, and vanilla extract until well combined.

Spread half the mixture in the base of the cake tin and smooth.

Scatter the raspberries over, then dollop the remaining cake mixture on top and roughly spread.

Scatter with the flaked almonds.

Bake for 50 minutes or until golden.

Cool, remove from the tin and dust with icing sugar before serving.