I don't know how the weather was in your part of the world on Monday...but in parts of the UK we had 1 inch of snow!..so a very good reason for making soup.

I still think soup is very undervalued by chefs. Soup should just as interesting as the main course or dessert. Soup doesn't need to be cooked for hours, which to me makes it very relevant in today's fast paced world.

400 grams Potato cut into 1-inch dice
1 medium sliced red onion
30 grams (1oz) butter
1 litre (2pints) chicken stock
30 grams (1 oz) rocket
1/2 Diced medium white onion
50 ml whipping cream
1-tablespoon olive oil
4 slices white bread
125 grams (4.5 oz) ripe Brie
6-8 basil leaves

1. Sauté the red onions in olive oil until they are slightly brown & tender, remove from the heat then reserve.
2. Using a thick-bottomed saucepan, sweat down the potatoes, diced white onion, in butter on a medium heat for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
3. Add the chicken stock and simmer until the potatoes are tender.
4. Puree the soup in a food processor, return to the saucepan and add the cream, red onion and chopped rocket leaves.
5. Season the soup with salt & pepper.
6. Lightly toast the slices of white bread just on one side.
7. Cover 2 of the slices with the Brie cheese (on the un-toasted side).
8. Stack the basil leaves, slice them thinly and sprinkle onto the Brie.
9. Top with the two remaining slices of toast (toasted side up) to create two sandwiches.
10. Using a sharp bread knife trim off the crusts then cut each sandwich into 4 toast fingers.
11. Reheat soup, and warm up the Brie toasties on a low heat, just until the Brie starts to melt.
12. Serve the toasties on the side so they can be dipped into the soup.

Chef's Tip
I make stock once in awhile at home then freeze it either in 500ml (1 pint) containers so it's ready for use when a recipe calls for it. I also freeze fresh stock down in ice cube trays so when a small amount is needed I don’t have to thaw a whole pint.

Whenever I am having a dinner party at home I don’t go to the shop with one “set in stone” menu. I will try to write down 3-4 ideas ahead of time and take that piece of paper with me to the market. I do this to see what looks good and build my menu this way.

Of course I cook for a living therefore I’m experienced enough to change my menu at short notice, never the less if you doggedly stick to your original menu when the ingredients are second rate you can only expect second rate results.

Cooking like any other skill only improves through practice...so do practice
Unless you are a very experienced cook stick to dishes you have already tried and are happy with,particularly when you have important guests coming. Practise new dishes on family or your close friends.

Remember to enjoy yourself...When I was living in Bermuda I used to stress myself out about the menu, believing that the food had to be exceptional because I’m a chef and people would expect it! Thus my menus were too ambitious, too costly for what I could afford, hence the stress and my lack of enjoyment.

Be honest with yourself about the results. Though we all like praise, we can often learn more from a mistake, but only if we are honest with ourselves. Write yourself a few notes afterwards if that helps, such as....Did the courses go together well?

If your dinner party is for 10 or more people then expect at least one vegetarian in the group since 10% of the adult population is now vegetarian. If you don’t own a vegetarian cookbook consider buying one.

If you have a complex main course then make the other courses simple to help the flow of the evening go smoothly. Perhaps choose a starter that you make earlier in the day and is simple to serve.

If you don’t have a spouse or partner to share the workload of a dinner party then try to write a menu that keeps you in the dining room as much as possible. Often a casserole type main course can help you achieve this because you can cook it in advance but also the guests can help themselves. If your guests are close friends or family, that’s another good reason for a menu that keeps you in the dining room

Be sure to check in advance with your guests to find out if there are any allergy problems or food intolerances.

(c) 2006. All rights reserved. No content on this website including, but not limited to, text and photography may not be reproduced without prior explicit written consent.