Boris and Iain Duncan Smith

Richard has had, for them, minor surgery but, for him, a very disruptive summer. We have a flower-filled suntrap of a patio and have enjoyed sitting there in the intense heat since June. But the glorious sunshine has been marred by hospital appointments, waiting for results, various procedures ( Richard called these invasions Boris and Iain Duncan-Smith), side effects, further diagnoses, calls to 111 and numerous visits to our GP and out-of-hours... Thanks to the NHS someone has always been available to see and reassure him.

The overriding effect of his having a mild hernia, and other non life-threatening conditions, is his feeling of nausea in the mornings. He assures me he’s not pregnant. Of course he has had lots of new medication...And other parts of his anatomy are working overtime meaning he’s suffering from disrupted sleep. Going to the loo in the wee hours ( geddit?) is rather a frequent occurrence for him...

So who is doing the cooking in our household? Yep, it’s not the cat, that leaves only me.

Yesterday, having enjoyed a bowl at a Tewkesbury pub, sampled on one of Richard’s better days in August, I tried my hand at stilton and broccoli soup. Easy peasy and, for me, as I’m a convert to low carb meals, cheese is good... For years I avoided strong, blue cheeses. I found them a harsh taste but together with broccoli the mix is good and mild. And it’ll be an alternative to pea and ham soup now the sun is lower in the sky and it’s dark not long after 8 pm. Yes it’s 2 1/2 months since Longest Day. Where have we been all this time? In hospital that’s where.

I altered the found recipe slightly to incorporate cold-pressed olive oil ( rather than rapeseed) and left out the celery.

Broccoli and stilton soup

140g stilton,crumbled

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 leek, sliced

1 medium potato, diced

1 knob butter

1litre chicken or vegetable stock

1 head broccoli, roughly chopped

As I made a boo-boo and we have bags of red onions from our supermarket home delivery, I thought I’d ordered three loose medium onions, but clearly not, we’ve been enjoying onion soup. Lots of it. And for the above recipe I have leeks growing in the garden, potatoes still to lift and broccoli from our farm shop. I only have to buy the stilton from our deli. And I need a walk. Last week I succumbed to four days of lying flat to support my neck. While Richard’s been incapacitated I’ve done more in the garden, pulling at hefty brambles and stubborn bindweed, and caused myself severe neck pain. Needless to say we have a gardener coming in next week.

Back to the broccoli and stilton concoction: The method is straightforward, a standard soup-making procedure. I find I like a little less liquid as I enjoy a thick soup, but each to his own:

1. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepanand then add the finely chopped onion. Cook on a medium heat until soft.
2. Add 1 sliced leek, 1 diced medium potato and a knob of butter. Stir until melted, then cover. Allow to sweat for 5 minutes and remove the lid.
3. Pour in 1litre ( or less) of chicken stock and add the chopped, chunky stalk from the head of broccoli. Cook for 10-15 minutes until all the vegetables are soft.
4. Add the rest of the chopped broccoli and cook for a further 5 minutes.
5. Allow to cool a little and pour the whole in to a food processor and blitz until thick and smooth.
6. Stir in the crumbled cheese, allowing a few lumps on the top as garnish. Season with black pepper and serve hot. 

You can adjust the amount of stilton downwards if you find it a very strong taste but in a soup it’s beautifully absorbed, rich and creamy. Other blue cheeses are available.

Yummy, healthy and low carb. Hoorah for autumn!