Pottage du Garbage?

This name and recipe comes care of my Scottish mother-in-law who grew up in the war years and was taught not to waste anything. She basically empties the contents of her fridge at the end of the week into a pot along with some garlic and onions and creates a soup that can never be re-created (the left overs in the fridge change from week-to-week). 

I do that too now and feel so good ( almost self-righteous) about not wasting. This time round, I decided to make a note of what I was putting in the soup and here is the result. 

Ingredients:

2 onions chopped

3 cloves garlic minced

1 dried red chilli

4 stalks of celery, leaves and all

3 mushrooms sliced

2 carrots chopped

a shriveled up piece of butternut squash, skin removed, de-seeded and chopped

1 red pepper chopped

a few stalks of tired looking corriander leaves chopped

2 pieces of left over salmon from a fish curry I'd made

 1 litre vegetable/chicken stock 

 2 tablespons of  creme fraiche ( or sour cream or yogurt)

Serve with:

crusty bread

Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a pot. Add the onions and saute till it starts turning a light brown. Add the garlic and stir around for a couple of minutes. Then empty all the vegetables into the pot and let the whole thing sweat  for about ten minutes  ( put the lid on and give it a stir every now and then). Then add the fish/chicken/whatever you have,  the  stock and let it all bubble for another ten to fifteen minutes. Turn off the heat, puree the content to a smooth mixture, swirl the creme fraiche or yogurt into the soup and serve hot. If you want to get the kick of spice, add lots of black pepper or even a tsp of garam masala powder.

Ladle into a wedgewood bowl, give it a French sounding name and hey you will have a soup fit for the queen or is it Will & Kate?  How about that? Pottage du garbage served in wedgewood china!