To tell fibs for a soup recipe

[Soupreme]

Last week I was out for my works Xmas lunch. Overall the lunch was pretty decent, but the starter, lentil soup, was out of this world. It was the most amazing soup I've ever tasted! Seriously I almost cried.

The past week I've thought about the soup every night, thinking of how i can get my hands on the recipe.

If I simply phone the restaurant and say OMG your soup was amazing please give me the recipe I'm certain they'll say no.

Is it wrong to say I had a funny reaction to the soup please give me a list of all the ingredients (preferably with quanitites)?

Or could I say I'm coming to your restaurant and I have funny allergies what's in your lentil soup exactly?

Help I need this recipe! The restaurant is a long drive from my work and home so DH will be like I'm not driving ☓ miles for a bowl of soup.

If I don't get this recipe I will regret it forever. Santa if you're up there i take back my request for Dreamgirls tickets please can you get me this recipe!

I'd say it's Marigold powder for the stock, so 2tbsp of powder, not made up stock.

But it's not very helpful to give quantities for some ingredients, and not others, and also the vague mention of a block of butter (what, a whole pack, or a block cut from a pack?) and 1 celery (head or stick?).

I'd email back thanking the chef and ask for clarification.

Just to add to the consensus that frying the veg beforehand in plenty of butter really improves the soup. That and blending.

You could add a couple of spuds for extra creaminess too. Or fry the veg in bacon fat AND butter if you're feeling wild.

@YouCantBeSirius please will you post your MIL's lentil gammon soup recipe?

I think you’re going to have to just experiment and see how it goes. Sounds lovely though. I love celery in soup, it’s got a completely different flavour when cooked. I quite like just celery soup on its own. Sauté some onions and a bit of garlic in a wodge of butter, add the celery, soften it off, add either chicken or veg stock, simmer and blend and voila. Lovely.

A whole block of butter! Bloody hell.

That’s basically my lentil soup recipe and even if I do say so it’s pretty good (though I have been know to throw in a sweet potato or a bit of left over butternut squash too) but a WHOLE BLOCK OF BUTTER. My arteries are hardening as we speak!

Do you think block of butter could mean a stick of butter and have got lost in translation?

US recipes often do butter in sticks rather than grams or ounces. It’s annoying.

yum butter soup with a lentil garnish

It looks like a bog standard spiceless dull dahl. Just follow an Indian dahl recipie without the spices.

If you could ask the ingredients you would surely be able to find the recipe on line. Ou might have to tinker a bit but you would definitely be able to work it out.

Restaurants use a huge amount of butter. If you're trying to recreate what you had I'd fry the veggies in at least 100g of butter.

Soup lovers, this: www.nigella.com/recipes/yellow-split-pea-and-frankfurter-soup
is the best soup I've ever made. I think it's the mace that does it.
I didn't bother with the frankfurters though.

Yum! Glad you got the recipe & will try it myself when there's room in the freezer.

Belfast folk have made me want to try home again-not been for years. Love Howard St as it always has something good-last time I recreated (sort of). Their celeriac soup. Yum again 😁

Do you think block of butter could mean a stick of butter and have got lost in translation?

It's a British hotel.

Block of butter
I’m so surprised that some people have never had lentil soup. Growing up in Scotland we had it all the time eg school, home, grandparents, friends, everyone had a pot of soup on the go just in case. Telling someone they make a good pot of soup is such a compliment. In my family that’s your top accolade

The hotel would have been making huge quantities hence the block of butter.

I use knorr veg bouillon when I make soups at work. A little bit of cumin and chilli flakes will give a nice taste to lentil soup too.

This thread reminds of the Lobster a la Riseholme caper from "Mapp and Lucia", where Mapp tried to wheedle the recipe, or receipt as they called it back in the day. out of Lucia, to no avail. It ended with floods, a life at sea, and the recipe purloined..

Motherfucker! This is the hotel that DP and I found completely at random on our last holiday to Scotland. We wanted to go in for a meal but got told we had to pre-book! I can't believe we were so close to such life-changing greatness!

Yes I know. Scottish in fact Motoko but as I said, the recipe could be American. It’s also possible the chef might be American. Or it might mean a block of butter in that specific kitchen - they divide it up and keep it in the fridge in a particular quantity or they buy it from a supplier in a specific quantity rather than a 250g block you might get in the supermarket.

Who knows? It was just a thought 🤷🏼‍♀️

In the interests of science, I'm about to embark on this recipe, using a whole bag of Redmere farms (cheap!) carrots from Tesco, most of a head of celery, 2 whole onions, and probably 2 cups (US cup measure) of red lentils (don't think I've got any green ones). Also 1 or 2 cloves of minced garlic, and 2 tablespoons of Marigold veggie stock powder. Not sure how much water yet, will see how much I need to cover the other ingredients plus a bit more to allow for lentil expansion. Also taking a leap of faith and using a whole 225g block of butter. Will report back on results!

I once was given a recipe from a restaurant I visited on holiday. I emailed and asked really nicely, telling them how wonderful it was and how I wished to make it back home. You can try...

Oh x post. Sorry

I'm wondering if 2 onions should be read as two bags of onions just as I'm reading 1 celery as one head of celery..

I don't think it should be 2 bags of onions - have just started this off, and the pan (a 5 litre stock pan) looks about right with the quantities given - also tasted the 'water' after adding everything and the 2 tablespoons of stock powder seem to be right, too.

Don’t tell them you had a funny reaction! That’s mean.

Looking forward to your experiment, furrydogmother

I am just making some of this - sort of.

Cooked three smallish red onions [it's all I have in], 4 end of the line carrot,s and two sticks of celery. Cooked in butter until the carrots soften. Then added some parsley and garlic chives, water and stock cube then whizzed the lot down...and added the lentils salt and pepper. I have it bubbling away on the hob now. Can't wait til lunchtime.