♡ Kimmie Bites | Food blog, Sydney Australia ♡: stew

, by Kim

Continental Superb Stocks - Review & Recipes

I've been thinking a lot about soup these days. Especially the ones my high school hospitality class would make and sell every time winter would come around. Freshly made out of wholesome ingredients, carried out in large metal pots, spooned into serving cups and accompanied with hot toasty ciabatta rolls. So warm and comforting. And so perfect for the season.

In my household when we eat soup, it's usually the instant or canned kind. So with this in mind I was determined to give making my own soups a go. Just as if my prayers were being answered, I was sent three of Continental's new Superb Stocks. Beef, Vegetable, and the reduced salt Chicken stock.

I'm a huge fan of Continental's soups so I was more than happy to give their new liquid stock range a try. Their stocks are made using real meat, herbs and spices. And notably the chicken stock has 40% less salt than the market leading liquid chicken stock.

Glad to report that they are all VERY delicious and did not disappoint. There is so much flavour and I can really taste the difference compared to other liquid stocks on the market or when I'm just using a stock cube. My favourite is the vegetable stock which I feel like could stand alone as a plain and simple broth. But the next best thing about these stocks is the convenience! The time it takes out of creating your own stock from bones and vegetables (although that is too a very rewarding experience), and the lesser amount of seasoning you have to taste and add.

Below I'll be sharing my recipes and tips for some soups and stews I made using each stock flavour! I hope you give these recipes a go and enjoy them just as much as my family and I have. Additionally the Continental Superb Stocks can be used in a bunch of other recipes with ideas on the packaging, or it can be used in anything that requires stock. 110% recommend this!

BEEF STOCK

Goulash

The beef stock has an intense, deep and rich beefy flavour. Slightly smokey too. It is not sweet or too salty which leaves a lot of room left for this stock to mesh in well with the other flavours of your dish. I found this perfect for my goulash which was already flavoured by lots of paprika, capiscum and tomatoes.

Goulash is a Hungarian beef stew. It is hearty, warming and extremely comforting. Featuring tender chunks of beef in a thick and spiced tomato stew, it's no wonder I miss it.

There's a lot of debate and/or discussion on the internet about the differences between the Hungarian version and the American version. I wasn't sure which one I was going for in trying to recreate goulash as I had it during high school so I put a bunch of different recipes together. So in the end this is no way 100% authentic or traditional goulash. I personally think it turned out great but also good to be aware that you can tweak this dish according to your preferences! It is a very forgiving dish.

Also I used a cast iron pot over the stove for this entire recipe. You can use the oven method, casserole dish, pressure cooker or a slow cooker. Anything that makes sense and works for you.

Ingredients:

750g gravy beef, cut into 2-3cm cubes
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200g mushrooms, sliced
2 large red capsicum, cut into 2cm pieces
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 tablespoons sweet paprika
2 tablespoons smokey/hot paprika
1 tablespoon honey
2 dried bay leaves
2 cups of Continental Superb Stock - Beef
1 can of diced tomatoes
Olive oil
Sour cream and parsley to garnish

Optional, to serve with: Cooked egg fettuccine/Pasta/Rice/Toasted sourdough bread/Bread/Potato mash

Method:

Heat some olive oil in your pot over medium heat. Cook the beef cubes until browned, approximately 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
Heat some more olive oil in the pot and add chopped onions, garlics, mushroom and capsicum. Stir until onion is soft and translucent.
Put beef back in the pot. Mix in flour and paprika for 1 minute. Add honey and bay leaves.
Stir in Continental Beef Stock and diced tomatoes. Bring to boil. Then cover with lid and simmer on low heat for 2 hours.
Spoon goulash into bowls. Mix in sour cream if desired. Garnish with sour cream and parsley to serve.

Recipe inspired by: taste.com.au

VEGETABLE STOCK

Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Soup

Continental's Vegetable Stock as mentioned above is my favourite of the lot. It has such a simple, sweet and nourishing taste. In fact it is also probably the most versatile of the lot and I am very excited to create more winter inspired recipes using it. But moving on to the one I've chosen for this post... a vegan Sweet Potato and Cauliflower soup.

Such beautiful soup that I guarantee you will fall in love with. Sweet, creamy and earthy!

When I was thinking back to the vegetable soup from high school I was trying to recreate, I'm pretty sure they must've used carrots or pumpkin. Neither which I have in my pantry. I am much more fond of sweet potato and cauliflower and super excited to see recipes available combining the two. This one is very healthy, wholesome and nutritious. You can read more about the health benefits here as I love how Jenn at Veggie Inspired has written. This recipe is mostly hers with a few minor tweaks to the ingredients. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 brown onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small twig of rosemary
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/3 teaspoon turmeric
2 average sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cauliflower, chopped into florets
1L of Continental Superb Stocks - Vegetable
1 can of light coconut milk
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Spread cauliflower around on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle of salt. Bake for 15 minutes. Shake the pan around to toss the cauliflower and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the edges start to turn brown.
Saute diced onion until translucent in 1/4 cup of Continental Vegetable Stock in large pot.
Add garlic, rosemary, paprika and turmeric and stir for 1 minute.
Add chopped sweet potato, roasted cauliflower and remaining vegetable stock to the pot. Bring to boil, then turn down heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Puree the soup using an immersion blender, or transfer to a regular blender/food processor.
Add the coconut milk and stir well. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Serve.

Recipe inspired by: Veggie Inspired

CHICKEN STOCK

Pea and Fennel Soup

I love chicken stock. It goes with just about everything. This reduced salt stock really comes through as while you can taste the lighter difference, the delicious herby flavour we associate with chicken stock is still going well and strong.

Why pea and fennel soup you ask? Such an unlikely choice and combination. My boyfriend's mum gave me a large bulb of fennel last week. I was really excited to use it but I had no idea how. Prior to this I've only had it lightly shredded in a salad. Yet with this soup project in front of me I thought why not. Lets combine the beautiful liquorice and aniseed flavour of fennel with something easy and just as easily fitted into the winter warmers theme.

I settled on peas as they are one of my favourite green vegetables which I think are largely over looked. They are insanely convenient and packed full of good fibres and iron. I found this recipe on SBS which tags it as an Italian staple which can be served all year around. Couldn't agree more! The peas give the soup a sweet, thick and humble base, as the fennel uplifts everything to create a refreshing and nourishing flavour. Try it, you'll like it!

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon butter
2 cups of chopped fennel bulb
1 brown onion, diced
1L of Continental Superb Stocks - Chicken
500g of frozen peas
Thickened cream
Salt and pepper
Croutons

Method:

Heat butter in a large pot. Add fennel and onion and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Add Continental Chicken stock and bring the pot to a boil. Add peas and cook for 3-5 minutes until the peas are tender.
Remove the pot from heat and season with salt and pepper.
Puree the soup according to your preference using a stick blender/regular blender/food processor. I blended my soup only to a coarse puree.
Place soup in pot and whisk in thickened cream. Reheat over low heat until hot, then serve with extra cream, croutons and/or olive oil.

Recipe inspired by: SBS Food

Kimmiebites was invited to be apart of this project by Social Soup and Continental. All opinions and recipes in this post are genuine, honest and highly recommended. I wouldn't post about it if I didn't like it or thought it was bad :)