I missed out on a trip to the Keelings orchard this year due to my getting sick at the worst possible time! The irony – an apple a day keeps the doctor away, eh? Clearly I needed to upgrade my apple intake, but the very chance I had to get to an orchard was hindered by the sick day it would have prevented. Is that a very roundabout claim? Yes. I have confused myself there. Regardless, I shall carry on!

Very upset but too stuffy to do anything about it, I lay snuggled under my covers and dreamed of food I was too wrecked to make. Soup! I dreamed… of soup. It would be so warm, so soothing, so comforting!

But as much as I shut my eyes, wished upon a star (or a duvet), and clicked my fingers, even trying the customary ‘abracadabra’, it never appeared magically in front of me. I resigned myself to the soupless life, and after a gruelling few days made it out the other side alive. However, I spent the rest of the week with a craving for soup that would not dis-soup-ear (Ha, geddit? I actually crack myself up sometimes).

When I made it back to my apartment the next weekend, I skipped the conventional ‘hello’ and got straight to the point. ‘SOUP!’ said I in a hoarse voice, dropping 5 bags on the floor with a stony thud, the girls staring at me for a moment in confusion, but then the meaning of my eloquent greeting became clear. There was a moment – a quiet understanding. We had to have a soup-off. Think Top chef, think Iron chef, think… well, think 3 girls fluthering around in a kitchen trying to use 3 rings on the one hob to make three massive pots of soup.

It was, shall we say, a fiasco.

I made my Butternut Squash soup that day – which you can see here– Mary made a delicious hearty chicken and rice soup with lots of veggies, and Laura made something I hadn’t really had much before- an apple soup! Apple and Celery to be exact. Theoretically it should be low fat, but then we dosed it with cream so it’s delightfully smooth as well as being tangy delicious.

I’ve now beaten the recipe out of her – well, by beaten I mean I asked her for it and she willingly gave it up – she’s very good like that, and now I am in possession of the coveted* recipe for this refreshing, warm and yet delightfully tangy soup.

What you need

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

3 Bramley apples (they’re tangy and still sweet, the perfect addition to this soup)

2 stalks of celery

1 leek

2 cloves of garlic, minced finely

250mls vegetable stock (hot)

100 mls cream

50 mls milk

Salt and pepper

A few pieces of crumbled Cashel blue cheese, I added a good tablespoon to a big bowl- this is added last minute before serving – it really rounds it out and softens the tangy sweetness of the apples. Beautiful.

What to do:

1. Chop your garlic finely and fry in butter and olive oil on a low heat in a large saucepan until softened slightly.

2. Wash and chop your celery & leeks fairly finely and add all to the pan. Fry until somewhat softened – about 5 or so minutes over a medium heat should do it.

3. Wash and core your apples, and chop into smallish pieces. Add to the pan and fry with your vegetables for a minute or two until slightly softened

4. Add your hot stock, cream and milk, and simmer gently for about 5 minutes or until all your ingredients are softened.

5. Blend until really smooth. (Carefully, it’s hot and steam burns are nearly as bad as pizza burn!)

6. Pour into a nice serving bowl, decorate with a swirl of cream, and add your cheese just before serving (or add the table for extra flair!)

Enjoy it, it’s very different and rather delicious! Thanks to Laura for introducing me to this – my food blogger hat comes off to you.

Again, I’m really sorry about lack of photos of the actual soup, but unfortunately I am silly and left my hard drive at home. I’ll upload some of Oxford when I can too!

*Don’t know if it is coveted, per se, but sure I might as well use some literary licence