Rich Meat Soup

Winter is a couple of months off here in the tropical regions of Africa and I have started thinking of Soups. My wife loves soups and I sometimes put one together from whatever is in the fridge and freezer. A general rule...you can make soup out of just about anything. Really. Bones, fish, root vegetables, there are really few rules. There is one little secret that I have worked out over the years. A rich tasty soup or a gravy or sauce for that matter, is often rich in oils and fats. Yup, if it going to be really tasty, it might also be a bit fatty. Not always though. You can skim a lot of the animal fats off and use vegetable oils or olive oil to act as flavour carrier.
Anywayzzzz
here is a basic rich vegetable and meat soup. Real comfort food!
Ingrdients: whatever you have but this works:

 2 large onions chopped,
2 large carrots grated.
2 cups of cabbage finely sliced.
Half cup of olive oil or light vegetable oil.
About half a kilo of beef shin or chicken bones or whatever other meat or bones you might have. Beef blade is good. So are marrow bones. If you like pork, then pork trotters without the hoofy bits are fantastic and rich.
It should end up thick and semi transparent. Something like this:

Creamiest Butternut Soup

My wife loves butternut soup. I am not as keen, but made a version I like. It is pretty rich and I guess that is why I like it!
Take a large butternut.....



Dont worry about peeling it or de-seeding it...we want every bit of butternut flavour there is. Chop it up as small as you are in the mood for and put it into a large pot of water or a pressure cooker. Add a large chopped onion, 4 pieces of garlic smashed in their shells, a teaspoon of coarse black pepper and salt to taste. Because its butternut, add butter of course! 2 large tablespoons.
In a pot simmer for 2 hrs.
Pressure cooker, which I prefer, 1 hour.
Then use an egg beater, whisk or whatever you have and liquidise it all. Strain in a sieve.
Now add 250 ml of fresh cream. Reduce the liquor by simmering to about a liter and half. Less if the butternut was small. Start tasting and adjusting. A touch of paprika and nutmeg is very good. tspn of sugar if its a bit bland. A dash of white wine or vinegar if it still doesnt taste right. The soup should be thick and creamy. Garnish with a little chopped basil or parsley.Serve it with chunks of fresh bread of course! It should look something like this...