Smoooth Smoked Haddock Soup

I love a good soup. One of my daughters, the youngest, shares the love, while the other retches and pulls faces at the very prospect. Why should that be? It bewilders me; not liking soup is like not liking oxygen. Yeah, I prefer to breathe carbon monoxide, thanks. The oxygen molecule is just too symmetrical.

Anyway, I made this up from stuff that had been in the fridge/cupboard. It worked for me.

You need:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 bulb fennel, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
300g sweet potatoes, cubed
500g potatoes, cubed (good floury ones - I used Maris Piper)
750ml chicken or vegetable stock
300g smoked haddock, skinned, can be frozen
100 ml half fat creme fraiche
White or black pepper
Bay leaf (optional)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then sweat the onion and garlic till transparent. Add the fennel and pepper and cook for 5 minutes more. Add the cubed potatoes, both kinds, then the hot stock, season with pepper to taste, bring to the boil, and leave to simmer for 20 earth minutes. You could add a bay leaf at this stage, though I suspicion the gentle flavour of the fennel could be overwhelmed by this.

When the vegetables are cooked through (the potatoes should thicken this soup nicely), blend in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return to the pan and the heat and add the fish. Heat gently, allowing the fish to cook through and begin to break up in the pan. When the fish is just cooked, stir in the creme fraiche and serve. Goes great with hot buttered toast... if you're not on too much of a diet. I worked out that about a quarter of the soup was just under 5, you know, points. Or stars.