We are having miserable bloody weather here in the Languedoc for the past week.
Cold, wet and windy.

All my friends in Ireland think this is hilarious.

To comfort us all I made my favourite soup, or at any rate a variation of the same. It exists in my recipes as many variations of lettuce, peas and herbs, any one of them work so long as you keep some essentials in mind.

1. Have some good homemade chicken stock on the ready.

2. Cook the onions, spring onions, leeks, potatoes (which ever or all you are using) slowly, very slowly in butter in a covered pot to gently sweat out all their sweet flavour.

3. Then and only then add the stock and increase the heat.
When the pot is boiling hard add the peas, the lettuce and the herbs and then just let it come back to a hard boil.
Take it straight off the heat and liquidise it (or push it through a sieve.)

When you reheat it do not let it boil for long on the hob or you will lose the invigorating colour and the fresh savour.
The French call the soup Potage Pere Tranquille (as I have said before) and I find the eating of it certainly makes this father (in this weather) way more peaceful.

As I have already told you the method I will list only the ingredients used but do be adventurous, lots of other green spring ingredients will also work.

Green Soup.

2 Bunches Scallions (Spring Onions) -chopped
2 onions-peeled and chopped
1 Large Potato-peeled and chopped.
75g. (3 oz.) Butter

I ltr. (2 pints) Chicken Stock.
175g (6 oz.) Frozen Peas (or fresh should you find them, but then cook them for longer)
Bunch fresh Chervil (or Mint or Basil)
1 Large head of Butterhead lettuce well washed.

That amount should give you enough for 6 to 8 (it will easily take another mug of water before liquidising) providing you can persuade them not to come back for seconds.