A tale of two soups – campbells or batchelors?

Probably the most iconic soup in the world courtesy of Mr Warhol, condensed mushroom soup has always been a major lifesaver when I have had to throw together a forgiving supper dish that you can bung in the oven and forget about. So imagine my distress, when waltzing in to Waitrose, I am informed that my favourite sauce cheat has been transformed from Cambells to Batchelors. Disbelief, incredulity, why didn’t my best friends tell me? Yes, all those emotions, followed by a  grudging acceptance that indeed, things do change and reluctantly,  it may be time to move on. Grudgingly, I have to admit that it does taste exactly the same. Okay, now I have had my cathartic rant, what can we do with it? I like to make it in to a chicken, sweetcorn and mushroom casserole and If I’m feeling particularly energetic, I’ll add some dumplings on top. It is so simple, put either boneless chicken breasts or thighs, chopped in to chunks in to an oven-proof casserole, add some sliced button mushrooms, 1 can of condensed mushroom soup and 1 can of creamed sweetcorn. Put in the oven on Gas Mark 4 or 180C/160C fan and leave for a minimum of 45 minutes, but up to 1hr and 30 minutes or even longer. If you wish, make some dumplings by combining 100g of self raising flour, 50g suet, a shake of salt and pepper, you can add 1/2 teaspoon dried mixed herbs if you wish and mix together with a little cold water until if forms a stiff dough. Make in to 4-6 individual balls,around the size of walnuts and add to the casserole about 20 minutes from the end of cooking, with the lid on. This also works really well with pork, too with or without the sweetcorn. The thing is with this Campbellgate conspiracy…I’m still not sure I believe them and somewhere there is still a stack of lovely, Campbells condensed soup.