Warm Soup for a Cold Day

After playing in all that snow, we needed some soup to cup our hands around and to warm our bellies. The snow prevented much of a shopping trip, however so i stuck with what i had on hand. Leeks, being my hubs' favorite of late have been featuring heavy in my recent soups, and 1 leeks goes a long way to creating a delicious soup. The husband says i'm good at making soup. I love that, since i was afraid of soup making for a long time, assuming that some great skill, knack or formula was needed to make a great soup. I was totally wrong. Soup is easy! Everyone should make soup, and no one should buy soup from a can or box. Skip the bpa lined cans, skip the packaging and skip the preservatives and sodium. Just throw together some veggies (you don't even have to chop 'em much), maybe some (preferably homemade) chicken stock and then finish it off with an immersion blender and you've got soup fit for a king and queen! If you don't have an immersion blender GET ONE, they're awesome... or just chop the ingredients finely for a somewhat uniform consistency at the end.



Served with a side of locally baked crusty bread (and a totally non-local BUT in season avocado!) you've got a well balanced meal. Remember the Dark Days Challenge? The soup challenge is ON this week and i'm proud of this contribution, even if it doesn't meet quite all the parameters of SOLE food. To prove that making soup is NOT a challenge, even if sourcing all your ingredients locally can be, here's the recipe:

1/2 quart condensed chicken stock *homemade*
1/2 quart water
1/2 a cauliflower *not local (california), in season*
1 turnip *local and in season*
1 leek *local and in season*
some garlic cloves *homegrown*
fresh rosemary *homegrown  by my mama #2 1 hour away*
1 potato *Oregon*

To cook is too easy: put all the ingredients in a pot, cover it, bring it to a boil and reduce to a simmer until you feel like eating, at least 20 minutes after it boils. Hit with your immersion blender and top with some seasoning for a filling and vitamin packed feast. Makes enough for 4, but 2 of you will end up eating it all if given the chance.

Have you ever become master of a dish or technique you were once afraid of?

This post can be found at Simple Lives Thursdays: a great blog hop of recipes and sustainable living tips

Delicious Delicata & Leek Soup

It is definitely winter squash season and my favorite this year is Delicata. The flavor is a bit like butternut, but even better. It's hard to describe, but i'm in love. Gathering Together Farm in Philomath, OR touts some of the yummiest Delicata around, and i've stocked my cupboards full!  I'll can a batch in the next week or so, but in the meantime i've been sauteeing, baking and souping up a storm.


This soup is uber easy: just boil a cleaned and chopped leek, a halved and seeded delicata cut into chunks, some herbs and spices to your preference (i used sage, turmeric, cayenne, salt/pepper and garlic) and cook until soft. Once soft, just pulse with an immersion blender until the soup is smooth. You could add milk or cream just before serving for an extra decadent soup, or leave it as is.

This soup is also lovely cold or re-heated as leftovers. Try leaving any!

Soup Recipe, with a kick!

I looooove tortilla soup. Though, actually i've never actually HAD tortilla soup - i just make up soup recipes that i refer to as being tortilla soup. There are never tortillas involved.

Usually i throw together some hominy, Rotel, chicken or turkey meat (or no meat) and some stock and spices to make a yummy, brothy, spicy soup refreshing on hot or cold days. This evening i created a soup full of ingredients from the garden and homemade turkey stock. I formed ground turkey into balls for a little textural excitement, and served with a dollop of sour cream. This made the perfect amount for two hungry humans - could be spread out to 3 or even 4 servings as a side dish.

Zesty Summer Soup with Turkey Meatballs

• 1/2 pint condensed turkey stock
• 2 or so pints water
• Several small red onions (garden fresh onions really make me cry!)
• 2 cloves diced garlic
• 2 serrano peppers, red ripe and diced
• 3 kaffir lime leaves roughly torn
• Double handful Porter Improved (could use roma) tomatoes, quartered
• Salt, pepper, cumin, hot smoked paprika - season to taste
• Ground turkey
• 1 package ground turkey
• Splash Worchestershire sauce
• 1-2 T taco seasoning (i use Colorado Spice Company, no msg)
• Salt, pepper, cumin, chilly powder
• Handful of whole wheat orzo pasta

Place  all veggies and liquid into a medium pot and bring to a boil - simmer, covered until broth takes on some kaffir taste, about 15-20 minutes. Add meatballs and cook until they all float and are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add orzo 10 minutes before serving. Be sure and dip that ladle all the way to the bottom to get even dispersal of goodies.

You could add many other veggie options, and sub the ground turkey for shredded rotisserie type chicken leftovers or even beef or pork meatballs. I just love making soup - it's really so much easier than you would think, and just about anything is possible. I really see no reason to buy canned or cartoned soups from the store - make your own! It'll taste even better!

Soup for Summer: Cucumber/Buttermilk with Potato

Happy Solstice, everyone!

I just can't get enough cucumbers - but some other people would like to do more with them than just eat them sliced with salt or hot sauce. I guess that i'm one of those people on occasion. I made butter on Friday and had buttermilk leftover to use. My M.I.L. mentioned cucumber soup the other day - i'd never heard of such a thing, other than gazpacho.  I guessed that buttermilk and cucumbers would pair nicely, and indeed they did. Here's what i came up with:

• 1 potato with skin (may remove for lighter color and less texture), chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2+ cloves garlic, chopped (don't have to chop finely as all will be blended before serving)
• 2 lemon cucumbers - could use any variety of cucumber. You may wish to remove seeds.
• Buttermilk - i had about 3/4 of a pint - could use up to a pint or as little as 1 cup depending how much stock you use
• Turkey/Chicken/Vegetable stock - about one cup. I used frozen ice cubes
• Splash of white wine and water - only a very little wine or milk may separate.
• Dried oregano, cayenne, salt, pepper, turmeric
• Fresh lemon basil - one small bunch

Put potato, onion, garlic, dried herbs, stock, wine and water in a small pot and boil/simmer until potatoes are soft enough to poke the side of a fork through.
Blend cooked potato mixture, with liquid, in 2 or 3 batches in a blender - be careful not to overflow, and allow steam to escape to prevent explosion. In last batch add the chopped cucumbers and fresh basil. May sub mint for lemon basil, but i think mint is nasty. Add any more dried herbs and salt to taste.
Add buttermilk and stir all together. Place in fridge to chill. You may also serve this warm - it's good either way. And if you're feeling fancy add garnish of basil leaves, garlic chives or scallions.

Serves 4 servings of one large bowl each, 2 glutinous servings of 2 bowls each, or 8 servings as appetizers or side dishes.

Black Bean Soup over Rice

Yummmmmm.
This recipe isn't completely specific as it was a soup i threw together throughout the course of the day. I'm trying my hand at sprouting some black beans to increase their nutrient absorption factor, and filled my sprouting jar a bit too full. The beans had soaked over night so i took out about half and plopped them in a pot with a little water and turkey stock. I started around 3 pm bringing the beans and liquid to a boil then reducing to simmer for the rest of the evening. Around 5 i added these ingredients:

• 1 chopped onion
• salt and pepper
• cumin
• chilli powder
• T or so chopped sorrel
• 1 diced habanero
• big spoonful diced garlic
• splash of vinegar (releases more nutrients in soups)

I simmered the soup covered for most of the day, but uncovered it to allow the liquid to reduce some around 6. The result was a nicely balanced soup that wasn't too thin or thick. Spicy for sure, and great served over some rice that i cooked with liquid from a can of Rotel and some veggie stock.

I served the soup topped with freshly diced cilantro, avocado, cheese, and the tomatoes from the Rotel. The entire dish, save the can of Rotel (spicy diced tomatoes) and shredded cheese was from scratch: dried beans, veg from the garden, and homemade stock.

What a great ending to a chilly day!

Yellow Split Pea Soup

Mmm, split pea soup. This may sound repulsive to some of you (mom) out there, but to me and the husband it sounds like a dreamy bowl of warm goodness. My favorite part of being stuck for hours delayed at the San Fransisco airport is purchasing a bowl of split pea soup from the sourdough soup place. It is good, though i always burn my mouth. I've never really thought of making it myself, but upon wandering the aisles of Fiesta the other day looking for grains to fill a craft project i was working on i saw this pretty yellow split peas
"What the heck" i said to myself "Might as well buy these and see what happens."

It's been a little chilly here in Austin, brisk and seasonal (sort of) feeling and we've been eating a lot of soup. We'd had several nights of tomato based dinners, so i thought about those split peas and the leftover veg stock i had in the fridge.
"Would you eat split pea soup if i made it" i said to my husband. "sure. What is that?" he's kind of a dork, but i love him and he'll eat about anything i make.
This particular recipe earned me 2 enthusiastic high fives. Hot dog! I just whipped it up last night, so tonight i'll make it again and pay more careful attention to amounts used.

My recipe was built around Alton Brown's (oh how i miss the food network) curried split pea soup. Once i learned i didn't have to soak the peas overnight, i was set.

Here's mine:

• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• 12 oz/ 1 1/2 cup yellow split peas
• 5 cups veg/chicken stock
• curry powder, about a dozen shakes
  
• turmeric, about 1/2 tablespoon
  
• chilly powder, about a dozen shakes or less, to taste
  
• sage- just a dash
  
• thyme - tiny pinch (not sure if these last two are essential to the recipe, but i threw them in the first time, so better be consistent.)
  
• salt and pepper to taste

In a medium sized pot throw in the onions and garlic with maybe a bit of olive oil or butter if you prefer and cook until softening: do not allow to brown. Once soft add the peas, stock, and all the other ingredients. Bring to a boil then turn down to simmer about 50 minutes or until the peas are soft. Alton says to cook til they're mush and shapeless but i stopped simmering mine when they were soft enough to bite through but still had some body. Turn off the heat and hit with your immersion blender until ingredients are mostly smooth and well integrated. I left it with a few pea chunks, we enjoyed the variance in texture this created.

Optional : serve with a garnish of turkey bacon, diced jalapeno, or chives.

Notes:
Hmm, so last time i used HEB (Central Market) brand organic chicken broth. Tonight i used Pacific: half chicken, half veg stock. I'm thinking the central market stock was waaaaay better. I love Pacific's soups, but their stock was a little too earthy or something. I also used some of my saved turkey stock, which is of course delicious.

Also, last time i think i had a larger ration of pea to stock, we liked it thicker like that. Also, I had a harder time keeping some pea chunks in this batch as the jalapenos kept running away from the blender. Definitely try and keep some chunks, we preferred it that way.

After a hearty dinner like that: i better stay active and drawing today! www.mirandarmueller.com