Another very hazy memory from my youth centers on lentil soup. We had tons of dried beans and brown rice and various other not-likely-to-go-bad-for-years items as staples. They were inexpensive, and very good for you, so my mom stocked up. I don't remember much about the actual soup she made, however---I don't think she made it very often. I'm fairly certain my soup is quite different, but I'm happy with it in any case, and hope you'll enjoy it as well.
While the version I make is by no means vegetarian, simple substitution of your favourite vegetable stock and omission of the bacon could easily bend this recipe to your veggie will.
TIME REQUIRED: approximately 1 hour.
INGREDIENTS:
* 1 tbsp. olive oil
* 1/2 lb. bacon, chopped up into reasonably small pieces
* 3 stalks celery, chopped up into reasonably small pieces
* 3 medium-to-large carrots, chopped up into reasonably small pieces
* 1 large sweet onion, chopped up into reasonably small pieces
* 3 (or more, if you'd like) large cloves garlic, peeled and minced fine
* 2 14.5 oz. cans chicken broth, plus 2 14.5 oz. cans of water
* 1 c. plus a handful of brown (or green) dried lentils
* chilli powder and cumin (ground) to taste; start with 1 tbsp. of each and add more as necessary
* sprinkling of lemon or lime juice
* salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
PREPARATION
Heat a medium-to-large pot over medium/high heat, once pan is heated through, add olive oil and swirl around to coat the bottom of the pan. Add bacon and lid, checking and stirring occasionally. Once the bacon is cooked through but still soft, add garlic, onion, and carrots. Stir occasionally and keep lidded; continue cooking in this manner until all the vegetables are soft and the onions are transparent but not caramelised.
Add stock, water, and lentils. Stir occasionally and bring to a boil. Once it's reached a healthy boil, turn the heat down to simmer the soup, lid it, and ignore it for about 40-50 minutes.
At this point, the lentils should be quite soft, and the soup is very nearly ready. In fact, if you'd like, you could stop right here and eat a perfectly delicious soup. However, if you'd like to have a slightly creamier texture, strain about 1/3 to 1/2 of the solids out of the soup (use a slotted spoon or something similar) and puree in a blender or food processor. Add this back into the soup and stir; the consistency will be quite a bit nicer to eat.
Serves 4-6 as a main course, and reheats brilliantly. I'd have photos to go with this, except the last pot I made vanished too quickly for photos to be taken. Enjoy!
Autumn is, without a doubt, my favourite time of year---even though it unfortunately seems to often last about two weeks at most around where I live. A large part of this love is to do with pumpkins---and more specifically, all the great things that can be done with them. If I'm having a particularly good year, I seem to find some new way pumpkin can be incorporated into things that I hadn't thought of previously: the first time, it was pumpkin soup; the second, pumpkin cake (with dark chocolate sauce to spoon over). Last year, it was pumpkin cappuccino which I swear was some of the best flavoured coffee-inspired beverage I've ever had.
Today, however, is all about the soup. This soup was inspired by a mad search to try to recreate this fantastic pumpkin soup that one of my first bosses had as a family recipe that she always made every autumn, which her dad had made for her when she was little. This isn't the same, but it's still quite good. I hope you enjoy it. The end goal of this soup is to have a bit of warmth to it provided by spice, but it is not meant to be spicy; it is meant to be creamy and soothing. It is not meant to light a fire in one's belly; rather, it is meant to bring a similar sort of warm, toasty, comfortable feeling to the one a nice warm bowl of oatmeal on a winter morning usually brings. As always, keep tasting this soup and adjust the spices to what your tongue tells you.
TIME REQUIREMENT: at least an hour. As with most soups, however, the flavour would be more cohesive the longer you leave it to simmer over low heat. Experiment and see what works best for you.
INGREDIENTS:
* 1 29 oz. can of pure pumpkin (approximately 3 c. chopped fresh pumpkin can work, too, but you'll have a bit more work to do to get the soup to turn quite as creamy. This is an instance where the canned item really is not so bad, and is in many ways preferable.)
* 2.5 c. tart apple; cored, peeled, and chopped into small pieces. (Granny Smith is a good option here, although another apple similar in flavour and texture would work as well.)
* 1 large or 2 medium-sized sweet onions, chopped (Walla Walla or Vidalia are again among your best bets)
* 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed.
* 4 c. of your favourite broth, plus more as needed.
* 1 c. cream, half-and-half, or whole milk (or more, if you desire)
* 1-2 tbsp. fresh tarragon (halve the amount if using dried)
* cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, salt, curry powder, and black pepper to taste
* corn starch (if necessary)
PREPARATION:
Heat a large pot over med-high heat until reasonably hot; melt a couple tablespoons of butter (or enough to cover the bottom of the pot) in it. Next, add your crushed garlic and chopped onion and sautee until soft and translucent. (If using fresh pumpkin, add it around the same time you add the onion and wait a bit longer before adding liquids; you'll want to let the pumpkin soften.) Add the apple; continue to stir and allow to sautee for a few minutes, until the apples seem a bit softer and slightly shiny. Next, add the pumpkin (if using canned), making sure to turn the heat down slightly and stir constantly to prevent burning. After a couple of minutes, add the broth. Stir until the broth is fully incorporated and playing nicely with all the other ingredients in the pot; add tarragon, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, curry, salt, and/or pepper. Lid. Monitor pot to make sure the soup is not boiling over; mostly ignore for about half an hour.
Unlid, stir, add cream, and stir some more. Taste again and adjust as needed. Soup should be edible any time after this; if you'd like, garnishing it with something leafy and green (such as parsley or cilantro or perhaps some chives) is a nice touch. Works well as a side dish or a meal unto itself---as with most soups. You may also want to experiment with other spices---really, it's all about finding what works best for you, and what makes the pumpkin come alive. If you feel especially creative, you could of course try hollowing out small-to-medium pumpkins and using them as bowls for this soup, too!
(taken from this entry over at HSL.)
inspired by Sarah, i'll now post up our favourite soup to have in the winter. which we in fact have been eating almost this entire time---this is the one i mentioned a few days ago, that i think i could make in my sleep. but it's so good. particularly with Hawaiian bread, although i think it'd be great if i made some more of that Swedish wrist-breaking rye i made awhile ago, carved bowls out of it, and served the soup that way. ought to try it. num, rye.
anyway, before we begin, i'm not hardcore enough that i make my own broth on a regular basis. as a matter of fact, this is another thing i haven't yet done---not because i don't want to, but more because i just haven't had the requisite time. so. if you're against canned broths, you may want to substitute one of your own devising---it'll probably be even better that way. and the other beautiful thing about this is, it's easily made vegetarian---just make sure to use a vegetable broth and you're set!
right, then. this makes a gigantic pot of soup---enough to feed the two of us for about a week, give or take. you can freeze it, too. all measurements for cream and spices are approximate, as i never use measuring implements when making this soup. as always, tweak to your taste!
TIME REQUIRED: 1.5-2 hours, or longer if you'd like.
INGREDIENTS
* 1 49 oz. can of chicken or vegetable broth (we tend to use Swanson's Natural Goodness chicken broth; 100% fat free and a whole lot less sodium than most other commercially available broths)
* 5 lbs. of potatoes (small ones cook faster, but it doesn't matter too much)
* 16 oz. package of frozen broccoli
* 1/2 to 1 c. cream (can be heavy or light, depending on your taste)
* 8 oz. cheddar cheese (sharpness up to your delectation)
* 4-6 bay leaves (depending on size and your taste)
* coarse kosher salt, celery salt, and garlic salt to taste
* corn starch as needed
DIRECTIONS
In an 8 quart pot (with lid), place the potatoes and water enough to cover them. Bring to a boil and keep cooking for 45 minutes to an hour (or more, if you're doing other things while waiting---just make sure to turn the heat down if you choose to leave them cooking longer). Place the pot of water and potatoes in the sink and run cold water over them until the potatoes are cool enough for you to hold comfortably in your hands; drain. Peel the potatoes and chop roughly into smaller chunks; size of chunks does not matter.
While you're peeling the potatoes, microwave the frozen broccoli (make sure to add a little water before doing so). Place the chopped potatoes and the broccoli back in the 8 quart pot. Pour the entire 49 oz. can of broth into the pot. Add bay leaves and seasonings; return to stove. Bring to a boil once more and then moderate heat so that it remains fairly high, but does not cause your soup to boil over. Place lid on pot and ignore for 20 minutes.
Check on the soup occasionally to see how tender the broccoli and potatoes have gotten. Grab your potato masher and mash everything in the pot; once everything has mashed into a satisfying gooey (and slightly greenish, from all the broccoli) mass, you're ready for the next step.
Pour cream into the soup, stirring all the while. Observe changes in the soup; when it's reached the right amount of creaminess in colour, stop adding cream. (The 5 lbs. of potatoes should make it easy for you to use less cream, as they add a lovely creamy texture on their own once they're mashed into oblivion.) If using shredded cheese, sprinkle into the soup while continuing to stir. If using block cheese, cut the block into smaller pieces and place in the soup; lid and ignore for at least 5 minutes to allow the cheese to melt.
Once the cheese has melted enough, stir into the soup. Continue stirring until cheese has liquefied and has successfully integrated itself into the soup.
Observe consistency. If the soup is not thick and creamy enough, put a bit of corn starch into your sifter and slowly sift a little in at a time, stirring all the while to prevent lumps. Stop once it's reached your desired level of thickness.
Ladle into bowls and serve! Your favourite bread would be lovely to dip in this, too! Or serve in bread bowls!
(originally taken from an entry over at HSL)
last night, i finished off making this week's giant pot o' soup. i'd started it the night before, quite optimistic that i'd get it done in one night (and especially since i'd gotten home early!), but alas, it was not to be. this one takes awhile, but most of it's time you can pretty much ignore it and do something else for, so it's really not so bad. it's a very simple recipe, and it's also quite healthy and very cheap---what could be better?
TIME REQUIRED: Either 1.5 hours or overnight for soaking the peas; your choice. The soup itself will take probably a good 2-3 hours to get to the nice creamy consistency you want, but again---you can ignore it while it simmers away peacefully; it only needs stirring once in awhile. Also, this recipe isn't kidding when it claims to be a giant pot of soup---it'll last the two of us a week, or thereabouts. Divide or multiply to obtain the amount you'd like.
INGREDIENTS
* 2 1 lb. bags of yellow (or green) split peas
* 1 large onion (sweet works well here)
* 3 or so stalks of celery
* as many carrots as you feel necessary
* 58 oz. (or thereabouts) of broth of your choice; for the one i made last night, i used beef broth. of the Swanson's 99% fat free/low sodium kind.)
* coarse kosher salt to taste
* a few bay leaves
* sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper
PREPARATION
If you've never worked with dried peas (or beans) before, don't worry---it's really not very difficult.
DEALING WITH THE PEAS
The first thing you want to do is sort through the peas, removing any small stones or anything else that doesn't look like it belongs.
Next, you've got two options for soaking the peas. Option one: Place them in a big pot, add a whole bunch of water (I'd say it's not possible to use too much, really; just make sure there's quite a bit more than is necessary to cover the peas), and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and let sit undisturbed for an hour. Drain; sort again (if you'd like), rinse, place once more in pot for the actual soup-making.
Option two: Throw the sorted peas into a big pot of water and let soak overnight (or at least 3-4 hours). Drain; sort again (if you'd like), rince, and place once more in pot for the actual soup-making.
Chop the carrots, celery, and onion into smallish chunks and add to pot of peas. Add broth, kosher salt, and bay leaves; turn stove on to moderately high heat; lid pot. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it reaches a boil, turn heat down just enough so that danger of boiling over is averted; allow to simmer (still lidded), stirring occasionally, until the peas have softened and begun to disintegrate into proper pea-soupiness. If soup is not thick enough, sift in some corn starch and stir vigorously. This will probably take 2 to 3 hours.
Serve hot; enjoy! this goes well with these buttermilk biscuits, too!