Saturday, December 10, 2011

Homemade soup

Soup is so easy to make.  Dare I say "trust me"? or will that send you running?  Not only is it simple to do... it can be very nutritious.  You get to control the ingredients.  No sodium ..no preservatives ..  and you only add what you like or want to use.

There are as many and varied recipes as you care to invent. Or, find a recipe and tweak it as you like.

The other day I wanted to make some Caldo Verde (Kale Potato) soup...our new favourite...but, can you believe there was no kale to be had at Safeway that day?  Darn it.  I wanted soup by then...so went home and checked the 'fridge.  There were some leftover sweet potatoes.... so... .. came up with a carrot and potato soup.  I've seen various recipes with these ingredients...but, who needs a recipe?  Once you have made a few soups...it is simple.

Just get a tasty base going... toss in your choice of ingredients...simmer and voila.  Lovely soup.  And, in this case..I also used my hand held blender on it near the end...and stirred in some milk just before serving.

I  never use actual measurements any more... but, if you want to search for a recipe to try it with measurements the first few times, just Google soups...or Carrot  or Sweet Potato or Squash soup and you will be inundated with similar recipes to try.   I'm sure they will all taste wonderful.  Here are some approximate measurements from my own soup.












Carrot Sweet Potato Soup

half a medium onion (diced)
stick or two of celery (diced)
carrot (diced)
sweet potato (cooked or uncooked and diced)
white potato (two; small; diced)
chicken broth (homemade or purchased..I buy low sodium broth)
water
1 tbsp. flour
spices (I used a bay leaf, oregano, sweet basil, Italian Seasoning, pepper flakes;black pepper)
butter (1 - 2 tbsp)
olive oil (about 1 - 2 tbsp)

In large pot, heat oil and butter... add onion, carrot, celery, and soften... don't let it brown... add uncooked potato ..continue to cook gently and sprinkle on flour after about 5 to 8 minutes... let cook slowly for a few more minutes stirring every so often.  Add about 2 cups or so of water and a few cups of broth (or  more) ... ( or you could use some tomato juice if you like)....stir well to mix in the flour if it is not already.  Add some pepper and the bay leaf.  Bring to boil and then lower heat to let it simmer gently.  Add the rest of the spices.  Stir every so often.
We like it a bit spicy sometimes.. so I usually re-pepper it after simmering for about an hour and tasting.

Let simmer for about an hour and a half to two hours or til spuds are tender.  As the spuds cook down they help to thicken this type of soup.  Serve as is, or, if you prefer, you can puree your soups with a hand held blender.  You could do small batches in a regular blender...but, it is not nearly as easy or as safe, especially when dealing with boiling liquids.  I love my hand held blender and use it a lot.

You could make soup every single day and never do the same one twice.  There are sooo many options.  I hope you try some soup of your own one day soon.  I love making it.... I could eat soup every day. With fresh homemade bread.....sigh.....oooooh..... heavenly....

11 comments:

Travel France Online said...

There's nothing better than a good home made soup to fight a gloomy winter day! I don't think i have ever eaten sweet potato and i might have a go. It's amazing to see that even in cooking there can be some slight cultural differences. french don't seem to even know that vegetable and i don't think we can find it in the market and i don't think we are growing them!
I might find it here in the UK though!

sandy said...

well that looks delicious. Thanks for the recipe.

Mary Ann Tate said...

You should grow some kale in your garden next summer. It grows like mad. I still have a small amount in the ground that I'll maybe pick tomorrow before we get more frost. I use it instead of cabbage leaves to make cabbage rolls or in this case kale rolls:)

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

I'm definitely a soup fan , too , and agree ... there's always a new one to try . Your latest sounds really good !
Our youngest daughter made a delicious Leek and Lentil soup when she was here over the holidays and I'll be making it again very soon .

Catherine said...

Mmmmmm..... I made turkey soup after Christmas. There is just something about soup that warms the soul!
xo Catherine

Mrs Mac said...

I'd love to make soup but mine are always sort of stews, which still taste nice, but aren't soup. I did have a hand blender-whizzer that I could make it all small with, but it started to produce smoke out of the handle so I thought I should probably abandon it! LOL! One way I cheat is to buy plain chicken soup but throw in some fresh veggies.

Jaime said...

Ohh..this sounds tasty! I make a carrot ginger apple soup quite often, but I need a bit of a change. I think I will come back here to this post when I am ready to make another steaming pot of comforting soup!

Spyder said...

My latest 'homemade soup' is chicken and chilli...yum!!! have a great week...I'm once more not at hi=ome, but hope to keep the freebies going, glad you liked last weeks
(Lyn)

Angie said...

I love homemade soup ...I too could eat it everyday ...shame the family couldn't lol. I tend to have a basic that I know they all love and just vary the veg and how chunky or mushed it is.
Just looked back at your Irish Brack ...I make one too ...using variations of what ever I have ...LOVE the idea of adding zest to the fruit soak. I found that soaking the fruit without the sugar allowed the fruit to fluff up more....I stir it in, in the morning until its well disolved. I also never use any fat at all in mine and have found its fine with less sugar too ...you might find it ok for you too.May be I'll try it with butter next time.
Now I'm off to look at your other recipes ....and maybe I'll make some soup. xx

Whimcees said...

Hello!

Soup sounds so good! I hope that all is well with you! Wishing you a happy day!

Hugs,

Barbara Diane

Buttons Thoughts said...

This looks good and healthy I hope you are feeling better soon. Take care Hug B