and so it begins

winter soups 2012

I love winter foods.

cabbage, dried parsley, (homegrown and dried from two years ago), parsnip, celery, carrots, potato, turnip, leeks and garlic in the middle.

I'm going to use the big chopper today. I prefer the smaller one, but it's getting a little blunt.



I've had this carton of Chicken Style stock (it's vegetarian) in my cupboard for over a year (use by date is next November), so I've decided to use it for today's soup. I don't want the flavour too strong, so I'll add one and a half or two litres of water to it.

while that is gently heating up, I'll put that chopper to work.


Leeks first, they're sweeter than onions, so better in a light stock such as vegetable or chicken.
I'd use onions for a beef soup or a casserole.


Then carrots. Tip them into the simmering stock with the leeks.
Stir it up, then keep chopping.


Turnips to the left of me, parsnips to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle for you.
(minor variation of that song by whatshisname)
A little garlic in front.
Add these to the pot, then let it simmer a while before adding the potatoes and cabbage.


Potatoes and cabbage both cook faster than the other ingredients, that's why they're added once the carrots etc have softened. The darker flecks you see floating in the soup is the parsley.


The pot yielded eight serves, here are seven of them cooling off before being capped and frozen.

The eighth serve?  It was yummy, thanks very much.















Comments

  1. Hey...we both made soup today. Yours looks really good.

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  2. Massell stock cubes are my favourites. Your soup looks just like my Nans :) I dont chop my veggies that fine I just chunk them up. David loves Nans soups because the veggies are chopped so finely :)

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  3. I think you are as wonderful a cookerer as my sister.

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  4. How long do you cook it?

    I can't follow this at all.

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  5. That looks delicious

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  6. Thank you River! Thanks for the tip of adding the potato and cabbage after the carrots etc have softened. I tried to cook veg soup once and it turned out all murky - the potato disintegrated. How long do you simmer it for after the potato were added?

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  7. Looks wonderful! You'll be all set for stocking up for winter. I'm right behind you.

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  8. OH YUUUMMM!
    Now I wish the weather in Cairns was cooler. That soup looks like the best comfort food ever - just add toated bread with cheese.
    I'm book-marking this to remind myself to do it later!!

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  9. Delores; hey we both made soup! Great minds think alike!

    Kim; I have massel stock cubes too, in chicken, beef and vegetable. I also have some bacon stock cubes, but I don't remember why I bought those and they're not massel. I prefer my veg cut small for soups, it cooks faster and it's easier to eat.

    Joanne; a new word! Cookerer. I like it.

    R.H. I've never actually timed it, I start the stock simmering while I'm chopping the vegetables, once the hard vegetables are in I'll lett it simmer about ten minutes before adding potatoes and cabbage. Then it simmers until the potatoes are done. I have it on very low simmer, so about twenty minutes after the potatoes. Probably an hour from start to finish, because I leave it simmering while I clean up the chopping board and knife. Then I turn it off and let it cool down before dividing it into serves for the freezer.

    pesky pixies; it is delicious and being all vegetable low calorie too while being highly nutritious.

    drb; after the potato goes in probably about twenty minutes, but on a very low simmer. It's something you get a "feel" for over time. It depends on how small you cut the potatoes too. I usually cut the chunks a little larger than I do the carrots etc.

    Sarah; I did two soup varieties on the same day, when I've made more space in the freezer I'll make another couple of varieties. Then there's the beef casserole that I want in there for quick re-heat dinners on cold nights.

    Signe; welcome to drifting. There'll be more soup recipes to come and a beef casserole too.

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  10. Hi River,

    Winter is coming for Australia; Spring is in the air for the UK.

    The temperature's rising and we are all out in T shirts.

    Happy days.

    :0)

    Cheers

    PM

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  11. Had to laugh about your version of 'that' song by 'whatshisname'. It's stuck in my head now, thanks to you ;-)

    The soup looks delicious. And your chopping skills are very good!!!!!!!

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  12. Plasman; I'm still in t-shirts too, yet many others here are wearing jackets and/or cardigans. Just because the calendar says it's autumn! crazy people.

    Carolina; I wish I had super chopping skills! I could be like those top chefs and chopchopchop through those veggies much quicker. As it is I chop quite slowly, but I enjoy it so it evens out.

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  13. River dearest, can you drop off a pot to us here - all three of us have the flu, so it'd be absolutely perfect for us right now....

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