Tag Archives: soup

3 Reasons to Make Homemade Vegetable Stock

Posted on by

Why bother to make your own stock from scratch? Easier to use it from the tetra-pak, aluminum can, or make it from a bouillon cube, right? I don’t disagree, and in a pinch, I will do the same.  And not to go all Martha Stewart on you, but I will give you my Top 3 Reasons for going the extra mile for this “pantry” staple:

  1. Flavah, flavah, flavah
  2. Ready to use when you need small quantities
  3. Savings

And if I had to give you only one reason, it would really be flavor. Using homemade stock in soups, risottos, and sauces has a dramatic impact on the taste of your final product. It adds depth and savoriness, and also a LOT less sodium than any pre-packaged variety. Also, store bought vegetable stock (for vegetarians and vegans) usually leaves something to be desired when it comes to flavor.

I will admit that it does require some advance planning and some effort on your part, but you will reap the benefits next time you make a pot of soup. Like any staple, when you make a batch of homemade stock, it is to put up. The recipe below (or any variation) freezes well. Once cool, pour broth carefully into ice cube trays, freeze, then pop out and store in Ziploc freezer bags (several per bag). The recipe makes an excellent base for all your vegetarian winter meals. I used about 1/3 of last week’s batch the same evening for my Leek & Shiitake Mushroom Risotto. Stay tuned for details.

I’ll spend a moment on Reasons #2 & #3 and stick with the soup example. If you aren’t making soup every night, you probably won’t go through an entire carton of stock. So, perfect to use 2 or 3 ice cubes of homemade Vegetable Stock that will be stored away in your freezer.  Since the flavor is super-concentrated, you can use about 1/2 the quantity needed and add water to dilute. As for savings (reason #3), I can guarantee that using up the past-their-prime veggies in your fridge and cupboard will cost less than purchasing cans or cartons of ready-made stock. If you are a planner, you can save vegetable peels in your freezer to use later for stock preparation. I admit that I have never had my act together enough to do this, but have thought about it.

DIY Vegetable Broth – Basic Recipe

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped, include some leaves
5 -10 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
5 to 10 white mushrooms, halved or sliced (Optional)
Vegetable peelings or scraps (think green tops from leeks, potato peels, carrot peels)
10 to 20 parsley stems or stems with leaves
Kosher Salt
10 Whole pepper corns

1. Put the oil in a deep skillet or broad saucepan or casserole over medium high heat. When hot, add the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Cook without stirring for about 5 minutes, then stir once or twice and cook until the vegetables begin to brown. (If you have more time, brown them well, stirring only infrequently.)

2. Add the parsley, mushrooms (and any other vegetables), 8 cups water, and some pepper. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat so the mixture simmers steadily but gently. Cook for at least 30 minutes until the vegetables are very tender, up to an hour if you have time. The soup will reduce, that’s ok.

3. Strain well, pushing down on softened vegetables to release the maximum amount of liquid, before using or storing. Allow to cool completely before freezing in ice cube trays. Can store in refrigerator for up to a week.

Chime in if you’ve ever made your own homemade stock and why – vegetarian or otherwise.

CSA Pick-up 10/20/12

Posted on by

The funny thing about autumn in the Northeast is that it can be freezing (literally) one night and soar back to the 60s another. After last weekend’s frosty temps, we were surprised to feel the need to peel off layers on Saturday morning as we stopped by the farm for our pick-up. Penultimate pick-up of the season. My bag felt a little lighter than usual, but there were still some great new veggies on hand: Red Russian kale, butternut squash and escarole.

Penultimate pick-up – 10/20/12

I was also delighted to see another pair of leeks, a box of brussel sprouts and bunch of multi-colored carrots. With our house guests on the way, I knew we’d make short order out of this pick-up in no time at all. Here’s what I had on tap:

– My “almost-famous” Minestrone-style veggie soup
– Leeks Vinaigrette (very French, I know)
– Roasted carrots, copycat pt 2 (see guest blogger Dan Doern’s post for inspiration)
– Crispy Caramelized Brussel Sprouts
– Sauteed kale

And, any other year I’d be psyched to see the ornamental gourds, but they didn’t do much for me this year. We found a “volunteer” squash vine in our garden this year and it produced a prodigious crop of yellow and green bumpy creatures.

Hearty Fall Soup for Frosty Temps

Posted on by

Chopped leeks ready for some butter

Chopped leeks ready for some butter

The irony of this soup recipe is that I originally tried it back in May, and here it is in mid-October and I finally have all the ingredients available in my CSA basket. It took nearly 6 months and 2 seasons to reach the point where I can prepare the dish from local, seasonal ingredients. The recipe for Cabbage, Potato and Leek soup comes from Melissa Clark‘s NY Times column, “A Good Appetite.”

It is a deeply flavorful, thick and satisfying soup that in my opinion, is much more suited for the fall than early spring, so I’m glad I filed it away in the back of my mind for this season. I was excited to put my frosty leeks to work (truly nothing smells better than leeks sauteed in butter), use up some of that never-ending cabbage, and make some headway in our large stock of potatoes. What sounds like a rather bland and monochromatic soup actually turned out to be quite colorful during the prep stages. The soup was roundly praised by all. Baby Sam asked for thirds. Check out my modified recipe below:

Ingredients:

Sliced purple potatoes. Just because.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 medium leeks, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
8 cups shredded cabbage
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5 small new potatoes (I used purple potatoes because I had them on hand) 
3 cups vegetable stock
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 thyme branches
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Pecorino Romano rind, or parmiggiano rind (optional)
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to serve
Instructions:

1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat, add the leeks and cook until soft and golden around the edges, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the cabbage and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until cabbage begins to caramelize, about 10 minutes.

Sauteed leeks

2. Stir in potatoes, stock, 4 or 5 cups water, salt, cheese rind (if using) and thyme. Bring soup to a simmer and cook, partly covered, until potatoes begin to fall apart, 45 to 50 minutes. Add more water, as needed, to reach the desired consistency. Use hand blender to partially puree and remove thyme stems. Season with black pepper and serve, topped with cheese.

Yield: 6 servings

 

Masochism in the Kitchen

Posted on by

So with my massive haul from Wolfe Spring Farm, I had to get cracking on Saturday afternoon.

CSA Pick-up 9/22/12. Photo styling courtesy of Hubs

With the crisp evenings we’ve been having, I felt some sort of soup was in order and so the planning began. Soup is always a good way to use lots of veg, and forgiving, too. After some deliberation with Hubs, I decided on a Minestrone-style Vegetable Soup. This would be my lead dish for the weekend. I mapped out my other dishes and figured out which ingredients I could prep simultaneously. I would prep the ingredients for the vegetable soup and Freekeh Pilaf at the same time, since I could chop onions and garlic for both dishes in one shot.

Timing was also a factor, so I decided to put up some of the vegetables because it would be impossible to consume all in the week. The veggies are organic, and most have a short shelf life. I would freeze the bell peppers and roasted eggplant (must chop all peppers first, and grill the eggplant), as suggested by Agrigirl in a comment last week. And the tomatoes would turn into Sweet Tomato Jam, but not until Sunday.

And lastly, why not make some kale chips?

At one point, I had 5 dishes going in various stages of preparation in the sink, on the stove, in the oven and on the grill. Controlled chaos at best. Or, why chefs and cooks who do this, day in, day out, impress me to no end. Like I said, it was my own personal form of self-torture. If I knew how to insert a table into this post, I’d have a matrix with the following headers: Ingredients, Dish, Cooking Method. That’s how much I had goin’ on. And this didn’t even include Saturday night dinner!

The good news is that the “lead” dish du jour, the Vegetable Soup, turned out delicious. I call it Minestrone-style because I used tomatoes and it has a light tomato base, but I didn’t use any beans or pasta, which you usually find in a Minestrone soup. Here is my recipe, and like most others, consider it a starting point and alter it based on what you have in your cupboard.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium or large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 carrot diced,
2 stalks celery, chopped (I didn’t use because we didn’t have any, but highly recommend)
8 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth for the carnivores)
1 cup tomatoes, chopped, cored and seeded
2 small potatoes,  diced in 1/2 inch,
1 Parmiggiano cheese rind (I keep the rinds in a plastic bag in the back of my fridge. Use in risottos and soups, add great flavor)
1 cup winter squash, diced (I used spaghetti squash and surprisingly, turned out great. Had never used it in a soup)
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 cup shredded cabbage (left over from last week’s pick-up. A head of cabbage goes a looong way)
Large handful of parsley, leaves only, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In large soup pot, on low-medium heat, saute onions and garlic for 5 minutes in olive oil. Add carrots and celery and continue to saute until vegetables are softened.  Add potatoes, squash and bell pepper (or whichever “hard” vegetables you are using – turnips, parsnips would also be great). Saute for 2-3 minutes to give vegetables some color.

Sauteed “hard” vegetables in the pot

Add liquid – broth and chopped tomatoes, and Parmiggiano rind, if using. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes, or until “hard” vegetable soften. Add cabbage and parsley (or other “soft” vegetables or greens, like zucchini, kale, collard greens, etc). Season with salt and pepper, simmer for an additional 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool. Serve with shredded Parmiggiano cheese and a drizzle of olive oil, if desired.

Yield: 6 – 8 servings

Minestrone-style Vegetable Soup

What’s left in the basket from my CSA Pick-up? Cauliflower, a cucumber, cherry tomatoes (I was greedy with these), watermelon, raspberries (not worried about the fruit) and 2 shiitake mushrooms. Looking for suggestions for the shiitake mushrooms and cauliflower. Any ideas?