Whip Up These Winter Soup Recipes
Shelley Stonebrook - February 1, 2013
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’Tis the season for soup — warm, hearty crocks of soup that simmer enticingly until the moment you can dig in with your spoon or a piece of fresh bread. Sweet, spicy, savory, smooth — the variations are endless. Here, you’ll find a delicious sampling of the many soup recipes we’ve published over at Mother Earth News over the years.
You’ll want to start with a good stock. These winter homemade soup stock recipes will help you make a satisfying, warming broth. You can also save vegetable scraps in a bag in the freezer, then simmer the scraps in water and strain to make a tasty vegetarian broth — the perfect base for your next soup creation. This technique saves money (no more buying stock at the store) and makes good use of what would normally just go to the compost pile.
After you’ve got a lovely broth going, you can start to add to your soup as you see fit. Vegetarian? Check out these meatless soup recipes, including creamed celery, creamy corn, tomato, garden, and red bean.
If you’re craving something hearty and fit for cold weather, try out these warming winter soups, including tomato tortilla and fresh garden minestrone. Or, how about this creamy vegetable soup with parsley dumplings.
Butternut bisque is also a smooth, warming soup that’s wonderfully flexible and delicious. Throw in chunks of veggies such as carrots and onions if you want some texture to this soup.
If it’s not too cold where you live, you may not need your soup to be so hot. Some soups, like this sorrel soup, can be served both hot and cold. Sorrel is a zesty, lemony green that goes well in soups and salads. Your opportunities for soup experimentation are never-ending!
You may also want to consider making a loaf of fresh-baked bread to soak up every last bit of your soup — you can go the simple route with our easy five-minute technique, or craft this whole-grain, flavorful loaf. Then, dig in!
Winter Homemade Soup Stock Recipe
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He told the story at a party and may have been pulling everyone's leg. Still, it caused a stir—partly because it revealed something of the magic of soup making and partly because it sounded like a fairy tale. An anthropologist, he had done fieldwork in a small rural village in northern China before the Communist revolution. As far as he could determine from local records and lore, he said, the fire beneath the large, black, communal iron cooking pot in the village center had been kept going for at least 400 years. Each day—as they had evidently done for more than 15 generations—the villagers would toss in fresh greens, herbs, spices, rice, knucklebones, chicken feet, bird nests, what have you.
And each day the soup changed. He had nourished himself, he said, over an entire cold and bleak winter from that ancient pot. "Moreover," he added with a wink, "the special qualities of the soup undoubtedly account for the fact that I am now 120 years old."
Although there is plenty of magic in soup, and a good bowl of it can convince you that you will live forever, there is controversy over how long a decent one should be kept going. The truth is that after repeated beatings the vegetable fibers break down and become mushy, while herbs and spices lose the pungency that brought them to the pot in the first place. What had been a symphony of distinct flavors turns into homogenized noise. The French, who worship soup, would never allow one to go downhill, knowing full well that the key to a distinguished serving lies in utterly fresh ingredients: greens, herbs, and, in Marseilles, fish. The Chinese know this as well—despite the anthropologist's story—having raised the art of soup making to positively Zen heights.
Even in America, before the advent of canning and dehydration, self-respecting country cooks continually urged their pupils (usually their daughters) to make the time between garden and pot as short as possible.
Meatless Soup Recipes
Try these meatless soup recipes including homestead vegetable, speedy spud, read bean, creamed celery, good 'n garlicky, garden, love apple, tomato, creamy corn, curry corn and creamed lettuce soups.
Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-rood/meatless-soup-recipes-zmaz76zhar.aspx#ixzz2JqFTlNr4
There are several meatless soups you can make with the vegetables from your own garden.
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PHOTO: FOTOLIA/VLADIMIR MELNIK
Heavy, meaty, high caloric main dishes gobble up more than 35 cents of the average American food dollar. I think that's too much to spend, especially on meals that are bigger and harder to digest than they ought to be.
For that reason, I've worked to develop lighter, less expensive — but still nutritious — meatless soup recipes for the meals I fix. And my favorite creations of all are soups made from nothing but fresh vegetables, clear water, and spices. Such comestibles are filling, warming, healthful and inexpensive. Plus — if, like many MOTHER people, you grow your own vegetables — these soups will cost you almost nothing!
Please remember, of course, that the following recipes are simply guidelines. Change them freely to suit your tastes and/or the ingredients you have on hand. Your only limitation in the gentle art of soupery is your imagination.
Experiment, have fun, enjoy. Above all else, enjoy. Pour yourself a glass of wine, tea, juice, or whatever turns you on, and have at it!
Homestead Vegetable Soup
1 sweet potato
1 carrot
1 turnip
1 parsnip
1 white potato
1 onion
1 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoons of rice
2 quarts of cold water
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of parsley
1 root of celery
1 teaspoon of salt
Dice all the vegetables. Then melt the butter in a skillet, add all the vegetables — except for the white potato — and fry until the pieces are lightly browned. Dump the chunks into a soup kettle and add the rice, water, herbs, and celery. Boil the mixture 1 1/2 hours, add the white potato, and continue the boil for another 15 minutes. Season to your family's taste and serve.
Speedy Spud Soup
Potatoes (enough to fill a large pot)
Water to cover
1 quart of milk
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoon of butter
Peel the potatoes — make sure they're sound! — and cut them into pieces small enough to be eaten with a spoon. Rinse or soak the spuds well in cold water, then cover with water and boil. Next, add the quart of milk and season the broth to taste. When the 'taters are cooked, fry 2 tablespoons of flour and 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan, stir the combination until it turns brown, and then blend the mixture into the potato stock. Serve promptly. This soup may be seasoned with celery or parsley, too, if you desire. To make it still more delectable, beat up 1 or 2 eggs in a cup of cold milk, stir it into the soup, and serve.
Red Bean Soup
2 1/2 cups of red kidney beans
1 celery stalk
1 slice of onion
1 carrot
4 cups of water
Salt, paprika, and pepper to taste
Croutons, optional
Boil the beans, celery, onion, and carrot in the water until they're nice and tender. (Toss in a ham bone or some bacon, if you like, for the added flavor.) Then, add your seasonings, strain, and serve with croutons. Yield: 6 servings.
Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-rood/meatless-soup-recipes-zmaz76zhar.aspx#ixzz2JqFikZpn
Warming Winter Soups
Eat in season with these simple, savory winter soup recipes.
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Soup season is right around the corner, and if you have a garden, the best ingredients are just a few steps away. Fresh produce from your garden or the farmers market is the key to flavorful homemade soups. Whether it’s a chilled berry purée, a light brothy soup or a thick, creamy winter warmer, once you’ve tasted the rich and comforting results of your labors, there’s no going back to soup in a can. Plus, homemade goodness doesn’t have to mean spending all day in the kitchen. With a good stock ready to go, basic kitchen staples and fresh produce, you can put a delicious soup on the table in about half an hour. And most soups freeze or can beautifully, so you can put a scrumptious soup together one day, and enjoy it for many meals to come. You may have heard that soup always tastes better the next day — it’s true! Homemade soups cost a lot less, too — especially if you garden. If not, look for great end-of-season deals at the farmers market, and stock up!
The All-Important Soup Stock
Soup stock is the often unnoticed foundation that makes a soup full-bodied rather than bland and watery. It’s a flavorful liquid in which vegetables, meat and/or fish are cooked slowly, in order to extract their full essence. Making soup stock is a perfect companion to gardening. Simply toss your less-than-perfect culls (complete with trimmings, leaves and peels) and those too-small-to-peel garlic cloves and potatoes, plus a few herbs and seasonings into a heavy pot filled with water. (I find that starting with cold or room temperature water helps the veggies exude even more flavor.) Then just let it simmer while you go about your day.
You can keep plenty of stock frozen and ready to use. If you have a little extra room in the freezer, you also can store veggie trimmings that would have ended up in the disposal or compost pile, until there’s enough for great stock.
Soup stock can be based on vegetables, fowl, beef, fish or even miso. Experiment with different ingredients to suit your tastes and use what’s in season and on hand. You don’t need to peel any veggies — the skins add nutrients and flavor. Just rinse the dirt off. With chicken, skin is optional; it provides more flavor, but also more fat. Simmered bones add calcium and other nutrients, but you can leave them out if you prefer.
After letting it simmer for a couple of hours, strain and discard the solids, then allow the stock to cool. Don’t let it sit around any longer than the time it takes to reach room temperature. If you don’t intend to make soup immediately, freeze or refrigerate the stock for later use.
Traditional Techniques
Soup stocks can be enriched or thickened by adding wine, cream, puréed vegetables, miso, or starches such as wheat or oat flour. If you’re inventing a soup with whatever is on hand, here’s a great way to begin: Sauté diced onions, celery, carrots, garlic and herbs in just enough oil or butter to coat the bottom of your pot. Brown the vegetables slightly, then deglaze the browned bottom of the pot with stock or dry white wine.
Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Warming-Winter-Soups.aspx#ixzz2JqGC5yHN
A Hearty Vegetable Soup Recipe
Recipe for creamy vegetable soup with parsley dumplings.
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Along with hearty vegetables, whole-wheat dumplings turn this soup into a full meal.
PHOTO: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF
It's a damp, gray, chilly day, and your mood has begun to mirror the elements. What to do? Get out the soup pot! In no time at all, a bubbling broth will fill the house with rich aromas, lifting your spirits and sparking your appetite. And, come supper, there will be bowls of steaming vegetable soup, for warming icy fingers and cheering winter-weary hearts.
The recipe below, taken from MOTHER EARTH NEWS' Fresh Foods Country Cookbook, makes a hearty vegetable soup that, with its whole-wheat dumplings, is a meal in itself.
Creamy Vegetable Soup With Parsley Dumplings Recipe
Soup
3 cups water or broth
2 medium onions, chopped
2 celery stalks, diced
2 cups fresh or canned tomatoes (cut up tomatoes, include juice)
2 carrots, sliced
2 potatoes, diced
1 or 2 cups other favorite vegetables
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
Salt and pepper, to taste
Dumplings
2 cups whole-wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup minced parsley
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
1. In a large, covered pot, cook the vegetables in the water or broth until the firmest ones are barely tender (about 30 minutes).
2. Melt the butter or margarine in a small saucepan and stir in the flour to form a smooth paste. Mix in 1 or 2 cups of the hot broth to make a lumpfree sauce, add salt and pepper, then gradually stir the thickening into the large pot of soup.
3. For the dumplings, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the parsley and shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
4. Mix the egg and milk, and blend into the dry ingredients until they are just dampened. Drop the batter by spoonfuls on top of the boiling soup, cover the pot, and simmer for 12 minutes before serving.
Serves six.
Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/hearty-vegetable-soup-recipe-zmaz86jfzglo.aspx#ixzz2JqHAok1j
Butternut Bisque Soup
1/21/2013 11:11:26 AM
By Sue Van Slooten
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We’re in the coldest part of winter, and that means soup. In this case, it’s just about my favourite all around winter soup: Butternut Bisque. Before we go any farther though, I have an admission: No photo of the soup. We ate the soup before I realized, hey, I might need a photo of that! So you can picture in your minds, an orange, creamy soup with herbs and onions. I also promised you all an update on the alternate fudge recipe, which had marshmallows. Not being a fan of marshmallows (others here like them), I look for ways to use them. Don’t bother. The recipe was harder, especially in trying to get the marshmallows and chocolate to melt. It tasted fine, but had nothing on the recipe I gave you last time. Stick with the tried and true, as they say. But back to the soup. This recipe is wonderfully flexible, because you can swap out the butternut squash for pumpkin or any other orange squash, and the liquid can be broth, milk, or cream, depending on the texture and “body” of soup you’re after. In other words, you can have it your way. Hopefully some of you took my advice from my blog on growing pumpkins last spring, and grew a few, or grow them anyway. Also, any squash/pumpkins from farmer’s markets, etc., that you purchased, pureed and froze, are fine too. What you will need to start is about 2 cups of pumpkin/squash puree. Here we go:
1 butternut squash
1 onion, chopped
2-3 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon salt (preferably the briny kind) or more to taste
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon pepper
2-3 cups of chicken broth (good if you counting calories), milk, or cream. I used milk.
Get out your meat cleaver or heavy knife, and cut the squash into 2” chunks. Place chunks into large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender. Keep an eye on it, because butternut cooks quickly. Alternatively, you could use the microwave, but for butternut, I prefer the boiling method. When squash is tender, drain and let cool. Remove the flesh from the skins, compost skins.
Put the peeled squash back into the pot, and mash, I used a potato masher for this.
In a separate medium glass/microwavable bowl, put your onion and butter. In the microwave, cook until onion is translucent. Add to the pot, along with the thyme, milk or whatever liquid you’re using, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Heat gently, especially if you’re using milk. I used milk when I made mine, and took extra care to prevent the whole thing from curdling. If you feel extravagant and want to use heavy cream, go for it. Heavy cream will not curdle when heated. Use a whisk to blend the mixture, adding more salt and pepper if you like. Depending on the thickness of your squash/pumpkin puree, you may or may not need more liquid, but the nice part is you can add as much as you like to get the consistency that suits you. When soup is hot, enjoy. Purists often run the mixture through a food processor, but that is really not necessary. Also, the purists tend to top it with red pepper puree,or crème fraiche (I haven’t seen many places carry the latter, and when they do, it’s expensive).
If you want to gussy it up, a dollop of sour cream works just as well. Some hot biscuits on the side, and you’ve got dinner. Any leftovers can be reheated, gently, the next day. Usually there aren’t any.
Photo by Fotolia/Travelbook
Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/homemade-bread-cooking-skills/butternut-bisque-soup.aspx#ixzz2JqHh8jdq
Sorrel Soup Recipe (Schav)
1/15/2013 2:19:13 PM
By Robin Mather
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Sorrel Soup Recipe (Schav) Serves 4.
Sorrel Soup (Schav) is a traditional Russian-Eastern European soup of sorrel and potato that is refreshing served cold, and heartening served hot.
Ingredients:
2 fistfuls sorrel leaves, about 3 cups, washed and spun dry
2 tbsp butter
1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
5 to 6 small fingerling or new potatoes, cut into chunks
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 egg, lightly beaten
Salt and pepper, to taste
Garnish: Sour cream or thick yogurt for hot or cold soup and finely chopped cucumber and radish for cold soup
Instructions:
Stack the sorrel leaves and cut into ribbons. Set aside. In a large, heavy saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, heat the butter over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is well-browned, about 20 minutes. Add the sorrel, potatoes and broth.
If the broth does not cover the contents, add a little water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. When the potatoes are done, transfer half of the mixture to a blender or food processor (blenders give smoother results). Process carefully until the mixture is puréed and smooth. Repeat with remaining soup. Return the soup to the saucepan over low heat. Temper the egg by whisking it with about one-quarter cup of soup, then pour the egg mixture into the pan. Cook, whisking constantly, until the soup thickens, about 5 minutes. Do not boil.
If serving hot, garnish each portion with sour cream or yogurt. If serving cold, cover the soup tightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. Garnish with sour cream or yogurt and chopped cucumber and radish.
Read more: Sorrel is a surprisingly spritely, bright green and lemony herb. Learn how to cook with this zingy herb in Sorrel Recipes: The Zingiest Garden Green.
— Robin Mather, author of The Feast Nearby
Photo By Tim Nauman
Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/relish/sorrel-soup-recipe-zb0z1301zmat.aspx#ixzz2JqIQNbIT
