Originally published in Nanaimo's More Living Magazine
So you’ve followed my advice, and you have prepared a few batches of stock. After using them once or twice, they are now starting to pile up in your freezer and you need a few recipes to use up that stock you so painstakingly made. I have just the thing to blow the socks off your next dinner guest.
When is the last time you created a home-made soup from scratch? It’s a dying art to be sure, especially in a culture that insists that on top of a full-time job, you need to maintain the house, drive the kids to and from soccer/dance/school/etc. and somehow take care of yourself in between. Gone are the days when one woke up to pleasant aromas wafting from the kitchen – or are they?
I bring your attention back to one of my favorite pieces of household cooking equipment – the crock-pot. This has to be one of the most under-used and under-appreciated of all cooking apparatuses. For busy people on the go, it is absolutely crucial to have one. Not only is it good for stews and chilies, it can also be an excellent tool for you to make soups when you are too busy to stand there and watch them.
“But wait,” you say, “It’s the middle of spring. The sun is out and the temperature is rising. I don’t really want to serve a hot soup.” Then don’t. If the art of home-made soups is dying, doubly can be said about chilled soups. When is the last time you even heard of a place that served one? Chilled soups are perfect for late spring and early summer when the vegetables are young and still have some of their natural sugars, and just enough starch to help thicken your soup. You have, of course, heard of Vichyssoise (potato and leek soup) and Gazpacho (cucumber and tomato) – the two most common chilled soups, which, when made properly, are absolutely incredible – but what about a chilled carrot and ginger soup? You’ll use up some of that chicken stock you have stashed in the freezer, and be the star of the next dinner party. If you have the time to do this, it only needs to simmer for about 45 minutes, but if you don’t you can put all your ingredients in the crock-pot on low heat right before you go to bed, then finish it in the morning. Then it will be chilled and ready for you by lunch! Here is a basic recipe to get you started:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped; (or grated) fresh ginger, skin off
3 cloves minced garlic
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup dry white wine
2 1/2 cups baby carrots peeled and tops off
dash of fresh lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste
Sauté your onion, ginger and garlic in the olive oil. If you are going to do this in one fell swoop, always sauté your ingredients in the same pot you are going to make the soup in. If you are using a crock-pot, just sauté these items in a frying pan before adding them to the pot. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer. After 45 minutes (or in the morning with the crock-pot method) your carrots should be cooked all the way through. Use a blender (conventional or hand) or a food processor to puree your soup, pass it through a fine strainer, pushing the pulp through with a ladle or spoon, then chill. If your end result is a bit too thick, all you need to do is add a small amount of chicken stock to thin it out to your desired thickness. I have seen similar recipes that add curry and/or coconut milk, so you don’t need to treat this recipe as a hard and fast rule. Go ahead and play with it, add flavors and make it your own. Part of the joy of cooking comes when the end result reflects a part of ourselves.
Before I end this column, I would be remiss if I did not say something about sauces made from scratch. I am a huge advocate of banning all powdered sauces from the grocery stores. Most people just don’t know that if they took an extra five or ten minutes, they could make their own Alfredo or pesto cream sauce from scratch that beats any packaged sauce hands down in flavor and nutritional value. A simple cream sauce is made easily by sautéing some diced onions in oil, adding flour to make what is called a ‘roux’ and adding milk or cream with chicken stock, stirring, seasoning and allowing it to thicken.
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