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Wintry Soups to Warm Your Heart

by ‎12-06-2016 11:23 AM - edited ‎12-06-2016 11:25 AM

Hi, there!

 

Did you know soups are divided into two main groups: clear and thick? Clear soups are bouillon (made from water; stock vegetables such as onions, carrots, celery; and herbs) and consommé (concentrated stock). Thick soups are purées (vegetable soups thickened with starch), bisques (puréed shellfish or vegetables thickened with cream), cream soups (thickened with béchamel sauce); and veloutés (thickened with eggs, butter, and cream).

 

I worked in a restaurant through high school and college, and we served a variety of delicious soups. I remember the traditional French onion soup, a cold apple soup made with vanilla ice cream mix as the base, and a crab bisque called She-Crab Soup. Everyone loved this bisque. One night after the manager went home, a customer offered one of the waitresses $100 for the recipe. She tore the kitchen apart but couldn’t find it.

 

My mother made the best turkey noodle soup with the leftover Thanksgiving bird, and her pea soup with chunks of ham is too die for. But my mom isn’t the only soup aficionado. Veteran television host, entrepreneur, and public speaker Kim Gravel told us, “I love all the winter food—stews, cornbread, vegetable soup. I have a great vegetable soup recipe from my mother, Jo.” She graciously offered to share her mother’s recipe.

 

Jo’s Veggie Soup

 

Ingredients

2 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 medium)

2 cups peeled and chopped carrots (about 4)

1 1/4 cups chopped celery (about 3 stalks)

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium vegetable or beef broth

2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes (undrained)

3 cups potatoes, peeled and diced 1/2-inch thick (about 3 medium)

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp dried thyme

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups chopped frozen or fresh green beans

1 1/4 cups frozen or fresh corn

1 cup frozen or fresh peas

 

Directions

  1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery and sauté 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 30 seconds longer.
  2. Pour in broth (if you want lesser ratio of broth, use 3 full cans and 3/4 cup of the 4th can) and add tomatoes, potatoes, parsley, bay leaves, and thyme. Season with salt and pepper to taste (if you want a really flavorful soup you can add in more dried herbs, I prefer to let the flavors of the vegetables shine though and not overdo it).
  3. Bring to a boil, then add green beans. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20-30 minutes. Add corn and peas and cook 5 minutes longer. Serve warm.

 

Here’s another great soup recipe. When my grandmother passed on in the late 1980s my sister and I got many of her recipes. This one is from a Betty Crocker recipe card library my grandmother bought in the 1970s. I’ve made it several times and it’s very good, but peppery! The photo below shows a whole tomatoe. You can also use canned tomatoes (they break apart when cooking and give the soup a rosy color).

 

Autumn Soup (serves 6)

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Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

1 cup chopped onion (1 small)

4 cups water

1 cup cut-up carrots (about 2)

1 cup diced celery (about 2 stalks)

1 cup cubed potatoes, peeled (1 large)

2 tsp salt

1 tsp bottled brown bouquet sauce

1/4 tsp black pepper (reduce to 1/8 tsp if you don’t want it real peppery)

1 bay leaf

1/8 tsp basil

6 fresh tomatoes or 1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes (undrained)*

 

Directions

  1. In a large saucepan, brown ground beef over medium heat and drain fat. Add onions and cook until tender, about five minutes.
  2. Stir in remaining ingredients (except fresh tomatoes) and heat to boiling. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
  3. Add fresh tomatoes, cover, and simmer 10 minutes more, or until vegetables are tender.

*If you use the canned tomatoes, reduce water to 3 cups and add tomatoes with remaining ingredients.

 

Enjoy!

 

Troy

QVC editor