The Rural Voice, 1981-01, Page 27Mouth watering
heart warming
Soup!
In the long, cold sometimes dreary
days of winter, there's nothing like a bowl
of steaming home made soup to soothe
both the body and the soul. And our soup
recipes, courtesy of Andy White,
husband of a Rural Voice staff member,
will also soothe tt;e pocketbook.
Most of Andy's homemade soups are a
meal in themselves, a very low cost meal,
especially when you use up leftovers.
Getting ready to make soup takes time.
. . there's lots of chopping. sorting and
measuring. But the whole family can
help with that and once everything's in
the pot you just let it simmer away.
The only shortcut Andy uses at times
(he makes his soups on winter weekends,
in quantities Targe enough for a couple of
meals) is an old fashioned pressure
cooker, but a slow cooker would probably
work equally well.
Most soups should simmer for at least
four hours; pressure cooking time is 15 to
30 minutes. All the soups improve with
age. Serve them piping hot with warm
bread or rolls and a nice crisp salad.
Bon appetit!
MEAN MINESTRONE
Serves 8 big eaters
A hearty Italian soup that's almost a
stew.
2'/2 cup water
3/3 cup dried kidney beans, soaked for 1
hour in hot water and drained
THE RURAL FAMILY
' S cup chick-peas, soaked for 1 hour in
hot water and drained.
6 oz. salt pork, (bacon is okay, so is
smoked ham) cubed
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
4 carrots, cut in half inch rounds
4 celery stalks in half inch rounds
'/2 small cabbage, finely shredded
6 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
(Canned or fresh)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 quarts hot chicken stock (made with
boullion cubes)
fresh parsley, thyme and bay leaf
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
' cup green peas (optional, they add
colour)
'/ cup macaroni noodles
'/3 cup parmesan cheese.
Saute vegetables and meat in the olive
oil, in your soup pot or pressure cooker.
Add chicken stock and water, spices,
cover, and either simmer for hours or
cook at high pressure for 20 minutes.
Then add the green peas and macaroni
and simmer for a half hour or pressure
cook for 8 minutes more at high pressure.
Sprinkle parmesan over each bowl or
your soup tureen before serving. This
rich brown coloured soup, flecked with
red, green and white, freezes well.
MOTHER'S LENTIL SOUP
Serves 6 or 8.
8 oz. red lentils, soaked for an hour in
hot water, then drained
2 chopped onions, browned a bit in 2
tablespoons butter
3 carrots and 2 celery stalks, chopped.
3 sprigs of parsley
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 hambone with a bit of meat still on it
2 cups white wine (optional - we make
wine and use the mediocre for cooking)
2 quarts water
1 tsp. Rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
To hambone, lentils and vegetables in
your soup pot, add wine and water, then
spices. Cover and simmer 3 or 4 hours or
pressure cook for 15 minutes on HIGH.
COCK-A-LEEKIE SOUP
Serves 8.
We make this to use up chicken or turkey
leftovers, but you can also start with a
whole fresh chicken.
1-3 Ib. chicken, or assorted leftovers and
carcass
10 cups water
7 small leeks, thoroughly washed and
cut into '/2 inch slices
2 celery stalks, chopped
'/, cup pearl barley
parsley, thyme and bayleaf
12 peppercorns tied in cheesecloth
2 tsp. salt
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Simmer the fresh chicken or the
carcass and leftovers in your soup pot
with water and all the other ingredients
except chopped parsley for 3 or 4 hours,
or 30 minutes on high in the pressure
cooker. Let cool then take chicken meat
off bones, discarding bones and skin, the
pepper corns and the bay leaf. Put the
chicken meat back in the stock then
simmer for another 5 minutes to heat
thoroughly. Sprinkle chopped parsley
over the soup and serve.
FRENCH ONION SOUP
Serves 4-6 and uses more of that
homemade wine.
Slice 4-6 large onions and simmer in
butter in a Targe soup pot. Add a teaspoon
of sugar,2 quarts of beef stock (boullion or
consomme is fine) and 2-3 cups dry white
wine (optional). Simmer for 1/2 to 3/4 of an
hour, or more covered. Meanwhile toast
buttered rounds of bread in the oven.
Pour soup into individual warm (oven
proof) soup bowls, put toasted bread on
top, then top that with at least '/• cup
grated mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
Put soup under the broiler until cheese
is melted and slightly browned. Serve
with white wine and a salad or with a light
main dish.
THE RURAL VOICE/JANUARY 1981 PG. 27