Du'in It in the Kitchen » homemade soup

Tomato “FUN-nel” Soup

Du — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:39:39 +0000

Yeah, yeah…. “FUN-nel.” I’m just bein’ silly. I’ve had fennel on the brain lately and I’m not sure why. It’s been so rainy here in NYC the last couple days that’s it has put me in the mood for soup. Cream of Tomato was always my favorite as a kid. These days I try not to do very much dairy as it creeps into my baking.

I wanted a hearty soup due to the weather and nothing was sounding good until I thought of tomato soup. It was always a comfort soup for me (rather than chicken soup). Whenever I was sick, tomato soup was what I asked for. I added the fennel for an extra burst of flavor and made this recipe totally vegan.

Tomato Fennel Soup

Tomato Fennel Soup

8 servings

2 cans (28oz each) of whole, plum tomatoes w/ juice

2 bulbs of fennel, chopped

4 – 5 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups veggie stock

½ teaspoon dried thyme (tab fresh)

½ teaspoon dried oregano (tab fresh)

½ teaspoon dried marjoram (tab fresh)

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

In a large, heavy bottom pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add fennel, onion and garlic and sauté approx. 10 minutes, or until fennel begins to soften. Season with 2 -3 large pinches of kosher salt and pepper.

Stir in canned tomatoes, and stock and bring to a low boil. Add herbs. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for 30 – 45 minutes.

Turn off heat. Using a stick blender, puree the soup until smooth. If using a blender, cool the soup before blending in batches.

Serve with a crusty bread or garlic croutons.

Leftover Turkey Vegetable Soup

Du — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:35:10 +0000

Leftover Turkey Vegetable Soup

Growing up, my mom was always very thrifty with leftovers…. okay… most of the the time she was thrifty. We had a giant turkey at Thanksgiving and an even bigger one at Christmas… which meant we had tons of leftover turkey that went into the freezer to have turkey 100 different ways throughout the year. Usually by Spring I was sick of it.

This year I didn’t cook a turkey but instead went to someone else’s house bringing many side side dishes, biscuits and made the gravy (I make gravy good!). I still managed to come home with a lot of leftovers but had to work late the next couple days and didn’t get to them. Concerned about the turkey going bad before I had a chance to eat it, I decided I could use it all at once and make a hearty soup (and it would be the healthiest option after indulging on Thanksgiving).

The following is a soup I threw together… then measurements are as close as possible. When making soup, you can add just about any herbs and veggies you have and adjust to your taste as needed.

LEFTOVER TURKEY VEGETABLE SOUP

1 lb left over cooked turkey (approx), cut into bite-size pieces

1 medium onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 large carrots, diced into small pieces

1 large parsnip, diced into small pieces

1 medium turnip, diced small

3 celery stalks, diced small

1 teaspoon all purpose seasoning

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs thyme, marjoram, oregano

1 teaspoon kosher salt (more as needed)

Fresh ground pepper

6 – 8 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth or water (additional broth/water)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Sauté onion in olive oil over medium high heat in a large pot. As onion begins to sweat, add kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and garlic and sauté an additional 2 – 3 minutes.

Add vegetables, herbs and broth (may need to add water to cover vegetables). Bring to a low boil then reduce heat to simmer, approximately 20 minutes (until veggies are tender). As the vegetables soak up the liquid, you may need to add even more broth/liquid. Add turkey and simmer another 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Remove herb twigs before serving.

Pump it Up with Pumpkin!

Du — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:37:39 +0000

The thought of pumpkins never crossed my mind as a child until October rolled around when costumes, carving and trick-or treating entered the picture. Pumpkins were for Halloween and pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. I couldn’t fathom breads, muffins, fritters or soup. The French are aghast at our waste of a good pumpkin – Sacrebleu!

Then there’s fresh and canned… this is a no brainer. If it’s Fall – go for fresh; it’s easy to prepare (you just need some time) and tastes superior to canned. If you’re jonesin’ for pumpkin muffins in June, then go for the canned, unless your thrifty in the food storage arena and have some in the freezer or canned. Living in NYC – this isn’t really an option for me – no space.

For our purposes here, there are two kinds of pumpkins – the large variety for carving and the smaller sugar or “pie” pumpkins. We want the sweet ones here so go for small, they make for good eatin’! The one I recently roasted was sweet enough I could have eaten plain as a side dish.

Pumpkins show up at the markets some time in September and sometimes to March. When picking one out, look for one that is firm, free from blemishes or soft spots and has some weight. I generally find them about 3 lbs, give or take a few ounces.

I prefer to roast rather than boil or microwave – it produces a drier flesh after it’s mashed… which may or may not be an issue depending on what you are making. If you have a particularly juicy pumpkin, strain the cooked flesh with a cheesecloth placed in a mesh strainer before using and save the juice for smoothies or soups.

Roasted Pumpkin:

Wash the skin to remove and dirt and pat dry. Slice open top to bottom making sure you have space and a firm grip. Cut off stem. Scoop out the pulp and seeds and set aside for roasting later. An ice cream scoop works well to get out all the stringy pulp. Place pumpkin halves flesh side down on a foil covered baking pan. Roast at 350 degrees, approx 45 minutes, until fork easily pierces skin. Remove from oven. When cool to touch, flip to flesh side up and allow to cool until it can be easily handled. Remove flesh from skin with a spoon.