Winter Vegetable Soup

Winter Vegetable Soup

Details

Prep Time:  minutes
Cook Time:  minutes
Ready In:  minutes

Cuisine: 
Categories:  , ,

Yields or Serves:  

Rating:
[Total: 3   Average: 5/5]

A few years ago I was in England during a chilly spring. I hadn’t packed enough warm clothes and was freezing until I could purchase enough warm clothing to keep the chill away. I was staying in the Cotswolds and decided to take a drive to see Stonehenge. After looking around and wondering, “how did they do that and who they was” I realized that I was famished and pretty chilly. There was a rickety food truck outside in the Stonehenge parking lot that sold only one thing…Stonehenge Soup. I was so hungry and so cold that I purchased a big cardboard bowl of it and was given a flimsy plastic spoon and a paper napkin that was the size and consistency of what one would get at the ice cream parlor. I eagerly took a bite and quickly realized that this was the WORST soup I had ever had in my life. The vegetables looked like they were chopped with an arrowhead and the giant hunks of stew meat were tougher than shoe leather. The broth was pretty much just water. The funny thing is that the soup was so bad, but I was so hungry and cold that I ate every bit of it. I kept thinking to myself, “how can I be enjoying such a horrid soup?” I’ll never forget the Stonehenge Soup experience and sometimes think I may go back just to see if they’re still selling it.

  • 3 Large Potatoes (Peeled & Diced)
  • 3 Large Leeks (Washed, Trimmed & Chopped)
  • 1 Medium Onion (Peeled & Chopped)
  • 2 Large Carrots (Chopped)
  • 1/2 Small Turnip (Peeled & Diced)
  • 1/2 Small Rutabaga (Peeled & Diced)
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter
  • 1 Tablespoon Unbleached Flour
  • 3 Pints Chicken Or Vegetable Stock
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Pepper
  • Bouquet Garni (See Below)
  • 3 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
  • Fresh Chopped Parsley For Garnish (Optional)
  1. In large-size saucepan melt butter over a low heat. Add vegetables, Cover with lid and cook 10 minutes. Stir in flour. Pour in stock. Stir constantly. Add kosher salt, pepper, and bouquet garni. Cook 1 minute more.
  2. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook 50 minutes. Remove from heat. Remove bouquet garni. Transfer soup to food processor or blender. Purée until smooth. Add heavy cream and purée for 30 seconds.
  3. Transfer to bowls. Garnish with chopped parsley if you wish.
  4. Serve warm and with crusty bread.
  5. Serves 4
  6. Note: Make sure that you wash the leeks well. They tend to have a lot of grit hidden in the leaves.
  7. The bouquet garni is a bundle of herbs tied together with string and used to prepare soup, stock, and stews. Sometimes, the bouquet is not bound with string, and its ingredients are filled into a small sachet or a tea strainer. Traditionally, the aromatics were bound within leek leaves, though a cheesecloth and butcher’s twine can be used. It is cooked with the other ingredients, but is removed prior to consumption. There is no generic recipe for bouquet garni, but most recipes include thyme and bay leaves. You may want to add parsley, basil, chervil, rosemary, savory, and/or tarragon.
  8. "Work With What You Got!"
  9. © Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen

Victoria

Victoria has been cooking and writing recipes since she was a a young girl. Originally from Nebraska, her appreciation for culinary technique took off when she moved to Lyon, France. Victoria is published in Hearst Newspapers, Greenwich Free Press, New Canaanite, and more.

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