Rainy day soup

RAINY days call for a good soup. We are a soup-loving -nation, after all we have one day of the week dedicated to soup, that’s our Saturday soup day. But you don’t have to wait for Saturday to create a big, bubbly heart and soul-warming bowl of goodness.

Try any of these recipes today. If you are vegan simply use water in place of the broth or switch it out for veggie broth.

Cream of cauliflower soup

4 tbs butter

1 cup minced onions

1 tsp minced garlic

1/4 cup flour

1 large head cauliflower, washed and cut

8 cups broth

salt freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup evaporated milk

Melt butter in soup pot, add onions and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes until tender. Add flour and cook until smooth, do not brown, about 2 minutes. Add cauliflower cook for a few minutes, add broth. Salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Puree soup, add milk, reheat and add cheese.

Serves 4 to 6

Gingery pumpkin soup

2 pounds Calabaza pumpkin

2 tbsp vegetable oil or butter

1 two inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped

1 onion diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

5 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Salt and black pepper to taste

1/2 cup evaporated milk (optional)

Peel and cut the pumpkin into 1-inch chunks. Heat oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, sauté for about 4 minutes until fragrant and tender. Add ginger and cook until fragrant. Add pumpkin, stock, herbs and spices, bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until pumpkin is tender, about 30-40 minutes. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor. Return soup to saucepan, add milk, and heat through. Check and adjust seasonings.

Serves 6

Sancoche

This can be made into a vegetarian soup by omitting the beef and replacing the beef broth with vegetable broth, and adding one cup chopped carrots to this recipe.

1 pound stewing beef with bones, seasoned with one tablespoon of minced chives and 2 cloves garlic.

1 cup yellow split peas

6 ochroes, sliced

8 cups beef broth

1 cup chopped pumpkin

2 onions, chopped

1/4 cup fresh thyme

3 tbs fresh chopped celery

2 pimento peppers seeded and chopped

2 tbs vegetable oil

1 hot pepper or habanero pepper, left whole

2 lbs mixed provision (sweet potatoes, yams, eddoes, cassava) etc

1 plantain, half ripe, peeled and thickly sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

Peel provision and cut into 2-inch pieces, place a bowl and cover with water until ready for use. In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat oil, add onions, garlic, celery, pimento pepper and thyme. Sauté until fragrant add beef stir until beef is browned, add split peas, ochroes and pumpkin and sauté, add broth and simmer until split peas are cooked to a nice thickness and beef is tender, about one hour. Season with salt and black pepper. Add provision, plantain and hot pepper; cook until provision is tender, about 30 minutes. Drop in dumplings and cook until dumplings have floated to the top of the pot, about 10 to 15 minutes. Serve hot with or without the hot pepper.

Serves 6 to 8

Dumplings

2 cups flour

1 tsp butter

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and rub butter into flour until mixture is grainy, slowly all water and knead to a stiff dough. Cover and let rest for about 30 minutes.

Divide dumpling dough into 2 pieces, roll each piece into a long rope like shape about 12 inches in length, cut into 2-inch lengths and drop into boiling soup.

Lentil soup with cornmeal dumplings

1 carrot, finely chopped

one large onion, chopped

1 tbs vegetable oil

1/3 cup chopped celery

1 tsp ground cumin/geera

four cloves garlic

1/4 cup fresh thyme

1 lb lentil peas, washed and picked over

1/2 chopped hot pepper

1 tbs butter

9 cups vegetable stock or water

In a large stockpot or sauce pan heat oil, add garlic, celery, thyme, and onions, sauté until fragrant, add carrots and cumin, add lentils and sauté for a few more minutes.

Add stock and cover and simmer until lentils are soft and melted, about 40 to 50 minutes. Drop dumplings into boiling soup and cook until puffed and light, about 10 minutes. Stir in cooking margarine. Serves 6 to 8

Cornmeal dumplings

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp ground, roasted cumin

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbs butter

In a bowl combine all ingredients and cut butter into flour until texture is grainy. Add enough water to make a pliable dough. Gently press the dough into a circle about 3/4 inch thick, cut into small one inch squares and drop into boiling soup.

Wendy's Cooking classes:

Trini-Style Cooking, June 23

Teen and Kids Cooking Camps in July

Call 357-0927 to register

rahamut@gmail.com

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