Saturday soup

SATURDAY is traditionally soup day in TT. Many homes seem to have a large pot of brew simmering atop the kitchen stove armed to feed anyone who walks through the door and ready for a “bellyful”. Trinis are known for their hospitality and with that comes our insatiable appetite for feeding everyone in sight while on home ground. Our Creole soups seem to do that just right; they’re thick, hearty, and nourishing. Sancoche, split peas and provision soups are more common, but oxtail and cow heel soups are popular soups as well, of course they are always “chocked” full of dumplings.

Yellow split pea soup with chili

8 cups broth

1 cup yellow split peas washed and

picked over

3 to 4 smoked chicken bones

4 cloves garlic

1 cup chopped pumpkin

1 cup chopped carrots

½ cup chopped chives

1/4 cup each celery and thyme

2 tbs butter

1 tbs chili powder

salt and freshly ground black pepper.

In a soup pot, add broth, peas and bones, add garlic and boil for about 30 minutes.

Remove bones, add the rest of the ingredients.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 more minutes until tender.

Season to taste with salt and black pepper

Purée soup, return to pot and add butter, add chili powder and mix.

Reheat before serving.

Serves 4 to 6

Oxtail soup with cinnamon dumplings

2 lbs lean oxtail, jointed

1 tbs ground herb seasoning

1 tbs vegetable oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, chopped

1/3 cup chopped chive

2 tbs chopped celery

1 pimento pepper, chopped

2 sprigs thyme

1 hot pepper

½ lb pumpkin, peeled and cubed

2 lbs provisions, sweet potato, dasheen,

cut into 2 inch pieces

salt and freshly ground black pepper

to taste

Cinnamon dumplings: See below for recipe.

Rub herb seasoning onto oxtail and marinate for about 30 minutes.

Add oil to a large soup pot, sear oxtail on both sides to brown, add garlic, onion, chive, celery, pimento pepper and thyme, cover with about eight cups water and boil until oxtail is tender, one hour.

Skin off any fat and froth from the surface. Add more water if you need to and bring the soup back to a boil. Add pumpkin, and hot pepper, cook for another 15 minutes until tender, add provisions stir, and cook for 15 minutes, add dumplings and finish cooking, another ten minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.

Serves 4 to 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

1 Congo 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

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

½ 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.

Cinnamon dumplings

Add 1 tsp cinnamon to above recipe, roll and shape as usual.

Cow heel soup

2 lbs cow heels, cleaned

1 tbs ground herb seasoning

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, chopped

1/3 cup chopped chive

1 pimento pepper, chopped

2 sprigs thyme

1 hot pepper

2 lbs ground provisions, peeled and cut into two inch pieces

salt to taste

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Place cow heels into a large soup pot and add herb seasoning, cover with about 8 cups water, add garlic, onion, chive, peppers and thyme.

Boil until cow heels are tender about 2 hours.

Remove any excess fat, add provisions and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.

Add dumplings if using and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Season with salt and black pepper.

Serves 4 to 6

If you want to add dumplings to this recipe then use the recipe above