(no subject)
I am celebrating the fact that I am learning to make delicious soup. Here's what I came up with last night and it turned out very well, if I may say so.
Half an onion, five garlic cloves, four stalks of celery, and about a half a pepper (mixed red, orange, and yellow), chopped and heated in the pan with a little vegetable oil. Once that began to release its flavor, I added a can of chicken broth, a generous sprinkle of black pepper, and a bay leaf, and let it simmer. Then a can of condensed cream of celery soup, rinsed with a second can of broth, two large baking potatoes and five large carrots cut into chunks, then I put the lid on and let it simmer for about a half an hour.
On returning, I gave it a good stir, tasted it, added more pepper, thyme, a little cumin, a couple of generous splashes of lemon juice, stirred it again and put the lid back on for another half hour. The second time, after tasting, I added still more black pepper, a generous sprinkle of red pepper, and a little onion powder. Back to simmer for another half an hour or so, until hoya99 came home, by which time the potatoes were starting to fall apart, which thickened the soup marvelously, and I invited him to taste. He recommended a pinch of salt and some more black pepper, which completed the dish.
Served hot off the stove with some wheat Italian bread that I toasted a couple of days ago. The chunks of potato and carrot were perfectly cooked through and sweet; the rest of the soup was hearty and thick without being overly creamy; and the red pepper kick matched so well with the nutty toasted bread that we didn't use spoons to eat it.
If I had to do it over, I would put in a whole onion, or an onion and a half, to eliminate the need for the onion powder, but otherwise I was very very happy with the result. hoya99 is not a soup person, so it really thrills me when I can come up with a soup he likes.
Half an onion, five garlic cloves, four stalks of celery, and about a half a pepper (mixed red, orange, and yellow), chopped and heated in the pan with a little vegetable oil. Once that began to release its flavor, I added a can of chicken broth, a generous sprinkle of black pepper, and a bay leaf, and let it simmer. Then a can of condensed cream of celery soup, rinsed with a second can of broth, two large baking potatoes and five large carrots cut into chunks, then I put the lid on and let it simmer for about a half an hour.
On returning, I gave it a good stir, tasted it, added more pepper, thyme, a little cumin, a couple of generous splashes of lemon juice, stirred it again and put the lid back on for another half hour. The second time, after tasting, I added still more black pepper, a generous sprinkle of red pepper, and a little onion powder. Back to simmer for another half an hour or so, until hoya99 came home, by which time the potatoes were starting to fall apart, which thickened the soup marvelously, and I invited him to taste. He recommended a pinch of salt and some more black pepper, which completed the dish.
Served hot off the stove with some wheat Italian bread that I toasted a couple of days ago. The chunks of potato and carrot were perfectly cooked through and sweet; the rest of the soup was hearty and thick without being overly creamy; and the red pepper kick matched so well with the nutty toasted bread that we didn't use spoons to eat it.
If I had to do it over, I would put in a whole onion, or an onion and a half, to eliminate the need for the onion powder, but otherwise I was very very happy with the result. hoya99 is not a soup person, so it really thrills me when I can come up with a soup he likes.