Soup's Up
First and foremost, I'd like to apologize to my avid readers for neglecting my blogging duties the past few weeks. I know this must have pained you all horribly. School has just started kicking into gear and I've been a little busy reading textbooks and pretending to do schoolwork.
As many of you are probably aware, Purim is coming up. In preparation for this exciting holiday, I have made a very very very large pot of vegetable soup to be frozen and given out as shaloch manos. Now, before you get your hopes up, let me just say that I will not be giving out very many shaloch manos. In fact, I'll probably only really be giving shaloch manos to my family and my in-laws. However, if on Sunday you feel you would like some soup to contribute to your seudah, call me and let me know and I may be able to bring some over.
Now on to the cooking discussion. I found this recipe a while back while hunting for soup recipes. I was doing so because I have repeatedly decided to start making more soup. I figure if I make a big pot of soup every Sunday, it can be dinner during the week so I don't have to spend so much time cooking every time I want to eat in (as opposed to out at my parents' house.) Because I wasn't really sure how much the recipe yields, I decided to double it to be sure I would have enough for dinner this week AND shaloch manos. Most of the work was, of course, washing, peeling and cutting up veggies, but the rest was just waiting. I have to say that this soup is worth, not just the work and the wait, but also the price. The total for all of the groceries I bought for this soup came to about $30 and I have probably close to 20 servings. It's yummy (though it needed a little salt) and very filling. Find the recipe here: Gourmet Kosher Cooking.com
B'te'avon! :)
Note: I left out the chick peas, because I'm not crazy about chickpeas. If you like them, though, feel free to throw them in. Also, bear in mind that the 20-ish servings mentioned above is after doubling the recipe. I imagine the original recipe would make closer to 10.
Also--this is what's left over for us during the week:
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Luv - Mamma
Curried Apple Sweet Potato Soup
Ingredients:
1/4 cup raisins
12 ounces Oxford Raspberry
4 tablespoons butter
1 onion, diced
2 apples, unpeeled cored and diced
1 tablespoon curry
2 teaspoons finely minced fresh ginger root
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon tamari/shoyu soy sauce
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and finely diced
Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
Directions:
Soak the raisins in the Oxford Raspberry for at least 2 hours before beginning.
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté 3 minutes. Add diced apples and sauté until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle with curry powder. Cook 8 minutes on medium low. Stir in the ginger and cook 2 more minutes.
Drain the raisins (save the beer) Sprinkle the flour over the apple mixture and cook over low heat 1 minute. Gradually add the Oxford Raspberry, stirring to smooth any lumps, and cook 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer this mixture to a food processor. Add the raisins and blend until smooth.
In a heavy stock pot, combine the stock, apple juice concentrate, cinnamon stick, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil, add the sweet potatoes, and turn down the heat. Simmer, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick from the hot stock and stir in the apple puree. Season with salt and white pepper. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Your soup is ready!
So heat oil in a steep sided frying pan. Enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan generously. Add curry powder. [When I first learned this recipe I added a mix of spices like cardamon etc. but curry powder will do] Add a chopped onion and saute. Skip the onion if the guests hate onion. add diced chicken. Chicken can be raw or previously cooked. Saute. the goal here is to release the curry flavor into the meat. when the meat is cooked (or reheated) Mix 2 tbls corn starch in about 1 1/2 cups of water. Mix slowly into the frying pan. Goal is create a thick curried flavored sauce. When the sauce thickens. Cut the heat and serve with rice.
Spices are expensive, but it's worth looking at some Indian curry recipes and experimenting with flavor.