Once again...I am sick. Occupational hazards etc. etc. It's the same thing, I think, that I had in October so I'm hoping an extra portion of fruits and veggies will kick it faster than the last time when I missed a whole week of work.
That being said. I'm horrible at making vegetable soup. I've tried and tried but my veggie soup never tastes as good as my mom's or my grandpa's - both of which are AMAZINGLY wonderful in their own ways. Even when I use their exact recipe's, not the same, and I've had many lessons also of...
"oh a pinch of this and a little of that and let it cook and it will be good"
Today I tried to re-create their goodness with the contents of my refrigerator...onions, carrots, red potatoes, purple potatoes, and German butter potatoes and celery.
It looked really pretty in the pot - all cut up and simmering - not so pretty once I added the liquids.
It tasted pretty good but not quite as good.
However, it's possible my soup never tastes as good because I only attempt to make it when I'm sick....hmmmm.....
Also I had my trusty sous-chef helping me out...she's so funny. Just chills by my feet to keep my company while I made my mad-scientist food concoctions.
Oh yes, this is what I did...
1 small onion chopped
4 medium carrots chopped
4 stalks celery chopped
about 8 small/tiny potatoes cut up
1 T olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
Simmer onions and carrots for about 8 minutes in the oil, then add the rest of the veggies and salt and cumin and let that cook for awhile...
Once it looked right I added:
1/4 c. pasta sauce
1 can tomato sauce
2 1/2 cups water
2 vegetable bullion cubes
black pepper
Mrs. Dash
a pat of butter
At this point it didn't taste like my mom's and I knew it was going down hill so...
I added 1/2 cup of beef tvp. and made it into a stew instead of vegetable soup.
It was pretty good - not great - but it freezes well and I made a lot of it so...I'll be eating it for awhile.
:)
If you have a good vegetable soup recipe I'd like to try it.
I've yet to find my vegetable soup masterpiece.
Someone in my family once told me that fried potatoes and vegetable soup take years to perfect but once you figure out your style and flair and get the perfect mix of flavors then your children and grand-children will spend years trying to match your secrets until they come up with their own creations.
I'm still on my search for perfection of both.
1 comment:
Get well soon Jenica. Kudos for cooking while you're sick. I could never have pulled it off. Maybe your mom was holding back on you when showing you how to cook the soup. There may be a secret ingredient! ;-)
Anyway, get well soon. Praying for you.
Post a Comment