Tuesday 8 April 2014

Grandma's Vegetable Soup

My maternal Grandmother was a great cook. Grandma and Grandpa had eleven children and fed them well with what little resources that they had. It wasn't fancy fair but it was always satisfying.
Their entire backyard was a huge vegetable garden and about one third of the basement was dedicated to the preserving and storing of those vegetables. My mom made many of her mothers dishes for me and I now make them for my kids with the hope that they will make them for my grandchildren.

It is important that this, and other recipes from our loved ones are preserved and documented. Not only because they are delicious and comforting but also because of the memories that they invoke.
So, an homage to Grandma Keller, here is her vegetable soup recipe.


1 cup onion,chopped 
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrot, chopped
2 cups cabbage, chopped
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
2 tbsp canola oil or butter
4 cups cold water
1 chicken bouillon cube(vegetable if you wish)
1 1/2-2 cups cream or (2 cups cashew cream, recipe to follow)





Sauté carrots, onion, celery and cabbage in oil until tender. About 10 minutes. Cover vegetables with cold water, add the peas and bouillon.





 Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook for about 30 minutes. 









When vegetables are tender, purée with an immersion blender. Remove pot from heat and stir in cream. Serve immediately.





As an alternative to cream, you can use cashew cream

Cashew cream
I discovered this cream when I was researching vegan diets. I use this cream in some dishes to replace real cream even though I don't follow a vegan diet today. The benefit in using nuts instead of dairy is two fold. One, cashew cream is stable at hotter and colder temperatures. You have probably experienced dairy curdling or separating after it was heated or frozen. Second, it contains no cholesterol, yep, none.

Here's how to make it:
1 cup raw, unsalted cashews
1 cup water
Combine water and cashews. Let it sit for at least 1 hour. Blend at high speed for 2 or 3 minutes, until puréed. Use as you would cream. This proportion of nuts to water will make it as thick as thin cream if you would like a thicker consistency, reduce the water by half of a cup.

Sorry family I have altered the recipe a bit. It still tastes the same.

Typically we would eat this soup with a dish called kuga. This is basically a kind of a one crust fruit pie, using bread dough instead of pastry. I only make this when the peaches are in season and perfectly ripe. This is my family's favorite. You can also use plums or apples. Look for the recipe when we get close to peach season.
German in origin, there are many recipes for kuga. Each family has their own variation.
Check out the Youtube video


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