Friday, November 21, 2014
Parsnip & Potato Soup
There are a few people, places and things that I just always get confused. Like parsnips and rutabagas, those are two vegetables that I always have to read the labels for at the grocery store as I fear purchasing the wrong one. Yes, I know a parsnip looks like a white carrot and a rutabaga looks like a giant purple and white potato, but what can I say I just have a mental block. Kind of like Billy Joel and Elton John...no, don't worry, I don't think they look alike, but I can never guess their music correctly. In my mind their music is always interchangeable!! Yes, I know some of you are thinking that is just sacrilegious, but I am just being honest. And for the sake of full disclosure I must admit that I also always get Natalie Portman and Keira Knightly confused....now which one was in Star Wars again?
Anyway, back to the soup before I get myself in even more trouble. This soup was really good!! Seriously, how can you go wrong with any recipe that has bacon, butter, and cream in it? Maybe I should have thrown those 3 ingredients in my slow cooker bread the other day...hell, anything would have helped that hot mess of a recipe!! But seriously, this soup was so good! It was creamy and had great flavor from the salty fatty bacon, the hint of spice from the nutmeg and the hint of caramelization from the potatoes, parsnips, onions and garlic that were cooked in bacon fat and butter. Yum!!
This recipe also allowed me to use my new kitchen gadget...the immersion blender...and let me just say blending soup has never been so easy! I was that girl that would have full-on hot blender soup explosions ALL the time, up until I received my immersion blender as a gift. Nothing makes me happier now!!
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| I love bacon!! |
So to begin with, cook the bacon. The smell of bacon just makes me happy!
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| Yum! Good snack while cooking! |
Remove the bacon and most of the bacon fat. Next, add the butter and the potatoes, parsnips, onion, pasley and garlic and cook for approximately 20 minutes. For me, this mixture wanted to stick a bit to the bottom of the pan, so remember to stir it every once in awhile, but it was tasty and kind of reminded me of hash browns. One of the other great things about this recipe is the fact that you don't have to stress about knife cuts...you are going to be blending all of the veggies anyway so they don't have to be pretty. I, for one, hacked the hell out of them and I truly enjoyed getting my work day aggressions out on them...just sayin'.
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| This soup has a color scheme-white! |
Remove the parsley...I am not even sure what the parsley was for...seriously when you think about it, how much flavor does a few sprigs of parsley lend to an entire batch of soup? Hmmm...
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| This is the random parsley |
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| This mixture would be amazing with eggs and bacon in the morning. Just sayin' |
Now add the chicken broth and take your immersion blender to the pot. Yipee!! This is fun and so much less messy than trying to ladle soup into a blender, exploding said soup all over the cabinets in the blender and trying to pour what little soup you have left back in the pot. Oy!!
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| Immersion blenders are my new kitchen addition |
Next add the cream and bacon (that you cut into bite sized pieces...well if you didn't snack on all of it) back into the soup and warm slightly.
Top with chives and pepitas (pumpkin seeds). This is absolutely the most perfect comfort food!
I have to admit I was totally stressed when I was blending this soup as it was brown instead of white, like the picture, but once I added the cream all was right with the world. Serve this with a nice Sauvignon Blanc and you will have happiness. Cheers!!
Here is the actual recipe:
INGREDIENTS
6 slices bacon, cut into thirds (preferred brand, Oscar’s Smoke House)
2 tablespoons butter
2 large Russet potatoes, 1 1/4 pounds, peeled and diced
3 to 4 large or 6 medium parsnips, peeled and chopped (3 cups)
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Black pepper
About 1/8 teaspoon grated or freshly grated nutmeg
1 bundle of parsley, tied with string
1 quart homemade or store-bought chicken stock
1/2 pint cream
Salt
Toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas) to garnish
Chives, chopped or snipped, to garnish
Sourdough rolls or English muffins and softened butter, to serve
PREPARATION
Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add bacon and render until crisp. Remove, finely chop and reserve the bacon bits.
Spoon off all but a few tablespoons of the smoky drippings and add butter to melt. Reduce heat a bit, add potatoes and stir to coat. Add parsnips, onions, garlic, black pepper, nutmeg and parsley; partially cover and cook to soften 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The color of vegetables should be light golden. Remove parsley.
Puree potatoes and parsnips in batches if necessary in a food processor or blender with stock or just add stock to the soup pot and use an immersion blender. Stir in cream and reserved bacon bits, then, season the soup with salt to taste.
Serve in shallow bowls with pepitas and chives to garnish, sourdough rolls or English muffins toasted and buttered alongside for dunking.
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