The Galloping Gourmet’s Trans-Tasman Root Vegetable Soup Competition…

Tags

AIP, Autoimmune Protocol, Best Vegetable Soup, Dairy Free, Graham Kerr, Paleo, Soup, The Galloping Gourmet, vegetarian, Winter Warmer

(Original image sent by TSL’s Dad. Copy from Graham Kerr’s cookbook)

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about my all time FAVOURITE root vegetable soup from my childhood. My Mum used to make it. It was a Graham Kerr recipe. And, I didn’t actually have the recipe to hand when I was wanting to make it, so I ‘approximated’ using a bit of this and a dash of that. To be honest, I was pretty happy with the outcome. It wasn’t exactly the soup of my childhood, but it was thick and creamy and made me feel good… I was very happy with it.

And, then my father got involved.

Dad lives in New Zealand. He is a big fan of this wee blog. He reads every post. And, while he doesn’t always comment, he often tries my recipes and gives me his verdict. He’s a pretty fab’ Dad, really. My four-hour lamb is now his ‘new signature dish’! Dad and I compare notes on our Healthy Ice Cream flavour experiments (I love the sound of his feijoa and ginger version). And naturally, he and Mum tested my take on the root vegetable soup and, while they liked it, Dad said it wasn’t quite as good as the original.

That particular post actually generated quite the discussion amongst my immediate family. Clearly, just the thought of that soup brings back so many memories for us all.

And, just to prove his point, Dad sent my sister and me a copy of the original recipe from Graham Kerr’s circa 1967 ‘Galloping Gourmet’ cookbook (which, if you’re interested, is older than me!)

The Graham Kerr Cookbook (circa 1967) – very Don Draper!
(Image by TSL)

So, of course, I had to make the original soup (only, mine was adapted to fit the Autoimmune Protocol).

And, as much as it pains me to admit it, I think Dad was right. As good as my soup is, it’s not the original. And, when it comes to childhood memories, the original is what counts.

It is worth noting that LM – who does not have the same childhood memories – favours my version. It is entirely possible that he is a smidge biased… I’ll let you be the judge!

The original BEST Root Vegetable Soup

• Servings: 5-6
• Time: 1 hour
• Difficulty: easy-peasy
• Print

(Image by TSL)

Adapted from the Graham Kerr recipe

Ingredients

1 x Tablespoon fat (I used lard)
340g carrots, peeled and chopped
170g kumara (sweet potato), peeled and chopped
170g parsnips, peeled and chopped
230g onions, peeled and chopped
3 x cloves garlic
860 mls chicken bone broth (substitute with vegetable stock for a vegetarian option)
Salt
10 x Black peppercorns
5 x Bay-leaves
1 bunch parsley
5 sprigs thyme
230 mls Coconut milk

Method

1. Throw your fat into a large pot. Melt over a medium heat.

2. Add chopped vegetables and sweat for five minutes (I use a timer).

3. Add the bone broth, herbs, peppercorns and season generously with salt.

4. Bring to the boil. Pop on the lid and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for twenty minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

5. Remove the herbs. Carefully purée your mixture (in batches) in your blender. Add the coconut milk as you blend.

6. Taste for seasoning and serve with freshly chopped parsley as a garnish.

E N J O Y !

And, the first person to let me know, via a comment here or on the ‘This Sydney Life’ Facebook page, which soup they prefer (and why!) wins a prize. Immediate family members are not eligible!

Shared on the Phoenix Helix AIP Recipe Round Table

My FAVOURITE Root Vegetable Soup

Tags

AIP, Autpimmune Protocol, Cheap Eats, Cooking, Family, frugal, Graham Kerr, Paleo, Recipe, Soup, Vegetable Soup, vegetarian

(Image by TSL)

I’m currently on the Autoimmune Protocol, a nutrient-rich elimination diet that removes foods that irritate the gut, cause gut imbalance and activate the immune system. You can read more about the protocol and why I’m doing this here.

What keeps me motivated is not the food itself but all the bonds and memories the food represents. (Michael Chiarello)

I have such fond memories of sitting down to a big bowl of my Mum’s soup on rainy winter afternoons when I was a girl. Mum had this thing about us all sitting down together as a family at meal times (which I now appreciate!). We would have lovely steaming bowls of soup served with toasted Vogel’s bread and butter. Dad’s favourite soup was a beef shin consommé. And mine was Mum’s root vegetable soup. I LOVED it. Turns out I still do.

Mum’s root vegetable soup was based on a Graham Kerr (aka the Galloping Gourmet) number. It’s a super thick and hearty vegetable soup. Chock full of goodness.

Even now, the memory of that soup takes me back to the round table at our old family home in Auckland…

Isn’t it lovely how certain foods can evoke such strong memories?

After I posted about bone broth the other day, a girlfriend asked for some ideas on how to incorporate more of this wonder-food into her family’s diet. One thing led to another. The synapses started firing in ways I don’t begin to understand, and I somehow arrived at my childhood root vegetable soup… A perfect way to use lots of yummy chicken bone broth. And, with the added bonus of including a seriously hefty amount of vegetables. Gotta’ be happy with that combo!

The beautiful thing about this soup is that, thanks to all those lovely root veggies, it is wonderfully sweet. Kids will love it!

And of course, this version is autoimmune protocol-friendly, too.

(Image by TSL)

Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor. Marge Kennedy

So, here’s my take on Graham Kerr’s soup. I reckon it comes pretty close to his in flavour – and, I’ve added some turmeric because its such a potent anti-inflammatory.

I’m pretty chuffed with how my soup turned out. I’ll definitely be making it again, and I’d love to hear from you if you give it a go, too…

The BEST Root Vegetable Soup

• Servings: 5-6
• Time: 1 hour
• Difficulty: easy-peasy
• Print

(Image by TSL)

Ingredients

1 x Tablespoon fat (I used coconut oil)
2 x large onions, chopped
2 x cloves garlic
750g kumara or sweet potato (2 large ones)
750g carrots (about 5 large ones)
1 x teaspoon dried sage
1 x teaspoon dried oregano
1 x teaspoon dried basil
1 x teaspoon turmeric
2 1/2 cups chicken bone broth/stock (substitute with vegetable stock for a vegetarian option)
1 x cup coconut milk
Parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Method

1. Throw your fat into a large pot. Melt over a medium heat.

2. Add chopped onion and sweat for ten minutes (I use a timer) While the onions are working their magic, peel and chop the kumara and carrots. Peel and crush the garlic.

3. Add the garlic to the pot. Stir for a minute or two. Add the kumara, carrots, herbs and turmeric. Season generously with salt. Sweat the mixture for a further ten minutes. Give it a good stir every now and then.

4. Add the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil. Pop on the lid and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for thirty minutes.

5. Carefully purée your mixture (in batches) in your blender. Add the coconut milk as you blend.

6. Taste for seasoning and serve with freshly chopped parsley as a garnish.

E N J O Y !

Shared on the Phoenix Helix AIP Recipe Round Table

Roasted Pumpkin Soup – TSL Style…

Tags

Bone Broth, Butternut squash, Cook, Graham Kerr, New York, Pumpkin, pumpkin soup, Pumpkin Soup Recipe, Soup, Soups and Stews, Spalding Gray, Vegetable, Winter warmers

Pumpkin Soup
(Image from here)

I think of New York as a purée and the rest of the United States as vegetable soup.(Spalding Gray)

Sorry about the silence at this end. It’s been a dreary old-time of getting over this nasty bug that I picked up in NZ. I’ve definitely been well off my game but hopefully that’s all changed as I move out of my cold-fueled funk and into a period of being more ‘windswept and interesting’… Fingers crossed, anyway!

The weather has turned here in Syders. It’s cold and wet. There’s a definite feeling that winter has now truly arrived. So, really it should come as no surprise – to me, anyway! – that yesterday, I woke up thinking about my favourite soup from when I was a child. This is a seriously good, old-fashioned soup that is hearty and thick and full of flavour and makes you feel all those warm things that good soup makes you feel…

This particular Graham Kerr version, from my childhood that I love so much, is a roasted vegetable soup and I don’t have the recipe. I had a wee look-see online on the off-chance that I’d get lucky. Nope. My Mum is travelling at the moment, so no joy to be had there either. Only one thing for it – shelve Graham’s recipe for another day (I promise to share it with you when I do get it!) and get creative.

Jack Sprat could eat no fat.
His wife could eat no lean.
And so between them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean.

At this point I should explain, for the uninitiated, LM refers to the two of us as ‘the modern day Jack Sprat and his wife’ because our diets have become a little more challenging in the past year or two. LM can’t eat shellfish or dairy. I have a gluten problem. Fortunately, I have become reasonably adept at managing this (we consume quite a bit of coconut milk!) but it does influence my ingredient choices when I’m getting creative in the kitchen. Just so you know…

So, back to getting creative. I’ve been getting into my bone broths lately, so good chicken stock was to hand. I also had a large butternut staring at me every time I opened the fridge. Someone was trying to tell me something…

Traditionally, I’m a bit of a recipe follower. While I don’t mind substituting the odd ingredient, I like to be reasonably assured my time in the kitchen will result in something tasty and appealing. But, this time, I decided to wing it. (See – getting ‘windswept and interesting’ already!) And, I gotta say’, the result was pretty damn good! So much so, I had to share it with you.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup – TSL Style

Olive oil
Salt (I use Himalayan pink rock salt)
1 x brown onion, chopped
1 x leek, white only, sliced finely
1 x garlic clove, crushed
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp turmeric
Fresh ginger, about a thumb nail sized knob, grated
1 x butternut pumpkin, skin on, halved lengthways
1 x carrot, peeled (I would have thrown in more if I had them)
1 x kumara, peeled and roughly chopped (that’s sweet potato to you northern hemisphere lot!)
1 litre chicken stock (vegetable would work just as well, I suspect)
Coconut milk, about half a cup (cream would be yummy if you can eat dairy)

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C/350°F. Place halved butternut, kumara and carrot into a roasting dish. Drizzle with olive oil and season – generously, in my case – with salt. Roast for approximately 50 – 60 minutes, or until cooked. When the butternut has cooled sufficiently, scoop out all the lovely flesh and discard the skin.

2. Heat a couple of decent glugs* of olive oil in a large pot over a low heat. Throw in onion and leek. Cook gently, stirring often, until the veggies soften. While the leeks and onions are working their magic, throw the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, nutmeg, and turmeric into a mortar and pestle for a good pound. Add the garlic and ginger. Pound into a paste.

3. Add the spice paste to the pot. Cook, stirring all the while, until the spices start to do their magic. This will take less than a minute.

4. Add the roasted butternut, kumara and carrot. Add the chicken stock. Bring to the boil. Turn the heat back down to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

5. If you have one, get out your trusty stick blender and whizz until pureed. If you don’t have a stick blender, aside from seriously considering one for your next birthday present, allow the soup to cool slightly before blending it in batches.

4. Once the soup is blended, stir in the coconut milk and check for seasoning. Reheat and serve.

Voila!

…And, if you do try this soup, please let me know. It would make me feel good!

*technical term meaning ‘use your judgment’