Soups On! Hearty Spring Vegetable with Caramelized Onions

Soup is a great catch-all recipe. Almost all ingredients can be used or substituted and as long as your technique is right it can really be made from anything. Soup is also a heart warming dish. After a long morning or rough day, a bowl of soup and some crusty bread can make all the difference.

In the bistro, soups were simple and versatile. What was left in the kitchen after yesterday is the base for today’s soup. Hmmm roasted potatoes from last night’s supper still in the fridge? How about roasted potato and leek soup? Mussels didn’t sell as well as we thought yesterday? Perhaps a mussel, ginger and tomato broth soup?

  

For the amateur at home chefs like myself and yourself, soups also have a hidden benefit. Knife practice. Soups are not showcases for vegetable shapes, they are showcases for flavor. Spend some time practicing your knife skills. Getting that nice slice on the onions, dicing those carrots and properly going to town on the leeks is the goal here....and if they don’t turn out no one will know! Get the practice in now!

My mother just came down for Easter and brought me some lovely leeks from her garden. I had some odds and ends left in my fridge and pantry and some excellent homemade chicken and turkey stocks in the freezer. I combined all of these and used my basic formula for soup:

1. Chop up all your soup ingredients (vegetables and meats) and sauté in a soup pot with equally small amounts butter and oil, cook meat first and then add in vegetables.
2. Deglaze pan with wine/water/beer/whatever and add aromatics (garlic, herbs, etc)
3. Cover the ingredients with stock and simmer for 25 minutes or longer. Everything should be tender.

That’s it! Of course this is quite general and there are exceptions but for the majority of soup recipes these are the steps. Some tips: 

• Sometimes you need to add more stock to get the consistency. 
• If you want to cream the soup, blend it at the end when everything is tender and add a small amount of heavy cream. 
• Almost every soup I make has at least one onion, one carrot and one rib of celery as the base for the veggies. They are foundations to build on.

Hearty Garden Vegetable Soup with Caramelized Onions 

2 tbsp Oil
2 tbsp Butter 
6 small Onions, sliced thinly 
4 Carrots, diced 
4 small Leeks, sliced (remember to split the leeks down the centre and wash away from the root to remove impurities) 
4 ribs of Celery, diced 
4 cloves of Garlic, crushed 
Small handful of Herbs (in this case thyme and rosemary chopped finely) 
1 glass, White Wine (or port or sherry or whatever) 
2 litres, Chicken/Turkey Stock

Method:

• Heat a large pot on medium high; melt about 2 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp butter together until bubbly and hot.
• Add onions with a couple of stirs, a pinch of salt and turn the heat down to medium.
• Cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring often and adjusting the heat so that onions soften, and don’t color too much, aim for a nice slow golden brown.
• When onions are sticky brown and caramelized, turn up the high to medium high for 20 seconds and de-glaze with the wine. Stir vigorously and then add in the rest of the vegetables.
• Turn the heat down to medium again and cook the vegetables for about 10 minutes until softened.
• Add the garlic and herbs, stir for constantly for 30 seconds to make sure it is well mixed.
• Add in the stock until it just covers the veggies and simmer for 20-25 minutes. If you want to the soup more of a stew consistency or you want it a bit lighter adjust the stock levels in either direction.
• Check to make sure the vegetables are tender, because the soup is done!

The onion caramelizing is a small step but important as it adds a great depth of flavor (especially if you are using store bought stock or bouillon cubes).

Garden Vegetable Soup with Caramelized Onions