Freezer Soup

We're busy on this beautiful day and needed a quick lunch. When in doubt I often turn to freezer soup.

This is not a glamorous soup, but it is a great way to practice a little frugality while serving something satisfying.

I believe it is closer to the origin of soup than lobster bisque (no matter how delicious that is!) will ever be. It starts with discipline, just freeze and save the edible scraps from your leftovers. Vegetables, pasta, rice are all perfect. Also small amounts of meat, cooked sausage or ground beef can go into the bucket. I store mine in a quart plastic container in the freezer. When it is full, I make soup. You may add any small amounts of vegetables or green that might be in the fridge, or really whatever you want!

Ingredients

1 qt chicken, beef or vegetable stock

1 small onion diced
1 clove garlic minced
1 tbs oil
Frozen “Bucket of leftovers”
Anything else you might have on hand, today I had a half a bag of baby spinach.
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Add oil to a soup pot over medium heat
Add onions and cook until softened, stirring often – about 10 minutes
Add garlic and cook stirring often 3 minutes
Increase heat to medium high
Add Stock and Leftovers
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes

Taste test and season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Until Next Time, Eat Well & Keep Digging!


The Gastronomic Gardener
Garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
Cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
Twitter - www.twitter.com/DavidPOffutt
http://www.facebook.com/TheGastronomicGardener

An abundance of Basil!

I had just finished putting the hoop house up for a late season crop of lettuce. In order to do so, I had to harvest the "last" of the basil.

There is no way I can use that up,  I like the fresh taste better that dried so I decided to freeze it.

First, pick off the leaves, it took a long time but sure smelled good!




















Next I needed  to puree  it. The blender did not work very well, so into the food processor it went.

A little water to thin it,  the smell is heady!

Hard to believe it all broke down into a big freezer bag.

Squeeze out the air and lay it flat. It'll go into the freezer. Once set, I'll cut it into chunks. I suppose I could have used ice cube trays, but I only have one.

The Gastronomic Gardener
Garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
Cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
Twitter - www.twitter.com/DavidPOffutt
http://www.facebook.com/TheGastronomicGardener

Carrots for the winter

I'm not a huge fan of carrots, not one of my favorites to munch raw, unlike a just picked tomato, where a little salt and pepper on top and I'm happy.

That said, the little carrots harvested were fun to pull up and will be great in the deep of winter. I'll make my mother's Honey Ginger Carrots. Those I like and they bring fond remembrances.

I started with a couple pounds of washed fresh carrots.

Trimmed down and  portion out - after cleaning and taking the leaf ends off I'll end up with 4 6oz bags.The scale helps with the portioning. If you follow this blog you'll notice the cast iron skillet. It is almost always there. It makes me happy to have it on the stove top.

I'm following the instructions From Ball Blue Book - guide to preserving. According to them I should blanch for 3 minutes

followed by 3 minutes in an ice bath.

I dried them off and bagged them in the vacuum sealer. Into the freezer to await their turn to shine.

Eat Well & Keep digging

The Gastronomic Gardener
My garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
My cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
Twitter - www.twitter.com/DavidPOffutt