Pumpkin Sausage Soup with Crispy Kale

Well hello fall and goodbye sky. We’ve had an incredible amount of fog in the last week. I like it frankly, it is cool so I have been cozying down in my pjs and blanket. Watching the other buildings slowly disappear is weirdly calming. I don’t like the lack of sunshine, but I will take a few days of darkness here and there.

In other, exciting news, another NFB Digital Studio project has launched, this one is one of mine! Check out Similkameen Crossroads in your web browser. It is a gorgeous photographic and audio essay by Tyler Hagan. It launched at ImagiNative on Friday. Click through the photos while listening to the stories from the Similkameen Valley.

Pumpkinsausagesoup

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Creamy Cauliflower & Cabbage Soup

CreamyCauliflowerSoup

This soup is creamy, buttery, thick, and delicious. I have been on a weird cabbage kick lately and here we go. This soup is awesome and hearty and can be easily veganized by omitting the dairy (or switching for vegan versions), it will still be amazing. The recipe makes a lot so you will have meals for days, or for a group. I served this up with a sprinkle of cayenne and some sausage on the side. You will see I’ve suggested that the cabbage and cauliflower can be any size, the measurements can be adjusted for different amounts of veggies (it’s hard to hunt down a particular size of veggies).

Creamy Cauliflower & Cabbage Soup

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 head of cabbage (any size), roughly chopped
  • 1 head of cauliflower (any size), roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 5 cups of chicken broth (or more, to almost cover the veg)
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta
  • paprika or cayenne to sprinkle

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a very large pot melt the butter. Sauté the cabbage over medium-high heat until softened and somewhat translucent. 
  2. Add the cauliflower to the pot, sprinkle with pepper, salt, and cumin.
  3. Pour the both into the pot until you’ve just about covered the veggies.
  4. Bring to a boil. Then lower heat and allow the soup to simmer for an hour until everything is very tender.
  5. Using an immersion blender, blend up the soup until smooth.
  6. Add crumbled feta and cream to the smooth soup, and cook for another 10 minutes.
  7. Serve in a large bowl and sprinkle with either paprika or cayenne.
Ready to cook down.

Ready to cook down.

Pre-blending.

Pre-blending.

This cabbage looked lovely inside.

This cabbage looked lovely inside.

Kale & Sausage Soup

Well, this is not as gorgeous as my 100th post, my soups never are particularly attractive, but gosh darn it is delicious. I love kale and I love sausage and I was just hurting to have them together. This soup is super easy and comes together quickly (about 20 mins), quickly enough to make it after a long day at work. Topped with a couple slices of mozzarella, this is comfort at its best. Again though, sorry for the terrible pictures, I was hungry so I ate and snapped a couple of quick pics.

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Buttermilk Biscuits + Lentil Soup with coconut milk and red lentils

This delicious, vegetarian and VEGAN, soup was made by my mother while we were up in the Yukon a couple weeks ago. She got the recipe from her friend Karen, and I got the recipe from my mom. It is hearty and delicious. We mopped the soup up with my mom’s throw-together buttermilk biscuits, which Gen LOVED. This soup will help sop up the alcohol in your system after munching the treats below.

Lentil Soup

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups red lentils
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 small onions, finely chopped
  • 3 large carrots, chopped small
  • 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4-6 tsp turmeric
  • 4-6 tsp cumin seed
  • 12 tsp cracked black peppercorns
  • 1 can(796 ml) chopped tomatoes
  • 6 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 can coconut milk (398 ml)
  • 12 fresh lemon squeezed

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and carrots and cook, stirring, until softened, about 15 minutes.
  2. Add garlic, turmeric, cumin seeds, and peppercorns and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes.
  3. Add your water, lentils, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer at med. for 15 minutes.
  4. Add coconut milk and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for at least 1 hour.
  5. In the meantime, make biscuits!
  6. When ready to serve, ladle into bowls and top with lemon slices, a dollop of plain yogurt, and cilantro!

Buttermilk Biscuits

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3 heaping tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup margarine (or butter)
  • 3/4 buttermilk to start, more as needed

DIRECTIONS

A quick note: My mom has this recipe in her mind, so I am transcribing her instructions as given on the phone. Adding the milk is the contested bit as her instructions were “as much milk as needed to get the right consistency…” Okay.. thanks! Haha, so I’ve estimated to start with about 3/4 cup and go from there. You will probably use up to 1 1/2 cups, but start small!

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
  2. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.
  3. Cut in the margarine with a pastry cutter, until the mixture is like pebbles. You want marg bits the size of peas, evenly through the flour mixture.
  4. Pour in the buttermilk and mix until a sticky dough has formed. Add more buttermilk as needed, but don’t overmix. Once it has come together, you are done.
  5. Plop the dough onto a lightly-floured surface. Pat the dough into a roughly even, thick circle. My mom emphases the need to keep the biscuits are thick!
  6. Cut out circles with a glass dipped in flour. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 9 minutes, or until golden. Pull one open to check for doneness, it should be fluffy.

Veggies getting their sweat on.

Mom insists that the most important part of the recipe is a chunk of carrot for the dog.

Getting ready to cook it all down a bit.

Cutting the butter into the flour. Biscuit time!

This shot was made possible only after I told mom, “No, it needs to be pouring out. Pooooourrring out” I got a sassy look.

Biscuits of heaven. They are fluffy on the inside with the perfect crunch on the outside.

The holy grail of recipes, my mom’s recipe book. One day I’d like to transcribe this for my sister and I.