In celebration of the college blog, I went for the traditional cabinet-clean out. What did I find? Three whole, three-pound bags of vegetables that I've pushed to the back of the freezer for quite some time. And they didn't look any more appetizing than the day my mom brought them home from Costco. Holy green bulk. My original goal was to make this beautiful asparagus puree that I saw online here. The only problem was, my asparagus had molded, and I was lacking chicken stock, celery, bread, leeks, and more. Oh, and I haven't the faintest idea how to use SI measurements in the kitchen. (Give me the right equipment and a lab, and of course it somehow makes perfect sense. Whatever). Anyway, so I dragged out the veggies, found a can of beef stock instead and just went at it. And hey, it's actually pretty good if I do say so myself.
My Make-Shift Winter Soup:
3 lbs. Zucchini, Carrot and Cauliflower medley
2 onions
1 can beef stock
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
1 cup Milk
In a large pot, sweat the onions with generous amount of olive oil. I threw in a tablespoon of butter just for flavor because, in the words of Julia Child- who doesn't love butter? Once the onions are just about clear, throw in those veggies with the can of beef stock. Let it simmer for a while until the vegetables have softened and start seasoning. Add the dark brown sugar, worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper. Keep simmering for about half an hour on low heat, stirring occasionally. Once the vegetables have reached a state of sad mush, remove the heat and puree. Here's where I lost my stride..
All I had available was a Magic Bullet Blender, that could hold maybe 1 cup at a time. It also broke after my first attempt. Furthermore, I'm assuming that from the hot liquid and plastic container, it formed a seal and all I was left with was a hot plastic cup of green cauliflower. Gross. I held the cup under cold running water to reduce the pressure and re-open the cup. (Science.) Someone with a brain might realize, Hey, maybe hot plastic isn't a great idea. But no, I'll try a DIFFERENT plastic cup..maybe that will work!... I broke the blender. Instead of spinning the blade inside, my bullet went whizzing ACROSS MY COUNTER. I packaged the vegetables and called it a day.
Second attempt:
Turns out my roommate owns a blender. Which works for 5 seconds at a time. We clearly need to invest in some kitchen appliances. Anyway. I pureed the soup and it actually started looking pretty okay. I added 1 cup of milk, 1 tablespoon of butter, salt and pepper. Keep over low heat for about 30 minutes and...yum. It was worth it.
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I should also add that in the time I've stopped writing, I started dating. It will be our one year anniversary in 3 weeks. If I can get that boy to eat a bowl of green goop, I would call this a success. Updates to come.
Some changes I would try next time:
Heavier Dairy- maybe heavy cream instead of milk
Throw in some cheese, any kind, mixing in during the dairy step
Fresh cilantro for garnish or last step flavoring
Use a functional blender
