The French start their cooking with "Mirepoix", In Creole and Cajun they have the "Trinity" and the German's have "Suppengreune" (Soup greens" )This is the basic building blocks of a good flavored soup or stew.
In Germany you can even purchase a packages with these in it. The components are carrots, leeks and celery root or celeriac. The celery root is a bit expensive in places in the U.S. so you can use the bottome end of your celery stalk that many of us discard.
So if your making a vegetable based soup you start with these but also a cream soup, bean or lentil soup,
Directions:
This has carrot, celery root, leeks and some parsley. I use a whole lot more parsley than this. |
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Celery root has a lot more flavor than celery. Leeks are richer than an regular onion. |
Peeling the celery root can seem daunting at first but there are two ways.
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One is to trim the end off so it sits flat or cut it in half so it can sit flat on the cutting board. Then you can trim the skin off. |
If you have a good peeler tool you can use that. |
I dice up the celery root |
These vegetables are now ready to use if you are making a long braised soup. You can also grind them into paste and use it like you would a soup base. |
Our family likes parsley so we grind a lot to put in the Suppengruen. Out favorite soup is Gefullte Nudels and we use 4 full bunches in it. The flavor is remarkable. |
Grind the vegetables and blend in parsley |
Add some Kosher or Sea Salt to the vegetables. This is something you can add more or less of to taste. If you do not have enough salt it won't keep as long in the fridge. |
Jar it up and keep it in the fridge. It will last for weeks to a indefinitely if stored in the fridge. |
This will give your soup stock a nice vegetable flavor and you can eliminate those powdered bases that often leave a offensive taste.
Above is nothing but water and Suppengreune and I added a bit of cooked rice. It varies but I use 3 tablespoons to 2 cups water. I also thicken it with
a slurry of equal parts water and cornstarch but I would also use flour. just whisk in a little at a time while it is simmering.
You can of course customize these with other herbs and garlic if you wish or even add ginger for a more Asian flavor.
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