Thursday, February 6, 2014

Heart Warming Winter Soup...


We have the dearest Romanian couple that goes to our church.
I love them so much and feel so honored that my husband and I are their pastors.
I won't tell their story without their permission
but suffice it to say that they have suffered for the cause of Christ and are heroes in my book.


What does that have to do with soup?
Well, a couple of years ago they had us over for dinner.
For the first course the dear wife made this fabulous soup,
only hers had little pork ribs floating in it.
You'd eat the pork off the bone
then eat the delicious soup.

When I asked for the recipe I could tell that she cooks like me, by method more than exact recipe.
She gave me a list of ingredients on an itty bitty scrap of paper and left me to my own devices.
Recently, on a cold winter day, I thought of that delicious soup. 
I dug that scrap of paper out of my recipe file
 and set out to make some.



Here's her list of ingredients, with my adaptations in parentheses:
baby back ribs (I used a lean pork roast cut into bite sized chunks)
chicken bouillon (I used 1 32 oz box of good chicken stock)
vegeta (I used 1 1/2 T. Better Than Bouillon vegetable base)
onion
tomato (I used 1 14.5 oz can organic diced tomatoes)
tomato juice (I just filled the tomato can with water and used water)
parsnip
celery
celery root
carrot
red pepper
dill (she used 1 T. fresh and I used 1 T. dried)
(I couldn't find lovage, which has a bitter but delicious taste, 
so I just used fresh parsley)

How I did it:
I sprinkled the pork with salt, some McCormick Montreal Steak Grill Mates and a little garlic powder and browned it in my soup pot in a little olive oil.

To the pork I added ~
 the quart of chicken stock
the can of diced tomatoes
the can of water
one chopped onion
and 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Better Than Bouillon vegetable base
I brought it to a boil then turned it down to medium low and simmered it,
( with the lid on, but just slightly askew to let the steam escape),
until the pork was tender.

Then I added,
about two stalks of diced celery
three small or two larger peeled and diced carrots
one peeled and chopped parsnip
one peeled and chopped celery root (about 4 inches in diameter) 
1/2 of a red bell pepper seeded and diced
1 T. dried dill weed
Simmer until the vegetables are tender.
Sprinkle with finely chopped lovage or parsley.

I made some large homemade croutons to serve on mine as well.
To make croutons-
Cut a good hearty bread into large chunks,


drizzle it with olive oil 
and
sprinkle it with good salt.
Put it on an oven safe skillet or cookie sheet
and
bake in 425 degree oven until toasted all over.
Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn!


So, my husband pretty much does not like any cooked vegetables except asparagus.
He LOVED this soup!
I mean, raved about it for days kind of love, ate the leftovers for three days kind of love.
When I told him it had things like parsnips and celery root in it he couldn't believe it.
I'm thinking it's the pork that won his heart...
that man does love his pig products!



Well, it's almost Friday friends!
We're under a winter storm warning here in Portland, Oregon,
so I'm making this soup for dinner!

Have a HAPPY, HAPPY Friday 
and 
a BLESSED weekend!



     
         




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22 comments:

  1. That sounds wonderful. I'm always looking for great soup recipes. I haven't noticed celery root before. Where do I find it?

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    Replies
    1. By the other root vegetables in the produce dept. it looks like an ugly round ball!

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  2. Elizabeth, my mouth is watering! I have never made soup with pork as the meat but I can only imagine how wonderful it tastes! For this reason alone, is why I like cold weather :) Thanks for sharing!

    Blessings,
    Debby

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    Replies
    1. I hope you love it as much as we do! Let me know what you think if you try it!

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  3. YUMMY!! This looks absolutely wonderful! Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving encouragement behind. So happy to have "met" you today. :) Love, Cheryl

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  4. Looks delicious and perfect for this snowy, stormy weather.

    I'm in charge of a big Compassion conference this weekend....not sure what's going to happen with this weather. I don't know if our speakers will make it into town or if the locals will brave the snow to attend.

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    Replies
    1. And Baby Cruz's memorial is today too. This weather is going to throw a kink into that as well. I feel so bad for you and all the planning and work you've done!

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  5. This soup sounds absolutely delicious. I MUST try this. Mr. V. loves his pig products too ;-)

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  6. My hubs raved about me making it again, so if a veggie hating man loves it you know it's good!

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  7. look at those fabulous croutons!!

    ;0

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    Replies
    1. I'm such a bread lover, so the croutons are the perfect finishing touch for me!

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  8. This looks so good! We are in a deep freezer her too with the high being in low twenties today--I know that is high for some. We are still frozen over from all the ice we got earlier in the week and today we had light snow. We've being eating on some loaded baked potato crock pot soup--not quite as healthy as yours but so good! Stay warm.......

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  9. Yum. Heartwarming to read. Bet the soup is tummy warming!

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  10. I'm catching up a bit this afternoon. Time at home is at a premium but it's such fun to see what my friends are doing - especially you! This sounds like a yummy meal for our winter storm warning evenings. I'm making turkey noodle soup for our evening meal with my dear mother. It will warm the bones a bit - mine, not the turkey!
    ~Adrienne~

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  11. I am always looking for soup recipes - 'cause I'd rather have Soup on Mon and Tues. This looks delicious - will definitely give it a try! Thanks for sharing it!

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    Replies
    1. If you give it a try, let me know how you like it!

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  12. This soup is sooo yummy! I've made it many times myself, since I grew up in Romania, and it's a great way to eat veggies (weird ones, too--like parsnip and celery root) on a snowy day.

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    Replies
    1. That is so wonderful that you know about this soup! It's a favorite of ours now@

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