Irish Yellow (Green?) Broth

"This is one of many versions of this famous Irish soup, which is both thickened with, and given its flavor by, steel-cut oats."

This was the next soup on my list of soups I've been wanting to try, and it's the first one that will make it onto this cooking blog. I'll post the recipe and directions, and then my conclusion.

Ingredients

Serves 4
2 Tablespoons butter
1 onion, minced
1 celery stalk, minced
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 3/4 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup medium steel-cut oats
1 1/2 cups chopped spinach
2 tablespoons cream
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion, celery, and carrot and cook for about 2 minutes until the onion begins to soften.







2. Stir in the flour and cook slowly for 1 minute longer, stirring contstantly.








3. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil.









4. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender.








5. Stir in the oats and chopped spinach and cook for 15 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.








6. Stir in the cream and season well. Serve garnished with chopped fresh parsley.

Conclusion

First of all, 15 minutes was not enough time for the steel-cut oats to soften. In fact I left it on low for about 45 minutes longer and the steel-cut oats were still a bit hard. I'm not sure what the solution is for that. Secondly, I WAY overdid the spinach, hence the "green" broth. With that much spinach, the parsley is unnecessary (even as a garnish), and the other vegetables got kinda lost in all that spinach. I also used regular milk instead of cream, and I don't think it adversely affected the soup one bit. Save the cream for a chowder or some other thick soup and let the broth be a broth.

I will say the soup was tasty. I served it with some 9-grain bread which matched the heartiness of the soup and it was delicious. I'll have to try this one again some time.

Hidden Veggies

Veggies, veggies, more veggies...

We all do a pretty good job of eating our veggies but I have found a great way to get even more veggies in common meals. Now that Kellan has started on solid foods, I have been cooking and pureeing different veggies for him to try which has led to these great ideas.

I have made baby food for all of the boys thus far and I have struggled in the past to find a safe and effective way to store the pureed food in a single serve format. This time I have the answer...ice cube trays!!! I boil the veggies or fruit, puree in the blinder, and then freeze in ice cube trays. I try to use seasonal produce that is usually on sale or available in large quantities so I can make a big batch and then keep the ice cubes in Ziploc baggies until I need them. (I imagine this would be a great trick for large patches of produce from the garden). Of course this surplus of food cubes got me thinking of different ways to consume them. Here are some of my favorites so far...

Yellow squash - in pancake/waffle batter, mac and cheese, quiche, and any soup stock or cream based

Carrot - in mac and cheese and spaghetti sauce (makes it really rich and creamy), muffin batter (mixed with liquids in the recipes)

Butternut Squash - mac and cheese, spaghetti sauce, a spread on toast for sandwiches and quesadillas, and salad dressings

Green beans and zucchini/yellow squash - spaghetti sauce, soups, salad dressings

any fruit can go in a bowl of oatmeal, pancakes/waffle batter, cake and muffin batter mixed with the liquid, or drizzled over vanilla ice cream

These are a few of the ways I have used these frozen cubes I will pass on more uses as I discover them!

Ryan