Carrots in Winterland

Welcome Minnesota winter I knew you would show up eventually in spite of global warming. Last weekend Dan and I headed down to Madison to visit his daughter Mary, step-daughter Sasha and niece Helen. The drive down on Friday afternoon was lovely. It was a cool crisp day, the roads were clear and the sun shining. 

On Friday, we had a great dinner at a lovely Italian/Mediterranean restaurant; the eggplant was delicious, the appetizer, a roasted red pepper spread, was to die for and the company was awesome. We spent Saturday touring the Mustard Museum - I know, I know it doesn’t sound glamorous but to be honest it was a lot of fun and we got a wine and chocolate mustard that was delicious. 

The museum boasts over 250 mustards, all which you can taste, some great history - did you know that 80% of mustard comes from Canada - I didn’t? The museum is a great mix of fun facts, history, artifacts and things you can purchase. 

After the museum we headed to a great bookstore called the Frugal Muse where I found some great holiday gifts. My favorite gifts to receive for the holidays are books and photos and I’m always looking for new authors to read. And then it began to snow - the forecast was like 10 inches and while we didn’t get 10 we got a lot - like a scary lot (for me that is). Never fear tho, Dan piled all of us in his SUV and we headed over to the University to pick up Sasha and Helen and we went to a great Afghani restaurant where I had a delicious veggie couscous - a spicy veggie couscous that is.  

Fast forward to Sunday morning - we braved the snow and headed back to Minneapolis slowly and steadily. The roads had good and bad spots; I think it depends on which county is plowing the highway; some have more funds than others and are more diligent. But for the most part is wasn’t awful and it only took us an extra hour to get home, which overall wasn’t bad based on the situation. 

And what does all of this have to do with this weeks blog? Well after all that stressful driving I wasn’t in the mood to go to the grocery store so I decided that dinner needed to come from whatever we had in the fridge. So I did a quick inventory and decided on a carrot and carmelized onion soup with rye bread; sounds good right? It was delicious if I do say so myself and who knew one could create a delicious, vegetarian meal out of so few ingredients. 

I started with a very basic recipe;

Ingredients:

2 large onions thinly sliced

2 stalks of celery chopped

1 sweet potato cubed

2 1/2 lbs carrots sliced into rounds

32 ounces of veggie broth 

Then I added spices (sorry I am not a measurer) which I shook, shook and shook again so these measurements are very rough:

1 tsp Cumin

1 - 2 Tbsp curry powder

5 - 6 grinds of sea salt

5 - 6 grinds of black pepper

3 - 4 shakes of red pepper flakes 

1 - 2 shakes of ground ginger

I began by caramelizing the thinly sliced onions in olive oil on a medium heat; stirring infrequently. To the onions I added the spices and other veggies and cooked them for an additional 10 - 15 minutes. Then add the broth stir and simmer for 25 - 30 minutes until carrots are tender. Place in a blender (we used the Vitamix) and puree, return to the pot, taste and adjust the seasoning to taste. 

Keep in mind the spice measurements are rough. I start with the best of intentions (to record my spicing) but I get carried away in my desire to make things tasty but in the end, the soup was delicious. And as the soup aged (over the next 3 days) the flavors became more intense. Actually we finished up the last of the batch tonight and I have to say today was the best version. 

The rye bread came from the Breadsmith - rye bread is my favorite. One night we paired the soup with a spinach salad with peppers, scallions, cranberries, cucumber, avocado and a balsamic dressing and tonight we added some baby crab cakes (yes every once in a while I indulge). The soup was good in all it’s iterations. 

Next up; finishing up my holiday shopping, making some cookies, cleaning and getting ready for the BIG event - gatherings with both families - I can’t wait to see everyone.

Thanks for stopping by!