Irish Soups | Irish American Mom

Zucchini And Leek Soup

October 23, 2014 by Irish American Mom 6 Comments

Zucchini and leeks combine to make a wonderfully green soup. Light and refreshing, this soup can be served hot or cold, but being ever so Irish, I like it hot.

Inspired by the more traditional Irish recipe for potato and leek soup, I love to make this soup when I have lots of zucchini on hand. Or perhaps I should give this soup its European name, courgette and leek soup.

I remember when I first came to America, I had no idea what on earth a zucchini might be. I remember searching for courgettes in the grocery store only to spot them under the strangely named sign “zucchini”.

And then I checked a little closer and discovered that what I called an aubergine bore the strange title of “egg plant” in the good old USA.

My ongoing American evolution continued at the grocery store with never ending culinary lessons and naming tips.

At the end of every summer I often hear my green thumbed neighbors searching for zucchini recipes, when they are blessed with an abundant crop of these nutritious and easy-to-grow vegetables. This soup is my answer to their recipe pleas.

And so without further ado, here is my recipe for zucchini and leek, or courgette and leek soup.

Remember, it’s green coloring makes it perfect for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Ingredients

4 medium zucchini (washed and sliced)
1 large leek or 2 small leeks (washed and sliced)
2 oz butter
1 carrot (peeled and sliced)
1 potato (peeled and sliced)
6 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper to season
1/4 cup whipping cream
parsley (to garnish if desired)

Directions:

Prepare the vegetables carefully. Leeks can contain dirt trapped between the inner layers of the vegetables, so it’s very important to wash them well. If you need some tips on how to wash and prepare leeks check out my recipe for potato and leek soup.

Sliced courgettes or zucchini, potato and carrot for soup

Wash the zucchini, then slice them skin and all. I find the outer skin adds flavor to this soup. Peel and slice the carrot and potato.

Melt the butter over medium heat in a large Dutch oven or pan.

Add the sliced vegetables and stir to completely cover them in butter. This coating of butter is important for sweating the vegetables and helping them to not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Cover the pot and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes to sweat the vegetables.

Shake the pot occasionally to prevent the vegetables from sticking. It’s important not to brown the vegetables, but merely to soften them in the steamy pot.

Add the chicken stock and season with salt and pepper to taste. You can use vegetable stock for this soup too if you prefer vegetarian recipes. I like the taste of chicken stock with the leeks, but the choice of stock is completely personal.

Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the soup for 20 minutes. Remember, gentle heat is very important for cooking soups.

When simmered enough, the vegetables will be fork tender. The trick to a nicely textured soup is to cook the zucchini and the leeks long enough to make them nice and soft before whizzing them with the blender.

Turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly before blending it until smooth. An immersion blender works great, or else blend it in batches in a liquidizer.

Add the cream and stir well to blend completely. Reheat over a gentle heat without boiling.

Serve this soup warm or cold, and garnish with parsley if desired.

Irish brown bread is a tasty accompaniment to this soup. Irish potato bread is another great partner for soup.

But whether you like your soup all on its lonesome, or with a nice slice of bread, I hope you enjoy this zucchini and leek soup as much as I do.

Here’s the printable recipe:

Zucchini And Leek Soup

Print recipe

Serves	8
Prep time	20 minutes
Cook time	30 minutes
Total time	50 minutes
Meal type	Soup

Ingredients

4 Medium zucchini (washed and sliced)
1 Large leek (washed and sliced)
2oz butter
1 carrot (peeled and sliced)
1 potato (peeled and sliced)
6 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper to season
1/4 cup whipping cream

Optional

parsley (to garnish)

Directions

Step 1	Melt the butter over medium heat in a large Dutch oven or pan. Add the sliced vegetables and stir to completely cover in butter.
Step 2	Cover the pot and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes to sweat the vegetables. Shake the pot occasionally to prevent the vegetables from sticking. Do not brown the vegetables.
Step 3	Add the chicken stock and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Step 4	Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the soup for 20 minutes. The vegetables will be fork tender.
Step 5	Turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly before blending it until smooth.
Step 6	Add the cream and stir well to blend completely. Reheat over a gentle heat without boiling.
Step 7	Garnish with parsley, if desired, before serving.

Check out my complete recipe list here.

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Parsnip and Apple Soup

October 12, 2014 by Irish American Mom 7 Comments

Parsnips and apples, with a hint of curry, compliment each other perfectly in this creamy soup.

The pairing of parsnips with apples intensifies their sweetness, with an added underlying warmth from the curry powder, making this soup truly satisfying.

I love curry flavor, like many Irish people. A teaspoon of mild curry powder, a hint of ginger and black pepper create a mildly spicy flavor level, but rest assured, this isn’t an overly hot soup, merely one that tantalizes the taste buds.

Heavy rain and blustery winds are always a reminder the season for hats, scarves and gloves is just around the corner. But as the colder days of winter beckon, there’s always comfort to be found in the kitchen.

The right soup is perfect comfort food. There is something reassuring about holding a mug of warm soup, blowing gently to cool it before it works its magic, warming the heart.

Parsnip and apple soup is smooth and creamy, and for me is certainly one of the best comforting soups in my recipe box.

Parsnips appear to be far less popular in America than they are in Ireland. They are a staple on most Irish dinner menus, and I remember eating them at least once a week when I was a kid in Ireland.

And so, I decided why not make a parsnip soup…. or for some crazy reason, my brain keeps saying parsnip snoup.

Anyway, here’s my recipe …..

Ingredients:

2 oz butter
2 shallots
3 large parsnips
1 medium apple (Granny Smith or a cooking apple if you’re in Ireland)
1 medium potato (or 2 small potatoes)
1 to 2 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup whipping cream
salt and plenty pepper to season

Directions:

This is a very simple soup. Start by peeling and chopping the shallots into slices. Peel and dice the potatoes and parsnips into 1 inch pieces.

The first step involves sweating the vegetables. If you need to learn more about the technique of sweating vegetables, check out my post on soup making tips.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the chopped shallots, parsnips and potato.

I use shallots rather than an onion, since their flavor is a little milder, but if you can’t get your hands on shallots, one onion will work just fine.

For this soup in particular I like to add the spices before sweating the vegetables. This helps deepen the spicy flavors in the finished soup.

So, stir in the curry powder and ginger and mix the vegetables so they are completely coated in the spices.

Cover the pan and sweat the vegetables over medium heat for 10 minutes. Shake the pan occasionally to prevent sticking, but avoid lifting the lid and allowing the trapped steam escape.

Add the stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

I like to add a good dash of pepper to this soup, but seasoning is a very personal step in any recipe. For my palate, pepper seems to compliment the flavor of the parsnips.

Next, add the chopped apple and simmer the soup for a further 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly.

I love how the apple pieces just bob and bounce on the surface of the soup.

Purée the soup until the texture is completely smooth using an immersion blender or in batches using a liquidizer or blender.

Add the cream to the soup and mix through. Reheat gently, without boiling, before serving.

And there, you have it – a simple soup made with a favorite Irish vegetable. I love to serve this soup with curried parsnip chips as a garnish – they’re simply delicious.

Here’s my printable recipe:

Parsnip and Apple Soup

Print recipe

Serves	6
Prep time	20 minutes
Cook time	50 minutes
Total time	1 hours, 10 minutes
Meal type	Soup

Parsnips and apples, with a hint of curry, compliment each other perfectly in this creamy soup. The pairing of parsnips with apples intensifies their sweetness, with an added underlying warmth from the curry powder, making this soup truly satisfying.

Ingredients

2oz butter
2 shallots
3 parsnips
1 apple (Granny Smith or a cooking apple)
1 potato (1 medium or 2 small)
1 teaspoon curry powder (add extra for increased spiciness)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup whipping cream
salt and pepper to season

Directions

Step 1	Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the chopped shallots, parsnips and potato.
Step 2	Stir in the curry powder and ground ginger. Cover the pan and sweat the vegetables over medium heat for 10 minutes. Shake the pan occasionally to prevent sticking, but avoid lifting the lid and allowing the trapped steam escape.
Step 3	Add the stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 4	Add the chopped apple and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
Step 5	Turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly. Purée until smooth using an immersion blender or in batches using a liquidizer or blender.
Step 6	Add the cream to the soup and mix through. Reheat gently, without boiling, before serving.

Wishing you all happy soup making during these chilly days of fall and winter.

Check out my complete recipe list here.

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

P.S. My Irish shamrock soup bowl was made by Colm De Ris, an Irish potter.

Slow Cooker or Crockpot Chicken Stock

September 15, 2014 by Irish American Mom 6 Comments

Chicken stock lends a robust flavor to all kinds of soups, and can be made inexpensively using the left-over carcass from a roast chicken. Many chicken stock recipes involve simmering a whole chicken, but growing up in Ireland we always used left-over “skeletons” for our stocks.

“Waste not, want not” was the motto of my childhood days, and no chicken carcass was cast into the rubbish bin before it yielded the nutritional goodness buried within its bones.

When I was young, stock simmering was done on the stove top in a large pot. Since coming to America I’ve discovered the wonders of a crock pot for creating delicious stock, and for cooking soups and stews.

When stock is slowly simmering over an open flame or electric burner, I never feel safe leaving the house. One of the glories of a crock pot is the ability to set it and forget it.

My roast chicken left overs spend a day in my crock pot before finally being discarded.

And so, to kick off my soup making recipe season, I thought the best place to start is with a good basic chicken stock.

Here’s my recipe for slow cooker chicken stock.

Ingredients:

1 large chicken carcass
1 onion cut in quarters
2 carrots cut in 2 inch chunks
1 celery stick, sliced
10 black peppercorns
6 to 8 parsley stalks
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
10 cups cold water
pinch of salt

Cooking Directions:

Place all the ingredients into the bowl of a large slow cooker. I use a 5-quart size. Make sure the water level is at least 1/2″ below the top of the bowl.

Set the crock pot on low. It will slowly heat. Allow the stock to simmer for 8 to 10 hours. If the liquid level goes down as the stock cooks, top it up with more water after 4 hours of cooking.

Turn the heat off and allow the stock to cool slightly before passing it through a fine strainer. I remove the larger bones and vegetable pieces before straining the stock. Discard the left-over vegetables and chicken bones.

Refrigerate the stock for up to 3 to 4 days before using or freeze it for up to 3 months.

And there you have it – simple, easy-to-make, budget-friendly chicken stock using this girl’s best kitchen friend, her crock pot.

As I share more and more of my soup recipes in the coming months, I’ll link back to this basic recipe whenever I recommend chicken stock for a particular soup.

Check out my complete recipe list here.

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Carrot And Coriander Soup

October 4, 2012 by Irish American Mom 23 Comments

Carrot and coriander soup is very popular in Ireland. It’s lovely orange color makes it an ideal soup for fall and perfect to serve at Halloween.

The flavor of ground coriander, made from the seeds of the coriander or cilantro plant, is similar to that of roasted orange peel, making it a great complimentary spice for sweet carrots.

When I first came to America I did not realize that coriander is called cilantro over here. Only the leaves and stems of the plant are called cilantro. The seeds are still called coriander seeds in America, just like in India where they are used extensively. These seeds are ground and sometimes roasted to produce an aromatic, flavorful spice.

If you can only find coriander seeds in your grocery, you can always make your own ground spice. First dry-roast them by heating them in a small frying pan for about 2 minutes. Move them around as they roast. They are done when they start to jump in the pan. Let them cool, then grind them with a mortar and pestle or use a coffee grinder to create a coarse powder.

Ingredients

2 pounds of carrots (peeled and diced)
1 large potato (peeled and diced)
1 large onion (finely chopped)
2 tablespoons butter or oil (to cook onion)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (to garnish)

The first and most time consuming job for this soup is to peel and dice all those carrots. Once I have them all peeled I chop each carrot into three pieces of roughly equal length. Then I cut each piece into quarters. (If my carrots are exceptionally fat, I cut each piece into eighths). I line up each quarter lengthwise, then chop them into small pieces about 1/4 inch in length.

And after quite a bit of chopping a lovely mound of orange carrot pieces appears.

Next heat the oil or butter in the bottom of a large pot or Dutch oven. I like to use my cast iron Dutch oven. It really is a great pot for making soups. The cast iron distributes heat evenly so the vegetables simmer perfectly.

Add the onion to the melted butter and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure it does not burn.

Next toss in all those lovely carrots and diced potato. Using a potato in a carrot soup may seem strange to some, but I think it counteracts some of the sweetness of the carrots. I also like the way the starch helps to thicken the soup.

Next, add the ground coriander, the minced fresh ginger, and the salt and pepper. Ginger is not always used in a carrot and coriander soup, but I like the depth of flavor it adds.

Mix all the ingredients together so the carrots are covered in butter and spice.

Lower the heat. Cover the pot and let the vegetables sweat for an additional 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once the carrots have started to soften, add the vegetable broth.

I like to add 2 cups of water also. I find if I use all vegetable broth with the diced potato, the soup ends up being very thick when pureed. So I just add a little bit of water to prevent the starchy potato over thickening this lovely soup.

Turn the heat up to high, until the soup begins to boil. Then lower the heat so that the liquid is just simmering. Cover the pot and continue to simmer for an additional 30 to 40 minutes, until the vegetables are fork tender. Stir the soup every 10 minutes to make sure it does not stick.

When finished cooking it should look like this. Turn the heat off and let it sit uncovered for about 10 minutes.

It’s never a good idea to puree a boiling, hot soup.

Next, use an immersion blender to puree the soup completely. If you do not have an immersion blender, then transfer the soup in batches to a liquidizer. Transfer each pureed batch to a large bowl. Then when all of the soup is pureed return it to the pot to reheat before serving.

Sprinkle the soup with some chopped fresh cilantro to serve. This is a perfect lunch on a cool fall day, with a side of crusty, buttered bread.

Here is the printable recipe:

Carrot And Coriander Soup

Print recipe

Serves	8 - 10
Prep time	20 minutes
Cook time	50 minutes
Total time	1 hours, 10 minutes
Meal type	Soup
Region	British

Carrot and coriander soup's lovely orange color make it a perfect soup for fall and ideal to serve at Halloween.The flavor of ground coriander, made from the seeds of the coriander or cilantro plant, is similar to that of roasted orange peel, making it a perfect complimentary spice for sweet carrots.

Ingredients

2lb carrots (peeled and diced)
1 Large potato (peeled and diced)
1 Large onion (finely chopped)
2 tablespoons butter or oil (to cook onion)
1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (to garnish)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (to garnish)

Directions

Step 1	Heat the oil or butter in the bottom of a dutch oven and add the onion. Cook for 5 mins over medium heat.
Step 2	Next add the diced carrots and potato. Toss together with the buttery onions. Add the ground coriander, minced ginger, salt and pepper.
Step 3	Next add the diced carrots and potato. Toss together with the buttery onions. Add the ground coriander, minced ginger, salt and pepper.
Step 4	Reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and cook for 8 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften.
Step 5	Reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and cook for 8 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften.
Step 6	Add the vegetable broth and water. Turn the heat up to high to bring the soup to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low, covering the pot and letting the soup simmer for 30 to 35 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Step 7	Add the vegetable broth and water. Turn the heat up to high to bring the soup to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low, covering the pot and letting the soup simmer for 30 to 35 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Step 8	Turn the heat off and allow the soup to cool a little. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup, or liquidize in batches.
Step 9	Turn the heat off and allow the soup to cool a little. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup, or liquidize in batches.
Step 10	Serve hot, sprinkled with chopped fresh cilantro leaves to garnish.
Step 11	Serve hot, sprinkled with chopped fresh cilantro leaves to garnish.

Wishing you all happy days of Halloween and fall cooking.

Check out my complete recipe list here.

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Ingredients

Directions:

Zucchini And Leek Soup

Ingredients

Optional

Directions

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Ingredients:

Directions:

Parsnip and Apple Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Ingredients:

Cooking Directions:

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Ingredients

Carrot And Coriander Soup

Ingredients

Directions

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