Grandma Soup

So now that I'm unemployed, I suppose I have time to catch up on stuff here. There are a lot of posts I've been meaning to save here, and there's no time like the present to post them all. I'll start with the recipe for my grandmother's chicken soup.

My grandmother (on my mother's side) is the Chef-as-Matriarch of the family. Since I was a kid, she's had the family over for these massive European-style feasts. 4-7 courses, turkey, pork roast, cabbage rolls, roasted vegetables, soup, green salad, egg salad, pie, cake, and sometimes crème caramel if it was my grandfather's birthday.

All of these are amazing, but what she's known for, practically worshipped for in this family is her soup. Below is the recipe for her sour soup. For the most part, the mechanics are the same. You can swap out the stewed tomatoes for any kind of meat you like. The key is the first line, those vegetables make up the base that's used in all good soup. This incarnation is my favourite though. The sour cream step make everything fabulous:

• carrot, parsnip, celery, onion (one of each, she calls this "miroquois")
• Sauté in pot with oil until the onions are translucent
• Add ½ a can of stewed tomatoes
• Add 2 tomato cans worth of water
• Add salt and pepper
• Simmer until veggies are done (about 15minutes)
• Take 1 big tbsp of sour cream and combine with a small amount of broth and mix until smooth and return to pot.
• Add parsley for taste
• Add some noodles

Now that's the recipe, but I've yet to actually make it work. I suppose now I have some more time to experiment.