Web enthusiasts may have noticed fewer entries last week in this blog. That’s because a stubborn cold kept me out of the office and, along with muffling my taste buds, dampened my enthusiasm for cooking.
Fortunately, I had several pints of homemade soup still squirreled away in my freezer, making for easy meals nutritionally appropriate for a convalescent. My cache also has proven a life-saver when a quick homemade meal was in order or when staples ran low. Just add bread and a salad.
Stock up on soup when your enthusiasm coincides with a few free hours. I’m usually in the soup mood when autumn first turns chilly and fall vegetables are freshest. I polished off one the year’s first batches, lamb and lentil, this week. To make it, I simply boiled down some free-range Oregon lamb bones, simmered the stock with carrots, parsnips, celery, onion and garlic and added a few cans of organic lentils (on sale at the time).
If time seems limited, I freeze leftover bones, like our Christmas ham hock, to manufacture later into soup. The resulting ham and navy bean is a staple in our house just as it always was while I was growing. It pairs beautifully with cornbread.
If you have leftover bones, like a turkey carcass, but lack the ingredients for a tasty soup, boil the bird down anyway, strain and freeze the resulting stock for a moment when culinary inspiration does strike. It may seem overly thrifty at the time, but you’ll congratulate yourself later when you can pull a container of flavor-packed stock from the freezer.
Similarly, a simple vegetable soup, like my Italian minestrone, can morph into a variety of dishes, depending on additions. I freeze it fairly watery and then add pasta, homemade meatballs or beef it up with more canned beans while reheating.
I’ve found that quart-sized yogurt containers like Nancy’s brand work particularly well for storing soup. They’re sturdy and hold just about the perfect quantity for two servings. Just remember to label if you’re freezing more than one kind of soup.
