Ginger, Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup

Melt butter or margarine in stock pot. Add ginger and shallots; saute until ginger is tender, about 5 min. Add carrots and sweet potatoes and half the broth. Simmer, covered, until vegetables are very tender, about 40 min. Cool slightly. (BIG BATCH TAKES MUCH LONGER TO COOK AND COOL.) Remove solids from broth; process or blend, in batches, until very smooth. Return mixture to broth. Add remaining broth, nutmeg and curry powder. If freezing, prepare to this point. Cool. Freeze plastic containers. Label re: proportionate amount of milk to add before serving (I just guess, taste, guess again). To serve, heat mixture to very hot/just under simmering; add the milk or substitute. Heat through without boiling. Because it is relatively messy, with lots of peeling, chopping, etc. I make the big batch and freeze it in meal-sized portions. Its a universally enjoyed recipe and always delicious on a cold day. homemade vegetable stock This is a descended-from-peasants recipe (my kids say its Stone Soup). I think of it as my grandmothers theory, "never throw away anything edible" combined with my anti-mom theory, "never use leftovers and scraps to make anything called pudding!". Step 1: As you do your daily cooking, keep a scrap bag in freezer. Include in it the clean, fresh or nearly fresh remnants of your vegetable-cooking. Also throw in "veggies about to go wrong" like spinach or celery or scallions no longer quite fresh enough to retain their texture when cooked in non-soup recipes; make sure to include an onion-type thing; also save seeds and cores from peppers, carrot peelings, broccoli stems. DONT OVER-DO ANY SINGLE VEGGIE: IF ALL IT CONTAINS IS BROCCOLI OR ASPARAGUS, YOUR STOCK WILL BE DREADFUL. I also sometimes save and freeze too-good-to-throw-out cooking water from vegetable boiling. Use to augment the water, not the veggies. The best add-it is the pulp left over from making vegetable juice. Step 2:When you have about a food-storage-bagful or so, put the frozen scraps in a huge, preferably non-stick pot. (Check your fridge for any extra goodies.) Add water until nearly full. Add some soy sauce (for color and saltiness); if you have herbs growing outside, rinse and toss in a fistful. If not, toss in a couple of bay leaves and a little thyme &/or spicy vinegar, etc. Step 3:Bring the pot to a boil; cover and bring to gentle simmer. The only bad thing about veg. stock vs. chicken is that it takes much longer to cook. I start early in the morning, cook all day. If its cold enough outside (almost year-round here), I put the pot on the stoop to cool. Or let it cool slightly, strain, refrigerate until cool enough to freeze. Note: I freeze in tofu tubs thatre about 1/2 gal. size. I put in about 6 c. stock, enough for most soup recipes. Of course, you could make smaller batches if freezer space is short or you only need the stock for tomorrows dinner. Posted to JEWISH-FOOD digest V96 #81 Date: Tue, 19 Nov 1996 04:12:14 -0500 From: Donna Himelfarb at mark.cohen@relex.com