All You Really Need is Soup

Soup Turkey Baroness Tapuzina

“Only the pure of heart can make good soup”
Beethoven

Winter is a good excuse to make hearty soups, something that is true in my house. Mr BT is a world class soup maker. His repertoire includes: chicken soup, lentil soup, onion soup, vegetable soup and cauliflower soup. He always makes a big pot for us to enjoy throughout the week or he freezes some of it to enjoy whenever we want. As the lovely quote from Beethoven states, Mr BT puts his heart and soul in his soups. I am a lucky woman.

Like most of Mr BT’s creations, the recipe for this soup can vary according to what vegetables are seasonally available. You can also substitute lentils or barley for the chickpeas. You may find turkey soup a little unusual: Mr BT decided to start using turkey as a partial or complete substitute for the more common chicken because it has a stronger flavour and has much more meat that similar cuts of chicken.

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Mr BT's Turkey and Vegetable Soup
Servings: 10 liters (2 gallons)
Ingredients
  • 2 cups dried medium chickpeas
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 4 large yellow onions thinly sliced
  • 6 large cloves garlic chopped
  • 8 large carrots quartered lengthwise and sliced 6mm (1/4 inch) thick
  • 1/2 head celery dark green leaves removed, sliced
  • 20 juniper berries
  • 3 large sprigs fresh oregano
  • 6 large sprigs fresh thyme
  • 6 bay leaves
  • 4 turkey wings separated or 2 turkey necks, cut into 8cm (3-inch) sections
  • 500 g 1lb beef soup bones
  • 1/2 head white cabbage cut lengthwise into six pieces and sliced
  • 1 tablespoon sea salt
  • 1/2 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 medium courgettes zucchinis, quartered lengthwise and sliced
  • 2 red and 2 yellow peppers cut into small chunks
  • 3 large tomatoes cut into small pieces, keeping the pulp
  • 3 heaping tablespoons of chicken soup powder mixed with a little hot water
Instructions
  1. The night before making the soup, place chickpeas in a medium sized bowl, add baking soda and cover with enough warm water to leave 4cm (1-1/2 inches) above the chickpeas.
  2. Gently heat enough olive oil (not extra virgin) to saute the onions. Add onions and stir as they saute. After 10 minutes, add the carrots, the celery, juniper berries, thyme, oregano and bay leaves. Cover the pot and saute gently for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure they do not stick to the bottom.
  3. Add soup bones and turkey, and continue to saute gently for another 20 minutes, covered. Add the cabbage, and continue to saute, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes.
  4. Add water (hot, if you have a kettle) to within 2.5cm (1 inch) of the top of the pot, bring to a boil, and then lower the flame to a rolling simmer. Add the chickpeas. Leave to simmer for at least 2 hours.
  5. Add the courgette, peppers, tomatoes and the soup powder mixture. Continue to simmer for at least 30 minutes. Serve piping hot.
  6. This soup is better on the second and third day.
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Written by Baroness Tapuzina

Michelle Nordell (aka Baroness Tapuzina) was a foodie from the womb growing up in the House of Weird Vegetables, so named by a family friend because all of the unusual and exotic food cooked and eaten there. She loves to change recipes using herbs from her garden and spices from the spice shops she enjoys visiting.

6 thoughts on “All You Really Need is Soup”

  2. The soup looks delish. I see good cooking runs in the family. I’ve never seen juniper berries in our markets – I’ll have to pay closer attention. What kind of flavor do they add, I wonder.

    Welcome back; I hope our new administration can help broker a suitable peace.

  3. This soup is going to become the soup course for next Shabbat, I do believe. Not only does it sound delicious, but it’s very visually comforting and appealing, just right to produce that homey-festive feeling of a proper Sabbath table.

    On a more personal note, Baroness, I’m so glad that you’re back. The first time I encountered your blog was the very same day that you posted about taking a break. Though I absolutely understood and approved, I was also sad, because most of the blogs I read end with “I’m going to be taking a short break.” It’s good to see that it was actually a short break and not a never-ending hiatus. You and a few other wonderful food bloggers have finally completed for me the temptation to start my own. I hope to keep learning from you and the others I admire, with more skill than I currently possess. Don’t go away! Stay, and be my teacher. “Find yourself a teacher, get yourself a friend.”

  4. Bimheira byameinu! I have in fact begun the blog already (http://divash.wordpress.com). I’m a good cook but not a great one, and I’m no baker at all, but people who bake and cook better than I do have been blogging and encouraging me to branch out and be more adventurous — like you! So I’m hoping that someone who is a total beginner will see me learning, and be inspired to begin or to go past grilled cheese sandwiches and canned vegetables. We’ll all “be strong, be strong, and strengthen one another.”

    You and your family, and the whole country, have my prayers for your safety and for a just and lasting peace.

  5. Thank you Divash for your lovely comment. It really means a lot to me. And, thank you too Nancy and Kitchenetta.

    Don’t worry, I was only taking a break because of what was happening here. Let’s hope we can see peace in the region someday very soon.

    I encourage you to start writing a blog. I really enjoy it.

  6. That we’re seeing you blogging again is a very good sign. Happy to see you again.

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