First soup of the season

After seeing people at home coming down with some kind of cold, possibly, even flu, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I went and pulled out a soup pot, filled it with water to the halfway point, added one healthy looking potato, chopped down to smaller pieces, and put the pot onto the stove and turned on the flame to low. I then threw on my coat and went downstairs to gather some stuff. At the vegetable stand, I gathered some lovely crisp celery, some fresh deep green cilantro, a couple of packets of fresh carrots and a big beautiful yellow onion and some garlic, prepeeled and in a bag. After looking around for anything else to put in the pot, I went to the register, had it rung up, and went home, to start peeling, chopping, cutting and slicing the vegetables to add to the soup. I kept the onion separate, and diced it up to put in a separate pan to sweat them a little, along with some freshly chopped garlic. I put a whole small bag of peeled garlic into the soup, some chopped, some whole, into the mix. I used all the celery but only a little bit of the cilantro. After heating up the onions and cooking them, they started to get transparent. I added some salt, then after tossing them, put them into the soup, which already had the rest of the ingredients in there. Then I checked every half hour or so, with the soup on low flame, to watch it bubble away and soften the veggies. I noted the liquid got a bit thicker, thanks to the potato. After about four hours, I knew it was ready.

I tasted it. It was fantastic. I knew the longer it sat on the stove cooking away, the more the flavors of the vegetables would come out and really compliment each other and blend well. It was tasting more and more like a great soup. A healing soup. I focused on that thought. Heard the front door and realized some family had come home. "Hmmmm," I heard one of them say. The soup kept on bubbling away and I kept checking it, tasting it.

I realized I did not buy fresh baked bread, which would have completed this soup to perfection. But it would do. I finally think the soup is ready. The liquid is thick, but not too, but perfect for me. The carrots and potato look soft, juicy and pliant. The smell is incredible, rich, aromatic, homey. I honestly did a double-take -- did I smell anise? Perhaps that is the onions, that carmelized and sweetened in the soup after softening in the pan.

While I'm not a big soup person, I actually liked this. Simple. Classic. Hearty. Filling. Had some regular soft white bread with it -- I realize that it's not the same as the thick crusty bread that should have been with this. Hmmm. But good nevertheless.

It was nice to make something on the old stove. Next week, I shop for the new one.