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Editor's Note: This post came from Irish transplant and writer Bee Smith back in January 2010, when Ireland was experiencing record-low temperatures and snow. So good we just had to repost - whether or not you're "snowed up" (or snowed in, as we say in the U.S.). Enjoy! Here in Ireland, we have had record low temperatures that have created chaos for this temperate-climate culture. No snow tires (or tyres) here. Rock salt is rationed for densely populated areas, and out here in the wilds of West Cavan we get "grit"- a combination of loose chippings mixed with sand. So, even snowfalls of less than a foot can leave you stranded if you don't own a jeep with four wheel drive. But for someone who loves to cook and likes the creative challenge of looking in the larder and seeing what you can make up with what you have on hand, these days mean a frenzy of cabin cooking. And lots of yummy fun.
My cast iron cooking pot comes into its own, because there is nothing like a stew or a thick (or what my friend Jane calls a ‘knife and fork’) soup to insulate you on the inside when the weather is subzero on the outside. Soups should be slow cooked at a simmer and the aroma of seasonal vegetables and beans is tantalizing. Country dwellers know the wisdom of having flour, dried beans and pulses in the cupboard in the winter. I'll share what I cooked up on the stove when the temperatures fell to -11C this past week. And despite the thaw, there is more snow on its way to us. What is also good about this soup is that the orange vegetables give you a warming visual cue.
Irish “Snowed-Up” Soup
30 minutes
15 minutes
Soup
Ingredients
- About 4 oz of pinto beans, soaked overnight when the forecast sounds grim
- 1 large onion
- 2–3 garlic cloves
- 3 parsnips, peeled and chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and diced
- Vegetable stock cube/powder
- Yeast extract
- Pepper and ground mixed spice to taste
- Optional: Dried sea vegetable, e.g. spaghetti del la mer or wakame
Instructions
- Cook up the soaked pinto or field beans.
- Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of your pot.
- Over a low heat, gently sauté the peeled, sliced and diced vegetables.
- Season generously with pepper and the ground mixed spice (the combination I use has cinnamon, clove, fennel, cardamom, but curry powder would do in a pinch).
- Once the vegetables have been softened and the onion is nicely translucent, add the beans along with their cooking water.
- Top up the liquid – about 2 pints, but again that will depend upon whether you want more of a stew or soup consistency.
- Add some vegetable stock cubes accordingly to your favorite product’s recommendations.
- Add a good tablespoon of yeast extract. Add your sea weed, broken into about inch long segments.
- Simmer until vegetables are soft.
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