Date Night Recipe // Turkey Stock Soup

Written with love, by Sarah-Elizabeth Stone

Quiet nights sharing a meal, chatting about the work day or discussing a good movie happen to be one of the highlights of my day.  There’s something about the weather getting colder, the days getting shorter and my sweaters getting heavier that I love. Call me a cliché but if we could throw in a fire place, a few cats and huge slippers in there, I’ve practically died and gone to heaven.

I did this recipe right after our Thanksgiving dinner, using the leftover turkey bones. It’s a basic stock soup, but you can use anything and everything in your fridge, which is one of my very favourite things to do! So curl up with your love, sit in front of the fire place and enjoy! (Just make sure to start this recipe well ahead of dinner!

Ingredients

·         Turkey bones, frame

·         ½ cup of turkey meat

·         1 white onion, cut into quarters

·         8 cups of water

·         4 celery stocks

·         2 cups of sliced carrots

·         ½ cup chopped broccoli

·         1 tsp salt

Directions

1.       Have a strong stomach

2.       Chop/cut up turkey frame and bones

3.       On medium heat add 8 cups of water mix in turkey frame, onion, chopped celery stocks, bring to a boil and then let simmer for 3-5 hours

4.       Remove turkey frame & cooked vegetables, strain broth, and bring back up to a boil

5.       Add in carrots and broccoli and salt

Date Night Recipe // Ham + Pea Soup Recipe

Written with love, by Sarah-Elizabeth Stone

You rush around preparing for the better part of the week for ‘the meal’. You clarify likes, dislikes, allergies and intolerances.  The family has been invited, and you’ve sent your partner to the store and back half a dozen times too many.  The dogs have been tubbed and scrubbed and kids pressed and dressed. This is what Thanksgiving dinner looks like for the great many who choose to host, or help host, each year.  Of course we always take the time out to remember who we’ve been blessed with and what we’re all thankful for.  But when the last person leaves at the end of the evening, the tiny click that follows as the door yawns closed is truly a great sound.

More than anything, I find that bringing myself to cook a huge meal the next day just isn’t a possibility. So use those left overs! Get creative and start cooking!

Ingredients

·         4 cups of beef or vegetable stock

·         2 cups of peas

·         ½ a large onion

·         Left over ham

·         ½ tbs of basil

·         ½ tbs of garlic powder

·         ½ tbs of paprika

·         1 tbs of olive oil

·         ½ block of cheese, cubed (optional)

Directions

1.       In a large pot, on medium heat, brown onion in olive oil for roughly 5-7 minutes

2.       Pour in beef stock, and allow to simmer for 5 minutes

3.       Pour in peas, basil, garlic powder, paprika, cheese and allow to everything cook for about 10 minutes, or until the peas are fairly soft

4.       Using a hand blender mix everything together until it’s thick

5.       Add in cut up ham pieces and simmer for 5 minutes

6.       Serve with garlic bread, or anything else left over from your meal!

Garden Spring Soup Recipe

Written with love, by Sarah-Elizabeth Labelle

One of my favourite parts of growing up in the country is fresh, delicious ingredients made into fresh, delicious food. Have you ever put mint into a soup? My mom did, amongst a million trial and errors of her very own. There’s something about soups in particular that always struck a chord with me. They’re so versatile, and can always be improved on or added to. It’s literally a chance for a wild experiment in the making.

I love sitting down with the concept of a soup in mind, picturing the colour and all the different elements of it, and then breaking it down into savory ingredients. The end result is an amazingly bright soup that is thick, warm, and vibrant. Am I making your mouth water yet?

Excellent!  Well then you’ll be thrilled to see that this week’s recipe is a very garden fresh, spring soup! It’s healthy, versatile and will bring you straight back to country living, even if you only ever visit for meal times.

Ingredients

·         1 onion, chopped

·         ¼ cup of butter

·         3-5 mint leaves

·         ½ cup of half and half milk

·         3 cups of chicken stock

·         4 cloves of garlic

·         1 cup of spinach, chopped

·         2 cups of peas

Directions

1.       Melt butter into soup pot and add chopped onions, let cook until browned

2.       Add in garlic, spinach, and peas, mix into butter and let simmer for roughly 1 minute, or until everything is coated

3.       Add in chicken stock, and bring everything up to a boil for roughly 5-8 minutes

4.       Let the whole mixture sit at a simmer for 10-12 minutes, then add in mint leaves

5.       Next puree the whole mixture over very low heat

6.       Add in half and half milk on medium heat, stir well, season to taste

Wine: French Rabbit, Chardonnay