This week’s challenge was an easy, low calorie soup from the Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg section of the Echte Deutsche Küche cookbook, Wurzelsuppe (Root soup). Unfortunately, in all the birthday hub bub around here, I completely forgot to buy ingredients to make it this weekend (even after meeting up with Emily on Thursday in Munich and being reminded about it). I’m going to the store today and will make the soup tonight. Check back here tomorrow for my writeup.
New Stuff:
Okay, the Wurzelsuppe got made Monday for dinner, but it wasn’t until Wednesday night that I got a chance to update this post. You can read all about my week in my next post. Unfortunately, I was in a hurry when making it and didn’t think to take pictures until the end.
I chopped up the carrots, celery root, leek and onion. The recipe only needs a small piece of celery root, so the rest will get saved for another recipe (the Sauerbraten needs some next week). If you can’t get ahold of celery root, Stephanie suggests using turnips, but I also think celery stalks would work.
This all got thrown in a pan with butter, and it smelled really great. If you’re tempted to substitute margarine, I’d advise against it. This soup is already pretty low in calorie and the fat from the butter really brings out the flavors of the vegetables.
I added some beef stock (I used organic beef boullion and made it a little on the strong side), covered the pot and let it cook. The recipe didn’t state for how long, so I checked back in 10 or 15 minutes, the carrots were soft, but not mushy. I grabbed my immersion blender (mine’s a Braun handmixer with an immersion blender attachment, I highly recommend this if you don’t have a handmixer yet, my model is not for sale anymore though) and blended everything thoroughly.
I added a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg, sugar and some lemon juice, ladled it into a bowl, then topped with crème fraîche and dill. I thought it was pretty delicious, especially for how few calories it has. Mine had a very soupy consistency and didn’t remind me at all of baby food. I also didn’t think the carrots overwhelmed the other veggies, so maybe the celery root is an important addition. Anyways, I found it tasty and so did Oliver. But he’s found every recipe we’ve done so far tasty, so I don’t know how representative of the average toddler he is.
Other participants (will be updated throughout the day):
- Stephanie at A Greenville Life
- Emily at American Wolpertinger in Bayern
- Yelli at 50% of my DNA
Next challenge!
Next week’s challenge is Rheinischer Sauerbraten (Rhineland Sauerbraten) with Schneeballchen (Small potato dumplings). Yep, that’s right, two recipes. Make them sometime this week (if you haven’t already) and post about them next Monday. Rainer’s mom used to make this combo when he was a kid (leave the butter and bread crumbs off the dumplings though when serving with the Sauerbraten, you do that if they’re for a small meal on their own). He also suggests serving Apfelkompott (apple compote/sauce) as a side. The following week we’ll take it easy with a Pharisäer, a coffee and rum drink, then we’ll be tackling Kalbshaxn!
Want to pick a future recipe? Go through the list and let me know which recipes you want to do.
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Have my soup posted: http://agreenvillelife.blogspot.com/2009/03/wurzelsuppe-root-soup.html
Made the sauerbraten and dumplings on Saturday – everyone is in for a real treat!!! Word to anyone who can’t get the lebkuchen – use crushed gingersnaps instead – they work great!
Stephanies last blog post..Wurzelsuppe (Root Soup)
woohoo! I made mine too! http://americanwolpertinger.blogspot.com/2009/03/root-soup-wurzelsuppe-real-german.html
Did you have fun on Saturday? lots of great shops in that neighborhood, right? It was so great to meet you (and your lovely family)!
Emily Flechtners last blog post..Root Soup – Wurzelsuppe – Real German Cuisine Challenge
Love to read MY GERMAN recipes by an American expat as I am a German expat in the US. Do you know http://www.nothingforungood.com – love the page written by John while being in Germany. BTW I am from Munich was nice seeing all these pic on your blog. Have a great time in my country. Paula
We made some too!
http://50percentdna.blogspot.com/2009/03/real-german-cuisine-challenge_17.html
Quite tasty, too!
Yellis last blog post..Real German Cuisine Challenge: Wurzelsuppe (Root soup)
@stephanie: That’s a great tip, thanks! I had to ask for the sauce Lebkuchen, ends up it’s in the baking aisle near to the flour in a little white package.
@emily: It was great to meet you too! I had fun looking around Schwabing. There really were great shops. And this trip I decided to venture into Suckfüll and even purchased a slicer there!
@paula: Thanks, Paula. I do read Nothing for Ungood when I have a chance. It’s a great blog, as is yours!
@yelli: Great!
i have never heard of Wurzelsuppe before you brought it up. but i will certainly have to try the recipe at one time. it sounds delicious!!!
We haven’t gotten around to making the soup yet, since the business is keeping things hectic around here. Maybe this weekend…
But I wanted to note that Christopher learned at his Kindergarten that carrots are called Wurzeln, so the term is not just used in Holstein, but south of the Elbe as well. Or maybe his Kindergarten teacher grew up in Holstein… since he’s now in the 3rd grade, it’s too late for us to find out.
Scott Hansons last blog post..Irish Crab
@rita: It’s fairly quick, easy, low calorie and delicious, what’s not to like about it!
@scott: It’d be interesting to find out how widespread the use of the term Wurzel is in Germany. I’d never heard it before. Hope you enjoy the soup if you find the time this weekend!
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