Donna van Veghel-Wood graduated from the two year Culinary Arts Programme at George Brown College including three month Italian Culinary Arts programme in Italy. Worked for five and half years at "JK ROM" Restaurant and Catering company with Jamie Kennedy. Started and ran "donna&co." catering company for five years. Presently, owner of "frankie's ristorante" in Uxbridge.
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Seasonal Soups
I am writing this column on Monday morning, December 7, the day after St. Nicholas Day - or the Feast of Sinterklaas as it is celebrated in Holland. St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children and gift giving is our Santa Claus. On December 5th, children go to sleep dreaming of presents that will be left to them by St. Nicholas and if they are good will awaken to gifts on December 6th.
The 25th of December is exclusively devoted to the celebration of the birth of Christ. There is no confusion between Santa Claus and the religious meaning of that special day.
A belated “Happy St. Nicholas Day” to all my Dutch friends and relatives! It is a very busy time right now with extra shopping, cooking, baking, cleaning, and concerts… and on and on, but it is important to eat healthy even if time is at a premium.
I turn to soups. Soups can be made in volume and eaten when needed. They are (almost) always a complete meal, incorporating lots of vegetables and sometimes meat or fish, thus providing a daily requirement of vitamins and minerals. And they warm you up, which is a necessity when living in Canada in December.
One of the easiest soups I make is vegetable soup. This can be made with any kind of vegetable or a combination of many vegetables and even leftover vegetables from last night's dinner.
ROAST off your favorite vegetable whether carrots, cauliflower, parsnips, turnip, sweet potatoes - by cutting into pieces and tossing them in olive oil and seasoning them with salt and pepper. Roast on a baking sheet until tender. Meanwhile, dice a medium onion and smash a few cloves of garlic and place in a saucepan with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and sauté until tender but not brown.
When the vegetables in the oven are tender, add to the onions and garlic and cover with water or vegetable stock. Cook together for approx. twenty minutes for a flavourful broth.
Remove from heat and puree in a food processor or blender. Check the seasoning. It is ready to eat or stored in the freezer for a quick meal on a busy day.
DUTCH GREEN PEA SOUP is a salute to St. Nicholas Day and also a warming, stick-to-the-ribs soup that is a meal in itself.
Take two and a half cups of dried green peas and soak overnight in three quarts cold water or for a quick soak, bring the peas and water to a boil, turn off the heat and let sit in the hot water for one hour. In the morning or after the 'one hour', depending on which method you choose, add one pork hock, two bay leaves and one tsp. of salt to the peas and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat. Cover the soup and allow it to simmer on low heat for two hours.
While the soup is simmering, chop three leeks - white parts only, one small celeriac root or two stalks celery - chopped, and one potato cut into half inch dice and add to the soup. Simmer for an hour or until the vegetables are tender. During this time, sausage of your choice can be added to the soup as well.
After an hour, remove the pork hock and chop into bits and return to soup. Remove the bay leaves and season with salt and pepper. Simmer another twenty minutes. Serves eight.
- From Let's Go Dutch by Johanna van der Zeijst Bates.
