Followed recipe but added some extra veggies, tons of garlic and stuck my hand held mixture right in the pot to puree all the veggies. Don't seive the veggies, that's the best part for the flavor. I also used the soup for a pork chop recipe the next day (didn't have canned cream of mushroom), and it was very tasty. I have some left in the freezer, not sure if it'll hold, but we'll see. So remember, keep the veggies in it and just use one of those immersion blenders and puree everything right in the pot!
This soup turned out beautifully. I chopped all vegetables very small and left all in the soup. I froze half, and will write more when I see how well it freezes.
Later...I do not recommend freezing this soup, as the stock and the milk seemed to separate and, although it tasted fine, it did not look as nice.
Used original poster's updated suggestion to puree the vegetables and add them back to the soup. Other than that the only thing I did differently was to use butter instead of margrine, which we never use. The second time I made this I used a pinch of red pepper and twice the carrots, just to use up what I had. Both times were divine, and I intend to make this often!
I haven't used the recipe yet, but will today. I don't want 32 servings so 8 servings modified would have this math.
Divided by 4 for 8 servings
3 quarts = 1.5 cups (approx 1 can stock)
3 pound = 6 oz
½ pound = 1 oz
1 Cup = 2 Tbs
1 Tbs = 1/3 Tsp
1 Tsp = 1/8 tsp
A delicious and easy recipe! I sauteed the veggies in the butter, added the flour and salt (I also added pepper and about a clove of minced garlic) to create roux. I slowly added the milk and then added this mixture to the stock. This is a great recipe...much better than canned soup! I didn't even bother to strain it! Thanks for the post!
I got this recipe from a place I used to work, and after publishing it for everyone I found out that they made it a little differently. Instead of straining the vegetables and finding something else for them to go in, I reccommend using a blender or food processor to puree them. (I discard about 1/2 of the celery beacuse the taste is too strong for my liking.) Perfect!
Freezes well with a few changes. Easy and delicious! I made this recipe with the intention of freezing it because I had a large surplus of celery. Since creamy soups often separate in the freezer, I changed the process to eliminate this problem. To make the recipe quicker, I pulsed the celery and onion (carrots, also, though I left them out as I didn't have any at the time) in batches in my food processor until it was a fine chop. I then added it to the pot along with the stock and cooked the veggies until tender (leave out the milk, flour, butter at this step). I like the added texture of the celery, so did not sieve any out(no need to blend it because I already used the food processor). Once cooled, I froze soup in 2 cup portions. To finish, I thaw the soup and add it, while whisking, to a roux of about 2 Tbsp Butter and 2 Tbsp flour. Let simmer until it begins to thicken, then slowly add an equal portion of milk (2 cups) while stirring. Let simmer without boiling a couple minutes until creamy. Salt and pepper to taste.
Good starter recipe, but like many others I cannot bear to strain out the veggies -- so I just blended them into the soup. I used half the broth/milk the recipe called for, no margarine, and a little heavy cream for extra creaminess at the end. Also added in a little extra sage and a dash of nutmeg -- very good, but you have to love celery to like it. Luckily, I do love celery!
A ten minute soup doesn't sound like it would be that flavorful so I cooked it for an hour as I usually do. I thickened differently too by sauteeing the celery in evoo for a bit and then added the flour to make a roux. In this case I like a smoother soup so I followed the recipe and strained out the onion and celery however I put the soup back into the pot and added carrots for color and continued cooking until the carrots were tender. I felt this needed additional seasonings so I added my usual garlic/onion powders parsley and dill. Hubby is eating it now and is more than pleased. Thanks for a good start!
