GRANNY'S BUTTERMILK SOUP

 

A friend of mine sent me a recipe for buttermilk soup that both his grandmother and mother have made over the years. It is a depression era recipe made on the farm that used just a few ingredients - potatoes, water, salt and pepper, flour, milk or cream and buttermilk. My friend knows that I use kefir and buttermilk in recipes and thought I would enjoy it. The soup goes well with warm bread.

It is a wonderful soup and I modified it to include a few other vegetables. I used kefir instead of buttermilk as I have large container of plain kefir in the fridge. I added some cauliflower as there was some in the vegetable bin that needed to be used. The soup is very filling and hits the spot when you are hungry and wanting a hot bowl of soup. If you wanted to make just a potato soup I would use four large potatoes.

INGREDIENTS:

2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 cup cauliflower, chopped (optional)

water

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp dried herbes de Provence

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

1 to 1.5 cups of buttermilk or kefir

DIRECTIONS:

 

Chop the vegetables to bite size pieces. I like the vegetables to be small in size and not chunky. To a large soup pot add the vegetables and then add enough water so the water covers the vegetables. Add the herbes and salt and pepper. Cover with a lid. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 25 to 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender. If too much water has evaporated, add another cup of water.

In a small bowl mix the flour and milk. You want the consistency of paste. If the mixture is not pasty enough, add a bit more flour. Add the flour paste to the soup and stir well. Turn the heat up so that it boils and then turn the temperature down to a simmer. Stir often so that the vegetables don't stick to the bottom of the pot. Let it simmer for five minutes. The soup should be thick. Add the buttermilk or kefir to the soup and stir. Let the soup heat up until it is very warm but do not let it boil. Add more salt and pepper if required. Serves 4.