Silken Turnip and Potato Soup (and How To Make Chicken Stock)

Wrinkled old turnips?  Come on down! We love using you in soup!

I read this recipe in The Washington Post and first tried it when the farm share overwhelmed me with turnips provided us with an overabundance of turnips.  My whole family likes this.  I'm happy to make it earlier in the week and serve it the night before Thanksgiving, when I'm busy prepping and don't feel like cooking or eating a heavy meal.

Awaiting the sour cream garnish.

This soup tastes very rich, but it's made without any cream.  In fact, if you use vegetable broth and oil instead of the chicken stock and butter, it would make a vegan offering on your Thanksgiving table.
I don't usually have vegans at my table, so I make chicken stock for the base of this soup.  Whenever I roast a chicken, or pick up a rotisserie chicken at the store, I save the carcass for chicken stock.  Today I grabbed a soup pack and, armed with 1950 Betty Crocker's New Picture Cookbook, made up a batch.

Chicken Stock (adapted from Betty Crocker's New Picture Cookbook, 1950)

Ingredients

• 1 soup pack (or 1/2 cup each chopped carrot, celery, and onion)
• 1 leftover carcass from a roasted chicken
• 5 stems fresh parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed, with papers
• 2 whole cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon French thyme
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 10 peppercorns
• 3-4 quarts water

Instructions

1. Toss (or carefully layer) ingredients in a large (5 quart) crock pot.  
2. Add water until the ingredients are mostly submerged (3 to 4 quarts).  
3. Cook on low 6-8 hours.  Strain.  
4. Pour into quart size jars and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.  Or freeze.  Your choice.

Use 2 jars to make this soup!

Silken Turnip and Potato Soup (adapted from The Washington Post)

Ingredients

• 1/2 stick butter (4 Tablespoons, I use unsalted but a vegan buttery spread works fine)
• 2 onions, thinly sliced (I use a Benriner)
• 4-6 turnips (about 2 pounds), peeled and thinly sliced
• 3-5 potatoes (1/2 to 1 pound), peeled and thinly sliced 
• 2 quarts chicken stock (use vegetable stock if you prefer)
• 2 teaspoons salt (I used Kosher)
• nutmeg (how do you measure when you're microplane grating it? try for 1/2 teaspoon)
• sour cream (optional, for garnish--my daughter's excellent suggestion)

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium-low heat.  
2. Add onions, sauté until translucent, about 10-15 minutes.  
3. Add turnips, potatoes, and salt.  Stir to combine the veggies with the fat, cover, and sauté another 15 minutes.  Add the stock.  
4. Simmer 20 minutes or until veggies are soft.  
5. Puree with an immersion blender, or in batches in a blender or food processor.  
6. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Serve hot w/ a spoonful of sour cream.

This post was linked with What's In the Box at In Her Chucks and the Wednesday Fresh Foods party at Gastronomical Sovereignty.

Any guesses what I'm doing here?