Last night I cooked up a big batch of baby food since we were running low. My beloved Babycook is in New Jersey getting repaired. I'm upset that it started beeping uncontrollably, but I've been moderately impressed by Beaba's customer service. They are nice, though not entirely efficient or accurate. As a result, I'm steaming in a big pot and using our Cuisinart to purée everything. This clunky method has only made me fall more in love with the Babycook. I prefer to make small batch meals that are easy to clean up, and it was much easier to make a variety of foods for Robert using the Babycook.
Since I was going to be cooking several big batches of food, I decided to make a good soup for Jon and myself with the remnants of Robert's baby food. The first round was carrots and celery root, a new food for my little man.
Carrots & Celery Root
Chop roughly
Steam for 15 minutes
Blend with cooking liquid for desire consistency
As soon as I removed this first batch from my pot, I threw in squash and the rest of the celery root for another flavor combination. I blended the first batch while the second batch steamed. I spooned out the carrot mixture, but didn't bother to clean out the Cuisinart before adding the squash and celery root mixture. This was the basis for our soup, but I spooned out a 2 oz portion for Robert to try as well.
In a cast iron soup pot, I sautéed onions until they were soft, then added those to my Cuisinart.
Next, I changed out my cooking water and chopped apples for a separate puree for Robert. Those steam for just 10 minutes. During that time, I blended the onions with the rest of the Cuisinart mix and returned it to the soup pot. I added some vegetable stock and set the soup to simmer. I finished cleaning out the Cuisinart just in time for the apples to go in for their puree. I spooned about the equivalent of one apple into the soup mixture and saved the rest for Robert.
The carrots and celery root are a hit!
As the soup simmered I added a little salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder to taste. My sister gave us some of her delicious homemade bread, which I chopped into rough chunks and toasted for crunchy croutons to add. The verdict? A fine winter meal for the adults, and several days of food for my little man!
Winter Vegetable Soup
Peeled and roughly chopped carrots, winter squash, and celery root
Steamed for 15 minutes
Chopped apple
Steam the apple for 10 minutes
Sautée onions
Blend all veggies and apple together
Add vegetable stock generously and set to simmer
Add salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder
Add croutons, if desired