soup season is NOT over

it's always the season for pickle soup

I know spring is around the corner (even though it just snowed in Montreal lol) but luckily for you, I have 2 soups that you can eat without freezing temperatures and the seasonal depression. I meannnn, a win is a win!!

So on the roster we have:

• polish pickle soup with chicken meatballs

• my mom’s mushroom soup

And before you say anything, pickles do belong in soup. Pickles belong in everything. So let’s get on INTO IT!

pickle soup

I know pickle soup might sound weird, like ew hot pickles? But trust me when I say it doesn’t taste like that. The pickles give the soup a light, briny, salty flavor that gets absorbed by the potatoes for such a good bite. After I saw the NYT cooking recipe for Polish pickle soup (ogórkowa) I was so intrigued. So I glanced it over, and went to town on what I think came out to be a really f%@&cking good pickle soup!

Some notes:

* do not use vinegar based pickles, the vinegar will make your soup taste like kaka. look for dill pickles with water and salt as the main ingredient. so that means no Grillo’s. Bubbies is a good brand.

* you don’t need to make the chicken meatballs. this isn’t traditional to the original polish soup, but I think it was the best addition ever soooo do what you will.

*do not season the soup as you go with salt, the pickles will really salt your soup at the end. only salt your meatballs a bit.

soup base:

• 1 cup of dill pickles grated (NOT vinegar based)

• 1 cup pickle brine

• 3 large carrots coarsely grated

• 3 celery stalks, finely sliced

• 1 leek, finely sliced

• 1/2 white onion, finely sliced

• 4-5 gold potatoes, cubed

• 1/2 pearl barley (optional, but use 1/2 the amount of potatoes if you do)

• 4-5 garlic cloves, minced

• 4 tbsp butter

• 64oz chicken broth (8 cups)

• 2 bay leaves

• handful of dill

chicken meatballs:

• 1 lb ground chicken

• 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

• 1 shallot, grated

• 1/3 cup milk

• 1 egg

• 1/2 white onion, grated

• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped

• salt n pepper

1. melt 3 tbsp butter in a large pot (I like to use a dutch oven) and saute your onion and leek until softened and golden. add the celery, potatoes, carrots and saute for another 1-2 min.

2. add your broth to the pot and bring to a simmer. add your pearl barley if using. cook until your vegetables are still a bit tender (not mushy but can be picked through with a fork) about 15-20 min.

3. make your meatballs in the meantime. in a large bowl, pour the milk over the breadcrumbs and allow it absorb for 5 min. then add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix gently to combine. if they’re wayyyyy too sticky you can add another sprinkle of bread crumbs, but they will be pretty sticky regardless. they’re gonna be fluffy as hell! use wet hands and a 1 tbsp spoon to form some balls. salt a bit and add black pepper!

4. saute your meatballs in a saucepan with a bit of avocado oil just until browned and gorgeous. they’ll finish cooking in the soup.

5. now that 20 minutes has passed and your veggies are fork tender, add your meatballs to the soup and simmer for about 10-13 minutes until they’re cooked inside (break one open and check for no pink lol)

6. in the same saucepan you used for your meatballs, add your garlic, another 1 tbsp of butter and bay leaves and saute until aromatic. add the grated pickles and continue to cook on medium heat until they’re softened, about 7 minutes.

7. pick the bay leaves out and add the pickles to the soup along with 1 cup of the pickle brine. add your chopped dill and give everything a good mix. take off heat!

8. I serve with a dollop of sour cream on top, more chopped dill + black pepper. mwaaaaahhhhh!

mom’s mushroom soup

this was by far my favorite soup my mom used to make and I’ve never made it on my own. so you bet when I craved it, I called my mom and had her guide me through every step like a little baby. dried porcini mushrooms are the base for this soup and will give you that deep umami flavor, so try to specifically find them! I’ve seen costco have them in the past, but italian grocers should carry them too.

meatballs:

• 1/2 lb ground pork

• 1/2 lb ground beef

• 1/2 white onion, grated

• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (or 2 slices of crumbled white bread)

• 1/4 cup milk or water

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

• salt + pepper

soup:

• 2 cups dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed

• 1.5 cups carrots, diced

• 3 cloves of garlic, minced

• about 3 cups of mushrooms, cubed (cremini, portobello, shiitake, or chanterelle)

• 4 medium gold potatoes, cubed

• 1/2 white onion, diced

• 1 leek (white part only), finely chopped

• 2 tsp dill seed

• 2 tsp caraway seeds

• salt + black pepper

• 3 all spice berries

• 2 bay leaves 

1. in a small saucepan, add about 2 cups of cold water to your dried mushrooms, enough to fully cover them and simmer on low for about 30 minutes. the water should be a very concentrated brown color and the mushrooms will be very soft.

2. remove the mushrooms from the broth and chop into small pieces. set the broth aside for now.

3. make your meatballs. pour the milk over your breadcrumbs and wait 5 minutes until absorbed. mix the rest of the ingredients together and form into tiny little meatballs, I tried to do 1/2 tbsp!

4. in a large pot, saute the leek until softened. add the chopped dried mushrooms and saute until leeks are golden. add the fresh chopped mushrooms next and mix. continue mixing until everything looks nice and golden. you want to get some of that bland moisture out from the fresh mushrooms. season with salt, pepper, dill seed, caraway.

5. add your carrots and saute for 1-2 minutes more.

6. add 6-8 cups of water to your pot and bring to a boil. add your diced potatoes and bay leaves/allspice.

7. in the meantime, saute the meatballs in the saucepan you just used. cook until golden and browned on the outside. then add to your large boiling pot. bring everything down to a simmer for about 30 minutes.

8. add your barley and mushroom broth/liquid.

9. continue simmering for about 30 more minutes or until the barley is tender. skim any scum off the soup as you go.

10. once done, all the veggies should be tender and the meatballs will be cooked throughout. add a handful of chopped dill and mix throughout the soup.

11. optional addition to serve: saute yellow onion and garlic in butter until browned and slightly caramelized and top your soup with it! add more black pepper + dill to serve always!!

BTW! I recently discovered this attachment on a food processor. Do I live under a rock or have you all been using it?!?! And the reason it sounds like such a discovery is because

1) I hate large food processors and don’t own one, the little small ones always do the trick for what I need.

2) I’m in an Airbnb and couldn’t find a box grater, but I did find this grating attachment. It took 10 minutes to figure out and then it had all my veggies grated in 10 seconds!!!

Anyway, I may have to buy a food processor now.

what I’ve been listening to on the weekends:

the weekdays:

as always, I post throughout the week on instagram + tiktok:

instagram: @babytamagooo

tiktok: @babytamago

tag me if you try any of these recipes! hope you have a delicious sunday <333