Irish Cream of Turnip Soup

Welcome to winter! As the cold months arrive, more soups and hearty meals are on the menu. We were thinking a soup with roasted root vegetables would be something that would be comforting in this cold weather. I started looking for a good recipe with root vegetables to try out.

I found a recipe for this soup in my newest cookbook, Rotarian Flavors of the World Cookbook.** Since this cookbook is a collection of recipes from around the world, this one came directly form Ireland. As with most of my cooking, I adapted the recipe and used kale and tarragon to add color, texture, and flavor to the soup.

3 turnips, chopped
1 leek, sliced
3 stalks of celery, sliced
1 small yellow onion, minced
1 shallot, minced
2 c. kale, chopped
4 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
8 c. chicken stock or vegetable stock for totally vegetarian
1/2 to 1 pt. fresh cream, depending on how creamy you like your soup
Dried tarragon
Curly parsley, garnish

Saute the celery, onion, and leeks in butter until onion is translucent. Add flour and stir well. Slowly add the chicken stock, mixing well, and then add the turnip. Simmer for about 15 minutes until the turnip is tender and remove from the heat. Use a blender until the mixture is smooth. Return to heat and add the cream and kale. Add tarragon, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir well and leave on heat for a few more minutes. Serve with tarragon and parsley as garnish.

This is a great meal served with a dinner salad and buttermilk biscuits.

**At my Rotary club meeting last month, a former District Governor came to visit. He was giving an update on the End Polio Now campaign, which is Rotary's project to eradicate polio for many years now. His wife had started a fundraiser to sell cookbooks to raise money for End Polio Now. She first published one with recipes submitted from District 6440, which I found out John already bought. A few years later, she published this one with a collection of 400 recipes from over 100 countries. Of course I had to buy it! I'm hoping to post more inspirations from this cookbook. If you want more information about it, you can check out at http://rotarianflavorsoftheworldcookbook.blogspot.com/ or email them at RotarianFlavorsoftheWorldCookbook@gmail.com.