Creamy Apple Celery Soup
We recently ventured out to Stribling Orchard’s Apple Festival to kick off fall with fresh-plucked apples. It didn’t feel particularly like fall as it was a scorching 95 degrees. Stribling is a sixth-generation family farm with a lovely view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The occasional train passing by below the orchard provided an added thrill for the kids.
The toddler picked a few apples, had some fun with the picking stick, and then we headed back to the shade of the country store to indulge in a caramel apple.
We got some beautiful young celery in our CSA bag last week, and I was planning to use it in some sort of soup when I had the thought to use some of our apples as well. This can be served hot or chilled, in case you also live somewhere where the weather and calendar aren’t always in sync.
Recipe: Creamy Apple Celery Soup
Ingredients:
- 2 T butter
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 4 large apples, peeled and chopped
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- black pepper to taste
Instructions: Melt butter in stock pot over medium low heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add celery and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in apples and broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer over medium low heat for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and puree with immersion blender. Serve with freshly ground pepper warm, or chill for at least 1 hour to enjoy cold. Makes 4 servings.
Notes: This creamy soup is lower in fat than your traditional cream of celery, and the sweetness of the apples will appeal to kids and adults alike.
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Sylvie, Rappahannock Cook & Kitchen Gardener
I am teaching a cooking workshop on Cooking with Apples from Appetizer to Dessert Saturday 27, and I have an apple based soup on the menu too! I will make sure to point your recipe out to my students, as another example of a seasonal apple soup.
What apples did you use?
Sylvie
Aimee (journey2learn)
This looks so yummy! Can’t wait to make it.
foodietots
@ Sylvie - I actually used Rambos from Bigg Riggs (WV) … the apples we picked are the toddler’s snack apples. I’m curious to try it with tart granny smiths though. I’d be curious to know what other recipes you’re including in your workshop. Will you be posting them on your blog?
@ Aimee - Thank you, hope you enjoy it! And thanks for the stumble, it made my day!
Ramona
I made a similar soup with celery root and apple. Great combination. I just love soup season. I can’t wait to get to the farmers markets to pick up a few varieties.
Sylvie, Rappahannock Cook & Kitchen Gardener
Colleen - I’ll post the menu, I expect next week. I don’t know yet if I’ll post the recipes - at least not immediately. I just posted the first post in a series of 6 about: Roast Chicken on Sunday Means Tasty Dinners for the Whole Week - and it won’t feel like left-overs. That’ll be a few weeks of posts right there! But as it’s apple season, I will be posting apple recipes.
@JeanAnnVK
what a great idea…I am going to check it out! I would never have thought of it…
Sylvie, Rappahannock Cook & Kitchen Gardener
and here is another way to use apples in soup, with curry spices and carrots. It’s one of the recipes T teach at my “Cooking with Apples” workshop.
http://www.laughingduckgardens.com/ldblog.php/2008/10/09/of-apples-and-apple-soup/
We also made:
Blue Corn Apple & Sauerkraut Quesadillas, Fall Salad with Roasted Apple, Savory Two-Cheese Onion & Apple Tart, Mini Apple & Venison Shepherd’s Pie, Mustardy Kale & Apple, Apple Sorbet and Rustic Upside Down Maple Apple Tart. And then… we ATE - a lot.
Apples - this oldest of fruit - is very versatile and we should use it in dishes other than desserts.