Three Sisters Soup

We stored our Musquee de Provence pumpkin in a dark place at room temperature for several weeks, but just a few days ago I noticed some rot starting around the stem so I thought we should use the pumpkin soon. Today I found a perfect use for some of this pumpkin with a soup I've been wanting to try for a long time, "Three Sisters Soup". I first had a soup like this when my sister, dad, and I ate lunch at Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons, a historical site near Midland where French Jesuits settled in their mission to convert the Huron Wendat people. The soup was a medley of squash, beans, and corn, and these vegetables were the main crops of Native North Americans called "the Three Sisters". Here is my recipe and interpretation of it:

2 slices of bacon
3 small onions or 1 very large onion, diced
6 cups cubed musquee de provence pumpkin, or other pumpkin or squash
6 cups frozen kernels of corn
1 can lima beans
1 can black beans
1 can navy beans
1 liter low-sodium chicken stock
water as needed
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
2 bay leaves
6 or so pinches of nutmeg
ground black pepper to taste

1. Fry up bacon just until slightly brown and fat is rendered; cut up and add back to pan.
2. Add diced onion and saute on low for several minutes until it starts to caramelize slightly.
3. Add pumpkin, corn, and beans; cover with chicken stock and water (if needed).
4. Add herbs, spice, and seasonings. Gently simmer until the vegetables are tender, but not falling apart, and all the flavours are melded together.

I think that you could use any kind of beans you want, just as long as the squash, corn, and beans are all equal amounts. I like the variation of colour that you get from the green lima beans, black beans, and white navy beans though. With the squash and corn, it certainly amounts to a very colourful and nutritious soup.



Jennifer

What is an heirloom vegetable?

My sister and I have been writing this blog about our progress growing heirlooms, but I'm not sure that we ever sufficiently explained what an heirloom vegetable actually is. From the reading I have done, I understand an heirloom to be undeniably a vegetable that has been grown at some time throughout history. There is, however, some considerable debate over how old a vegetable must be to be considered an heirloom. Some believe that a vegetable must be 100 years old to be an heirloom, whereas others think 50 years is sufficient. Whatever the variation of age ranges, I would choose to call an heirloom vegetable any vegetable that is 50 or more years old.

There are other defining factors of an heirloom, such as the fact that they are not widely produced commercially or sold in supermarkets. This is because the heirloom vegetable or fruit is not genetically modified, like traditional supermarket vegetables, to be easily stored, and therefore they rot very easily.

Despite the negative of storage, heirlooms have the bonus of not being as negatively affected by their environment as other vegetables. They are often impervious to severe weather, insects or pests, and disease. As a result, we don't have to use pesticides to grow these vegetables and get a heavy yield (not that we would use them anyway).

Jennifer