This entry is from the Chez Us blog:

“I am pretty confident when making soup as it is basically a staple in our house.  Since I make our own stock, I decided to pick a technique and choose the Mirepoix.  A Mirepoix is a combination of:  2 parts onion, 1 part celery and 1 part carrots.  You want to make sure you peel the onion as the paper will give your stock an orange tint.  As well you need to make sure the pieces are cut in uniform size and style.  This is the part that would challenge me.  You see, I am a bit lazy when I mince and dice.  I pretty much just cut and cook.  This time I took my time and cut the ingredients of my Mirepoix to be exact;  at least almost all were exact.  I did not use oil when I cooked my Mirepox, instead I added minced bacon (small size of my veggies);  this technique is called a Mirepoix au Gras.  I cooked my Mirepoix until is was caramelized and then I stirred in a small amount of tomato paste, to give it a bit more added depth.  The entire process from washing to the point of adding rest of the ingredients, only took about 40 minutes.  The Mirepoix was very flavorful and added a great depth for the base of my lentil soup;  I was thrilled with the flavor of the final product.”