Taking Stock, and Making It, too!

Souperlatif has not been busy in the kitchen for many a past week. Those of you who follow, will have missed the weekly excursions on soup roads less traveled. I, too, and am eager to be back with something new. What could be a better return than a return to the basics - taking stock, and making it, too! Almost every soup needs it, almost every cook never has it (the fresh homemade, that is), what's more, the making of it is a bit of a chore. And in my house, not everyone is addicted to stock aroma therapy.

Enter the pressure cooker. A bit dusty on a back shelf, seal ring and pressure gauge still looking serviceable, I think its time to revisit speeding up stock by intensifying the cooking, which is what pressure cookers do best. Not an original notion, pressure cooker stock seems to have quite a following on the blogs. While its no surprise to find a howto from Kuhn Rikon, the Swiss manufacturer of the worlds most high-end pressure cooker, Saveur, too, has an online article in their Test Kitchen series by Kyle Connaughten. Much more surprising, I found a discussion and instructions for making stock in the new 6 volume compendium, Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, by Nathan Myhrvold et al.

In this astonishing work, which details cooking with liquid nitrogen, has pictures from within the inside of covered pots while the cooking is happening, and describes using ultrasound to "cavitate" ingredients in a liquid bath (I still do not have my head around this one), the old-fashioned pressure cooker takes center stage for meat stock. From the author who advocates cooking pastrami for 72 hours in a sous vide bath at 120 degrees, he gets the stock done in under 45 minutes!

Well, could it be good? I'm curious! I've always had a healthy distaste for pressure cooker chicken dishes - closest thing in a homemade kitchen to canned chicken stew. And what about clarity? How could all that heat not cause the minute particles to be irremediably suspended in the broth? I adapted the stock discussion to beef stock, using chopped up bones, browned meat, typical stock vegetables and spices. I roughly followed the cooking directions - heat to 15 psi, lower heat and cook for 45 minutes to an hour. When I turned off the heat and allowed the cooker to come to normal pressure, the result was just what I thought. The stock smelled anything but aromalicious, and the broth looked almost milky. Could the food scientists be lacking in discrimination after all?

I re-read the manual and I have to admit, it was User Error. The most important point, and I didn't pay attention the first time around, is to allow the vessel to reach full pressure, but then to reduce the heat to low, just about a simmer.

When I repeated the procedure, both for beef and for a chicken stock, I got a really fine result. I don't think the broths would be clear enough for Thomas Keller, but they were definitely workably clear, even before straining. The key is low temp, the pressure provides process intensification, and the not insignificant benefit, significantly foreshortened cooking time.

This stock doesn't need a recipe. Whatever you normally do, you achieve the usual result, only sooner. My chicken stock was what I typically do for light soup base. I used the following - all the freshest, especially this beautiful organic half breast:

One proviso, making stock in the pressure cooker is not for big yields. It is never advisable to fill the cooker with water more than 2/3 full, or 3/4 at most. And therefore, the half breast was just the right amount for 4-6 cups of water.

So next time you think stock, think Presto - there's more to your mother-in-laws' old tool-of-choice!

Diet Soup with a Pistou Splurge

Summer is time for slimming down - watching out for the body beautiful. Remember the Cabbage Soup Diet? Not too much enthusiasm from the foodie crowd. But in this post, I give it a rethink. There's no denying that a combination of fresh vegetables simmered til just done is a refreshing thought for summer, and when the calorie count is as low as 267, even with a swirl of Paula Wolfert's scrumptious version of Pistou, well, perhaps you want to read on...

Here’s a Provencal-inspired update to the old somewhat fearful diet cabbage soup. This version is still full of high fiber, low-carb vegetables, and makes an excellent fat burner meal. But the undeniable best part is the splurge of Pistou, a traditional Provencal sauce very similar to an Italian pesto, but without the nuts to add unwanted calories. I don't dare call this soup a Soup au Pistou - no beans of any kind to challenge the diet discipline here! But this soup, even before the dollop of Pistou goes on, has real flavor merit: lots of baby bell peppers, fresh fennel and savory savoy, cooked in a light vegetable broth and flavored with fresh thyme and dried orange peel. Let the calories disappear with the sip of the spoon!

Diet Soup with Pistou

The Light Vegetable Stock
(make more or even double - this stock is wonderful for poaching fish, too!)
1 large shallot, or small onion, sliced
handful of celery leaves and stem parts
handful of parsley with stems
1 small carrot, rough diced
salt and pepper to taste
large pinch of tarragon
4 cups of water
1/4 cup white wine

Simmer all the vegetables in the water for 10 minutes, then add the wine and continue to simmer 5 to 8 minutes more.
Strain out the vegetables and set aside for the soup.

The Ingredients
Do get all the vegetables and spices ready before getting started with the soup!

1 onion, diced fine
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 small whole celery heart, chopped or 4 -5 stalks
1 small fennel bulb, diced
1 package mixed color mini bell peppers, sliced in 1/4 inch rounds
1/2 savoy cabbage, cut in 1/2 inch ribbons
2 roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (the less you use, the more you lose!)
few sprigs of fresh thyme
2 -3 peels of orange rind, with as little pith as possible
pinch of bouquet garni
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups of broth
1 cup of water

For the Pistou
recipe courtesy of Paul Wolfert, Food and Wine, Aug 2006
2-1/2 cups of rough torn fresh basil leaves
1 large tomato, seeded and grated
1 scant teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
4 cloves of garlic, rough chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated cheese - Paula Wolfert suggests a Mimolette or aged Gouda.

(with deference to Paula's unerring great taste, I suggest a mix of aged Parma and gruyere as more accessible substitues)

The Preparation
Start the soup by heating the oil. Add in onions and garlic, celery and fennel and simmer, covered, 5 to 8 minutes minutes. Add in bell peppers and cabbage, and just when the cabbage begins to wilt, stir in the broth and water and all the seasonings.

Here's how fresh the veggies look after the initial simmer:

Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, 15 minutes. Add in the tomatoes and continue to cook another 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender but not mushy. Cabbage should still be bright green, not brown!

While the soup is simmering, prepare the Pistou. You will need a mortar and pestle: the basil, garlic and salt, smashed against the sides of the mortar will truly be much silkier than the results from a food processor - and its really not much work. That said, start with the salt and garlic, and work with the pestle until you have a smooth paste. Add in basil, working by handfuls, and smash against the sides until well integrated into the paste. Add in the grated tomato and continue to work with the pestle. Gradually stir in the oil until well incorporated, and finally, fold in the grated cheese. Pistou can be made somewhat ahead and refrigerated until ready to serve.

To serve, ladle the soup generously into wide soup plates, and garnish with a good spoonful full of Pistou.

And if noone is dieting, don't hold the country fresh bread. There's bound to be extra pistou to for dipping.

And for those watching their curves, here's the nutritional breakdown, per serving with 1 tablespoon of Pistou. Enjoy!

Calories 267
Protein 7 grams
Fat 14 grams
Effective carbs 21 grams

Pedaling for Soup with the Soup Peddler, and a taste of his wonderful Armenian Apricot Soup

Peddling soup for the love of it AND making money from it, too, has to be one of the best ways to spend your life - I know, I do it, at least in part: the "for the love of it" part.
But then there's David Ansel from Austin, who has one of of my favorite soup stories. His business is called The Soup Peddler, and he started out, literally, pedaling his liquid gold cargo in and around Austin, Texas, at $10 a quart, on a beat up yellow bike. He tells his heart-warming, aroma-rousing story in his off-beat, up-beat memoir,
The Soup Peddlers Slow and Difficult Soups.
A degreed software engineer, experiencing diminishing satisfaction from his job at a software development firm, David Ansel decides one day to up and quit the buzz-word culture of hip-tech, and with alarmingly little in the bank and few ideas as to what exactly he did want to do, he did just that.

The next part of his story I love:

"Finally, I had the idea that changed the course of my life. What can I do? I thought to myself.Well, I can cook alright.What can I cook? Well, I can cook soup pretty good.

So with all that financial desperation and valuable experience behind me, I sent out an email message to friends and neighbors, saying “I’ll bring you some soup next Sunday for ten bucks. Plus, I’ll bring it to you on my bike."

He goes on to tell about dragging hundreds of pounds of soup around on the hilly streets of Austin, and despite the odds, the business grew. That was 2004. Countless stories later, he's got a thriving grassroots catering business, with imaginative weekly soup offerings, and in 2005, even a book. (see above).

One of my favorite recipes from the Soup Peddler is the Armenian Apricot Soup. David Ansel features the recipe in his Fall food section, and uses dried apricots. But its June now, and apricots are very much in season, so I thought I'd give his recipe a try with fresh.

How to describe the soup?
Well, David himself does it best, and I quote from his book:

“I sat down at the computer and gave it a shot:

Dear Soupies,
This week’s soup is Armenian Apricot Soup. Now I know you all know how great Armenian soups can be, and I assure you that this one will live up to your loftiest expectations.
No good. I set my finger down on the delete key and tried again.

Dear Soupies,
This week, in your very bowl, the downy soft velvet of the apricot meets the turgid assuredness of the carrot.
Alright. One more time.

Dear Soupies,
Armenians are finally in season! We slice them extra thin so they stay tender and juicy.”

Indeed they are, and here's the soup, with quantities slightly cut down from the large kettle version in the book!

Armenian Apricot Soup

Ingredients
2 small onions, chopped
2 medium carrots, diced
1 tbspn. olive oil
1 tbspn. cumin
2 cups red lentils, rinsed
6 cups water
8 - 10 apricots; washed, halved, pitted and large diced
salt
parsley and lemon for garnish

Heat the oil in heavy bottom soup pot. Add in the onions and carrots. As soon as they soften, add the cumin, cover, and continue to sweat the vegetables with the cumin, 10 minutes.

Add the lentils and water and bring to a boil. Cook 20 minutes, until the lentils are just tender. Stir in the apricots and continue to cook for about 5 minutes until the flavors are blended.

Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth - a few little bites of apricot won't hurt the presentation. Salt once blended - just enough to tone down the acidic in the apricots. Server immediately with a garnish of parsley and a dash of lemon.

The Soup Peddler's Slow & Difficult Soups by David Ansel (Ten Speed Press, 2005)

Looking for another version?
Anya von Bremzen offers one in her nicely illustrated and funny Russian cookbook: Please to the Table.
This recipe calls for potato as a thickener and chopped tomatoes for extra flavor.

Overture to Summer - A Fruity Celery Cream Soup

English peas were gone from the market this week. Boo!
And with the departure of the peas came steadily increasing temperatures. No mistaking it's summer in southern California.
But I’m not quite ready for the arrival of tomatoes, corn and peppers, the grilling and the pies. I was thinking about what I could make that’s fresh but not so clearly summer. And then I saw the celery – beautiful thick stalks of a delicate green – tall and refreshing. Almost like a cool drink.

So I went home with my celery and made that cool drink (not with celery, I might add). Then I made this soup: a fruity celery cream soup – very light on the cream and the green, but very bright on flavor with the “sweet” addition of a tart green apple.

This soup is very low on drama - just look at the finished picture - and the soup is really quick and easy. Always a summertime plus.


The Broth
This soup would love a light chicken broth - the kind made at home with some fresh chicken and clove studded onion. If you use best store-bought, try thinning by half and heating for 15 minutes with that clove-studded onion. Vegetable stock can also work, but take care to avoid an overly spiced brand.

The Ingredients














1 small head of celery
2 onions
2 green apples
2 - 3 med. Yukon Gold potatoes
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. dried tarragon
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup whole milk
2 tbsp butter or olive oil

Making the Soup

Prep all the vegetables. The celery stalk can be cut whole, on a slight diagonal, into 3/4 inch chunks. Everything else is fine in small pieces: the soup will be pureed, so the shapes don't matter to begin.

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil/butter just until they are softened and begin to scent. Then add all the vegetables, stirring to coat nicely. Sprinkle on a little salt and pepper, finishing with the tarragon. Let the vegetable simmer 3 minutes to develop flavor.

Don't deny the senses - the aromas are heaven, and the veggies look pretty good, too:

Now add the broth and bring to boil. Allow to simmer 25 minutes and check potatoes and celery for doneness - soft but not mushy is the rule - and check the salt and pepper. Off the heat, puree with the soup, but not too much. A few small chunks help to separate the flavors as you're eating - then return to the pot. While still off the heat, stir in the cup of milk.

This soup is best served not quite hot, with a few pretty leaves from the top of the stalk and and a side of apples:

A Borscht of a Meal

There is no such thing as a light borscht. Once that dollop of sour cream goes on, all pretensions of a simple soup supper are totally undermined. So, lets go with it - the chunky hearty kind of borscht that's not only a meal in itself, but an inspiration to embellish: I am thinking now about another Eastern European delicacy - the pierogi, or little noodle dumplings, usually served as a meal or appetizer on their own.
So I thought about a nice chunky borscht with wedges of the rubiest little fresh beets, baby new potatoes and carrots, and crinkly ribbons of young savoy cabbage, cooked til just tender in a sweet-sour tomatoey broth - almost perfect. But wait, little pierogis filled with a cinnamon spiced meat filling served on the side or to mix in would be a wonderful texture surprise - a perfect contrast to the vegetables - think of the soft noodle and warm richness of the filling. The pierogis were a great idea, and, as it turned out, very easy to make - with a little help from some ready made wonton wrappers and on-hand leftovers! Just before serving, I sauteed the dumplings in a little bubbling butter to lightly brown them - an extra touch well worth the extra pan!

A grandmother's flavors re-dressed! - The Borscht with Little (wanton) Pierogi Pockets

Let's get started, none too early - the beets need a little pre-cooking, so its best to prepare for this borscht bash well ahead: from a bunch of 4 beets, take three and remove the root tail. Set in a steamer and steam 15 - 20 minutes until just tender.
Cooking the beets ahead is a great way to avoid the unwelcome flat taste of overcooked beets in traditional deli borscht.

Soup Ingredients
1 bunch of 4 medium or 6 small beets, steamed (leave one medium or 2 small beets to grate into the soup near the end - peel first!)
1 large soup carrot, peeled and cut lengthwise, then diagonally into chunks
4 - 5 small new potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 a small savoy cabbage, cut into 1/4-inch ribbons
1 medium onion, diced
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes with juice
2-3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (best, but white wine vinegar is okay too)
1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 bayleaf
pinch of marjoram or savory
salt and fresh ground pepper
4 - 5 cups good vegetable broth
handful of fresh dill
sour cream for garnish

For the Dumplings:
1 generous cup minced leftover hamburger, brisket or pot roast
1 medium onion, finely diced
chicken fat or vegetable oil to saute onions
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper
16 wonton wrappers (available in most supermarkets)
2 tablespoons butter

Note on timing: The soup needs about 35 to 40 minutes to cook, and with vegetable prep, soup can be ready in just well under an hour. To have the pierogis ready to serve as well, be sure to start dumpling prep just as soon as the soup goes up.

The Method:
Have all vegetables prepped including pre-cooked beets, all except beet(s) reserved for grating.
For the pre-cooked beets, which should now be cool, slip off the skins, half lenghtwise and cut in quarter or third crescents. Put potatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes, cabbage and bay leaf in a soup pot, add broth and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer 15 minutes; potatoes will be almost tender. Add beets, and grate the reserved beet fresh into the soup (not good to let the grated beet sit around!). Season to taste with salt and pepper, and optionally, the marjoram and/or savory. Continue to simmer another 10 minutes. Then add in vinegar and sugar, 2 tablespoons to one. Taste, then correct by adding more vinegar or sugar. Let the soup continue to cook 5 to 10 minutes to absorb and fully integrate the sweet-sour. Serve each plate with a sprinkling of chopped dill and the proverbial dollop of sour cream.

And voila! Here's how pretty it will look:

For the Dumplings, start sauteeing the onion as soon as the vegetables are in the soup pot. My favorite onion method is borrowed from Elizabeth Ehrlich's poignant food and family memoir, In Miriam's Kitchen: heat up a heavy saute pan, sprinkle in fresh ground pepper and shake to heat up, then put in the onions and stir til they sizzle and begin to turn to a golden translucent - they'll start to release some of their liquid. Then add the oil or rendered chicken fat, lower heat, and continue to saute until soft and more golden.
While onions simmer to softness, mince the meat, warm the meat in the microwave so its not refrigerator cold, and top with the spices. Remove the wontons from the package and lay them out on a lightly dusted large cookie sheet or marble. Put up a large pot of salted water to boil.

When the onions are soft, add in the pressed garlic and stir until the garlic becomes fragrant. Add the onions into meat mixture and press together to combine into a loose paste. Using a teaspoon or melon baller, measure a small amount into the center of each wonton. Fold over diagonally and press the edges edges together, using a moistened finger or fork to make a tight seal all the way around. Seal tightly around all the filling - any extra loose edges can be trimmed - not a good idea to leave the filling with any empty space. Drop the dumplings into rapidly boiling water, 6 at a time, and cook 2 to 3 minutes, max. Drain on a piece of parchment and finish the remaining batches in same way. Once ready to serve, heat a saute pan, then drop in the butter to sizzle (just like for an omelet). Quickly lift in the dumplings in two batches - don't crowd. Turn to coat and lightly brown on both sides and remove to serving plate.

Serve immediately with a garnish of parsley, with 16 dumplings, there even might be seconds!

Velvety Lentil Soup with Cherry Tomato Couli

Yet again, another lentil soup from Souperlatif.

This soup is rich and smooth, and quite different from either the lemony middle eastern lentil soups (eg, Spicy Red Lentil Soup), or the more European vegetable lentil soups with meat (eg, Winter Lentil Soup). There are just four ingredients to the soup - water, lentils, garlic and olive oil - a perfect meal idea when there's literally almost nothing in the pantry!

The soup couldn't be simpler, but simple doesn't mean quick - the lentils will need some soaking time, so do plan ahead. I loved this soup with the French Puy lentils, a petite dark green variety popular in France, which you can read about in my recent post about all kinds of lentils. For the garlic, I have tried using both smashed cloves of fresh garlic as well as a head's worth of slow roasted garlic cloves. The softened garlic sounds like it would be very yummy, but I found it a bit too overwhelming. I'd love feedback - the roasted garlic paste does have the advantage of making the finished texture of the soup more creamy, but the flavor, for my taste, was almost too much. I garnish the velvety broth with a a toasted half slice of country bread slathered with a quick tomato couli. For the couli, I use cherry tomatoes for greater intensity, a little white wine and fresh basil and thyme. Just a delicious way to start off a dinner evening of soup, salad, crusty bread and cheese.

The Soup
1-1/4 cups Puy lentils
1 head of garlic, cloves smashed and skins removed
or
1 head of garlic, slow roasted with olive oil in foil
1/4 cup good quality olive oil
6 cups water, brought to a boil
1 imported bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

A couple of hours ahead, soak the lentils in plenty of cold water. Drain and rinse.
If you elect to use roasted garlic, preheat oven to 300˚. Separate all cloves in a head of garlic, toss cloves well in 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Using a rectangle of foil, seal the cloves and as much oil as reasonably works into foil by folding together all edges, like a pocket. Roast 1 hour, or until cloves are as soft as thick cream. Once done, open the foil carefully and allow cloves to cool slightly. Squeeze the soft garlic and any oil into a dish and set aside for the soup. When adding the softened garlic to the lentils and water, reduce the amount of olive oil by half.

To start the soup, put lentils in a medium soup pot (cast iron, earthenware or stainless steel). Cover generously with water, and bring to a rapid boil. Remove from heat, and drain/rinse the lentils again. The removal of the soak and precook liquids helps to reduce the gas producing chemicals in the lentils! Meanwhile, prepare the garlic cloves by cutting the root end and smashing the clove with the side of a wide knife blade to remove the skins. Put all the olive oil, the smashed garlic cloves and bay leaf into the soup pot. Add the lentils and 6 cups of boiling water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and allow to simmer partially covered for 45 minutes. Season to taste with salt - don't over do, otherwise the lentils will absorb too much. If using fresh garlic, test the garlic - if they are not soft enough to puree, continue to simmer another 15 or 20 minutes and test again. If using roasted garlic puree, test the lentils for softness after 45 minutes - add a little more simmer time if needed to reach the right consistency. Remove bay leaf!

Using a food mill, blender or immersion blender stick, puree the lentil mixture until creamy and smooth. Return to very low heat to keep warm until serving.

The Garnish

For the Couli
1 small basket cherry tomatoes
2 or 3 fresh basil leaves, cut in thin strips
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
kosher salt
2 to 3 T. olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine

Heat olive oil in a saute pan. Add tomatoes, coating them well with the oil. Salt the tomatoes and simmer, covered until the skins burst - about 10 minutes. Raise the heat to medium high and mash down the tomatoes to release as much juice, seeds and pulp as possible. Add the wine, allow the alcohol to dissipate, then reduce the heat. Add basil and thyme, simmer uncovered at least another 15 to 20 minutes - oil should begin to separate from the wine and the pulp should be a rich red. Using a food mill or medium fine strainer, force through the tomato mixture, discarding tough skins and seeds. Set aside on a corner of the stove to keep warm for serving.

Toast thick slices of country bread, preferably not sourdough. Rub with a cut clove of garlic, then drizzle some olive oil on each slice.

To serve, place a half slice of bread in each bowl. Ladle soup over the bread, and top each slice with a generous drizzle or spoonful of the tomato couli. Serve immediately, passing around the pepper mill.

Spicy Red Lentil

Lentils scented with aromatic cumin and flavored with tangy lemon and garlic, garnished with golden crisp sautéed onions and a little cilantro: a mid-eastern style lentil soup that is both delicious and attractive, and best of all, quite quick and easy and to prepare. Since the soup is water based, no special broths are needed. And the ingredients, except the cilantro, are all pretty much kitchen staples.

I’ve adapted this recipe fusing approaches from several Middle Eastern style lentil soups. The spiciness is most common with the soup flavorings of the Gulf states or North Africa, while the red lentils are more Egyptian. Another recipe on this site, Lebanese Style Lentil Soup, has a much milder flavoring. I’ve come to love these middle eastern lentil soups, and for this I owe thanks to David Scott, author of Recipes for and Arabian Night (Pantheon 1983). His was the first cookbook of Arab recipes I acquired, and I’ve made many of his recipes my own through years of repeating and experimenting.

The Ingredients
1 cup red lentils
5 cups water
1 onion, sliced thin
4 Tbsp Olive Oil, or other good quality oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch fresh spinach or 8 oz. pkge frozen leaf spinach
juice of 1 large lemon, and quarters to server
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
salt and pepper
¼ cup loosely chopped cilantro leaves (also called coriander)

Notes on the ingredients
Frozen spinach works as well as fresh, but completely thaw the spinach and squeeze out as much of water as possible. Otherwise the spinach will turn to mush when you sauté it with the garlic!

Slicing the onion: Not easy without a high end slicer, or professional experience. But, you will find the onion is much easier to handle if you cut in half from the root to the stem end (vertically). With the cut side down, you can slice thin with greater control.

Getting Started
The lentils cook quite quickly, so it is important to have all other ingredients fully prepped or started. The onions take a good 15 or 20 minutes to simmer and caramelize, so they should go first. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil, then add the sliced onions and allow to simmer over medium low heat, stirring as needed to prevent uneven cooking.

The spinach leaves, if fresh, should be thoroughly washed, stems removed, and if large, sliced horizontally in two inch ribbons. Baby spinach doesn’t seem to work as well, but sometimes its the only fresh available. If frozen, thaw in the microwave and remove as much water as you can, as in the above note.

Bring the lentils to boil in the five cups of water, cover and reduce heat. Allow the lentils to simmer for no more than 20 minutes.

Heat the remaining oil in a skillet type pan to medium, add the garlic and gently sauté until it begins to soften (not color). Add the spinach, stirring to coat evenly until all wilted. Set aside until lentils are ready. Next, check the onions – they are done once they have reached a golden crispness. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Assembling the Soup

When lentils are cooked, add the cumin, salt and either cayenne or freshly ground pepper. Swirl in the spinach and let the soup simmer for a good five minutes to blend the flavors. Just before serving and off the heat, swirl in the lemon juice. Serve, garnishing each plate coriander leaves, caramelized onions and a squeeze of fresh lemon.

Lots of pita, lightly sprinkled with water and warmed to a gently crisp in the oven is great with the soup. Homemade hummus makes the meal divine.

Cauliflower Cress Soup

Like the Zucchini soup in the preceding post, Cauliflower Cress Soup is a really aromatic but light puree, ideal for slimming lunches, or a starter for a warm weather salad supper. There's the nuttiness of the cauliflower and the stronger flavor bite from the fresh watercress, which makes it soothing and interesting at the same time. This recipe is an even lighter version of a recipe with the same ingredients, courtesy of Martha Stewart Living. Martha Stewart uses double the butter, and suggests a chicken broth – her version is also excellent, if not as diet perfect. Don't substitute with oil or spray, though. The butter is both for flavor and texture, and doing without altogether doesn't seem to get the flavor richness for this soup.

The Broth
I like to start with a vegetable broth – here is a suggestion:
4 to 6 cups water
½ onion studded with 2 cloves
6 sprigs Italian parsley with stems.
½ carrot, cut into chunks
1 small celery stalk with leaves
1 bunch watercress, stems only (leaves are for the puree, see below!)
1 sprig fresh tarragon, if available
½ teaspoon salt

Bring all ingredients to a boil and simmer 30 minutes. Remove from heat, strain out all vegetables and reserve the broth for the recipe. Freeze any extra broth for another use.

The Soup

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 small onion, diced - or use onion and shallot mixed
1 small head of cauliflower, separated into florets
1 bunch watercress, leaves only
4 cups vegetable stock (see above)
1 cup water
2 thinly sliced radishes and parsley leaves for garnish

Melt butter and add diced onions in a saucepan large enough to accommodate all the soup. Sautee, covered, over low heat to for 10 minutes. Steaming under cover allows the onions to simmer using less fat!

Add the broth and water and cauliflower, and bring to a boil. Simmer until the cauliflower is soft. Stir in the watercress leaves, but do not cook. Puree the soup in batches, or, using a stick blender, blend right in the saucepan. Season with additional salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Pour soup into serving bowls, and garnish with thin radish slices and a few leaves of parsley.

Zucchini Soup

A delicate but satisfying vegetable puree to enjoy as a springtime lunch. Follow with slices of chilled fresh pears.

The Broth – Chicken or Vegetable
Use 1 cup of a light chicken broth, like the one following
5 cups water
1 whole chicken breast, with bones but with skin removed
1/2 onion, studded with 2 cloves
1 medium leek, sliced in 1 inch rings
1 carrot, cut in chunks
1 celery stalks and some celery leaves, cut into 2 inch pieces
4 parsley stems, whole
1/2 tsp salt
Simmer all ingredients together for 40 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside for another dish. Strain the broth and discard the vegetables.

Or, for a light veggie broth, omit the chicken, double the celery and add in a teaspoon of minced tarragon.


The Vegetables
4 cups diced zucchini
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 T minced parsley and freshly ground pepper for garnish

For the Soup
2 tablespoons of chopped onion
2 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of broth (see above)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
or, subsitute for the broth and salt
1 cup water with 1 chicken bouillon cube

Dice zucchini and soak in ice cold water with a dash of salt for 20 minutes, then drain in a colander. While zucchini is soaking, chop the onion and parsley.
Sauté onion and butter in saucepan. When onion is translucent, add broth, zucchini, and salt; mix well. Cook until zucchini is tender –no more than 10 minutes. Combine the zucchini mixture with parsley and process in batches in a blender until smooth. Serve immediately garnished with fresh parsley and pepper.

4 servings; 2 carb grams per serving.

Sopa de Albondigas - The Recipe

Mexican Meatball Soup is a very light broth soup, with lots of vegetables that are happily almost always in season, and savory soft meatballs. Herbs are essential for the meatballs and the broth - fresh oregano or dried, some tarragon, mint and thyme for the broth. The vegetables, cut larger than usual, like carrots, squash, zucchini and potatoes, and the soup is garnished at serving with cilantro and fresh lime. This soup is definitely both fresh and hearty.

Getting Started:
As always, broth is key. I started early in the day with a light chicken broth - a whole small chicken simmered with celery, carrot chunks, a medium onion studded with clove, lots of parsely, a couple of pinches of dried tarragon and a tsp. of salt. You can always add more salt and pepper later.

While the broth is simmering, cook up a cup of rice, part of which will be used in the meatballs, and the rest will go into the soup.

Still not ready to make soup: the meatballs should be started a good hour before the soup is assembled. This gives the meat and spices a chance to bond. The meatballs loosely covered can rest in a cool place or in the refrigerator for an hour or two. Once the broth and meatballs are prepped and ready, the vegetables take little time to prepare. The soup itself, with vegetables and meatballs, doesn't need more than a 30 minute simmer. While this soup tastes wonderful the second day (just like a minestrone), longer initial cooking won't add a thing. This soup needs to showcase the freshness of the vegetables and herbs, and with overcooking, the root vegetables get too sweet and the herbs turn bitter.

The Broth
1 small soup chicken, washed and trimmed of excess skin and fat
2-3 qts water
1 medium onion, studded with 2 or 3 cloves
2 carrots, cut in chunks
2 celery stalks and some celery leaves, cut into 2 inch pieces
8 - 10 parsley stems
2 stalks of fresh tarragon, or 1 heaping teaspoon of dried
1 tsp salt

Put the chicken in a stock pot, add water and bring to a boil. Salt water, and as foam forms, skim as much as you can. When foam subsides, add vegetables and herbs, lower heat to a bare simmer and continue cooking 1-1/2 hrs, or until chicken is well poached, with meat falling of the bone. Remove chicken to a plate to cool, then strain the broth through a fine strainer.

The Meatballs
1/2 lb good ground beef. Sirloin is great - avoid very lean chopped beef.
1/2 lb good ground pork or turkey. Pork + sirloin is a great flavor combo - turkey is 2nd best.
1/4 cup yellow corn meal
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup cooked rice
1 egg
1 tsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh oregano (use less dry)
1 Tbsp. minced parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Mix the corn meal and milk. Let stand 5 minutes. Beat the egg and add to the corn meal and milk. Put the meats in a bowl and work with a fork to break down the meat into a fine mash. Add the seasonings, rice and herbs and continue to work with a fork. Add the egg-cornmeal mixture and continue to work meat into a uniform mass. Form meat into 1 inch balls - you should have about 20. Arrange on a plate, covering loosely with plastic wrap and set aside in a cool place for a goo hour or two.

The Vegetables
2 Mexican zucchini squash, halved lengthwise and thick sliced
2 Carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal into 1/4 inch slices
1/2 Butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch dice
2 - 3 medium potatoes - California whites or reds are best - peeled and cut into 1 inch dice
1 medium onion, sliced in 1/4 inch thick rounds
1 cup cooked rice
1 cup canned diced tomatoes with some juice
1 sprig fresh spearmint
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 - 3 sprigs fresh oregano
Chopped Cilantro and lime to garnish

Heat broth to boiling, add the onions and carrots, and once the water comes back to a boil, add the potatoes, squash, zucchini, tomatoes and herbs. Drop in the meatballs and simmer at gentle rolling boil for about 25 minutes. Stir in cook rice. Serve the soup with the chopped cilantro and squeeze fresh lime into each bowl.

Soyer's Soup - Soup for the Poor, or Poor Soup

Alexis Soyer claimed that a meal of his soup once a day, together with a biscuit was sufficient to sustain the strength of a strong healthy man. Not everyone agreed. He was somewhat ridiculed in Punch, where it was said that Soyer's soup was not Soup for the Poor, but rather, Poor Soup!

Here is the recipe he published:

12-1⁄2 lbs leg of beef
100 gallons of water
6-1/4 lbs drippings
100 onions and other vegetables
25 lbs each of flour (seconds) and pearl barley
1-1/2 lbs brown sugar
9 lbs salt

So, lets see. If you divide the ingredients by 50 to put things in a more graspable framework, you'll quickly say, "where's the BEEF?"

4 oz. or 1/2 cup Beef
8 quarts water
2 oz. or 1/4 cup drippings
2 onions
8 oz. or 1 cup flour 8 oz. or 1 cup barley
1/2 oz. or 1 tsp. brown sugar
3 oz or 1/3 cup salt

I have tried this soup recipe two ways: The first interpreted the soup as a beef and barley soup, with nicely browned sliced onions in the thickened broth. I added a diced carrot, an enhancement, but rather modest. Bay leaf and pepper would have helped, but I refrained. The soup was a bit thin in flavor, but not what I would call "poor" at all. Browning the onions and meat with the sugar actually did bring out more flavor than I thought possible. A second version was faithful to the ingredients list, but the presentation was a bit different. Instead of thickening the soup with a flour-drippings roux, I used the flour, some drippings. a bit of the broth and an egg to make little flour dumplings. The soup was a broth made from the browned onions and meat, thickened slightly by the barley, with lots of small dumplings in each serving. Both versions were better than Campbells!

Potato Veloute

The Broth
2 cups whole milk (or 2%)
2 cups water
1/4 whole onion, studded with a clove
1 Bay Leaf
Warm the milk and water in a saucepan with the onion and bay leaf. Just before it starts to boil and foam, turn off heat and allow the mixture to steep.

Vegetables
1/2 lb potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 leek, slice lengthwise and diced (white and tender green parts only)
1/4 celery root, diced
1 to 2 tbsp butter
Prep vegetables. Melt butter in a medium soup pot, and sautee leek 10 minutes until slightly softened over medium to low heat - leek will finish cooking in the broth. Add potato and celery root and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and a dash of white pepper.

Ingredients to finish the soup
Have ready
1/4 cup creme fraiche
or
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup minced parsley

To make the soup, remove bay leaf and onion from the steeped broth and add the warm broth to the sauteed vegetables. Bring to a boil. Simmer gently on low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, or until vegetables are very tender when pieced with a fork. Using a hand blender, puree the soup until completely smooth and creamy. (Alternatively, blend in a blender in several batches and return to the the soup pot).

Reheat the soup, being careful not to boil. Taste for seasoning. Slowly add in the creme fresh or cream, stirring constantly. Re-taste and correct pepper, if needed. Serve warm, not piping hot, with minced parsley.

A light salad of baby greens is best. Try a fruity dressing of raspberry vinaigrette with a dash of lemon.

Smoky Split Pea Soup with Butter Toasted Croutons

Even in the southern California where I live, there are crispy Fall days when you can't get enough of being outside. For us, it was leaf raking and Fall tree pruning, and after a few hours I sneaked away to make a soup for ruddy cheeks and chapped hands!

Tonight's menu was a split pea soup with gently smoked pork chops, served with a garnish of fresh parsley and buttery toasted croutons, accompanied by a glass of ice cold Kirsch. Since I lightened the soup considerably from the traditional recipe, we could guiltlessly enjoy a dessert of sauteed apples and vanilla ice cream, with Lenotre's incomparable caramel sauce!

How the soup was lightened? The secret to avoid that thick as pea soup grog, which tires the tummies with all the mushy starch, was to use fewer split peas, proportionally more vegetables, and smoked pork chops instead of the usual ham bone, gelatinous pork hocks and smoked sausage. For meat, I chose a small amount of salt pork to help season the vegetables as they sauteed, then gently browned the diced pork chops before adding to the soup to help maximize their flavor. A 1/2 glass of white wine towards the end also helped to enrich the flavor without adding heaviness.

And, here is the recipe, for 4:

The Broth
6 cups water
1/2 onion studded with 2 cloves
Generous tsp of salt
Bay leaf
In a small saucepan, bring the water to boil with the half onion, cloves, bay leaf and salt. Simmer a few minutes, turn off and set aside for later.

Vegetables
1 cup Green Split Peas
1 cup diced onions
3/4 cup diced carrots (~ 2 carrots)
3/4 cup diced celery (1 to 2 stalks)
3/4 cup diced leek (1 leek)
3/4 cup diced celery root (1/4 the root)
Wash and pick over split peas. (Though rare nowadays, dried beans can have a stone or two mixed into the package!) Put beans with double the amount of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer two minutes and turn off heat. Let stand stand for at least 30 minutes while the rest of the ingredients are prepped.
Dice onions and reserve separately from other vegetables. Next, dice and set aside altogether the leek, celery and carrots. Large dice the celery root (see my separate posting about this marvelous vegetable!) and keep apart from the other vegetables.

Meat
1/4 cup salt pork, diced
3 smoked pork chops
In a medium soup pot, sautee the diced salt pork over low to medium heat to render as much of the fat as possible. Add a little light oil if the pork starts to stick. The rendering can take a good 15 minutes, so its good to start this before once the peas are up and before the veggies are prepped.
The smoked pork chops can be lightly browned once the soup is constituted.

Garnish
3-4 thick slices good crusty bread, 1/2 inch cubes
2 tbspns butter - 1 tbspn light olive oil
1/4 cup minced curly parsely
Croutons can be made while the soup is simmering. Don't wait to the last minute - they take a good 15 minutes to toast up. A heavy cast iron skillet is great for toasting croutons. Ready the pan early by heating with a coat of good Start with a cooking spray is fine.

Miscellaneous
light olive oil, as needed
1/2 cup white wine
salt and freshly ground pepper

Assembling the soup
Add onions to the rendered salt pork and continue cooking over medium heat until the onions are translucent. Lower heat slightly, add the leeks-carrots-celery and sautee 8 minutes. Season with a sprinkle of salt. Remove and discard the studded onion from the seasoned water, rain and rinse the pre-soaked split peas, and add peas and broth to the vegetables along with the celery root. Bring the soup to a boil, partially cover and reduce heat to a lively simmer. Soup should cook at 30 to 40 minutes.

While the soup is cooking lightly brown over moderate heat the diced smoked pork chops in a pan coated with a little cooking spray. Immediately add the meat to continue cooking with with the soup.

Once the meat is in, begin preparing the toasted croutons. Melt butter and oil together in the microwave. Toss the cubed bread in a preheated seasoned iron skillet. As the bread begins to get dry and color, drizzle on some of the oil-butter, and toss to coat. Continue to add drizzle, turning and tossing the bread cubes so that all sides get brown and crusty. Once bread is golden brown, lower heat or set pan to the back of the stove while the soup is finished.

Raise the heat on the soup to a rapid boil, add 1/2 a glass of white wine or more. Let the soup bubble while you finely chop the parsley.

To serve, ladle a good helping of mostly meat and vegetables into each bowl, season with fresh pepper and parsley and then add a ladle of broth. Bring the skillet of toasted bread to the table and spoon a handful onto each bowl - croutons should sizzle as they land! Don't forget the kirsch!

Winter Lentils

This is an update to a traditional European lentil soup made with brown lentils, vegetables and plenty of sausage. The original was often too thick, heavy and starchy after the long simmering of the lentils, and leftovers were a trial.
By simmering the lentils first in seasoned water, less starch leaches into the soup once they're added. The vegetables, when sauteed, taste richer and end up taking the flavor lead, as they should.

The Broth:
2 cups of stock (beef, chicken or vegetable)
3 cups water
Thaw and heat all liquids. Adjust quantities of flavored broths to your taste. Broth should be light, without a strong beef or chicken imprint, and undersalted. More seasonings are later!.

Vegetables:
1 onion, diced
1 onion, whole
1 leek
2 carrots
2-3 celery stalks
2-3 medium red potatoes
1 cup lentils
Peel and small dice all vegetables except potatoes, which should be peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
Prep lentils by rinsing under cold water.

Seasonings and Other Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. Light olive oil and butter
Pinch of Thyme
Bayleaf
2 Cloves
Cider Vinegar
Sugar
Salt and Fresh pepper

Garnish Meats:
Kielbasa, veal sausage, German style frankfurters, good quality beef franks or other smoked sausage

Making the soup:

Add lentils, whole peeled onion studded with 2 cloves, bayleaf. Cover all ingredients amply with water. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer 20 minutes.

While lentils simmer, heat oil and butter (roughly half and half) in heavy bottom dutch oven or soup pot. Over medium to low heat, saute onions 5 minutes. Add leeks, continuing to saute at least 5 to 8 minutes. Then add carrots and celery, again for 5 minutes. Lastly, toss in the potatoes to coat with the oil. Sprinkle vegetables with thyme, salt and pepper, stirring with a wooden spoon to warm the seasonings and release the flavors. Taste to correct seasoning.

Remove studded onion from the lentils and drain in medium strainer. Do not rinse lentils.

Add stock and water to the soup pot, bring to a lively simmer and add drained lentils and bayleaf. Continue cooking 20 to 30 minutes - not more, or the vegetables will loose their fresh taste. Before bringing the soup to the table, stir in a teaspoon to a tablespoon of cider vinegar, then a pinch of sugar if needed. Be careful not to overdo the vinegar, particularly if the sweet-sour is a newer taste for your family.

If serving the soup with meat, heat the franks separately in a saucepan barely covered with water. Smoked sausage, and alternatively the franks, should be pan sauteed to remove excess fat, turning them often until they start to brown. Before serving, cut the franks in half and thick slice larger sausages. Serve meat mixed in a shallow serving dish with plenty of mustard and crusty bread to go around.