Recently in Soup Category

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When I'm sick, there's not much better than a hot bowl of soup. Last week, I was still fighting the dregs of this awful cold, and John offered to make me soup. We picked up a new cookbook at Costco the other day, Everyday Food: Great Food Fast">Everyday Food: Great Food Fast'>Great Food Fast. I liked it because there were pictures of every recipe, as well as prep time and cooking time for each. So far we've been pleased with the results.

Ingredients

• 28 oz chicken broth
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• Red pepper flakes
• 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms
• 3-4 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 3 scallions

Directions

Remove the stems from the mushrooms and slice them. Beat the egg well and set aside.

In a large pot (at least 4.5 quarts), combine the chicken broth, soy sauce, red pepper flakes and 2 cups of water. Bring the pot to a boil and add the mushrooms.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk the rice vinegar and cornstarch together to form a thick syrup. Add to the pot and cook for another minute or two, until the soup thickens.

Take a slotted spoon and pour the well beaten egg into the pot through the spoon. This is what creates the ribbons of egg in the soup. It probably won't look "right" as you pour in the egg, but trust me, it will sort itself out.

Take the grated ginger and squeeze any juice you can out of it. We used a fine sieve for this, but cheesecloth would work better. Add the ginger to the soup and taste. You could add more red pepper, more vinegar, or more soy sauce if desired.

Top with sliced scallions.

Our notes: This was quite tasty. I've had better hot and sour soup at restaurants, but not often. We omitted tofu because I'm not a big fan of the texture, but you could certainly add some in after you add the egg. Even though it's not common, I'd even consider adding some shredded chicken to the pot for a complete meal.

This winter was especially brutal in Seattle. We had more days below 40 than above, the winds were stingingly cold, and the air was quite dry. I wore my heavy wool coat and gloves nearly every day and I was still freezing every time I had to venture outside. We had snow that stuck around for a few days (a rarity here) and numerous fires in the fireplace.

What better meal to come home to on a day like this than a hearty winter soup?

This recipe couldn't have been much easier. All of the vegetables were either local or organic. Usually we would use Skagit River Ranch sausage, however since they were on vacation, we ended up at Whole Foods instead. Next time I make this (and I will make it again) I'll use mushrooms from Foraged and Found and Skagit's hot Italian sausage.

Ingredients

• 3 carrots
• 3 stalks of celery
• 1 medium onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 8 ounces Italian sausage
• 8 ounces mushrooms
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 1/2 cups beef broth
• 2 1/2 cups mushroom broth
• Crushed red pepper
• Sea salt
• Pepper
• 3 tablespoons fresh thyme
• 7 ounces farro
• Olive oil

Directions

First, the prep work.

Chop the carrots, celery, and onion.

Mince the garlic.

Slice the mushrooms.

Cut the sausages into pieces.

Mince the thyme.

Now onto the recipe. In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic and saute until the onions are soft.

Add the sausage and cook until slightly browned.

Add the mushrooms. They will start to release water into the pot. When they have released most of their water, add the tomatoes (and their juice), red wine, both broths, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, thyme, and farro.

Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until the farro is tender.

Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

Another day, another excuse to use my immersion blender. We bought some fennel at the farmers market last week, intending to make a fennel and shaved parmesan salad, but we just never got around to it. As the fennel lay wilting in our refrigerator. John dug up this recipe. I encourage you to read the whole post, as they go into a lot of information about fennel that I won't pretend to have thoroughly read.

So, after some chopping, boiling, blending, and some disastrous attempts at making parmesan cheese tubes, here's what we ended up with.

So in that picture, you've got two parmesan cheese tubes dunked in a bowl of soup with some diced apples and bacon thrown in for garnish.

Before I go any further, I should tell you what we thought.

The soup was good. It wasn't amazing, or knock-your-socks-off, or rich or the most flavorful that we've ever had, but it was good. It was light, and both sweet and tart. We both agreed that this was more of a summer soup than a winter soup and we even want to try it cold.

Now that I've possibly not convinced you to try this, I'll tell you how to make it.

Ingredients:

• 3 local and organic baby fennel bulbs
• 3 organic celery stalks
• 1 local and organic onion
• 2 cloves of local and organic garlic
• 1 tsugaru apple (local)
• Water
• Salt and pepper
• 3/4 cup organic heavy cream
• 3 slices bacon (optional)
• 1/2 tsugaru apple (optional)

Chop all of the vegetables and the apple in coarse chunks. You use the entire fennel bulb, from root to fern-like tip. Throw all of chopped ingredients in a soup pot and cover with water. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.

Use your immersion blender to puree the soup. Add some heavy cream. The original recipe called for a cup, but since we're trying to watch our calorie intake, I used less than 3/4 of a cup. It just didn't seem to need any more. Stir and add salt and pepper to taste.

Before serving, crisp a slice or two of bacon and crumble in the bottom of the bowl. Dice half an apple and add some of that to the bowl as well. Top with soup and a parmesan cheese tube (see below).  

Parmesan Cheese Tubes

The original recipe showed these beautiful parmesan cheese tubes with large basil leaves wrapped up in them. We've tried shaping baked cheese before with horrible results. But I was game to try again.

My first attempt was a failure. The cheese circles, which were supposed to bake for 7-9 minutes, were smoking after 3. When I pulled them out of the smoking oven, they were more like lace than cheese. I tried to shape them and it just didn't take.

In hindsight, there were two issues. First, I used asiago instead of parmesan. Second, I used way too little cheese. My second attempt, however, was very nearly successful.

All you need to do is pile about a quarter cup of cheese on a silpat. This is important. Do not try to make these without a silpat.

Add some spices on top and place in a 350 oven for 7-9 minutes. When they are done, they should look very much like the picture here. Let the cheese cool for 2 minutes, and then roll into a tube.

Last week at the farmers market, John picked up some lamb sausage. We didn't know what we were going to do with it, but that never seems to stop us from shopping.

After a very quick web search, I found a recipe for Red Lentil, Potato, and Lamb Sausage soup. After a few edits, and about an hour, it looked like this.

We each ate two bowls.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound local and organic lamb sausage from Sea Breeze Farms
• 1 local and organic onion
• 2 cloves of local and organic garlic
• 1 stalk of organic celery
• 1 cup of red lentil beans
• 1 cup of canned organic tomatoes
• 1 pound local and organic new potatoes from Olsen Farms
• 6 cups local, organic, homemade chicken stock
• Salt and pepper
• Cinnamon
• Cumin
• Cayenne
• Ginger

Directions

In a large soup pot, cook the sausage until well browned. With a slotted spoon, remove the sausage and reserve in a bowl. You should have a tablespoon or two of rendered fat left in the soup pot.

Mix the spices in a bowl. I used about half a teaspoon of each. Add the onion, garlic, celery, lentils, and spices. Stir frequently for about 6 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until the mixture starts to bubble.

Add the potatoes and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.

Use an immersion blender and blend as much of the soup as you'd like. I left a few chunks of vegetables and it gave a nice texture to the mix. Add the sausage and heat through (about another 5-6 minutes).

I will definitely be making this again.

This month's diet goal is to add more fiber to our diet. Fajitas are great, since we can use high fiber tortillas and lots of veggies. It's also a good time of year for soups. So our first soup endeavor of the fall was Thai Carrot Soup from the Moosewood Restaurant New Classics cookbook.

This recipe is in two steps. The first requires you to make Lemongrass Stock.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups water
• 3 fresh lemongrass stalks, coarsely chopped
• 2 celery stalks (I skipped these)
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 3 inch slice of fresh ginger, peeled
• Some peppercorns
• Some salt
• Some coriander seeds (optional)

The onion, carrot and ginger were local and organic.

Directions:

These couldn't be simpler. Put all of the ingredients in the pot and boil for 45 minutes. Done.

Now, onto the soup.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons Grapeseed Oil
• 2 cups chopped organic onions
• 2 minced organic garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon grated organic ginger root
• 1 fresh organic chile (as hot as you want it)
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 cup chopped organic fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped organic red bell peppers
• 4 cups peeled and chopped organic carrots
• Pinch of salt
• Lemongrass Stock
• 14 ounces of coconut milk
• Chopped organic cilantro for garnish

Directions:

Heat the oil in a medium sized soup pot. Add the onions and saute them for 10 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, chile, and coriander and cook for 1 minute.

Next, add the tomatoes, peppers, carrots, salt, and stock and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the coconut milk. Puree the soup (preferably with an immersion blender) and garnish with cilantro before serving.