Posts Tagged “soup”
I promise that you have never tasted anything quite like this. It is nothing – and I mean NOTHING – like the beet borsht that my mother poured out of Manischewitz bottle and topped with a boiled potato and sour cream
This soup is nothing short of spectacular.
Most minestrones I have known (and loved) are heavy, rich and satisfying on a cold winter day. This wonderful spring minestrone is rich, but it is also light and bright and filled the best of spring produce: peas, asparagus, artichokes. A perfect vehicle to use up the last of the ramps.
Turns out this chowder is really good. The most important thing is to get the best smoked salmon filet you can find and can afford. I like my soups so thick they are borderline stews and you get that here. Also the flavor is really rich and deep. It’s a good soup for any time of year.
I experimented a lot making this soup, tasting a lot of French onion soup along the way. I did it all on your behalf.
Here’s what I learned.
1) Like most soups, this one is best if you make it a day in advance. Two days is even better.
2) Use Gruyère cheese and plenty of it.
Every year my son Josh (the chef) contributes his winter squash soup our Thanksgiving dinner`. It is stunningly amazing. Sweet with just a touch of tartness and rich and complex with a bit of a kick, this soup is perfect for these days of changing weather.
I think I’ve only had egg-lemon soup in a Chicago Greek-style diner and I’ve probably not had a really good version of it, but what I’ve had has tasted both a little too thin and a little too “sharp” or acidic for my taste. Plus it’s so monchromatic. So blond. How could food be interesting when it’s white, beige and white? That’s why this recipe was a real eye-opener for me.
Just when I began to think that summer was the new normal, everything changed. The air became thinner. The light changed. The blue of the sky intensified. And then the temperature dropped. Thirty degrees – literally overnight. And suddenly I wanted something that simmered on the stove for hours, suspending its fragrance throughout the house. It is time for braising. It is time for soups.
The cucumber vine I have growing in a pot on the deck in back is pretty darn prolific. So what in the heck do you do with all those long, thick cucumbers that pop up unexpectedly day after day? [Girl, take your mind out of the gutter right now.]
I love gazpacho, Fellow FoodBeest, but I would never make it without the freshest seasonal ingredients. If you try to use the usual packaged supermarket tomatoes, your soup will be red, but totally lacking in the flavor we are looking for. It’s not necessary to grow your own, but it is especially satisfying if you are growing your own produce and suddenly find yourself with an abundance of summer produce like I did this morning.
Garlic soup happens to be a perfect soup for this brink-of-summer season. It’s not what you would think. It’s sweet and smooth and creamy and it’s good hot, cold or room temperature. I dare you to try it. I double-dare you.
