This FoodBeest only recently learned about Yotam Ottolenghi. He’s the hottest chef in London and, although not strictly vegetarian, he is the man who sexed up vegetables for the rest of us.

An Israeli-born food writer and chef, Ottolenghi has apparently charmed London foodies, nearly out of their white truffle oil.

His cooking style, while an outgrowth of his Middle Eastern roots, is neither ethnic nor fusion. He does enhance the flavors and textures of the region: Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran, Israel and Armenia with a modern and western sensibility. Were that we could do that with international relations.

This recipe comes from his column in the Manchester Guardian. I apologize in advance, Fellow FoodBeest, for taking liberties with such a noted chef’s creation. My beets were golden instead of red and I used ramps (wild onions) instead of spring onions. I bet they don’t even have ramps in England. But it is my kitchen and I get to say. Just like in your kitchen you get to say.

Still, I am totally enamored of Yolem and his food. And I am certain that more of his recipes and ideas will show up here as they are showing up in my little Chicago kitchen.

Some people say they don’t like beets. If that describes you, Fellow FoodBeest, this is no time to turn away. 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.

I highly recommend that you let the soup sit in the fridge overnight, or for up to two days, so the flavors develop. You, seriously, won’t believe how amazing this soup is.

Ottolenghi’s intention is that you serve it on a hot day with the ice slowly melting into the soup. For a less dramatic, but no less delicious option, add a bit of cold water to get a smooth and soup-like (no, I didn’t say soupy!) texture..

What You Need to Make Yolem Ottolenghi’s Beet Borsht

2½ lb beets
[I used golden beets; the red ones make a different color soup. Duh.]
5 spring onions
[I used – of course – ramps instead]
2 cucumbers, peeled, deseeded and cut into rough chunks
3 celery stalks from the tender yellowish center, stems and leaves roughly chopped
8 oz crème fraiche
3 T balsamic vinegar
3 T olive oil
1 T + 1 t maple syrup
Salt and white pepper
11 oz ice, crushed (or ½ C cold water)

How You Make Yolem Ottolenghis Beet Borsht
Heat the oven to 400 F. Wrap each beet individually in foil and bake for an hour to an hour and a half, until a knife goes in easily. Set the beets aside until they cool, then peel and cut into rough chunks.

Cut off the white ends of the spring onions (or ramps) and put these in the bowl of a food processer. Save the green parts as garnish. Put the beets, cucumber, celery and 4 oz of the crème fraise into the food processor and blitz that puppy until it is smooth. Add the balsamic vinegar, oil, maple syrup, ¾ teaspoon of salt and a pinch of white pepper, and pulse to combine.

Put the soup in an airtight container and refrigerate, overnight if possible.

Next day, ladle the soup between six small bowls. Sprinkle the ice chips on top and then add a dollop of crème fraiche to each serving. Finely slice the green part of the onions or ramps, sprinkle them over the top and serve.

Ok, so you must think I’m obsessed, Fellow FoodBeest. And you are probably right.

Remember Bubba in Forrest Gump? That would be me. Ramps. “You can barbecue ‘em, boil ‘em, broil ‘em, bake ‘em, saute ‘em. Dey’s uh, ramp-kabobs, ramp creole, ramp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple ramps, lemon ramps, coconut ramps, pepper ramps, ramp soup, ramp stew, ramp salad, ramps and potatoes, ramp burger, ramp sandwich. That- that’s about it.”

It was Sunday afternoon and I didn’t feel like working hard. I also didn’t feel like eating anything heavy. Ordering in would mean pizza or barbeque or Chinese and I didn’t feel like any of those. Soup seemed right. I wanted something filling but nothing too hearty. It was spring and getting warm.

And then I came across a recipe for spring minestrone. 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, which will substitute for garlic and green onions.

Use a vegetable broth and you have a totally vegetarian meal.

And the pesto is much more gentle than traditional pesto because the ramps replace the rough raw garlic flavor and what you get is still vibrant and sunny and evocative of nice green things growing. It accompanies the soup, but your leftovers freeze well and would be awesome on pasta, in risotto or to toss potatoes in.

Spring Ramp Minestrone

What You Need To Make Spring Ramp Minestrone
2 T olive oil
1 bunch of green ramp wings (3- 4 oz)
1 lb baby potatoes, or Yukon gold potatoes
1 15-oz can of diced tomatoes
1 quart vegetable or chicken stock
Salt
½ lb artichoke hearts (fresh or frozen – not canned), chopped roughly
1 15-oz can of chickpeas
1 C peas (fresh or frozen)
½ lb asparagus, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 C greens (dandelion, chard, spinach, kale, arugula, etc), sliced into thin ribbons [I used kale]
About ¼ C basil/ramp pesto
Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese for garnish

How to Make Spring Minestrone
Wash the ramps carefully and chop them. Slice the potatoes and artichoke hearts into chunks you could easily eat with a spoon.

In a large pot set over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil for 1 minute. Add the ramps and sauté, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the potatoes, stir to combine and cook 1 minute.

Add the diced tomatoes with their liquid and the quart of vegetable or chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, add salt to taste, then cover and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

Add the artichoke hearts and cook another 5 minutes, then add the chickpeas and green peas and cook another 5 minutes. Remove the cover from the soup and add the asparagus. Cook 2 minutes. Add the greens, stir well to combine and cook 1 minute.

Turn off the heat and serve the soup hot with a dollop of pesto and a nice sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese atop each bowl
Serves 6.

Basil/Ramp Pesto

What You Need to Make Basil/Ramp Pesto
2 C fresh basil leaves
1 C chopped ramp wings
2 T pine nuts (pignolis)
¼ C walnuts or pecans
¼ C olive oil
¼ C grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

How To Make Basil/Ramp Pesto
Wash the basil leaves and ramp wings carefully by swirling them in a bowl of water and then spinning them dry in a salad spinner.

Put the pine nuts and walnuts or pecans in the bowl of a food processer or blender. Process for 15 seconds. Add the basil leaves, ramp wings, salt and pepper. With the food processor or blender, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is well pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for another minute.

You can use this right away or store it in the refrigerator or freezer. A thin film of olive oil on top will help preserve the color and freshness.

Post note: The leftover basil/ramp pesto was awesome for a very fast and simple dinner on penne with sautéed shrimp (thank you Bubba) and a few cut-in-half grape tomatoes. How do you use ramps, Fellow FoodBeest?

Cooking isn’t brain surgery, Fellow FoodBeest. Most recipes won’t implode if you don’t follow them to the letter. Sometimes you do want to do exactly what a recipe proscribes so you get the exact result you are reproducing.

Other times you go with the flow.

If you find yourself with only two shallots and the recipe calls for four, you don’t necessarily have to run out to buy two more shallots. Let’s face it, there are little bitty shallots and great big ones. The difference in weight can be a much as 100 percent. So go ahead and use the two you have. Doesn’t seem like enough? Add a little finely chopped sweet onion to round it out. It’s a close substitution.

Does the recipe call for heavy cream and you don’t want that much fat in your diet? Use half and half. Or milk. Or a combination. It won’t be quite as rich, but you’re not committing a sin you need to confess to the local food police.

You can’t find your dill? Ok. Use a little thyme. Or even oregano. The resulting dish will have a bit of a different flavor profile, but if you are using what you like and you keep tasting, you’re going to be fine.

Your doctor said to stay away from butter? Ok. Use a little olive oil in its place.

Chowder (or “Chowda”) is a seafood soup or stew that originated in New England and the Atlantic seaboard as a poor man’s food. It was made up of what could be found in the garden and then highlighted with a bit of whatever part of the day’s catch a fisherman brought home. The chowder was traditionally served with hardtack crackers to thicken it.

This is about the only “chowda” I’ve ever made that didn’t start with salt pork or bacon. Rendered bacon fat is nice for sautéing veggies and bacon’s smoky flavor adds a lot of depth to the soup. If smoked salmon is the fish you use, the flavor bacon adds may be a bit redundant. You will have enough of that sooty, woody flavor that you really don’t need it.

Want more corn? Use a 15 oz can instead of the little one. Want it richer? Use heavy cream or more half and half. Can’t find chives? The green parts of scallions will do nicely.

Turns out this chowder is really good. 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.

You might like it served with a lightly dressed green salad and a crusty, chewy loaf of bread instead of hardtack.

What You Need to Make Smoked Salmon Chowder
1 T butter
4 small shallots (about 4 oz), chopped fine
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 C clam juice
1 C water
1 bay leaf
1 lb. smoked salmon filet, flaked up into bite-sized pieces
[This is the most important element. We're not talking about lox here. Use the best smoked salmon filet you can find and can afford]
1 lb red skin potatoes, cubed with skin on
8 oz can cream-style corn
[if it's in season, I would use fresh corn cut off the cob]
1 C milk
½ C half and half
1 T copped fresh chives
1 T chopped fresh dill (or 1½ t dried dill)
Salt and pepper to taste

How You Make Smoked Salmon Chowder
Melt butter in a large, heavy saucepan over low to medium heat. Add the shallots and celery with a pinch of salt. Sauté gently until soft. Add the clam juice, water and bay leaf. Simmer 10 minutes.

Add the potatoes and corn. Simmer another 15 minutes.

Add the milk and the half and half. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep tasting. You can always add more. It’s darn near impossible to take salt or pepper out once its in.

Stir in the smoked salmon and herbs. Continue to simmer for another 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, taste again, adjust seasonings as necessary, and serve.

How do you alter recipes, Fellow FoodBeest? Do you go out of your way to avoid – or add – fat?Do you hate some ingredient and always avoid it? How would you change this one to suit your needs, your preferences, and what’s in your pantry? Let us know in the comment section below.

It’s nearly March in Chicago and spring can’t come soon enough. One way to ward off the last remains of winter is with hearty, filling, French Onion Soup. It is a French phenomenon: sweet and savory, gooey and cheesy. Now it can be your phenomenon, Fellow FoodBeest.

A legendary soup that seemed to have developed in Lyon, there are many variations of French onion soup. One thing for sure, Fellow FoodBeest, this soup needs a lot of onions cooked slowly, sloowly, slooowly to bring out all their sweetness. But I think the best part is the lots of ooey-gooey, nutty, stretchy Gruyère cheese melted on top of the French croutons that you will float in the soup.

This recipe, adapted from Cooks Illustrated uses a novel approach to the onions by cooking them for 3 hours in the oven, rather than on the stovetop.

I experimented with it a lot because I just wasn’t sure what I wanted. I tried it on different days. I tried different kinds cheeses (mozzarella, provolone, parmesan and Gruyère) I tried the cheese sliced and grated. I tried different quantities of different cheeses. I ate a lot of French onion soup. At one point, I think I smelled like French onion soup. Very French. Not French like Channel No. 5, but very French nonetheless. And all in your interest of course, Fellow FoodBeest.

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. It continues to mellow and the flavors come together more like a well-practiced symphony than just a bunch of great musicians who get together to jam.

2) Use Gruyère cheese and plenty of it. Not what we Americans mostly call Swiss cheese, also known as Emmenthal. Emmenthal is the yellow cheese with holes in it (although not all Emmenthal has holes). I happened to be lucky enough to find a good aged Gruyere that was pre-sliced, but it’s not that big a deal if you have to slice it yourself.

What It Takes to Make French Onion Soup

Soup
3 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 3 pieces
6 large sweet or yellow onions (about 4 pounds), halved and cut pole to pole into ¼-inch-thick slices
[I used a combination of sweet onions and yellow onions]
Kosher salt
2 C water, plus ¼ C extra for deglazing
½ C dry sherry
[although some people swear by red wine here and others like cognac]
2 C chicken broth
[I used chicken broth that I routinely make from the leftovers of a rotisserie chicken but the stuff in the can or the box works fine]
4 C beef broth
6 sprigs fresh thyme, tied with kitchen twine
1 bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cheese Croutons
1 small baguette , cut into 1/2-inch slices
2-3 ounces Gruyère cheese for each ramekin

What You Do To Make French Onion Soup
Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Generously spray the inside of a large (at least 7-quart) heavy-bottomed Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray. Place the butter in the pot and add the onions and 1 teaspoon salt.

Cook, covered, for 1 hour. Remove the pot from the oven. The onions will “sweat” during the process and when you peek at them an hour later, they will be moist and slightly reduced in volume. Stir the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. Return the pot to the oven, this time with the lid slightly ajar.

After another hour, take the Dutch oven out and stir the onions, scraping the bottom and side of the pot. Put it back in the oven for another 30-45 minutes.

You will be left with about half of the volume of onions that you started with and they will be very soft and golden brown.

Carefully remove pot from the oven and place it on a burner on the stove over medium-low heat. Using oven mitts to handle the pot (it will be very hot), cook onions, stirring them frequently and scraping the bottom and sides of the pot until the liquid evaporates and the onions turn mahogany brown, 15 to 20 minutes. If the onions are browning too quickly, reduce the heat even further. Be very careful here. It is very, very easy to burn the onions and leave your soup tasting charred instead of sweet and succulent.

Stir in ¼ cup water, scraping the pot bottom to loosen any bits that have attached to the bottom of the Dutch oven. Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until the sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.

Stir in both broths, water, thyme, bay leaf, and ½ teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.

Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs. Taste, then season with salt and pepper as needed.

While the soup simmers, arrange the baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in a 400-degree oven until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe ramekins or crocks on the baking sheet and fill each with about 2/3 of the way to the top with the soup. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap bread) and layer with at least two slices (one ounce each) of Gruyère. Three is better. Four if you dare.

Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 2-3 minutes. Let cool briefly before serving.

Leftovers (if you have any) freeze really well.

But life and karma and irony being what they are, Fellow FoodBeest, Josh went to culinary school and became a very accomplished chef. He even cooks (and enjoys eating) green stuff. And that boy can cook.

Every year his contribution to our Thanksgiving dinner is his winter squash soup. It’s his own recipe and 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 asked him for his recipe and just made a batch. Mr. FB was amazed at the layers of flavor. He noted that it had a kick that disappeared and then was sweet and then a second hit of the heat kicked in.

This stuff is good.

Chef Josh uses butternut squash, but you could just as easily use any of the wonderful varieties of winter squash out there in produce departments or farmers markets. You could probably use pumpkin, but it wouldn’t be quite as sweet.

I asked him for his recipe and, since I think apples and winter squash are made for each other, I substituted 2 cups of apple cider for the same amount of the chicken broth.

What You Need to Make Chef Josh’s Squash Soup
1 large butternut squash
1 ½ large onion chopped
6-8 garlic cloves
1 large dried pasilla or ancho chili pepper
4 C chicken broth (homemade, boxed or canned)
[my vegetarian FoodBeest readers can substitute vegetable broth]
2 C cider
1 sprig thyme
2 bay leaves

2 oz crème fraîche
3-4 T maple syrup

How to Make Chef Josh’s Squash Soup

Roast Cut Squash Until Brown

Split squash the long way. Rub the surface with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 350 degrees, cut side up for one hour until well caramelized and almost black. It’s hard to overdo this.

Soften the pasilla (or ancho) chili by grilling each side on a hot pan for maybe 30 seconds each. You will smell the fragrance of the chilies. Cover the chili with hot water for 15-30 minutes. Remove it from the water. Take out the stem and the seeds. Chop the remaining flesh.

Sauté the veggies with the chopped chili in olive oil in a stock pot until softened and translucent, but not brown. Add broth and cider. Scoop squash into liquid. Add the bay leaves and thyme. Bring to a gentle simmer and allow it to cook for 20 minutes.

Remove the thyme and bay and puree all the solids with some of the liquid in a food processor or blender. It will take several batches. Return everything to the pot and stir until smooth and thick.

Taste it and add salt and pepper to taste.

At this point, it is best to let the soup sit in the refrigerator overnight so the flavors can merge, but if you don’t have the time or you just want to eat it NOW, that’s ok too.

Mix Creme Fraiche With Maple Syrup

Mix the maple syrup with crème fraîche.

To serve the soup, you can either put a little dollop of the sweetened crème fraîche in a bowl and pour a ladleful of soup – or you can drizzle a nice design of the sweetened crème fraîche on top of the soup.

Then you can go ahead and thank Chef Josh.

Avgolemono; egg-lemon soup

I’ve never been a big fan of egg-lemon soup or Avgolemono, Fellow FoodBeest. I think I’ve only had it in a Chicago Greek-style diner and I’ve probably not had a really good version of it, but it’s always 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.

Avgolemono is the name of a family of Mediterranean-based soups and sauces made from a broth base that are thickened with egg and lemon juice. The same broth thickened further is the base for a sauce to season other foods such as stuffed grape leaves or meatballs.

There are versions of it that are Turkish, Greek, Italian, Balkan. Some people believe it was originally a Sephardic Jewish sauce for meat.

The Lowly Rotisserie Chicken

It’s also a great way to make use of supermarket rotisserie chicken. For what it’s worth, I like the Costco chickens the best, but any ole rotisserie chicken will do.

What It Takes to Make Avgolemono

Lemons and Eggs

1 rotisserie chicken (meat and bones separated and set aside)
2 carrots, finely chopped
6-8 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
2 fresh bay leaves or 3 dried leaves
3 large sprigs thyme
olive oil
10 C chicken broth (or homemade if you have it)
¼ C dry white wine to taste
1 C orzo
3 large eggs, room temp
1/3 cup lemon juice (about four lemons)
salt and pepper

How to Make Avgolemono
In a large, heavy pot, heat a good glub of oil over medium heat. Add all the vegetables and chicken bones and cook until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Add the bay leaves and thyme, then deglaze the pot with the white wine and cook until it completely evaporates.

Add all but one cup of broth. Put the extra cup of broth aside. Bring the pot to a boil, then down to a simmer where it will stay for about 10 minutes.

Strain the Soup of All Solids

Strain the broth so all the vegetables, herbs and chicken bones are removed. Return the broth to the pot, add orzo and cook until al dente (10 min).

Remove the skin from the rotisserie chicken. Shred the breast meat and save the rest of the chicken for snacking or sandwiches. Add the chicken the broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 more minutes.

Put eggs and lemon juice in blender and process until smooth and frothy. With blender on, slowly pour the remaining cup of broth into the blender and process until smooth. This will allow your solution of eggs and lemon to combine well with the soup.

Slowly stir the egg mixture into the broth stirring constantly until soup is heated through and slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes.

This soup is even better after it sits quietly for 24 hours. But watching Mr. FB snarf it up, it was clear that you don’t have to wait that long to enjoy it.

French Lentil Soup

Something about the seasons. For months now, Fellow FoodBeest, all we’ve wanted to eat was food that was light, simple, raw or maybe grilled. Tomatoes. Cucumbers. Corn on the cob. Zucchini blossoms. Watermelon.

And then, just when I began to think that summer was the new normal, the air changed. It became thinner somehow. The heaviness of summer humidity was gone. The light changed, too. And the blue of the sky intensified. I wanted to wear that color blue.

And then the temperature dropped. Thirty degrees – literally overnight. Why is it that 50 degrees, which seems so balmy in March, feels so bloody cold in October?

With it, my human physicality wanted something different. I wanted something that simmered on the stove for hours, keeping its fragrance wafting throughout the house. It is now time for braising. It is now time for soups.

Here is a nice place to start for fall soups. Lentils are hearty but not heavy. Did you know they come in dozens of varieties? The brown lentils are the ones we see most often. But there are white lentils, yellow lentils, green lentils, red lentils and black lentils that look like Beluga caviar when they are cooked. You can use any of them, but this soup invites you try the best and most delicate: peppery French green lentils.

French Lentil Soup
What You Need to Make French Lentil Soup
3 strips of bacon sliced into small pieces
1 large onion
2 medium carrots
2 cloves garlic
2 t fresh thyme chopped (or substitute 1 t dried)
1 14-½ oz can diced tomatoes
bay leaf
¼ C white wine
2 marrow bones
1 t salt (or to taste)
freshly ground black pepper
1 C lentils (preferably the little French lentils de puy)
1½ tsp. balsamic vinegar
6 C water

How to Make French Lentil Soup
Fry bacon pieces until crispy. Put in diced onion and carrot into the pot and cook with the bacon, press garlic and let it cook for a few minutes. Wash the lentils to remove any debris. Add tomatoes and lentils to the soup and cook 8-10 min on medium low heat. Add wine, bring to a simmer, add marrow bones and water.
[You can make this a little easier and a little less rich by eliminating the marrow bones and substituting broth - chicken beef or vegetable - for 4 cups of the water.]

Simmer for about an hour on low heat, partially covered.

Remove about half the soup (about 3 cups). Choose mostly the chunks and puree them in a blender and add balsamic vinegar. Return the puree to the soup and mix well.

Remove the marrow bones, let them cool, remove the marrow from the bones and return the marrow to the soup. The marrow and the puree will give the soup a richer texture and mouth feel.

Taste (always taste!). Add salt and pepper if needed, add fresh parsley and serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Like most soups, this will be much better the next day after sitting in the fridge overnight.

Sexy Cucumber-Avocado Soup

The cucumber vine 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.]

Two cold soups in a row seems like overkill, I know. Redundant even. But this summer has been unrelentingly hot. And the produce so beautiful. And cold and wet is really all we want.

This soup combines cucumbers with avocados. And since you mentioned it earlier, Fellow FoodBeest, yes they are two very sexually suggestive vegetables if I may say.

Cucumbers are, by their nature, are of the most obviously phallic of vegetables, but avocados have their own sensuality: the soft buttery flesh that gives easily to the gentle urging of a spoon. but we’ve been here before, Fellow FoodBeest.

You just might want to try this soup one hot summer night really soon. Who knows what could happen?

What You Need to Make Sexy Cold Cucumber-Avocado Soup

What You Need to Make Sexy Cucumber-Avocado Soup

1 large cucumber peeled, seeded and cut into 2-inch chunks
1 large, ripe avocado, peeled
1 small shallot chopped fine
1 C chicken broth
3/4 C plain yogurt
(I used fat-free Greek yogurt, but sour cream is another option)
2 T fresh lemon or lime juice
½ t hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste

How to Make Sexy Cold Cucumber-Avocado Soup
Combine the cucumber, avocado and shallot in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is thoroughly chopped.

Add broth, yogurt, lemon or lime juice, salt, pepper and hot sauce or chipotle and continue to process until smooth.

Chill for 4 to 6 hours.

Taste for seasoning and serve in chilled bowls.

Garnish with chopped chives, yogurt and/or small cooked shrimp.

Spanish Gazpacho

I spent the weekend indoors in a course room, training and celebrating bold leaders for Landmark Education. Back home on Monday morning when I inspected the tomato, pepper and cucumber plants growing on my deck after three days, I was delighted to find that they had, in my absence, produced an abundance of ripe produce eagerly awaiting my appearance.

That seemed only fair, Fellow FoodBeest, because for weeks, I had been eagerly awaiting their appearance. Turnabout is fair play. Even with vegetables, don’t you think?

Most of the gazpacho we eat is spicy and Mexican in style, but gazpacho originated in Andalucía in southern Spain. Like the Mexican-style gazpacho with which we are most familiar, it is an uncooked tomato-based vegetable soup served cold. Unlike Mexican gazpachos, this Spanish version incorporates bread, olive oil, wine vinegar and sugar. It is not especially spicy, but is almost like a liquid summer vegetable salad.

I love gazpacho, Fellow FoodBeest, but I would never make it without the freshest seasonal ingredients. If you try to use the usual packaged tomatoes found at your supermarket, your soup will be red, but that’s all it will have in common with real gazpacho. It’s not necessary to grow your own this time of year, 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.

What You Need to Make Spanish Gazpacho

Gazpacho ingredients from the bounty of summer.

3 slices day old French bread, crusts removed
1 lb. medium vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled(*}, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 large English or Japanese cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 garlic cloves, chopped
2 C mixed vegetable juice (like V-8)
1 T sugar
1 t smoked Spanish paprika
½ t ground cumin
½ t cayenne
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ C sherry wine vinegar
½ C extra-virgin olive oil (Spanish olive oil highly recommended)
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
½ lemon, juiced

Tomatoes Ready to Slip Out of Their Skins

(*) To peel tomatoes in a snap, bring a medium pot of water to boil. Carefully drop tomatoes in for 30 seconds. Remove them with a slotted spoon. Put in a strainer or colander under cool water until they are cool enough to pick up. Now all you have to do is slit the skin with a knife and the skin will slip right off.

Garnishes:
Chopped tomato
Chopped cucumber
Chopped bell pepper
Chopped onion
Chopped hard-cooked egg
Baby shrimp
Lemon wedges

How To Make Spanish Gazpacho
Soak the bread in 1 cup of water for 5-10 minutes, and then squeeze out the excess water. Place the bread and juice in a blender or food processor with the tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Puree the ingredients until almost smooth, leaving a little texture. Mix in the mixed vegetable juice, sugar, paprika, salt, pepper, vinegar, oil, parsley, and lemon juice until well blended.

Process the vegetables with bread, olive oil, vinegar, seasonings.

Pour into a large bowl or covered container. Refrigerate the soup for at least 2 hours until very well chilled; the flavors will develop as it sits chilling. Season the gazpacho again with salt and pepper before serving. Serve in chilled bowls or tureen and top with desired garnishes.

It’s Memorial Day weekend the official start of summer and the outdoor cooking season. Typically it’s chilly and rainy here for Memorial Day, (we have had Memorial Day parties where we were forced to grill in the garage for shelter), but this year it’s sunny and warm.

I just came back from the grocery store and it was very well stocked with kebobs and burgers and hot dogs and coleslaw and potato salad. I considered providing a recipe for coleslaw or potato salad. I swear I did, but the truth is they’re everywhere and you probably wouldn’t bother.

So instead I made garlic soup.

Garlic Soup?

I know, you don’t typically think of Garlic Soup as a Memorial Day food. Actually, Fellow FoodBeest, I assert that you don’t think about garlic soup much at all, if you’ve ever even heard of it.

You can make it with the garlic you have at home. Or, if you’re lucky, maybe you can find green garlic. I found them at this week’s Farmers Market. Green garlic is simply immature garlic and looks like a slightly overgrown scallion or green onion and smells faintly of garlic. They are pulled by growers when thinning crops. It is subtler in flavor than a mature garlic bulb.

Garlic soup happens to be a perfect soup for this brink-of-summer season. It’s not what you would think. Garlic soup costs nothing to make. It is sweet and smooth and creamy and the color of butter. It’s good hot, cold or room temperature.

I dare you to try it. I double-dare you.

What You Need to Make Creamy Garlic Soup

What It Takes to Make Garlic Soup

½ T butter
2 T olive oil
12 medium cloves of garlic, smashed, peeled, and chopped
(or 6 medium cloves of garlic (smashed, peeled and chopped) and three green garlic stalks up to the green, thinly sliced)
½ medium onion chopped
¼ C white wine or vermouth
1 quart (4 cups) water
1 bay leaf
2 sage leaves
2 stalks fresh thyme
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

What You Need to Make the Thickener for Garlic Soup:
1 whole egg plus 1 egg yolk
1½ oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese
freshly ground black pepper
¼ C extra virgin olive oil

Day-old crusty bread Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle

How To Make Creamy Garlic Soup
Melt butter and olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and green garlic if you are using it. Sauté gently until just translucent.

Add white wine or vermouth and cook gently until nearly evaporated.

Add the water, garlic cloves, bay leaves, sage, thyme and salt. Heat to a gentle boil and simmer for 40 minutes.

Strain into a bowl, remove the bay, thyme and sage leaves from the strainer, and return the broth and garlic back to the saucepan, off the heat. Taste and add more salt if needed. With an immersion blender, blend the soup until it is smooth. Put it though a fine strainer, using a wooden spoon or a flexible spatula to push as much through the strainer as possible, while being sure that the broth is completely smooth.

With a fork, whisk the egg, egg yolk, cheese, and pepper together in a bowl until creamy. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, beating all the time, then (very slowly) add a large ladle of the broth, continuing to whisk.

Stir the egg-based thickener into the garlic broth and whisk it continuously over a medium-low heat until it thickens slightly. You can choose the consistency. You don’t want it to be watery but you also don’t want it as thick as a cream sauce. I like it just the consistency of cream.

Place a handful of torn bread chunks into the bottom of each bowl and pour the soup over the bread. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, and serve immediately. Makes about 4 cups of soup.