Archive for the 'soup' Category
It’s going to be all soup all the time for the rest of this month, so what’s another pot among friends?
Tomorrow is Soupapalooza (you should see the shopping list in front of me), so there will be plenty to share. But I made this one two days ago and sipped the last out of a mug at my desk this afternoon, and it’s almost better than coffee. The chickpeas make it thick, and pureeing them make it sippable. Peanut butter enriches it – peanut butter may be my new favourite soup ingredient – but you can leave it out. It’s soup – you can do anything you want.
Also? It’s even better the next day.
Curried Chickpea Tomato Soup
canola or olive oil, for cooking
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 19 oz. (540 mL) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tsp. curry paste (or to taste)
1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
Pinch red pepper flakes
4 cups (1 L) chicken stock
1 19 oz (540 mL) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup cream (half & half or whipping) or plain yogurt
1 heaping spoonful peanut butter (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
fresh lime wedges
In a pot set over medium-high heat, sauté the onions until they start to turn golden. Add the chickpeas, rosemary and garlic. Add a bit of crushed red pepper flakes if you like.
Spoon half the chickpea mixture into a bowl and crush them roughly with a fork.
Add the chicken stock and tomatoes to the pot. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes.
Add the cream and peanut butter and using a hand-held immersion blender, purée the soup until smooth. Stir the crushed chickpeas back in, add salt and pepper to taste and serve with a squeeze of lime.
February 21 2012 | soup | 16 Comments »
Sometimes the soup just isn’t as photogenic as the flowers.
But yet: a pot of homemade soup exemplifies nourishment, comfort and sharing, doesn’t it?
(Deep Thoughts for a Sunday night.)
You may have heard of Soup Sisters, an organization that started in Calgary in 2009 (and has since grown to operate 15 events in 9 cities across Canada every month), where participants gather in local professional kitchens for a soup-making event under the guidance of a chef facilitator, producing 150-200 servings of nourishing soup that are packaged in reusable lidded glass bowls and delivered to a local shelter. It’s half class, half kitchen party – events are social evenings with lively conversation, chopping, laughter and warm kitchen camaraderie that culminate in a simple, sit-down supper of soup, salad, bread and wine. Since March 2009, Soup Sisters has delivered over 60,000 containers of soup to 20 shelter recipients across Canada. I’ve been a Soup Sisters chef/facilitator myself, and it’s fun.
And now I’ve been asked to take photographs (gratis!) for their new cookbook. Scheduled to release this fall, it’s a wonderful collection of recipes Soup Sisters groups have made at their events across Canada, as well as recipes contributed by celebrity chefs, with proceeds going to the Soup Sisters organization. But – extenuating circumstances mean I have to get all the photos done by the end of the month. This month. So that’s 40 photos in under 2 weeks. I’m so happy to be involved, but yeah.
The time-consuming part, of course, is the preparation of all that soup. And so I called up the Cookbook Company and asked if we might take over their kitchen for a day, thinking I’d enlist some of my favourite people to come and cook pots of soup, Soup Sisters-style. The sunny upstairs kitchen is all ours this Wednesday, if anyone would like to come by and help chop, stir and simmer.
I thought I’d reserve it from 12-8, so that anyone who wants to come after work can do so. Come for the whole thing, for a bit, or for ten minutes to say hi. I’ll bring some music, buy some wine, dig up some nibbles, and pick up all the ingredients we need.
Since I’ll only need a bowlful per shot, excess soup can be brought home, so you’ll get dinner out of it.
Plus, we can hang out and cook. Which sounds to me like the most fun ever. All hands on deck!
Want to come? We’ll be in the upstairs kitchen of the Cookbook Company Wednesday from 12-8pm; come on down anytime, and leave a comment here if you could, just so I get an idea how many(ish) to expect. Maybe we’ll set up a movie in one corner for any kids who come along.
This vanilla parsnip soup isn’t in the book, but Michael Allemeier tweeted it to me awhile ago to make for a dinner party I was auctioned off to cook for, having been published in the Herald. It’s really wonderful, and so is he. The secret is to slowly sweat off the parsnips to bring out the natural sweetness, he says. I’ve made this as-is, and with a small bundle of asparagus tossed in.
The vanilla is a deliciously unique addition, something we’re used to tasting with sweet, but you can leave it out and still have a pretty fab pot of parsnip soup. If you like, add a wee dollop of curry paste and swap a small sweet potato or a couple carrots for one of the parsnips.
Michael Allemeier’s Vanilla Parsnip Soup
2 Tbsp. canola or olive oil
2 Tbsp. butter
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 leek, white part only, washed and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
3 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 L (8 cups) chicken stock
1 vanilla bean (or a small dollop of vanilla bean paste)
1/2 cup cream (optional)
juice of half a lemon (or a tablespoon or two)
salt to taste
In a large pot set over medium-high heat, heat the oil and butter. When the foam subsides add the onion, leek and garlic. Slowly sweat the vegetables until they’re tender and soft but not browned – 5 minutes or so.
Add the parsnips and continue to cook, stirring often. After about 5 minutes, add the stock and bring to a simmer.
Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the black seeds. Add pod and seeds to the simmering soup. Simmer for 30 minutes until parsnips are tender.
Remove the vanilla pods and discard, and stir in the cream. Puree the soup well using a hand-held immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender. Add the lemon juice and season with salt.
Serves 6 to 8.
February 19 2012 | soup | 34 Comments »
So. Christmas. It didn’t wind up being the healthiest holiday season. I thought I’d be back with too many photos to sort on Boxing Day – but as it turns out there hasn’t been much food to report. On Friday morning (our anniversary!) on which day we planned to head downtown and walk, do the last of our Christmas shopping, have a fancy coffee, then go for dinner and wrap presents, I walked in the door from my early morning BT spot feeling a little woozy. I spent the day in bed and the bathroom, and W joined in that evening – luckily I already had a barf bucket at the ready by the couch. We spent our anniversary evening mopping the floor, doing laundry, cuddling W and watching old episodes of Arrested Development. It wasn’t bad, actually, but no food to report.
Saturday we had Christmas at my parents’ house, and the big turkey dinner. It was beautiful – the setting and the meal, which featured a 20 lb organic free range heritage breed turkey from Winter’s that we went over to put in the oven that morning. The boys (five of them under 8 ) were over the top excited, building their Lego and popping crackers. Mike tracked Santa on his iPad. My sister made a killer chocolate cheesecake. I hadn’t at that point eaten since Thursday night, but as I was managing to keep sips of Coke down, I had high hopes. It didn’t go well.
On Christmas day I ate a cracker, and at dinner, with Mike’s mom and sister and half of my family over to our house this time for turkey part 2, I managed a Pillsbury crescent roll – perhaps the pouffiest, most refined food product available? And so on Boxing Day I thought I’d venture into real food territory. There were leftovers, of course, and so rather than take a stab at Turkey Dinner Part 3, or do something crazy like make turkey shepherd’s pie, I made soup.
There was mashed potatoes and peas, carrots and roasted sweet potatoes, so I made one pot of orange-red and another of green. (In keeping with the colours of the season, of course.)
You don’t need a formula to make soup. I’m not sure how many people realize this. I’m going to resist writing a recipe here, because that goes against the whole point of transforming whatever it is you have on hand into a pot soup.
So here’s what you do: put a pot on the stove, drizzle some oil in the bottom and add a dab of butter. Chop an onion and throw it in. A clove or three of garlic, too. I just slice mine, so that it doesn’t burn – we’re going to puree the lot, anyway.
Give them a few minutes to soften, then throw in your leftover veggies. In one pot I scraped in the last of the mashed potatoes – about a cup and a half? – and the peas – maybe 3/4 of a cup. Not that it matters. add however much you have. Broccoli would do well, or spinach, kale, asparagus, even roasted Brussels sprouts. In the other pot I put a spoonful of curry paste, the carrots and roasted sweet potatoes. Squash would have been perfect, too.
Add some stock to cover and bring to a simmer. (If you’re really on the ball, you may have some turkey stock already – I always keep those tetra packs of chicken stock in the pantry.) Cook for 10-20-30 minutes, or until everything is soft. Puree with a hand-held immersion blender. Add more stock or water if it’s too thick, or simmer a bit longer if it seems too brothy. You could add a splash of cream, but neither needed it. At its best, soup is simple. Any veggie dish – even just boiled or steamed veg – are delicious simmered with stock and pureed. And if you’re not in the mood for soup, it’s a great way to freeze leftovers – in soup form. Happy holidays, everyone!
December 27 2011 | freezable and soup | 14 Comments »
I’m home.
Sorry I’ve been MIA – I just spent 10 days at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge for their oh-so-awesome annual Christmas in November event. Hanging with the most amazing Anna Olson and her equally amazing husband, Michael. And of course Michael Smith and his new family. And Karl Lohnes, and so many others.. not least of all the 300+ guests who came up for a good time in each of the three packages – one last weekend, one midweek, and one this past long weekend, including Monday. It was, as it always is, a total blast. It included 13 cooking demos, buffets, fancy meals, wine & martinis, breakfast pastries with coffee served out of silver urns, forest walks, wine & martinis, warm cookies, turndown service, enormous stone fireplaces, wine & martinis, gala dinners with live bands and dancing and conga lines (I led one that gathered over a hundred the other night!) and singing Christmas carols and an outdoor swimming pool under the stars. And when it snowed, there were snowball fights in the pool. And Santa came too – the real one. He didn’t go in the pool though.
Each November I have a hard time with re-entry into normal life. For one, my whole bedroom is sadly sub-par. And I always come home to all that Halloween candy that came home days before we left. Tonight, after a particularly long haul home, I was cooking within 20 minutes – not because I missed it, but because I have to go do CBC in the morning. I made mulligatawny. I put chickpeas in it.
Speaking of beans – I don’t think I’ve really, officially announced that our book is out! It is. It’s here! And it’s already sold out. Yes it is! Thanks for all your lovely comments about it – you guys always make my days.
Stores do have stock – Chapters and independent booksellers and even Costco, I hear – but that’s all there is is what’s out there, and the second printing isn’t expected until January. Which is great, of course – it means it’s already a best-seller! (In Canada, that means 5000 sold.) It unfortunately also means I don’t even have any copies myself. I did manage to get my hands on one copy – the JPL had bought 400 to give away to the midweek package attendees – and I snagged one. To give to one of you, of course. Throw your hat into the ring here. Comment away.
Also? I keep forgetting we have a book launch planned for this Wednesday. It seems like it’s so far away – mid-November! That’s ages from now! Except that it’s not. So if you’re in the ‘hood and in the mood for a drink and some beany snacks, Sue and I will be at the Cookbook Company Cooks, 722 – 11th Ave SW, this Wednesday the 16th at 6:30.
So. The mulligatawny. I sent Mike out for a roasted chicken as soon as we walked in the door – starting with a roasted chicken seems to add more flavour from the start than if you began the process with a raw chicken. Adding chiles, ginger, garlic and curry helps with the sniffles. Chickpeas boost protein and fibre. Cilantro is just yum. Unless you hate it.
Mulligatawny Soup
from Spilling the Beans!
1 small roasted chicken (a deli rotisserie chicken works well)
1 onion
canola or olive oil, for cooking
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp curry paste or powder
1 tsp cumin
1-2 cups cooked chickpeas (half to a full 19 oz can, rinsed and drained)
1 tsp salt
1 14 oz (398 mL) can coconut milk (optional)
1 tart apple (such as granny Smith), finely chopped
steamed rice, for serving with
chopped cilantro and/or chopped salted peanuts, for garnish (optional)
Pull the meat off the roasted chicken, eat the crispy skin and put the carcass and bones into a saucepan. Set the meat aside and just barely cover the carcass with water. Peel the onion and add the outer layers of skin to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for about half an hour. Strain into a bowl or pot and set aside. You should have 4-6 cups of stock.
Meanwhile, chop the onion and sauté it in a drizzle of oil in a large soup pot set over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, jalapeño, garlic and ginger and cook for a few minutes, until soft. Add the curry paste, cumin and chickpeas and cook for another minute or two.
Add the chicken stock, salt and chopped chicken and bring to a simmer. Cook for about ten minutes, then add the coconut milk and apple and heat through.
Put a scoop of rice into each bowl and ladle the soup overtop. If you like, sprinkle with cilantro and/or chopped peanuts. Serves 6-8.
November 14 2011 | soup | 111 Comments »
Ale soup was far from my radar. But then three things happened, in this order:
1) on my flight to (or from?) Vancouver last week I watched Michael Smith, whom I’m going to see in a few days in Jasper, make cheddar and ale soup on the little TV in front of me. It looked good, even though I’m not a beer fan. It reminded me of something we got once upon a time at a pub. That might have been the fantasy me in which I live in London with a rugby player.
2) I met a food writer from the Yukon for lunch yesterday. She brought me, among other things, halloumi cheese made by a blind goat herder, and a bottle of Whitehorse-brewed ale.
3) upon my return home I received an email request for all things warm and cheesy and loaded with carbs for CBC this morning. David asked specifically for cheddar and beer soup, please. He had never had it. All signs pointed to making this.
It was about as easy as it gets – saute the onion, celery and carrot in butter (Michael uses lots), shake some flour over top (mixing it with the veggies and fat prevents lumps) then adding ale, stock and cream and bringing it to a simmer to let it thicken. Then stir in a couple handfuls of grated cheese. Couldn’t possibly be easier. I do wish soup photographed a little better. Tastes better than it looks.
I’ll fill you in on the quick baguette secret tomorrow.
Michael Smith’s Cheddar & Ale Soup
adapted from Michael Smith!
1/2 cup butter (or half butter, half olive or canola oil)
1 large or 2 small onions, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1/4 cup flour
1 bottle dark beer
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy 35% cream (or 18% coffee cream, or half & half)
2 cups grated old cheddar (or aged Gouda!)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
a dash of Worcestershire sauce
In a medium pot, heat the butter over medium-high heat and sauté the onions until starting to turn golden. Add the celery and carrot and continue to sauté for a few minutes more. Shake the flour overtop and stir to coat the veggies. Add the beer, stock and cream and simmer until the soup has thickened, about five minutes more. Add the grated cheddar, salt and pepper and Worcestershire sauce and stir until smooth. Serves 4-6.
November 01 2011 | soup | 14 Comments »
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