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Turkish Tomato and Bean Soup
Inspired by a recipe in The Sultan's Kitchen cookbook, this is normally made with red lentils. I think it would be great with the beans instead. With the addition of the cooked wheat berries, it makes for a satisfying supper. Serves 4-6.
2 TB sunflower oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 TB paprika
1/2 tsp Turkish or ground red pepper
1 tsp cumin
2 TB tomato paste
3 cups tomato puree
3 cups chicken stock or water
1 cup dried beans that have been soaked overnight, then cooked for 30 minutes and drained
1 cup cooked wheat berries
1 TB dried mint
salt and freshly ground black pepper
bread croutons (optional)
lemon wedges
dollop of plain yogurt
Heat the oil in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook gently for about 2 minutes, or until they're softened but not brown. Stir in the paprika, red pepper, cumin and tomato paste. Stir to combine. Add the tomato puree, stock (or water) and beans. Cover the saucepan and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beans are soft. Add the wheat berries and mint and season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the soup is too thick, add a little water. Serve the soup in bowls with a squeeze of lemon juice and a dollop of yogurt.
Celery Root and Potato Puree
As I finish up the newsletter, I am sitting in the Waitsfield library waiting for my car to be finished at the mechanics. While perusing the cookbooks, I came across Alice Water's (relatively) new cookbook, The Art of Simple Food. She highly recommends the combination of celery root (celeriac) and potatoes. Who am I to argue with Alice Waters? Serves 4.
1 lb. potatoes
5 TB butter, divided
1 medium celery root, about 3/4 lb., peeled, halved, then sliced thin
salt and pepper to taste
milk, optional for thinning
Peel and cut potatoes into large pieces. Add to a medium pot of salted water over high heat and bring to a boil. Cook until soft, about 15-20 minutes. Drain and pass the potatoes through a ricer or food mill and return to the pot. Stir in 2 TB of the butter. While the potatoes cook, melt the rest of the butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium low heat. Add the celeriac and salt. Cover tightly and cook until soft, about 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lower heat if the celeriac begins to brown. Pass through a food mill, or puree in a blender. Stir celeriac puree into the potatoes. Add milk if the puree is too thick. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.
Beet and Cabbage Borscht
Adapted from a recipe on Epicurious.com, borscht is a great cold weather way to enjoy your beets. This recipe, interestingly, incorporates cabbage as well. Serves 4.
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
3/4 pound potatoes, peeled, chopped
2 1/2 cups chopped cabbage (about 1/4 of small head)
1 large onion, chopped
8 cups (or more) canned vegetable broth
6 2-inch-diameter beets, peeled, chopped
1 cup drained canned chopped tomatoes or frozen tomato puree (thawed)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Low-fat sour cream or plain yogurt
Chopped fresh parsley
Lemon wedges
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add potatoes, cabbage and onion and sauté until cabbage softens, about 5 minutes. Add 8 cups broth, beets and tomatoes. Bring soup to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
Working in small batches, puree 4 cups of soup in blender; return to remaining soup in pot. If desired, add more broth by 1/2 cupfuls to thin soup. Add lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with dollop of sour cream or yogurt; sprinkle with parsley. Serve, passing lemon wedges separately.
Celeriac Soup
There are many variations one could use to turn out a lovely soup using the ingredients in this share. The recipe below is just a suggestion. Soup is a great place to experiment. If you don’t have an ingredient omit it and/or substitute something similar. Try adding other herbs if you'd like. A bit of sage or thyme would be nice in this soup.
* see tips for preparing celeriac in Storage and Use in the first part of this newsletter
2 TB Oil (or butter or combo)
1 medium onion, or 2 leeks, or 2 shallots (peeled and sliced thinly)
2 garlic cloves (peeled and sliced thinly, or minced)
1.5 lb celeriac (peeled and chopped into chunks)
2 stalks celery (peeled and chopped, use peeler to remove tough outer strings)
2 potatoes (or sunchokes or combo) to scrubbed and chopped
2 carrots to peeled or scrubbed and chopped
1 quart of chicken stock (or vegetable broth)
1 Bay leaf
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup water (as needed)
Heat butter/oil in Dutch oven or soup pot. Add onions, cover and simmer until tender. For more flavor, remove cover and simmer until onions have browned slightly. Add garlic and celery and simmer 2-3 minutes more. Add the other vegetables and let cook for about 5 mins. Add the chicken stock and bay leaf and water if needed, enough to cover the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer covered for about 20 mins, until the vegetables are tender. Puree in batches in a blender or use a hand mixer to puree the vegetables. If you think your soup is too thick, add some water or more stock. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
For garnish consider a dollop of crème fraiche or yogurt or cream, (especially if you used veg stock). Crumbled bacon or some crumbled/grated cheddar on the top of each bowl would be delicious and make a very hearty meal with a hunk of this week's bread.
I saw a recipe for a very similar celeriac soup in which the vegetables and broth were all thrown together in a Dutch oven, simmered on stove top for 5 minutes, then simmered in the oven covered for 3 hours. Not a quick dinner solution but this method would sweeten and deepen the flavors and would be lovely.
Sorrel Soup
This is a very simple light soup that highlights the fresh, slightly lemony flavor of the sorrel. It's from the Sundays at Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen.
2 c. well-packed, washed and stemmed sorrel leaves
1 medium onion, chopped
3 T. butter
1 T. unbleached white flour
3 c. vegetable stock
2 egg yolks
1 c. milk or half and half
salt and freshly ground black pepper
dash of Tabasco or other hot sauce (optional)
Finely chop the sorrel leaves. In a medium saucepan, sauté the onion in the butter until translucent. Stir in the flour. Mix in the sorrel and cook for a minute or so, just until it wilts. Add the vegetable stock. Bring the soup to a low simmer and cook for about 3 minutes. Beat the egg yolks and milk in a medium mixing bowl. Slowly add 2 c. of the hot soup while stirring constantly. Stir this soup-egg mixture into the soup pot. Reheat the soup gently but don’t let it boil. Add salt, pepper to taste and a dash of Tabasco, if you like.
Spicy Parsnip Soup
This recipe from www.jamieoliver.com gets numerous rave reviews. Serves 4.
olive oil
knob of butter
1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon garam masala
6 parsnips, peeled and chopped into chunks
500 ml milk (full fat or skim)
1 quart vegetable stock
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
optional: 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
optional: a handful of fresh minced cilantro (or parsley!) leaves
crusty bread, to serve
Heat a splash of olive oil and the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and garam masala. Gently fry for around 10 minutes, until the onions are soft and sweet.
Drop in the chopped parsnip and stir together so that everything gets coated in the oil and flavours. Pour in the milk and stock, season well and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes with a lid on. After half an hour, check that the parsnips are cooked by sticking a knife in. If you're happy, remove them from the heat and carefully whiz up using a hand blender or liquidizer. Taste the soup to see if it needs a little more salt or pepper.
Serve topped with some strips of fresh red chili peppers (or a sprinkle of dry) with a good chunk of crusty bread.
Tip: Use coconut milk instead of regular milk for a twist.
Watercress and Potato soup
This is a simplified version of the French classic. The fresh bite of watercress adds interest to velvety smooth potato. Submitted by Jill Dupleix to The Times Aug 2007.
Serves 4.
1 quart water
1 tsp sea salt
1.5 lb all-purpose potatoes
1/4 lb watercress leaves, eg, 2 bunches
2/3 cup milk
2 tbsp double cream
A little grated nutmeg
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bring the water and salt to the boil. Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. Cook the potatoes for 20 to 25 minutes until tender. Pick the watercress leaves from the stalks and discard the stalks. When the potatoes are cooked, fish them out of the water (reserving the water) and mash them or put them through a potato ricer. Set aside. Add the watercress to the potato water and simmer gently for five minutes. Fish out the watercress and whizz it, with a little of the liquid, in a blender or liquidiser. Return the watercress and the mashed potatoes to the potato water in the pan, stirring well. Add the milk and reheat gently, stirring. Add the cream, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste, and simmer gently, without boiling, for five minutes. Serve in bowls, with a little extra swirl of cream on top.
Cilantro and Potato soup
This is a delicious, satisfying soup. Like most soup recipes, there is lots of room for improvisation here with some options given below.
2 TB olive oil or butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped (or 2 leeks)
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 quart chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
2 medium potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
salt and pepper
1 pinch red pepper flakes
2/3 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
lime juice
Saute onion and garlic slowly until tender. Add the broth, potatoes. Cook til the potatoes are tender about half an hour. Add most of the cilantro leaving a few tablespoons for garnish. Use an immersion blender or food processor to puree. Serve hot or cold, and garnish with the remaining fresh cilantro. Add a squeeze of fresh lime juice before serving.
Optional: add 1 diced, seeded jalapeno pepper along with the broth and potatoes. Add up to 1/4 cup of cream to soup just before serving. Add a couple chopped scallions to the soup after pureeing.
Sorrel & Potato Soup
The recipe below is adapted from a classic French sorrel soup recipe. It is also good cold, particularly with some plain yogurt swirled in. Serves 3 or 4.
1 bunch fresh sorrel
4 cups water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2/3 pound potatoes, cubed
1 large egg
1/4 cup crème fraiche or heavy cream (or more to taste)
Wash the sorrel and de-rib the leaves if necessary. Put it in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, until the sorrel has melted into a purée and nearly all of its liquid has evaporated. Add the water and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook over low heat until the potatoes are cooked through — about fifteen minutes. If you prefer a creamy rather than a chunky soup, put the soup into a blender or food processor and then return to the saucepan. Combine the eggs and crème fraiche in a warmed serving bowl. Mix until well blended. Add a ladle of the potato and sorrel mixture and blend well. Pour in remaining potato and sorrel mixture and serve immediately.
Kale-Potato Soup
This is a classic recipe from The New Laurel's Kitchen by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders, and Brian Ruppenthal.
1 large onion, chopped
1 TB butter
1 clove minced garlic
3-4 Nicola potatoes (cut into 1/2 - 1 pieces)
1 bunch of kale, stemmed and chopped
5 cups hot water or stock or combo
1/2 tsp salt, more to taste
black pepper, to taste
In a large sauce pan saute the onion in the butter until softened and slightly golden. About halfway, add the garlic. Add the potatoes and 2 cups of water. Simmer, covered, until potatoes start to soften around the edges. Meanwhile, wash the kale, remove stems, chop and steam them (although you can add them to the potatoes, this will result in a much stronger flavored soup). When the potatoes are really well done, puree half of them with the remaining water or stock and the salt and pepper to taste. Then combine all and heat gently, correcting the consistency by adding hot water or milk. Taste and adjust seasonings.
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Tuscan White Bean Soup with Rosemary and Kale
This is a classic Northern Italian Dish, simple, flavourful, wholesome, and healthy. Navy beans make a nice substitute if you don't have cannelini. You can also add 1/2 cup of small dried pasta like orzo tp this soup. Serve with a nice crusty bread.
From the Rebar Modern Food Cookbook by Audrey Austerberg & Wanda Urbanowicz
2 cups dried cannellini beans soaked overnight (or 3 cans cooked)
10 cups water
4 Bay leaves
2 tsp + 1 tsp salt
1 TB minced rosemary
1 TB olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
8 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
2-3 medium tomatoes
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 TB balsamic vinegar
1 small bunch of kale
parsley
Drain and rinse the soaked beans and place them in a large pot with Bay leaves, 2 tsp rosemary, and cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the beans are tender. In the last 15 mins, add 2 tsp salt to the beans.
When beans are tender, heat olive oil in a soup pot and add onion, remaining 1 tsp salt and chile flakes. Saute until onions are lightly golden, then add the garlic and remaining rosemary. Cook several minutes, then add the cooked beans and their cooking liquid (or the canned beans). Bring to a simmer, add the tomatoes and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
Remove the stems from the kale, tear or roughly chop the leaves and rinse well. Add the leaves to the soup and cook until wilted. Season the soup to taste with balsamic vinegar, cracked pepper, and more salt. Garnish with fresh parsley.
Coconut Vegetable Curry
This is one of those recipes which you can swap vegetables in and out of with reckless abandon. It will all taste good. Serve with a side of rice and double it for leftovers!
2 small onions cut into 3/4 inch cubes
2 colored peppers - cut into strips or 1 chunks
1 potato, scrubbed and in 1 cubes
1 cup snap peas
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
Coconut-Curry Sauce
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
2 teaspoons tamari
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 1/2 TB brown sugar
2 teaspoons rice vinegar or cider vinegar
2 teaspoons sunflower oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 1/2 teaspoon cold water
sesame oil
Directions:
Blanch the snap peas, carrots and potatoes until tender-crisp in plain boiling water. Drain and rush under cold water to stop the cooking. Drain again. Combine the Coconut-Curry Sauce ingredients. Taste and adjust the sugar to your liking. Heat a wok or wide skillet over high heat until hot. Add the oil, swirl to glaze the pan. Then add the onions and bell pepper and stir fry for 3-4 mins until tender-crisp. Add the blanched vegetables and toss to mix. Stir the sauce and add it to the pan. Bring it to a simmer, tossing to combine. Stir the cornstarch mixture to recombine and add it to the pan. Stir until the sauce turns glossy, about 10 seconds (a bit longer if you are doubling the sauce). Add a drizzle of sesame oil and toss to mix, then serve alongside rice.
Celery Soup
This is a classic French recipe, this one taken again from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.
3 TB butter
1 small onion
1 lb celery, roughly chopped (reserve the fresh greens for garnish)
1 large potato
salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 cups vegetable stock
2 tsp sugar or honey to taste (optional)
1/2 cup cream or sour cream (optional)
1/4 cup celery greens, finely chopped
Put the butter in a large, deep saucepan or casserole over medium heat. When the butter melts, add the vegetables. Season w/ salt & pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until celery softens a bit. Add the stock and cook until the vegetables are very tender, 15 to 20 minutes more.
Puree the soup in batches in food processor or blender and return to the pot. You may prepare the soup in advance up to this point. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days and reheat before proceeding.) Adjust the seasoning, adding more salt and pepper as needed. Reheat the soup in the saucepan and stir in the cream if you are using it, garnish with celery leaves and serve.
Ratatouille
It's the season for this classic French casserole, a delicious stew of eggplant, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, and zucchini. By Julia Child
1/2 pound eggplant
1/2 pound zucchini, trimmed
1 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 8-ounce onion, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
2 green bell peppers, thinly sliced into strips
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 pound firm but ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, cut into 3/8- to 1/4-inch-thick strips
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Peel eggplant; cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, then cut into 3-inch-long, 1-inch-wide strips. Cut zucchini into same size strips. Place vegetables in large bowl; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Let stand 30 minutes. Drain; dry with paper towels.
Heat 4 tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add eggplant and zucchini to skillet; sauté until light golden, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to plate; reserve.
Add 3 tablespoons oil to skillet; heat over medium heat. Add onion and peppers; sauté until just tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
Place tomato strips atop onion-pepper mixture in skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover skillet; cook over low heat until tomatoes begin to juice, about 5 minutes. Uncover; baste vegetables in skillet with juices. Boil until juices are almost evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes.
Transfer 1/3 of onion-pepper-tomato mixture to 2 1/2-quart pot; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley. Top with half of eggplant and half of zucchini, then remaining onion-pepper-tomato mixture; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley. Layer remaining eggplant and zucchini over; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley. Cover; simmer over low heat 10 minutes. Uncover; tilt pot and baste with accumulated juices. Increase heat to medium; simmer uncovered, basting several times with pan juices until only 2 to 3 tablespoons juices remain in pot, watching closely to avoid scorching, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cool slightly. Cover; chill. Serve at room temperature or rewarm over medium-low heat before serving.
