SOUP SATURDAY: SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

Posted in Soups by sallybr

Third Saturday of the month, it’s time to share a post about soup. For this month our hostess Camilla picked a very nice theme: Spring Has Sprung… we should make and blog about a soup to celebrate a favorite season of mine. Unfortunately this year spring is taking its time to enter our universe in all its colorful glory, but little by little the harshness of the winter is fading away. My soup centers on zucchini, makes it a bit more toothsome with a nice helping of cauliflower, and more mysterious with a swirl of tahini right before serving. Mysterious? Quite an adjective for foodstuff. But if you don’t tell your guests what’s the “unusual” ingredient in the soup, they will never be able to guess. So mysterious it is…

ZUCCHINI SOUP WITH TAHINI
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 small shallots, minced
4 medium zucchini, sliced
1/4 of head of cauliflower, florets only
salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon, juiced (divided)
2 to 3 cups water
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup yogurt
additional yogurt and Sriracha for serving (optional)
toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot. Add the shallots, season lightly with salt and pepper, cook until fragrant. Add the zucchini and cauliflower, saute in medium-high heat until soft and the cauliflower starts to develop some golden color.

Add the water, half of the lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, cover the pan and reduce heat. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of liquid. Transfer the vegetables to a blender or food processor, and blend until fully smooth. Return the pureed soup to the pan, add the reserved liquid until it reaches a consistency you like. Add yogurt, tahini, mix, and simmer just to heat through. Add the remaining lemon juice just before serving.

If desired, add a dollop of yogurt and Sriracha on the serving bowl, and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I am thrilled to participate of this month’s soup event. I was not sure I could make it, as – putting it mildly – life has been a bit stressful lately. But here I am to share a delicious soup which was perfect for a Friday lunch with a lot of sun and even more wind. I tell you, we get constant reminders that we live in tornado alley. When the wind blows in Kansas, it doesn’t hold anything back. Note to self: get some ruby slippers…

To see the soups my virtual friends cooked for this month’s event, click on the link at the end of the post.

Wendy, thank you for organizing Soup Saturday Event,

and

Camilla, thanks for hosting!

ONE YEAR AGO: Black Sesame Macarons

TWO YEARS AGO: Fine Tuning Thomas Keller

THREE YEARS AGO: Cauliflower Tortillas

FOUR YEARS AGO: Majestic Sedona, Take Two

FIVE YEARS AGO: Secret Ingredient Turkey Meatballs

SIX YEARS AGO: Swedish Meatballs and Egg Noodles

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Italian Easter Pie

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Black Olive Bialy

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17Mar2018

SOUP SATURDAY: SAY GOODBYE TO WINTER

Posted in Soups by sallybr

Since it’s the third Saturday of the month, it’s time to enjoy the soup event organized by Wendy. This month yours truly is hosting, and I chose as my theme a farewell to the season that tortures me: Winter. My apologies to those who like to shiver, who enjoy having to cover their feet, hands, ears and nose before heading outside, and don’t mind a heating bill in the triple digits at the end of the month.

We still have a few evenings here and there with ungodly cold temperatures, and for those evenings, a soup that warms body and soul is the best thing in the world. So I made it smokin’ hot. Literally. Remember my new toy from last Christmas, the electric smoker? We’ve been using it a lot, I just did not have a chance to blog about it yet, but now it’s the perfect opportunity. I made a smoked tomato soup. Very simple in terms of number of ingredients, but incredibly flavorful due to the subtle applewood smoke component.

SMOKED TOMATO SOUP
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

10 large Roma tomatoes, halved
olive oil spray
salt and pepper
applewood chips for smoker
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 shallot, minced
zest and juice of one blood orange
1 cup of chicken stock
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Turn your smoker to 250 F and place a few applewood chips in the chamber, according to the instructions of your smoker.

Drizzle the tomatoes with a little spray of olive oil, and season lightly with salt. When the smoker reaches the right temperature, place the tomatoes, cut side down, on the tray. Close the chamber and allow them to smoke for 40 minutes. At the end of the smoking time, remove the skin, that should peel off easily.

In a large saucepan, saute the shallot and yellow bell pepper in olive oil, season lightly with salt and pepper. When soft and fragrant, add the zest of the blood orange add the tomatoes, breaking them up with a potato masher. Simmer in medium heat for 5 minutes, add the chicken stock, cover the pan and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a blender, blend until smooth. If you like a very smooth soup, pass through a sieve to remove the tomato seeds. If too thick, add some chicken stock or water. Pour back into the pan, add blood orange juice, heavy cream, simmer a few minutes, and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Serve with a drizzle of blood orange juice on top.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Talk about flavor! What we’ve learned so far from our adventures with the smoker is that you don’t need that many added spices, in fact, it is best to mellow down the spices, so that the smokiness can shine. Even when tomatoes are far from their peak, the brief encounter with the smoke intensifies their flavor quite a bit. Very nice. If you don’t have a smoker, I suppose grilling the tomatoes could do a good job too. In that case, add some smoked paprika to the soup, while you are sauteing the veggies. If blood oranges are not available where you live (here, let me offer you a hug), you can use regular oranges, and decorate the soup with a drizzle or cream or yogurt.

I cannot tell you how happy I am to be saying goodbye to winter! If you’d like to see what my virtual friends made for our Soup Saturday event, click on the link at the end of the post. Stay warm!

ONE YEAR AGO: Manchego and Poblano Soup

TWO YEARS AGO: A Smashing Pair

THREE YEARS AGO: Spinach and Mushroom Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

FOUR YEARS AGO: Crispy Chickpea and Caper Spaghetti

FIVE YEARS AGO: Spring has Sprung!

SIX YEARS AGO: Chickpea and Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Double Asparagus Delight

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Sun-dried Tomato and Feta Cheese Torte

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18Nov2017

SOUP SATURDAY: FRENCH SOUPS

Posted in Soups by sallybr

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It’s the third Saturday of the month, and we have the soup event organized by Wendy! Guess what? This month yours truly is hosting, and I chose as my theme French Soups… Why? Because we’ve had so many great soups while living in Paris. Yes, French Onion soup is a classic, and I am sure someone in our group will feature it in a blog post, but one very fond memory I have is a fennel soup I enjoyed very late at night in a bistrot near our apartment, Le Café du Marché. It was comforting, soothing, luscious, yet it seemed so simple. On a side note, the word for fennel in French is a tricky one for me to pronounce, so I would always get in to hyperventilation mode when ordering anything in a menu containing it. Once you get traumatized by a word, it’s pretty hard to overcome the anxiety to say it out loud. But, I digress. This (deep breath) fenouil soup is wonderful! If one day I materialize my desire of serving soup shots for guests as they enter our home for a dinner party, this will be in their little cups.
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FENNEL SOUP WITH ALMOND-MINT TOPPING
(adapted from Cooking Light)

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 medium size fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
1 shallot, chopped cup chopped onion

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
2 ½ to 3 cups water
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1/2 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (about 7.5 ounces)
½ cup sliced almonds, toasted
3 tablespoons small fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon fresh fennel tops, minced
lemon rind to taste

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil; swirl to coat. Add fennel, shallots and celery, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, cook for a couple of minutes. Reduce heat to low, cover the pan and cook 6 minutes or until crisp-tender (do not brown), stirring occasionally.

Add remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, a little black pepper, 2 ½ cups water, white wine vinegar, and beans. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Transfer the contents to a blender and puree until smooth. If needed, do it in two batches. Taste and adjust seasoning. If soup seems too thick, add a little more water.

For the topping, combine almonds, mint, fennel tops, and lemon zest. Ladle soup in bowls, and top with the crunchy almond mixture.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

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Comments: The original recipe from Cooking Light used a full can of beans, but I held back a little, felt that it could overpower the delicate fennel taste. I really like the way my soup turned out, it was creamy, with just a subtle hint of the cannelini around, the main flavor of fennel definitely shinning through. As to the topping, you can use a heavy hand as in the first photo, or add just a touch. Whatever rocks your boat…
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Before I leave, let me invite you to see the collection of French Soups made by my virtual friends.
Click on the InLinkz below, and get ready to fly to France!
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Sweet memories by the Seine….
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ONE YEAR AGO: Eataly

TWO YEARS AGO: Spaghetti Squash Perfection

THREE YEARS AGO: Skinny Eggplant Parmigiana

FOUR YEARS AGO: Supernova Meets Wok

FIVE YEARS AGO: 500 Posts and The Best Thing I ever made

SIX YEARS AGO: Back in Los Angeles

SEVEN YEARS AGO: White House Macaroni and Cheese

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Korean-Style Pork with Asian Slaw

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21Oct2017

SOUP SATURDAY: REGIONAL SOUPS

Posted in Soups by sallybr

Third Saturday of October, I’m joining the fun event hosted this month by Ashley from Cheese Curd in Paradise. She picked Regional Soups as theme, hoping we would all feature a soup that is typical of our state. Google is one of my best friends, but this time it let me down. No matter how hard I tried to trick it into giving me some variety for recipes from Kansas, it was set on…. Steak Soup. For someone born and raised in Brazil, the words steak and soup cannot be present in the same sentence. Unless the soup was a first light course for that juicy steak grilled medium-rare. But, in the name of joining the party, I asked Phil how he felt about it. His reaction: No, thank you. I like my steak grilled. Medium-rare. See? We are very compatible, in case you did not notice. I had two options, decline to participate, or be a bit more flexible with definitions. Since you are reading this post, you already know my choice. Kansas has great corn. And after hitting “publish” on this post, I might need a great lawyer.

KANSAS CORN CHOWDER
(inspired by Cookin Canuck)

1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
1 shallot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles
2 + 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup + 1/2 corn kernels (from about 4 corn cobs)
3/4 teaspoon of salt, divided
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups low-fat milk
3 cooked chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, shredded
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
fresh cilantro leaves

Heat the grapeseed oil in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Add the shallot, celery and red pepper and cook stirring very now and then until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the green chiles and cook briefly. Add about 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Pour in the chicken broth, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat add the corn and simmer for 5 minutes. Place the flour in a medium bowl and slowly whisk in the milk until the mixture is smooth. Slowly whisk the milk mixture into the soup, along with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper. Cook, until the soup is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the shredded chicken meat and the Cheddar cheese. Serve right away when the cheese melts, with some cilantro sprinkled on top. Adjust seasoning.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Since I had already pushed the envelope coming up with a chowder as a recipe for Kansas, I went even wilder and cooked the chicken sous-vide. How about that for breaking all rules? You simply cannot beat the perfect texture sous-vide does for boneless chicken breasts. Of course you can use leftover roast chicken, or regular top of the stove poached meat, it’s all fine. The shredded chicken is added just at the end, right before serving. You can also omit it for a full-veggie version, using vegetable stock or even water instead of chicken stock. I had a lot of fun making this soup, even if the corn husk attacked me.

Felt very virtuous with my prep work!

I bought fresh corn and shucked it myself, to collect the beautiful kernels for my Kansas Soup. As I was shucking the very first corn, while pulling the husk back, it caught the fingernail of my little finger. Pulled it upwards and back almost breaking it midway into the tip of the finger. Have you ever done that? I tell you, it hurts. I saw many of the constellations of the Milky Way passing fast in front of my eyes. Or so it seemed. Stuck my finger in an ice bath, cut the fingernail as close as possible to the finger, and moved on.

Corn 1 x 0 Sally

This soup turned out quite amazing! I think next time a little cayenne pepper will be added, I’d like slightly more heat. I swirled a little Sriracha over my bowl, just because. You can do the same. Compared to many corn chowder recipes around, this one is a little more restrained in terms of calories, as I used a lot less flour to thicken the soup, and also opted for low-fat milk instead of a load of heavy cream. Trust me, this was luscious enough the way I made it. We were very happy with it, and the chicken makes it a full meal.

If you’d like to see what my virtual friends prepared for their Regional Soups, click on the link at the very bottom of the post. Ashley, thanks for hosting!

Guess what, folks? Next month yours truly will be hosting the event! I can hardly wait!

ONE YEAR AGO: Impossibly Cute Bacon and Egg Cups

TWO YEARS AGO: Pulling Under Pressure

THREE YEARS AGO: Cooking Sous-vide: Two takes on Chicken Thighs

FOUR YEARS AGO: Miso Soup: A Japanese Classic

FIVE YEARS AGO: On my desk

SIX YEARS AGO: A must-make veggie puree

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Vegetarian Lasagna

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Brazilian Pão de Queijo

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15Apr2017

SOUP SATURDAY: ROOT VEGETABLES

Posted in Soups by sallybr

Third Saturday of the month, which means it’s time for soup! This month’s Soup Saturday Event event is hosted by Wendy, from A Day in the Life on the Farm. She chose Root Vegetables as the theme. I thought about making a potato soup I’ve had in my files sitting for 6 years. Yes, I checked. That soup calls for two kinds of potatoes and it also involves shrimp. Unusual, right? I definitely have to make it before another 6 years go by. But then, another option called my attention, one that features a veggie that doesn’t get much praise. The parsnip. Inspiration for the recipe came from the cookbook The New England Soup Factory, but I modified it quite a bit. Parsnips paired with tomatoes, a tasty idea. No matter your stance on this humble looking root veggie, I am certain you will love this soup.

PARSNIP AND TOMATO SOUP
(inspired by New England Soup Factory)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large shallot, diced
2 ribs celery, sliced
8 medium parsnips, peeled and cut in chunks

1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes, peeled, with liquid
1 bottle V8 juice (12 ounces)
2 cups water
1/4 cup half and half
salt and pepper
fresh dill
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Add the olive oil, shallot and celery pieces into a pan, and saute until soft and fragrant in low heat, about 5 minutes. Add the parsnips, increase heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until it get a bit of color.

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Add the tomatoes with the liquid, stir to release brown bits from the pan. Transfer to a pressure cooker, add the V8 juice and 1 cup of the water. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, cook on top of the stove until the parsnip pieces are tender, around 50 minutes. If you use a pressure cooker, cook for 20 minutes and release pressure under cold running water.
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Transfer contents to a high-powered blender, and blend until smooth. Return to the pan. If too thick, thin with additional water. If too thin, simmer to thicken it. Add the half and half, some fresh dill and simmer gently for a couple of minutes. Ladle into soup bowls and add fresh dill right before serving it.
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Sprinkle some more fresh dill as a garnish.

ENJOY!
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to print the recipe, click here
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Comments: I was really pleased with this soup. I love tomato soup but sometimes find it a bit too intense. The parsnips mellow the flavor of the tomato and give the whole thing a more earthy flavor. It’s important to use a very powerful blender, otherwise you could get a bit of a fibrous texture. I ran the blender for a few minutes to make sure it was absolutely smooth. Oranges and tomatoes are great together, so when I enjoyed the soup again for my lunch next day, I added a bit of orange zest and squeezed some orange juice while warming it. Very nice, and the dill doesn’t fight with the citric flavor. I had never used V8 as a cooking ingredient, but will definitely keep it around, maybe even the spicy version for added kick. Often vegetable soups include chicken stock, but for the most part I prefer to use either water of a veggie stock. The half and half could be omitted, I suppose, if you like to keep it lower in fat, but it is such a small amount, I say go for it…

Wendy, thanks for hosting! I invite my readers to click on the link feast below, to see what my virtual friends cooked up this month…