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January 13, 2010
 

Easy Peasy: Carrot Soup

"Dees ees good! I chomp it up." ---Anya, eater of soup

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Every kid I know who has ever had this soup loves it. We made it today for lunch. 

"I Chomp It Up" Soup
(aka Carrot Soup)

1-1/2 TBS unsalted butter
4 good sized carrots, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
a couple of fresh thyme sprigs (optional)
salt
1 c. chicken broth
1 c. water (or omit the chicken broth and use 2c. water)

Sauté the onions and thyme in the butter until the onions begin to get soft. Add the carrots (if your child hasn't stolen them all and eaten them). 

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Cook the onion and carrot mixture, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. 

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Add the water/broth. Bring the soup to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the carrots are just soft. 

(The above recipe serves two. Simply double or treble according to your needs.)

There are so many ways to fancy this up, if you want. You can always puree it after you cook it. You can add yogurt, sour cream, heavy cream, or crème fraîche swirled into the puree. You could add ground cumin and/or coriander. You could garnish with fresh cilantro or parsley or tarragon or chervil or dill. You could add chicken and noodles and you would have, well, you know what you would have. 

You can also serve it with toasted cheese or a simple green salad for a more substantial meal. 

We love this one. Hope you will too!

 

Filed under  //   carrots   easy peasy   soup   vegetarian  

Comments [4]

January 12, 2010
 

MAKE IT! Results: Soupe à l'Oignon Grantinée

After two years of thinking about making Soupe à l'Oignon Gratinée, I was not disappointed when I finally did make it. The technique was very easy, though somewhat more time consuming than I had imagined. I did end up caramelizing the onions which adds some additional prep time. I wonder if toasting the bread is entirely necessary. Next time, I think I will just use day- (or two) old bread.

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Both Wendy and I used the Emmental cheese which makes a nice, crisp top crust. Wendy felt the "crusty cheese top was divine and totally made up for any mush." Jamie substituted Gruyere because Emmental was not available. The Gruyere did not seem to crisp up as well and Jamie finally ended up putting his soupe under the broiler. 
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As I mentioned, I caramelized the onions which took a little added time. It was worth it, in my opinion. I debated adding stock instead of salt water, as Jamie did, but settled on deglazing the onion pan with a little white wine and adding the salt water to the scrapings to make an onion-y broth. I think I would advise against using a meat broth, in the end. As Jamie said, "toasted bread, carmelized onions, yummy cheese, butter, and tomato puree turned out to provide plenty of richness."

The best part of making this dish was the construction. First, the toasted, buttered bread topped with cheese. 
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Then, a layer of onions with tomato puree drizzled over them. 
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Finally, a layer of cheese. Then repeat to fill the kettle.
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Add the salty water and cook for 90 minutes, uncovered. The final picture is Wendy's. Yum!

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The dish was thick, rich and delicious. My kids were a little reluctant to eat it, but liked it once they did. We only ate half of it on the day we made it. I reheated the leftovers the next night to use as a side dish and it was fabulous. 

I love Wendy's family's reaction: "My husband and six-year-old LOVED it! I was surprised when my 6-year-old asked for seconds. The 4-year-old? Well, he doused his in ketchup and ate maybe two bites. I guess everyone's entitled to their opinion." 

Thanks to those who participated in MAKE IT! If you didn't get around to it this time, I hope you'll try it next time. 

Filed under  //   make it!   results   savory bread pudding   soup  

Comments [2]

January 11, 2010
 

What's in the Pantry?

 

After the holidays, I admit, my motivation for cooking anything very challenging or creative is pretty low. I tend make a lot of old stand-byes and cobble together easy dishes out of whatever I have on hand. 

(download)

Tonight was one of those cobbling nights and we ended up with a lovely dish of black-eyed peas. 

Pantry Peas

1+c dried black eyed peas
2 thick (or 4 thinner) slices of bacon, diced
1 small (or 1/2 large) yellow onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
stock or water to cover
1 small bunch leafy greens (chard, kale, collards), sliced in ribbons
Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper to taste

Soak the black-eyed peas and drain.* Set aside.

Put the bacon in a soup pot over medium heat until it gets a little color and renders some fat. Add the onions, carrots, and red pepper and sauté until the onions are soft and beginning to turn golden. Pour in the black-eyed peas and mix thoroughly. Cover with water or stock, bring to a simmer and cook gently for about 45 minutes or until the peas are cooked through and just starting to break up and give the soup some body. 

Add the greens and let them wilt. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Enjoy!

*Note: I almost exclusively use the quick soak method for dried beans. Cover the beans with an inch or two of water. Bring the water to a boil. Cover the pot and turn off the heat. Leave for one hour (or more if you need to), then proceed with the recipe. 

 

Filed under  //   bacon   beans   pantry   soup  

Comments [1]

December 14, 2009
 

MAKE IT! Soupe à l'Oignon Gratinée

I would like to introduce what I hope will be a regular feature of this blog, called MAKE IT! I will give you a week (or so) to make a recipe I present here. After you've made it, send me your pictures and a couple sentences about your experience with the dish: did you like it? what would you do differently in future? and so forth. I will then post your feedback along with my own. 

In the spirit of my previous post on Bready Things, I thought I would introduce a bready recipe I have wanted to make. For over two years I have intended to make Henri Babinski's 1907 recipe for Soupe à l'Oignon Gratinée as described in Amanda Hesser's 2007 article in The New York Times. 

This is the perfect recipe for this time of year. The ingredients are very basic, the method is fairly straight forward. I adore well-made french onion soup, it is perhaps one of the ultimate comfort foods. But this, but this! Layers of onions, buttered bread and pureed tomato cooked in savory liquid and topped with cheese. It has to be divine! Doesn't it?! MAKE IT! and let me know. 

Here's the link to the recipe:

Filed under  //   make it!   savory bread pudding   soup   vegetarian  

Comments [6]