Kurbissuppe {Pumpkin Soup}

I'm smitten.  In total and complete love.  And I'm not the only one.

We named our sweet baby girl Lorelei to honor her German birthplace.  But what we didn't know was just how true to her namesake she's proving to be.  Lorelei is known in German legend as a siren who lured men to her (and their doom) in the Rhine River.  In just two weeks our Lorelei has shown to have a pretty powerful hold over her daddy and two big brothers.  I can imagine that she will have the men in her life wrapped around her little finger as long as her heart desires.

This new little sweetheart came into our lives when we thought we were way past the "baby" stage of life.  I love my older boys and seeing their personalities unfold as they grow into young men.   So I was amazed at how quickly my heart was won over by their baby sister.  My fears of being completely unprepared emotionally for this new addition to our lives, of the change that would shake up our comfortable life and of how I would be able to juggle all of those new baby difficulties and still be a good mom to my boys were washed away the moment that incredibly chubby-cheeked face was presented to me.  In that moment I couldn't imagine our family without her.

A new season has begun in our family just as fall has descended upon us here in Germany.  I thought it fitting to share the most popular fall dish in our adopted home.  You know fall has arrived when you see two things in the market- huge pyramid stacks of crazily pointy cabbages called spitzkohl and pumpkins.  There are all sorts of pumpkins for sale, everything from presliced slabs of giant pumpkins to small winter squash like Hokkaido (or Kuri) squash.  And my favorite fall festivity may just be the carved and stacked pumpkins that cover the gardens at the yearly pumpkin festival at a nearby Baroque castle.  I think it will be Lorelei's first big introduction to the fests of Germany and rightfully so because in my mind her arrival will forever be linked to the crisp early days of the German autumn.

Kurbissuppe {Pumpkin Soup}
Serves 4 as a main course.
For the printable recipe, click here.

This is a pretty traditional German-style pumpkin soup.  There are no fancy spices or herbs here, it's pretty straightforward pumpkin.  I chose to use Hokkaido squash instead of a true pumpkin, but you could certainly use sugar pumpkins in place of the squash if you can find them.  I roasted my squash first to add a bit more flavor and the Hokkaido can be roasted and eaten with the skin on- a bonus in my book.  Here in Germany, the locals would drizzle pumpkin seed oil over their soup.  The oil is a glorious deep green color and really adds something to the flavor of the soup.  I didn't have any on hand, but found that a swirl of balsamic vinegar (I actually used a reduced balsamic glaze which you can find in many grocery stores these days) was the perfect foil for the rich soup.  I wouldn't skip that drizzle if I were you.  If you'd like a richer soup a swirl of creme fraiche wouldn't be out of place stirred into each bowl.  And if you have them, sprinkle a few roasted pumpkin seeds over the top.  The Germans would.

2 smaller-sized Hokkaido squash
1 medium yukon gold or other waxy potato, chopped into half inch cubes
1 small onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock (or even water if you want to keep the flavor pure pumpkin)
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Optional garnishes:
balsamic vinegar or balsamic cream
pumpkin seed oil
roasted pumpkin seeds
creme fraiche

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Slice the Hokkaido squash in half and scrape out the seeds and membranes.  Cut the flesh into 2 inch wide crescents.  On the baking sheet, toss the squash with a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper.  Roast for 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway through, until the flesh is tender and caramelized at the edges. Coarsely chop once out of the oven.

With about 10 minutes left to the roasting time, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a 5 quart stockpot over medium heat.  Stir in the onion and carrot and saute until just beginning to soften, about 4 minutes.  Add in the potatoes and garlic and saute for another 3 to 4 minutes (being careful not to burn the garlic).  Stir in the stock and roasted squash.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper.  Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat a bit.  Simmer the soup until all of the vegetables are very tender, about 15-20 minutes.  Blend the soup in batches until smooth in a blender or in the pot using an immersion blender.

Serve the soup with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar or pumpkin seed oil, a sprinkle of roasted pumpkin seeds and a swirl of creme fraiche.

Red Lentil and Tomato Soup

This soup has been haunting me for two years.  It's one of my absolute favorites and I think I have made and photographed it at least three times in an attempt to share it with you.  Not a single photograph has ever been worthy of posting.  Seriously.  Not.  One.  Ever.

Until today.  {Insert me jumping up and down clapping in glee here!}  I've come to the conclusion that my photography woes with regards to this soup have been due to three factors.  First, it's taken me forever to really feel comfortable with my camera skills, capturing the light in an attractive way and food styling abilities.  I think I may be at the point where I've gotten the hang of it. Or maybe I just got lucky on this one.  For today, at least, I'm not going to question it because it means I finally have some decent photos to share with you.

Second, I don't often plan what recipes I'm going to make and when I'm going to make them.  That sort of leaves me at the mercy of whatever lighting I have on the day I decide to whip up a batch of something new.  In the case of this soup I seem to only make it on rainy and cloudy days when I can't squeeze out enough light to make even the prettiest cake or cookie look edible, let alone a humble soup.  But really the biggest problem I've been having is that fact that, let's face it, the soup is not the most attractive color.  Some things are just really hard to make look enticing in a photo and the mustard-like color of the lentils just is not very photogenic. 

But by golly, I think I've finally managed to make it look like it's something you might want to eat.  And thank goodness because it really is an awesome soup.  Thank you pretty German morning light from my big back windows.  Thank you Anthropologie for the sweet little napkin that makes all of my food look awesome against it and IKEA for the rolling kitchen cart that helps me find just the right spot to take my pictures.  And thanks to you- my faithful readers- for having the patience and fortitude to stick it out with me through the oddly colored and poorly focused photos of my past with the hope that I may just find my stride and finally deliver on a soup that took me two years to get right.

Red Lentil and Tomato Soup
Makes 4-6 servings of soup. Slightly finessed from Fine Cooking.
For the printable recipe, click here.

This soup is pretty darn perfect for my family's taste, but it is infinitely adaptable.  My husband, ever the carnivore, likes a bit of shredded chicken or turkey stirred into his bowl.  The greens add a really nice slightly bitter note to the soup, but are certainly not necessary and the soup is quite good without them.  If you choose to use them, you can throw in whatever you have in your fridge.  I've used kale, spinach, swiss chard and even bok choy with equal success.  And you can go totally vegetarian (even vegan!) by using vegetable stock as your liquid.  The possibilities here are endless.  The real key is the red lentils, which I would not substitute with any other sort of lentil as they cook differently.  You can find them in many grocery stores these days so seek them out near the rest of the dry legumes and grains in your local store.

1 medium onion, chopped finely
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 tsp curry powder or garaham masala
1 tsp dried cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 pinch cayenne pepper (to taste)
a generous pinch of sea or kosher salt
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes in the juices (fire roasted are my favorite to use in this soup)
4 cups home made or low sodium chicken stock (to go vegetarian, use vegetable stock)
1 cup dried red lentils
2 tbs chopped sun dried or slow roasted tomatoes
1 heaping cup chopped bitter greens such as kale, swiss chard, or mustard greens

Heat 2 tbs olive oil in a large saucepan (3 qt) over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook, stirring, until they have softened and become translucent (about 5 minutes).  Add the carrots, celery, curry powder, cumin and smoked paprika and stir for about 1 minute or until the spices toast and become very fragrant.  Add the salt, stock, tomatoes and their juices, and lentils to the pot.  Stir continuously until the soup comes to a boil so that the lentils do not stick and form clumps.  Once the soup reaches a boil, turn the heat down to medium low and simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes or until the carrots and lentils have softened.  Add the sun dried tomatoes and greens and cook for another 4-5 minutes to soften the greens.  Taste for seasoning and add salt as needed.  Serve immediately.

The soup will keep for several days in the refrigerator, though the lentils will soak up much of the liquid.  Simply add a bit or water or stock when you reheat it.  You can also freeze the soup for up to three months.

Caramelized Shallot Soup with Parmesean Croutons

This is a case of "when life hands you shallots"....

And when I say shallots, I mean mountains of them.  I love my CSA, but since I don't get to pick the produce that goes in your box it can sometimes be a challenge to manage what comes to me each week.  Trust me, I know how lucky I am to be able to get the organic produce that I get all year long, so this is certainly NOT a complaint.  Just an observation.  For example, had I been able to choose what I get, I would have realized that the first pile of shallots I got a few weeks ago would have been enough to sustain us for quite a while.  I would not have chosen to get more the next week.  Or the next.  But I'm at the mercy of the farmers, so the pile of shallots just kept on growing in my pantry.

At some point I realized that I was not going to be able to use up these shallots by occasionally adding one to my favorite chicken salad or vinaigrette.  So what do you do when you've got a mountain of shallots that need to be used?  Make soup!  French onion is one of my favorites and, in my opinion, one of the ways to tell a really good restaurant from just a decent one.  So I set out to turn my proverbial lemons into lemonade and began the slightly painful process of peeling and slicing.  I didn't have all the necessary ingredients on hand so I improvised.  And in the end I managed to take down that mountain of shallots and make a darn good soup.  I gotta say, I like my version.  A lot.

Caramelized Shallot Soup with Parmesean Croutons
Serves 4-6 people. 
For a printable version, click here.

This is a very simple soup to prepare.  But it does take a bit of time to really get the shallots well caramelized.  I'd say you need about an hour and a half between the prep time (there's a lot of slicing!) and cooking.  I've added herbs de Provence to the soup, which is a bit unconventional, but it's my nod to the French and adds a nice background flavor.  If you don't have any, you could certainly use a bit more fresh thyme or even a tiny bit of rosemary.  The shot of soy sauce at the end is a trick I learned from Cooks Illustrated to give the soup a bit of depth and that elusive umami flavor that it would be lacking otherwise.  I promise it won't taste like chinese food.

6 cups sliced shallots (about 12-14 large shallots)
2 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs chopped garlic
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 cup light wheat beer (such as a white wheat or even a hefewiezen)
4 cups good chicken stock or low sodium chicken broth
2 tsp herbs de Provence
1 tsp salt
pich black pepper
1 tbs low sodium soy sauce

5 slices good country white bread or ciabatta, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tbs butter, melted
1/2 cup shredded or shaved parmesean cheese


Heat the butter and olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot.  Add the shallots and cook, stirring often, over medium heat until they are very soft and turn a medium golden color.  Add the thyme sprigs and the garlic and stir until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute more.  Pour in the beer and stir, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.  Allow the beer to simmer until it is reduced by half, another 3-5 minutes.  Add the broth, soy sauce, herbs de Provence, salt and pepper and stir.  Simmer the soup, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  On a baking sheet, toss the bread cubes and butter.  Sprinkle the cubes with half of the parmesean.  Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the croutons until lightly browned and the cheese begins to melt, about 5 minutes.  Toss the croutons on the baking sheet and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese. Return to the oven and continue baking until the cheese is golden and bubbly, another few minutes.  Remove from the oven and set aside until the soup is ready.

Remove the thyme sprigs from the soup at the end of the 30 minutes.  Serve in warmed soup bowls topped with a handful of croutons.

Spicy Pork, Potato and Pepper Stew

There are some foods that are just more photogenic than others, let's face it.  I'm pretty sure I've got my cookies, cakes and salads down pat by now.  They always look pretty, even if the picture isn't perfect.  I'm admittedly a novice photographer.  I don't know the technical terms for any of the things my camera can do.  I just shoot by intuition and quite a lot of practice and bad photos along the way.  I think I'm getting better.

After almost two years of blogging I have finally found the perfect window so taking a better picture in good lighting is now possible in my house in the dead of winter (of course, it helps that we've just now gotten around to getting the construction materials from projects around the house out of there so I can actually go into it).  Summer photos are easier as the light through my big kitchen window is quite bright in both the morning and afternoon, but winter and spring have continued to be a struggle.  I'm never completely satisfied with the final result.  Until now.  It's a been a long, slow learning curve for me.  But I think I can finally begin to say that the photographs I present here are starting to represent the real me.

But that learning curve has resulted in many, many recipes that will never be shared with you because the food just doesn't look right.  I find meats the hardest to shoot- I just can't make them look appetizing.  And there's a spicy lentil soup that my family just adores that always looks too weirdly orange and lumpy to show off.  Stews and chilis fit in the "tricky to photograph well" category as well.  But maybe, just maybe, I'm getting somewhere with my photography.  Because I think I've actually got a couple decent shots to go with a wonderful recipe that I'm relieved I can share.  A stew worthy of a good picture, two pictures even, that I am proud to share with you, my friends.

Spicy Pork, Potato and Pepper Stew
Serves 4-6 people.  Inspired by the stews in the Feb/March issue of Fine Cooking.
For the printable recipe, click here.

There's a bit of spicy in this stew from a hint of chipotle chili powder and some roasted green chilis.  I found it to be just right and not overwhelmingly hot, and my 8 year old son agreed and heat-hating husband agreed with me.  Feel free to add or subtract a bit of heat to your liking however.  I confess to using jarred roasted peppers in my stew.  I decided that in a stew with this many ingredients and length of cooking time that roasting my own would really be unnecessary.  I'm glad I didn't go through the trouble of the extra step because I perfectly satisfied with the flavor of the jarred peppers.  You could certainly roast your own if you want to, but it is not essential.

3 lbs boneless pork shoulder or Boston butt, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
3 tbs vegetable oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped
2 medium celery stalks, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 tbs chopped roasted green (or hatch) chilis
1 12 oz beer, I used a dark lager
2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
1 lb (about 2 medium) yukon gold or red skinned potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
4 medium shallots, quartered
2 roasted red peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
lime wedges, for serving

In a large Dutch oven or other heavy duty pot, heat the oil until shimmering.  Add about 1/3 of the pork in a single layer and brown well on 3-4 sides.  Remove the meat and repeat the browning process two more times with the remaining 2/3 of the pork. 

You need about 2 tbs of oil in the pan for the vegetables.  If you need more add it now.  Once hot, add the onions, carrots, celery and a pinch of salt and pepper and cook over medium heat until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.  Stir and scrape the bottom of the pot often.  Add the garlic, oregano, cumin, chili powder and green chilis to the pot and stir until fragrant, just one minute.

Add the beer to the pot and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom.  Raise the heat to medium high and simmer until the beer is reduced by half, about 5 minutes.  Add the chicken broth and water  and bring to a simmer.  Return the meat to the pot along with any juices that have accumulated.  Lower the heat to maintain a constant simmer.  Place the lid on the pot and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the potatoes and shallots to the pot after the first 30 minutes of simmering.  Replace the lid and continue to cook for another 30-45 minutes.  At that point, add in the roasted red peppers.  Replace the lid and continue cooking for 30-45 minutes or until the pork is very tender and all the vegetables have cooked through.  Stir in the cilantro and remove from the heat.  Serve warm with a wedge of lime.

Roasted Broccoli Soup

I have discovered my all time favorite way to prepare broccoli.  It involves the oven, some olive oil, salt pepper and garlic.  15 minutes later the broccoli emerges roasted with crispy/salty edges and tender stems.  ah.  may.  zing.  I can't seem to get enough.  Never, ever again will I steam or blanch my broccoli into a green mush.  It's a crime against nature and I vow never again to participate in the mushifying (I know, not a word, but fun nonetheless) of a perfectly lovely and crisp vegetable.  Those little trees were meant to stand tall and I just want to shake any person who serves me floppy broccoli.  Instead, I beg you, roast your broccoli and you will wonder at how  nuanced in flavor broccoli can be or how a bit of dark brown crispiness on the tops of the florets can be so satisfying.  It's truly a vegetable revelation.

So then I guess it's a good thing that both my garden and my CSA farmers seem to growing broccoli at an amazing rate right now.  It's like my broccoli dreams come true.  I've got several big sturdy heads hanging out in the crisper drawer just begging to be roasted.  If only I didn't have to hear the rumblings at dinner of "broccoli again?" my beloved roasted broccoli would be a daily staple.  So okay, I needed a way to use up a big quantity of broccoli and what better way to do that than a soup?  I did a quick creamy broccoli soup with potatoes last year about this time for just the same reason.  Only this time I decided to treat the broccoli as I would sturdier soup fare like carrots or squash and roast it first.  Just like that my favorite side dish has become a soup that has an enormous amount of depth and great broccoli flavor.  And I, for one, am happily satisfied with the result.

Roasted Broccoli Soup
Serves 4.
For a printable recipe, click here.

This soup makes a wonderful lunch with a hunk of crusty bread.  The broccoli flavor is intensified by the addition of a whole head of roasted garlic and a splash of lemon juice. I suggest topping it off with a pile of grated gruyere cheese- it takes the soup from the realm of really good to extraordinary in no time flat.  By the way, if you just wanted to make the roasted broccoli you would simply add a bit of finely chopped garlic to the roasting pan when tossing the florets and follow the roasting directions.

2 large heads broccoli, separated into florets
1 head garlic
olive oil
1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped
4 cups low sodium chicken broth (you could easily use water or vegetable broth to make it vegetarian)
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1-2 tbs lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
grated gruyere, for topping soup

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Peel the outer paper from the head of garlic.  Slice the top off of the head, exposing the cloves of garlic.  Place the head on a sheet of aluminum foil and drizzle it with about 2 tsp olive oil.  Wrap the foil around the garlic to form a packet and place the packet in the oven to roast for 20 minutes

In the meantime, spread the broccoli florets on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss.  Place the baking sheet into the oven at the end of the first 20 minutes of the garlic's baking time.  Roast for 15 minutes, turning the broccoli over about halfway through the cooking time.  Remove from the oven.  The garlic should also be done at this time- look for it to be golden and the cloves soft.

In a dutch oven or large pot, heat 1 tbs olive oil over medium high heat  When hot add the onions and turn the heat down to medium.  Saute the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring often.  Add the roasted broccoli, thyme and chicken stock and bring to a simmer.  Simmer for 5 minutes or until the broccoli is very tender.  Squeeze the roasted cloves of garlic from the head that you set aside earlier and add them to the pot of soup.  Blend in batches or with an immersion blender until the soup is smooth.  If you use a blender, be sure not to fill your vessel up more than halfway as hot soup expands when blended and could cause burns.  Return the blended soup to the pot and add 1 tbs lemon juice.  Taste for seasoning adding more salt, pepper or lemon juice as desired.

Ladle into soup bowls and served topped with grated gruyere cheese.

Creamy Broccoli Soup

I first made this soup a few weeks ago when a girlfriend unexpectedly came by at lunchtime.  It was one of those days when I was in between grocery shopping trips and most of the good stuff in my fridge and pantry had been used up.  But I couldn't just let her come over and not feed her lunch, so I did a quick scan of what I had and when I spied my garden through my kitchen window I had one of those "light bulb moments".

You know the ones I'm talking about- when all of a sudden the idea hits you like the light bulb going on over the cartoon character's head.  Aha!  That's what I had at that moment.

 My first successful gardening attempt (that I started from seeds!)  had resulted in some giant broccoli plants which were just ready for picking.  I cut a few big stalks off the plant, came back inside and in a matter of minutes had a soup bubbling away on the stove.  My girlfriend and I were both impressed by the freshness of the soup and how clearly the broccoli flavor stood out.  She liked it so much she took the recipe home with her that afternoon.  Success!

So when my hubby asked me to make some broccoli soup this past week, I knew just what to do.  A quick trip to the garden and through the pantry and soup was served.  I love that kind of meal- little effort and maximum satisfaction.  What more could a girl ask for?

Creamy Broccoli Soup
Adapted from Food and Wine

This soup is unbelievably simple and is ready in half an hour.  It's perfect for a light lunch or a first course for a nice dinner.   And if you were so inclined, you could make it vegetarian by swapping out the chicken broth for water.

1/2 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 cup celery (2 small ribs), chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cups chopped broccoli (I used mostly the florets with some of the more tender stems)
1 medium russet potato, peeled and chopped
2 1/2 cups low-sodium or home made chicken broth
2 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne or piment d'epsalette

In a large stockpot, heat 2 tbs olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and celery to the pot and cook, stirring, until they have softened (about 5 minutes).  Add the garlic and cook for another minute.  Add the broccoli, potatoes, chicken broth and milk to the pot.  Season to taste.  Bring the soup to a boil, then simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.  Puree the soup to your liking in a blender or using an immersion blender.  We liked the soup nice and smooth, but if you like a bit of chunks, go for it.

Serve warm with a slice of crusty bread for dipping.

Turkey Sopa de Lima {Yucatan Turkey Soup with Lime}

I like soup.  It's really that simple.  In the middle of winter a nice pot of soup hits the spot, in my humble opinion.  But as much as I really want a bowl of lentil soup for lunch, it's hard to convince myself that soup is a good thing when it's 80 degrees out in January.  What crazy weather we've been having here in Southern California!  I'm breaking out capri pants and tank tops for crying out loud!  Not that I'm complaining, mind you.  As much as I like a good snowfall, I think I'll pick the warm sunshine.  This former Jersey girl is digging the California winters.

I could wax poetic on this glorious weather all day if no one stopped me.  But I digress...

So...I'm in the mood for soup, but the weather has me second guessing myself.  Who wants pots simmering on the stove all day heating up an already hot kitchen?  Not this girl.  I hemmed and hawed over the subject for a couple of days before deciding just to go for it.  I managed to convince myself that if the end result was light and refreshing and fit the mood of the summer-like day, then I might be able to pull off the whole soup thing.  So I went tropical (or at least Mexican, which is as close to tropical as I'm going to get for now). 

Sopa de Lima is a soup from the Yucatan region of Mexico.  It's like a tortilla soup in many ways, but just a bit fresher and tangier from the addition of the lime juice.  It's a perfect soup to pick you up from those mid-winter blahs.  And as citrus is in season right now, what better way to make use of produce at it's peak?  I did make a few changes from the traditional recipe.  Sopa de lima is typically made with chicken, but turkey thighs were super cheap in my grocery store, so I snatched a few up and they became the base for my soup.  I also decided to omit the traditional cinnamon from the broth.  Convincing my family to eat it would have been decidedly more difficult with cinnamon involved.  Though I do wonder what it would have tasted like...

Turkey Sopa de Lima
Adapted from the Seattle Times (who apparently borrowed it from the New York Times, this soup gets around!)

I used turkey for the base of my stock, but feel free to use chicken instead.  If you're really feeling pressed for time, you can use store bought low-sodium chicken broth and leftover shredded chicken and the soup will come together in about 20 minutes.  Don't skip the additional toppings- I forgot to add the pickled jalapeno slices the next day for lunch and I really missed their heat.

For the turkey stock:
3 turkey thighs (or drumsticks or a leftover carcass with the meat reserved for shredding later)
8-10 cups water
1 onion, cut into quarters
1 celery rib, cut into large pieces
1 carrot, cut into large pieces
2 bay leaves
6 peppercorns
salt to taste

Add all the ingredients to a large stock pot.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer.  Simmer the soup, covered, for 1 1/2 hours, or until you have a flavorful stock.  Strain the stock, reserving the turkey meat for the final soup.

For the Sopa de Lima:
6 cups turkey stock
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced carrot
1 cup diced celery
5 garlic cloves, finely diced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
pinch cayenne
4 cups shredded turkey meat
4 green onions (scallions), white and light green parts thinly sliced
1/3 coarsely chopped cilantro leaves

additional toppings:
sliced avocado
thinly sliced jalapeno (I used pickled jalapenos and they were great)
lime wedges for squeezing
tortilla chips

In a large pot, heat 2 tbs canola oil.  When warm, add the onions, carrots and celery and saute the vegetables until they are soft and translucent.  Add the garlic and spices and stir for 1 minute (you'll smell them- that's how you know it's ready for the next step)

Carefully pour the stock into the pot and stir to combine.  Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer.  Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.  Add the shredded turkey and simmer for another few minutes, just to heat it through.  Stir in the green onions and cilantro and remove the pot from the heat.

Serve the soup with a slice or two of the avocado, a few slices of jalapeno, a good squeeze of lime and few tortilla chips crumbled over the top.

Sweet Potato Soup

What a weekend!  With school Halloween parades, basketball games, bathroom remodeling, trunk or treating, and dinner out with friends it's been non-stop action around here.  And I'm exhausted.  For more reasons than just those, which is unfortunate for me.  Friday morning's visit to the dentist for a routine cleaning turned into a 6 hour dental work marathon which resulted in my diet being restricted to soft foods only.  No Halloween candy!  How can I possibly look at those peanut butter cups and milk duds all day long and not steal them from my kids' bags?

There is only so much applesauce, oatmeal and yogurt a girl can eat and I was getting HUNGRY.  And more than a little annoyed that I couldn't eat the great foods I was making for my family (herb roasted pork loin and jambalaya...drool...).  So I decided to suck it up and embrace all the things I could eat and make them as tasty as I could.  Soups, smoothies, and puddings here I come.

This sweet potato soup really was a complete accident of a soup.  Not having the energy to go to the grocery store and pick up soup basics like carrots which I was completely out of, I simply googled recipes until I found one that I actually had all the ingredients for.  I found this sweet little (well maybe not so little, but not one I'd have reason to frequent often) blog called Shiksa in the Kitchen.  Kosher food!  Now, I'm a Catholic Italian girl from South Jersey, kosher food is not my thing.  But I had great friends growing up that were Jewish and I've attended a bat mitzvah or two in my time.  One thing my friends taught me is that Jewish food is awesome- challah... brisket... kugel...mmm.  So what the heck, I was hungry and it looked like a good recipe, so I decided to give it a try.

At first glance, the ingredients in this soup look crazy and you may think there's no way all these completely unrelated ingredients can come together and make something wonderful, but have faith friends.  I wouldn't steer you awry.  For such an easy soup to make, there is great depth of flavor and you will be satisfied right to your very soul.  And hey, for an added bonus, if you're celebrating any of the fall Jewish holidays- it's kosher!

Sweet Potato Soup
Makes 6-8 servings
From the Shiksa in the Kitchen's post on the Joy of Kosher

1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large sweet potatoes (about 2 1/2 lbs), peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 smallish zucchini (1 lb), chopped
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth (you could use vegetable broth as well for a vegetarian soup)
1 tbs fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground ginger
3 seeded and chopped tomatoes or 1 can diced tomatoes
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, heat 1 tbs olive oil over medium-high heat.  To the oil, add the onions and saute until they are softened, 4-5 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and continue to saute until the garlic is fragrant, 1 minute more.  Add the sweet potatoes and zucchini and stir for 3 additional minutes. 

Add the broth to the pot as well as the thyme, cumin and ginger.  Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium and simmer the soup for 20-25 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are almost completely soft.  Add the tomatoes and peanut butter and simmer for 5 additional minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  The original recipe called for cayene pepper as well.  I added a pinch of piment d'espalette instead but you could add up to 1/4 tsp cayenne or leave it out completely.

You could leave the soup as is and serve or puree it as much or as little as you like.  I was going for smooth, so I whizzed it up completely with my immersion blender.  I also think it would be nice with a few bites of sweet potato and zucchini left unpureed for texture.

Roasted Carrot and Apple Soup

It's apple season again...

These are the Fuji apples in my front yard and I couldn't be happier that they are ripe and ready for picking...

They remind me of my mom's apple pie.  I love my mom's apple pie.  When I was growing up, every year at Thanksgiving she made at least three because she knew that family would take big slices home with them whether she liked it or not.  And of course, that would leave her with none, so she made at least one extra one for our house.  The recipe for the crust came from a book so tattered and used that I'm not sure it's even really a book any more.  It comes complete with her notes and scribbles over the years that marked her changes to the recipe that brought it to the perfection that it is today.  Maybe some day I'll earn the right to use that recipe.  For now, I can only dream of having my mother's crust making skill.

It's these food memories from years ago that fuel my need to cook today.  Sitting around the table every year, peeling and slicing bags and bags of apples for the pies.  Hands sticky and sweet from all the apple juices running down my fingers.  The laughter and stories told around that table with my mother, sister, grandmother, and sometimes an aunt of friend.  I hope that my boys have those same sorts of memories when they're grown.  They don't have the patience or skill to peel and cut apples with me yet, but I smile every time one of them brings his stool over to the kitchen counter and asks to help me cook.  I know that one day they'll look back fondly on mixing pancake batter with their mom and they'll be better men for it.

Nowadays, when I peel and cut apples, I can't help but remember the apple cutting marathons of my childhood Thanksgivings and I feel a bit closer to home.  That's exactly how I felt when I was making this soup.  It's comfort in a bowl.  Warm, slightly sweet, and with just a hint of smoky heat that makes it different and even more delicious.  I was inspired to make it by a recent posting in the wonderful and gorgeous blog, Canelle et Vanille.  If you've never seen it, please do.  The author, Aran,  takes the most beautiful photographs and her food is heathly, yummy and interesting (she's gluten free and from the Basque region of France/Spain, so many of her recipes are inspired by her childhood home).  My soup here is really her soup with just a few minor tweaks for my taste.  You'll forgive me won't you?  The soup is so fantastic that you'll have no choice but to forgive me.

Roasted Carrot and Apple Soup
Inspired by this recipe at Canelle et Vanille

This recipe calls for a spice called  piment D'Espelette.  It is a ground red pepper from the Basque region that I was unfamiliar with before reading the Canelle et Vanille post.  I happened to spot it at a kitchenware store and snatched it up.  It's worth looking for because it imparts a lovely note of heat into the soup that's not really hot, but sort of smoky and lingering.  It really makes the soup.  If you can't find it, try using just the tiniest pinch of cayenne and 1/8 tsp paprika or even smoked paprika. 

2 apples such as fuji, gala, or pink lady
1 1/2 lbs carrots
1/2 small sweet onion
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp piment D'Espelette
3 sprigs of thyme
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth (you could use vegetable broth and make it a vegetarian soup)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Peel and cut the carrots into 1 inch pieces.  Peel and slice the apples into 8ths. Place the carrots and apples onto a cookie sheet and roast for about 30 minutes.  The apples will be soft and the carrots will have begun to soften.

In the meantime, dice the onions and garlic and saute until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add the coriander, piment D'Espelette, thyme leaves, and salt and stir for one minute.  Add the roasted carrots and apples to the pot as well as the broth.  Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the carrots are fully softened.

Carefully spoon the soup into a blender or food processor (you may want to do it in two batches) and blend until smooth.  If you have an immersion blender, this is the time to use it!  Serve the soup with sprinkling of more piment D'Espelette and thyme leaves.  Don't forget the crusty bread to dip into the soup and clean out the bowl.  May this soup and this apple season bring you many happy memories.

Quick Tomato and Chick Pea Soup with Ditalini

This is the last of my tomato posts, promise.  But I've got something good here and I just had to share it.  I was craving soup for no good reason (it's really still too warm for soup), spied the still too large pile of tomatoes on my counter and decided to make tomato soup.  But not thick, heavy soup.  Something light enough for the still-summery afternoon but hearty enough for a filling lunch.  So I dove into my Italian roots and pulled out this soup.  Not that my grandmother ever made anything exactly like this, but I imagine she would on a day like today with the ingredients I had.

It's not a very photogenic soup, so you just get the one picture (maybe two if you read all the way to the end), but I promise you- the taste more than makes up for it.

Quick Tomato and Chick Pea Soup with Ditalini
Makes 3 or 4 servings depending on how hungry you are!  This is a very loose recipe.  I just sort of estimated the ingredients and liked the way it turned out.  Feel free to do the same.

3 or 4 large tomatoes (or 1 28 oz can of whole tomatoes if you don't have ripe, in-season tomatoes)
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove of garlic
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup (1/2 can) drained and rinsed chick peas
1/4 cup ditalini or other short pasta
1 tsp salt
1 sprig rosemary
handful grated peorino romano cheese

If using fresh tomatoes, cut the tomatoes in half and squeeze out the seeds.  Toss the seeded tomato halves into a blender and puree until smooth.  If using canned tomatoes, puree the can of tomatoes with their juices.  Set aside.

In a 4 quart sauce pot, heat 2 tbs olive oil.  When warm, add the onions and saute them until they are tender (about 8 minutes).  Add the garlic (either finely chop or grate into the pot with a coarse grater like a Microplane).  Stir for 30 seconds.

Pour in the pureed tomatoes, chicken broth, chick peas and ditalini.  Add the whole sprig of rosemary to the pot.  This last step is entirely up to you.  I don't care to eat rosemary, but I wanted a bit of it's flavor so I left it whole and then removed it at the end.  If you want a more pronounced flavor you can tear the leaves from the stem and add them to the pot.

Simmer the soup for about 15 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked.  Remove the rosemary stem if desired.  Stir in the salt and cheese.  Serve warm with lots of good bread for dunking.

Summer's Bounty Corn Chowder

Have you ever tried to cut the corn kernels off of a cob?  I know, I know, why on Earth would you do that?  If nature intended for them to be off the cob, she would have designed them that way, right?  But what if I want to make the corn into a salad, or a salsa, or a soup?  I can't very well leave it on the cob, now can I?

A few years back, I was making a salad with corn, zucchini, and tomatoes (very tasty, I'll have to make it again and post it later in the summer), and I tried standing the ear of corn on my cutting board and slicing down with my knife.  Wow, was that a mess!  Corn kernels flew everywhere- it was like a corn massacre.  I salvaged what I could and continued on, but vowed to find a better way to achieve kernels off the cob.  Since then I've seen fancy gadgets that catch the kernels in a little container and heard decent reviews of them.  But really, am I going to spend good money on a tool I'm only going to use once or twice a summer?  Nope.  Then I came across a tip in a Cook's Illustrated magazine that revolutionized my corn kernel removal. 

Stand the ear of corn on top of a small bowl inverted in a larger bowl.  Now when I slice down with my knife, I catch all but a few of the kernels as they fall.  I save myself from having to crawl around on my hands and knees to find all those little bits of corn shrapnel and  I didn't have to buy a single new tool!

Where am I going with this, you may be wondering.  I'd be wondering too.  Well, I had some super- sweet corn this week and decided that rather than simply quickly boiling it and dousing it in butter, I'd actually do something with it.  My son loves this soup, so I thought I'd treat him after a great day at the beach.  You can't have a better summer day than that.  We dipped the leftover pesto dinner rolls from yesterday's post into it and it was a great ending to a great day.  My nice big glass of chilled chardonnay didn't hurt either...

Summer's Bounty Corn Chowder
4 slices of bacon, chopped into small pieces
4 cups corn cut off the cob (from 5 or 6 ears), save 2 cobs for adding to the soup while it simmers- you get quite a bit more sweet corn flavor by doing this
1 anaheim chili, seeded and chopped
1 cup yukon gold or red potato, diced (about 4 smallish ones)
1 cup zucchini or yellow squash, diced ( 1 medium or 2 small)
1 cup onion, diced
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth (you could even use water if that's all you had on hand)
1/3 cup heavy cream
for garnish
1/2 red bell pepper, diced small
2-3 tbs chopped chives

In a large pot, brown the bacon.  Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Add the corn, anahein peppers, potatoes, onion, and squash.  Saute the vegetables for 5 minutes or until they begin to soften.  Add the two reserved corn cobs and broth.  Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat.  Simmer the soup for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.  Remove the corn cobs.  Transfer about half the soup to a blender.  Holding the lid tightly (hot soup expands when you blend it, be careful), puree the soup and then return it to the pot.  Add the cream and season with salt and pepper.  Turn the heat back on to warm the cream.  Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the reserved bacon and some of the diced red peppers and chives.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

About 7 months ago, one of my best girlfriends and I went on a mini girl's-only trip to Seattle for a couple of days.  We basically ate and shopped our way around downtown- it was a blast!  One of my favorite meals we had there was on the last day, a little impromptu lunch at a french bistro.  We both had the same thing- red pepper soup with a frisee salad and a slice of french bread with roasted, gooey goat cheese.  To say it was simple is an understatement, but it was perfect in it's simplicity.  Since then I have been on a quest to make a perfect red pepper soup.  I tried doing it the way the waitress at the bistro said they did, with a lot of carrots and simply cooking the raw peppers with the rest of the vegetables.  The reviews of my family were lukewarm.  They said it was bland and too carroty.  So I did a lot of research, looking at my favorite web sites, Epicurious and Food and Wine.  Turns out most recipes tell you to roast your peppers first, so that's what I did.  On a whim, I also decided to throw a head of garlic in the oven to roast while I got the ingredients together for the soup.  The result was a great soup that my 6 year old has asked for again already and it's not even been a week since the first time I made it.  It's the perfect soup for summer and would be great hot or cold.  You can change it up a bit and make it spicy by adding a bit of red pepper flakes to the carrots and onions while sauteeing.  Or add an herb like basil at the end.  I think it's just right all on it's own with a salad and a hunk of crusty bread.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

6 roasted red peppers, skins removed, seeded and coarsely chopped (you can use jarred peppers, but they are so easy to do and the flavor is so much better, why wouldn't you do it yourself?  The method is after the soup recipe)
1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
3 medium carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
1 head garlic
1/2  14 oz. can crushed tomatoes or 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water

Pre-heat oven to 400.  Slice the top 1/4 inch from the head of garlic, place the head on a square of aluminum foil and drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top.  Wrap the foil around the garlic and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes.  You will smell the garlic's sweet aroma and the cloves will be golden and soft.  I actually like a bit more garlic so I throw a few extra cloves still in the skin into the package along with the whole head.

 Meanwhile, heat 2 tbs. olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Saute the carrots and onions until they are soft and lightly golden, about 6 minutes.  Add in the peppers, any juices from the peppers, the tomatoes, the chicken broth, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. black pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 20-25 minutes.  The vegetables will be extremely tender.  Squeeze the roasted garlic into the pot with the soup.  Puree the soup in batches in a blender.  CAUTION, hot foods release a large amount of steam when blended.  Always cover the blender with its lid and then hold it down using an oven mitt or kitchen towel with your hand.  You will thank me for this bit of advice- you won't get burned by the steam and your counter won't be covered in soup when the blender lid flies off!  Alternately, you can blend the soup right in the pot if you have an immersion blender. For a silkier texture, you can press the soup through a fine-meshed sieve, but I think it's just fine the way it is.

Roasting the Peppers

There are a few ways to roast peppers, it depends on what you have available.  Personally, I find the easiest way to do it is right on top of the gas burners of my stove, but you can also use a grill or the broiler of your oven.  You just wash and dry the peppers, then place them over the flame (or under the broiler on a cookie sheet).  Keeping a close eye on them, turn them when the skins become blackened and charred.  When the peppers are roasted all the way around, put them a zip top bag and let them cool off.  When cooled, peel off the skins, cut off the tops and pull out any seeds inside.  Save the juices that collect inside the pepper, they're loaded with flavor.

There are so many uses for these peppers, I can only name a few here.  Top grilled bread with them and a smear of goat cheese or ricotta.  Put them in a grilled chicken sandwich or on a burger.  Throw them in a salad.  Make this wonderful soup.