Deana's (soon to be famous) Cream of Broccoli Soup

This is from my friend Deana (whom I love!) who is always after me to post more. So here is her contribution to my recipe box, circa the early '90s. I hadn't made this in a while and was pleasantly surprised at just how satisfying it is, though quite simple. As you can see, the broccoli was bright green but when I added the carrots back in and pureed everything, the soup ended up having a slight orange tinge.

Vegetable stock:

1 tablespoon butter

2-3 carrots, chopped

2 small onions (1 medium?), chopped

(1-2 stalks of celery, chopped--my addition)

5 cups water

Melt butter in a large pot. Add carrots, onion & celery; cover pot and sweat vegetables for 10 minutes. Add water and simmer for 40 minutes. Strain broth, saving veggies.

Broccoli soup:

1 pound broccoli

stock/vegetables

3/4 cup milk

salt & pepper, to taste

Boil broccoli in vegetable stock until tender, but still green. Let cool. Throw broccoli, stock, and previously cooked vegetables (from stock) into a blender and puree. Serve as puree, or reheat with milk for cream of broccoli. As Deana says, "It's awesome!"

Rice & Potato Soup

First, I thought you might enjoy a shot of this hitchhiking carrot which met its demise in this soup.

What to say about this soup...excellent carb-y comfort food! The tomato paste & cheese rinds add a lovely savoriness, without being overly tomatoey or cheesy. Please keep in mind that if you leave the cooked rice in all that liquid, it starts to disintegrate after a day or so. So if you're not eating all the soup at once, cook the rice separately and add in small quantities to each portion just before serving. Adapted from Lidia's Italian Table (Lydia Bastianich, of course).

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/3 inch cubes (approximately--don't worry about these sizes too much)

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes

2 celery stalks, diced

2 teaspoons tomato paste

10 cups hot chicken broth

2 two-inch square (or whatever size) Parmesan rinds

2 bay leaves

3/4 cup long-grain rice

1/2 cup parsley, chopped

salt & pepper

In a deep, heavy 4-5 quart pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. (Potatoes might stick a bit, turn down heat if the bits are getting too dark.) Stir in carrots and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until carrots soften, about 2-3 minutes. Season lightly with salt. Add tomato paste and stir to coat vegetables.

Add broth, cheese rinds, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, scraping up any bits of potato on the bottom, then lower heat to a simmer. Cover pot and coot until potatoes begin to fall apart, about 40 minutes. Stir in rice and cook until rice is tender but still firm, about 12 minutes. Remove bay leaves and cheese rinds. Stir in parsley and season with salt & pepper to taste. Lydia suggests you chop the cheese rinds into bitty pieces and add them back to the soup. I kinda like it...though not all rinds age so well. Taste a bit before you decide if you want to add it back into the soup or toss.

My bag of Parmesan rinds I keep in the freezer.

Damn Good (Tomato Kidney Bean) Soup

It strikes me that this recipe isn't that different than the chili I posted previously, except blended and without the meat. Oh well, I'm pretty boring that way. This is just so tasty--and spicy, depending on how much heat you want to add--and so simple that I can't help but post it. It's also excellent reheated. Originally from Best Ever Soups (which I should probably get), but I saw it via http://www.macheesmo.com/2010/02/kidney-bean-soup/.

olive oil

2 onions, diced

2+ cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, diced (optional)

1 tablespoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon (or more) cayenne

1 tablespoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes

2 14-oz. cans kidney beans, drained

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

salt & pepper to taste

lemon juice or vinegar to taste

Saute the onions in a soup pot with the olive oil until soft, 8-10 minutes over medium heat. Add garlic and jalapeno and cook for another minute. Stir in spices and roast for a minute or so then add tomato paste. When this is combined, add all the other ingredients except the lemon juice or vingar. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Cool slightly and blend (it's handy to have an immersion blender here, but you could use a regular blender as well.) Add a dash of lemon juice or vinegar (or some sort of acid) just before serving.

The original recipe also has a guacamole garnish, which is nice but not essential. Click on the Macheesmo site above if you want that recipe.

Cheesy Tomato & Bread Soup

This is kind of like when you dunk a grilled cheese sandwich into your tomato soup. But the tomatoes are fresh (a must, thus a very summery recipe!), the bread is sourdough, and the cheese is Parmesan (I shudder to think what would happen to American cheese in this). A very thick soup results. Besides the wonderful taste, I also like the fact that this recipe uses Parmesan rinds. I usually have a bunch of these in my freezer, and they add richness to many soup recipes. Recipe adapted from Tom Valenti's Soups, Stews, and One-Pot Meals.

4 lbs. very rip beefsteak or Jersey tomatoes, peeled & cut into 1-inch chunks

kosher salt, fresh pepper, sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced

1-2 stalks celery, finely diced

3-5 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste

2 quarts vegetable or chicken broth

1-2 Parmesan rinds

1 large or 2 small loaves of day-old sourdough bread

4-8 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated

fresh lemon juice

basil oil or pesto (optional)

Thirty minutes before you want to start cooking, mix tomatoes with salt, pepper & a pinch of sugar; set aside.

Warm the olive oil in a a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion & celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic towards the end. Stir in the tomato paste and another pinch of sugar, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the stock and cheese rind(s), raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes, season with salt & pepper, and bring to a boil again. Lower the heat and simmer until the tomatoes break down completely, about 40 minutes.

Remove and discard the cheese rind. Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes [the original recipes calls for the crust to be cut off, but I usually leave most of it on since I like the texture it adds]. Add them to the tomatoes and stir to break down, cooking for about 15 minutes. Stir in the grated cheese, starting with a little and adding more until you get the consistency you like--too much and it can get a little gloppy, in my opinion. Douse with a squeeze or two of lemon juice.

I happen to have just made fresh pesto last night, but I'm conflicted about whether or not to use it--the tomatoey goodness is pretty spectacular all on its own! Your call...

Lots of tomatoes!

Lots of bread!

Lots of cheese!

Wild Rice Chowder

This is a great comfort food for a snowy day like today. It's not as dense as some chowders--it doesn't have any flour or potatoes to bulk it up--but it thickens somewhat when when you blend up part of the soup. Though the wild rice should be tender by the time the soup is done, it still provides a nice, chewy texture. This is adapted from Bon Appetit (I think, not positive).

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

4 ounces smoked ham, diced

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1+1/3 cups wild rice (I only had about a cup on hand and supplemented with a wild rice/long grain mix)

7 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup whipping cream

frozen corn (optional)

parsley, minced (optional--mainly for color)

salt & pepper, to taste

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat . Add onion, ham, celery and carrot, and saute until vegetables soften, about 10 minutes. Add rice and stir to coat. Add the stock and bay leaf, and simmer until rice is very tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Mix in cream. Pur ee 2 cups of the soup with a blender (or immersion blender). Return puree to the rest of the soup and season with salt and pepper. Add corn , if using, and bring to a simmer. Garnish with parsley, if using, and serve.

Carrot Dill Soup

This is one of my favorite soup recipes, and has been for about 15 years. It's adapted from The New Basics Cookbook--a book with several great soup recipes in my opinion. I've added the lemon juice, which seems a nice way to accentuate the flavor of almost any savory recipe, and also the grated Parmesan.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large onion, diced

2+1/2 pounds carrots, peeled & sliced
2 ribs celery, with leaves, diced
8 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup chopped dill
salt, freshly ground pepper
generous pinch of cayenne
fresh lemon juice
grated Parmesan

Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the onions and cook over medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, stock, 1/4 cup dill and cayenne. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes, or until carrots are tender. Let cool slightly. Puree the soup, in batches, in a blender. Return to the pot, stir in remaining dill and season with salt, pepper and a couple squeezes of lemon. Heat through and serve. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan, if desired.

Easter 2009

I didn't have any Easter plans this year, but I did want to make something egg-y and spring-y. Hence, the following recipes....

Curried Egg Salad:
This comes from Gourmet by way of Epicurious.com. I love the combination of the sweet, tart apple, the bite of the onion and cayenne, and then the curry.

1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1+1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, 1/4 inch dice
1/3 cup red onion, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
salt to taste

Whisk together the mayo, lime juice, curry powder, mustard, and cayenne. Add eggs, apple, onion, cilantro, and stir to mix, adding a bit of salt if necessary (shouldn't need much).

Cucumber Avocado Soup:
I am reminded by this, the first batch of the year, that I LOVE THIS SOUP! (And also, I LOVE AVOCADOS!) I have no idea where it came from--I only have an index card with a list of ingredients scribbled down and instructions to puree. It's very simple and quick, but you do need a blender or food processor. Also, you might want to start off with nonfat or low fat yogurt--once you've gone over to the dark side of full fat yogurt it's hard to go back!

1 English cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped (these are the really long ones in plastic wrap)

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1/4 cup cilantro

1/2 - 1 jalepeno, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 cup cold water

1 avocado, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1-2 scallions, chopped

1 cup plain yogurt

salt & pepper

Puree. Eat.

This does need a liberal amount of salt and/or lemon juice to season. Alternate adding them until you get the taste you like.