Two Rich and Satisfying Soups
by Tom Herndon
This month I’m doing a couple of good veggie recipes and giving you a great tip for maximizing flavor. You can eat healthy and actually enjoy the experience! Go figure. Of course you’ll want to choose vegetables that are as close to SOLE Food as possible for maximum flavor and nutrition.
Garbure
Serves 4
Adapted from a recipe by Thomas Keller (chef of The French Laundry)
A beautiful, thick vegetable soup where you can see and taste all of the vegetables.
Chef Keller must have received inspiration for this recipe from Escoffier, one of the most important leaders in the development of modern French cuisine, because he quotes him as saying “this soup should be so thick that the ladle can stand up in the pot.” As you can see, the culinary lineage of this soup is serious.
I’ve made it vegetarian by substituting veggie stock for chicken. To bring in the flavor of bacon, I added a small amount of smoked paprika to the step of sweating the aromatic vegetables.
2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter), or olive oil (for vegans)
1 large onion, halved and sliced ¼-inch
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup carrots, sliced thin
1 cup chopped leeks (white parts only)
Sea salt
½-teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
4 cups vegetable stock
6 very small yellow potatoes, or 3 small to medium
6 very small red potatoes, or 3 small to medium
2 Sachets: (each) 1 bay leaf and 2 fat sprigs of thyme tied together, a few peppercorns and a clove of garlic, smashed (you can tie this all up in cheesecloth, or put it into a tea egg)
1 cup carrots, sliced ¼-inch on the diagonal
10 spears of very thin asparagus, sliced into thirds diagonally
10 green beans (or haricot verts) trimmed and sliced into thirds diagonally
½ pound fresh fava beans in the shell (April is the season, but if you can’t find them, use 1 small box of frozen large lima beans, thawed to room temp)
1 cup of English peas
1 small head of Napa cabbage cut into 2-inch wide strips
1 can of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
Red wine vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
Flat leaf parsely
In a small skillet, melt the ghee (or olive oil) and add the sliced onions and cook over low heat, covered, stirring about every 10 minutes, until onions are rich, sweet, and caramelized. About 30 minutes. Remove from heat and set pan aside. This extra step helps deepen the flavor of your soup.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-low heat. Sweat the carrots and leeks with a couple pinches of good sea salt, by sauteeing them in the oil, covered, until they release their juices and begin to soften. Once softened you can add the paprika and bloom it in the oil and juices for about 1 minute, stirring. Add the veggie stock and increase the heat to bring it all to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes, carefully straining any foam that rises to the surface. Strain the broth into another container, discard the veggies, and set the broth aside.
Depending on the size of your potatoes, wash well and cut into bite-sized chunks (leave very small potatoes whole). Put the potatoes and the first sachet into a pot of cold water and bring to a boil, immediatley lowering heat to a slow simmer and simmer for 10 minutes, or until tender with a little give when pierced with a knife. Drain and spread on a tray to cool. Discard sachet.
Follow the same instructions for the carrots, making sure to leave them with a little ‘tooth’ and not too soft.
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to boil. Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Blanch the fava beans (shelled and skins removed), asparagus, the green beans, peas, then the cabbage strips, one kind of vegetable at a time, 1 minute each, removing them from the boiling water and plunging them into the ice bath.
Bring the broth back to a simmer. Add the carrots, the potatoes, the caramelized onions and the cannelini beans. Stir in a splash of the vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Bring back to a simmer.
Add the blanched vegetables, the limas (if using), and return to a simmer. Remove from the heat and serve. Drizzle each bowl with good extra virgin olive oil and garnish with whole parsely leaves.
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The Soup of a Thousand Faces
Serves 4
Here’s a delicious soup that each of your guests can customize. The potato base is a rich, neutral backdrop for many creative directions. Perfect for a party, for the family, or a special solo supper.
Set up bowls of soup for each person and have a nice set of small, decorative bowls filled with condiments. Your guests get to create the flavors and textures to their liking. Be creative with your selections, even daring. You’ll be surprised at how easy, versatile, and fun this soup can be.
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter), or olive oil (for vegans)
3 cups russet potatoes, cubed
4 cups veggie stock
salt and pepper to taste
1/8 cup coconut-based yogurt (optional)
Directions:
You can peel the potatoes, but I like the extra flavor and nutrients. Add potatoes to cold stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered until potatoes are tender, 15-20 minutes. Blend stock and potatoes in food processor or blender, until smooth. Soup will be thick. Add the ghee, if using, or olive oil, for extra richness, and or a small amount of coconut yogurt to thicken if you’d like. Adjust seasoning.
Flavor Options (assorted bowls of condiments)
Latin: pumpkin seeds, green onions, avocados, tomatoes, cilantro, oregano
Asian: minced ginger, lemon grass, chilies, bean sprouts, Thai basil
Middle Eastern: roasted almonds, minced preserved lemons, hummus, spices, ie. cinnamon, cumin, ras al hanout, harrisa
Eastern Europe: chopped dill pickles, eggs, or beets, fresh dill
Italian: tomatoes, basil, toasted pine nuts, rosemary, blanched and seasoned kale, a couple drizzles of extra virgin olive oil and good balsamic
French: caramelized onions, olives, tarragon, walnuts, shaved truffles (why not?)
More:
Chopped bell peppers in mixed colors
Fresh herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, minced rosemary, parsley, cilantro, etc.)
Toasted seeds or nuts (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, pine nuts, cashews, walnuts, almonds, etc.)
GF Croutons, crunched up rice crackers, popcorn
Flavored oils and vinegars for drizzling
Chutney, salsa, hummus, nut butters, coconut yogurt, harrisa
Chopped pre-seared mushrooms
Chopped olives, sundried tomatoes
Raisins, dried cranberries, dates, currants
And on and on….you get the picture.
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Just don’t steam your veggies, perfume them!
I was taught early in my career to, whenever possible, maximize the flavor for each item in a recipe. The recipe above from Chef Keller asks to flavor the potatoes and carrots separately, rather than just throw them into a pot together (which can still be delicious, but might lack in the complexity of the finished dish). Layers of flavor add interest, complexity and surprise.
I have customers ask for steamed vegetables all the time. Steaming is one of the healthiest ways to cook vegetables anyway. Vegetables can be wonderful on their own, steamed to al dente and tossed with just a little sea salt and a couple grinds of pepper. Or I can drizzle them with a good extra virgin olive oil, or enrich them with a tablespoon or two of ghee (clarified butter).
But why steam with plain water when you can be creative with flavors?
Whenever I set up the steamer, I always flavor the water. Sometimes I use stock instead of water. Often I’ll throw in the lemon rinds left over from squeezing the juice out. Or fresh herbs, especially the ends, like stems from rosemary or thyme or parsley. Whole herbs will be even less subtle of course.
I made a Moroccan lamb stew and there was a call for steamed carrots. I threw in two lemon rinds and a cinnamon stick. The lemon and cinnamon gently perfumed the carrots and they worked perfectly as a side dish.
Throw in a bay leaf or two. Oranges, lemons, limes. Whole or rinds. A couple shakes of spices like cumin, cardamom, even nutmeg. Depends on what’s being served. Same principle works for steaming rice. Again, rather than plain water for steaming, boost the flavors by adding something interesting to the water.
Just like the Soup of a Thousand Faces above, use your imagination.
Here is one of my very favorite websites, where I’ve sourced many recipes. George Mateljan explains the health benefits of steaming. Take a look around his website, especially the recipes. Click on: World’s Healthiest Foods.
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