soup « DinnerCakes

Cream Red Pepper Goodness – Roasted Red Bell Pepper Bisque

April 23rd, 2010

by Chef Edwin

Red bell peppers! I’m totally rockin’ the whatever’s-on-sale cooking mentality right now and, of course, with all the veggies coming in it is going quite well. It’s a bit wild how red bell peppers and green peppers are only different by how ripe they are. Mother nature, you are full of surprises.

This recipe’s a little more involved with the roasting, but the process really extracts some great flavor and the richness of the cream works well. I personally think bisques (like many soups) are better the day after. Not that I waited that long, of course.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Bisque
4 red bell peppers
2-3 tablespoon oil
1 onion
1 carrot
3 cloves garlic
4-5 cups vegetable stock
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
pepper
1/2-1 cup cream

Roast your peppers, peel, and set aside. With the oil, sauté your onion and carrot until translucent; about 5-8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the bell pepper, enough stock to cover and spices. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

Let cool briefly and blend in 2-3 batches and strain back into the pot. Add the cream, gently reheat and add salt & pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy.

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Simple – Split Pea Soup

March 1st, 2010

by Chef Edwin

I like simple. Simple pleasures, simple life, simple food. Simple is flexible. Go with the flow. Simple is something you can make when it’s 2am and you just got home from a late night at the bars and, suddenly, have this weird craving for soup. Yes sir, simple is my friend.

Take this recipe as a gentle suggestion on the path towards deliciousness; with many side trails to take and trees to climb. Don’t like the green color? Go with yellow, or half and half (I tossed in some leftover yellow). Tarragon not your thing? Go with thyme, or rosemary, or whatever fresh leftover herbs you have sitting in your fridge, otherwise destined for the trash. Go nuts. Hooray simple.

Simple Split Pea Soup

1 onion; chopped
1 large carrot; chopped
1 celery stalk; chopped
1 russet potato; chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups split peas; rinsed and drained
4 or more cups of stock (or water)
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
salt to taste

Heat your pot medium and sweat the onion, carrot and celery until the onion is transclucent. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, until everything is soft and smells (tastes!) delicious. Remove from heat and let cool a bit and either blend with an immersion blender or in a standard drink blender a few cups at a time. Enjoy.

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Embracing The Fungus – Mushroom Barley Soup

January 26th, 2010

by Chef Edwin

The weather has been pretty nuts here lately. Not that I’m complaining, with my absolute hate of the bitter cold. But it seems a bit odd to me when the days of January are sporting temperatures in the 50’s and (low) 60’s; and that oddness is compounded when you’re eating stews and other wintry-themed dished. Madness!

Heather and I have both been trying to expand our horizons this year; returning to ingredients that we have less than pleasant feelings towards. One of the big ones for me is the mushroom. It’s a friggin’ fungus! As a friend of mine once said: “you might as well lick the bottom of your shoe.” To be fair, I’ve been slowly coming around to these suckers. The stock I made for Slow Cooker week was quite successful and Lost Dog Cafe has, by far, the best veggie burger I have ever had (WITH mushrooms). So here I go, jumping into the world of mushrooms!

Barley is not an ingredient you see very often in recipes, which is a shame. Pearled barley is simple, healthy grain to work with and has a nutty flavor with a chewy texture. It serves as an excellent thickener too. I used this to complement some white button mushrooms. And the result? A tasty mushroom soup I’ll actually enjoy eating! The flavor is subtle, but delicious.

Mushroom Barley Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion; chopped
1 carrot; diced
1 stalk celery; diced
1 cup pearl barley; rinsed and drained
10 oz mushrooms; cleaned and sliced (I used white button)
6 cups vegetable stock
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 fresh chives
salt and black pepper to taste

Heat a large stock pot under medium heat and cook the onion, carrot and celery with olive oil until softened; approximately 5-8 minutes. Add your remaining ingredients and simmer until the barley is soft but chewy. Serve and enjoy!

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Take That Winter! Thick And Hearty Lentil Stew

January 4th, 2010

by Chef Edwin

Happy 2010 everyone! I hope you all had a joyous holiday and a fun (and safe) New Years Eve. I traveled to the windy and disturbingly cold Chicago for Christmas to see quite a few members of the extended family. Despite the shivering, it was a great time and well worth the twelve hour drive it took to get there (that’s right, we drove there). My family, with our German roots, is not big on the vegetarian cuisine and the term “light” does not enter the vocabulary either (I believe the word is “licht”, in case you were wondering). There will be much to make up for these following months.

The new year has started off wickedly cold up here in DC and the strong winds we’ve been getting lately have been so horrid I have given serious thought to becoming a professional hermit. I suppose moving would be a little more realistic…. Regardless, I shall be cutting down on any non-essential trips out of my building and surrounding myself with whatever keeps me warm.

I’ve always loved meals with copious chunks of fruit or vegetables and this is because I’ve always been a picker. I would always start munching on whatever Mom was making for dinner before it was ready until she kicked me out of the kitchen. My sister HATED this (“he’s putting his hands in our food!”). You can’t really “pick” a piece of biscuit or spaghetti. You’re either going to get caught or burned. But fruit salad, roasted vegetables? Score.

ANYWAY, with winter in full swing I wanted something as well as filling, so I took a recipe from my hero Alton Brown and stewified it; making it heartier. Next time, I shall add a potato, I believe, but the broccoli was a great addition as part of the soup and for picking potential (you can pick from soup. it’s just harder). Try this next time you’re looking for something to warm the deep chill out of your bones.

Thick and Hearty Lentil Stew
2 tablespoons butter
2 onions; chopped
2 medium carrots; diced
1 stalk celery; chopped
4 cloves garlic; minced
1/3 cup fresh chopped cilantro
3/4 lb green lentils; rinsed and drained
1 head of broccoli; chopped into small florets
3 medium tomatoes; chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
12 cups water/stock
1/4 cup lemon juice
10oz spinach; roughly chopped

Sweat the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and cilantro until the onions have softened. Add the lentils, broccoli, tomatoes, spices and water/stock. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Add the spinach and lemon juice and simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

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Soccer Ball Soup

December 8th, 2009

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

This week I have final exams in my graduate program. I’ll be a little… well… insane? So please excuse the lack of Ghost Baker here on DC!

No Christmas decorating has been done yet either, but as you can see above, I have been streaming nonstop Christmas music. It helps keep things in perspective!

So what do I eat for dinner when I’m completely crunched for time? Soccer ball soup. This soup was introduced to me by my husband’s side of the family. It’s simple, but it’s great. And it’s a way you can control what’s in your soup a little bit (just look at how much sodium is in canned soup at the grocery store, and you might rethink it as a healthy meal alternative!).

Soccer Ball Soup
(serves one – just double the ingredients to serve two, and so on)

1 can low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup acini di pepe pasta balls (or pastinis)
black pepper

Heat broth and pasta in a medium saucepan over low/medium heat, stirring occasionally. When pasta has doubled in size, it’s done (usually about 10 minutes). Be careful not to burn the soup, it should not boil. Top with fresh ground pepper.

Serve and enjoy!

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Detoxing from Halloween with Acorn Squash & Sweet Potato Soup

November 2nd, 2009

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

Good morning! I hope you had a great Halloween. I spent much of the day watching scary movies, reformatting my computer from Vista to Windows 7 and going to bed by 10:30 PM in order to be up at 5 AM for an early hospital shift – riveting, I know!

You’ve probably had enough of Halloween candy and sweets for a little while (I haven’t, but the scale says otherwise), so this recipe should help if you need some detox along the way.

The other day I made an Acorn Squash & Sweet Potato Soup. It’s a little bit sweet and very tasty. It would make a great appetizer soup for a Thanksgiving dinner party to introduce the meal, or you can have it for weeknight dinner and enjoy the leftovers for a few more nights (like my husband and I did).

I changed a few things from the original recipe including leaving out shallots and chives. Because the squash and sweet potato would already be sweet, I didn’t want to introduce the sweet onion shallot flavor as well. Shallots can also be a little expensive.

I’d never worked with acorn squash before this actually, and it’s very easy. My trick to scoop out the insides after roasting the squash was to use a melon baller – the squash flesh came apart easily and without a lot of mess.

Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper to garnish.

Acorn Squash & Sweet Potato Soup
adapted from Pumpkins & Squashes

1 large sweet potato
1 medium acorn squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
3 3/4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup light cream
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375F.

Cut sweet potato and squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out squash seeds and brush cut sides with oil

Place cut squash and sweet potato halves cut-side down in a shallow roasting pan (I used an old brownie pan). Add unpeeled garlic cloves around the vegetables. Roast for 40 minutes until tender.

When cool, pin down one end of the squash with a fork and scoop flesh (ie, the insides) from potato and squash with a melon baller, leaving the skins behind. Peel garlic and add soft insides and scooped flesh to a large saucepan.

Add the chicken broth and a dash of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for approximately 30 minutes, until vegetables are very tender. Stir occasionally.

Cool slightly and transfer to a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Work in batches so that you do not overflow your machine. If using a food processor, strain off the cooking liquid and reserve. Process the veggies with only enough liquid to moisten it, then combine with remaining liquid when fully processed.

Return soup to rinsed pan and stir in light cream. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 5 minutes or until heated through. Garnish as desired and serve!\

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Day 4 of Halloween Week – Eyeball stew!

October 22nd, 2009

by Chef Edwin

I came up with my costume for halloween! I have decided on Inspector Gadget. I must say I’m quite proud of my stroke of genius. Costumes from your past really are the way to go, if you ask me. I went as the chef from the Muppets a few years back and it was a blast. Of course, last year’s Calvin (Calvin & Hobbes) was not so successful, but I attribute that largely to the fact that my hair wasn’t yellow so much as it was green. Curses!

Work has been crazy these past few weeks. I started a new project which I really enjoy (for the most part) but right now I feel like one of those babies you throw in the water to “teach” to swim. This week, for example, I have worked 32 hours and talk of coming in on Saturday has already come up! This, unfortunately, has eaten into my culinary (therapy) time.

I really wanted to make a “blood soup” for theme week (I’m sure your mouths are watering), perhaps something along the lines of a borscht but with less cream, but there was too much left to chance. With my limited free time I needed something I had more confidence in so I turned to the noble yet somewhat unloved green split-pea. These things, when pureed look gross enough by themselves. But with eyeballs? Yuck!

I tried using olive slices with no luck as they easily fell out during cooking. I recommend using whole olives instead. With these you can put them in before or after cooking, if no one minds you handling their food (or they don’t know!). 😛

Eyeball Slime Soup

Make split pea soup from just about any recipe where it’s primarily composed of the peas (not a lot of other colorful veggies). Be conservative on the water for a thicker (slimier) consistency.

After rolling dumpling batter into balls, press whole olives in them. Be sure they’re in their well, repressing the batter in so it secure and well formed. Cook as usual. Place your “eyeballs” in your soup and enjoy!

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Lima Beans Aren't So Bad – Lima Bean and Tomato Soup

September 22nd, 2009

by Chef Edwin

The summer is dwindling away, no matter how hard I cling to it. Soon it will fade and Fall will take its place. There’s nothing wrong with Fall, really. I really like Fall. The only problem is its neighbor Winter; the season of bitter, bitter cold. There’s very little I like about Winter so I’ve been trying to squeeze as much enjoyment out of the warmth as I can which usually means trips. This past weekend I went to the New River Gorge and had a fabulous, but exhausting, time, so a complex meal was not on the agenda.

I always find myself coming back to soups, really. Healthy, delicious, varied and (often) low maintenance. I went with Lima Beans for this but really any white bean could work. Next time, I’ll probably add some leafy greens; perhaps spinach or arugula. The sweetness reminds of a morrocan style and I like it!

Navy Bean Soup with Cinammon

1 cup dried lima beans; cooked and drained
4 cups stock (or water)
1 onion; chopped
4 garlic cloves; minced
1 carrot; diced
2 teaspoons dried sage
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup red wine
1 tablespoon tamari
salt and pepper to taste

Sweat the onion, carrot and garlic in a large pot under medium heat until the onions turn translucent; approximately 6-8 minutes. Mix in the sage, oregano, cinnamon and cloves and cook for another few minutes. Add your remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes. Enjoy with salt and pepper to taste.

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Back to (Healthy) Basics – Making Vegetable Stock

September 14th, 2009

by Chef Edwin

Hello everyone! I’m back!

My road trip was friggin’ awesome and I had a stellar time driving through a handful of western states. I got to sample a lot of different food, see some beautiful parks and even gambled a bit in Vegas. The buffets in the casinos? Intense! Due to the fast paced nature of the trip I wasn’t able to write in as much as I would have liked, sadly, but now that I’m slowly getting back into my normal routine I’ll be sure to pass along some of the great cuisine I sampled.

One thing I will say is that I ate pretty lousy the entire time. Vegetarian was not the theme, so now that I’m back I no longer have an excuse and am returning to less guilt-inducing food. One of the things I realized I needed for future meals was some liquid gold: vegetable stock. We’ve talked about making your own turkey stock, a guide that can pretty easily be applied to its feathery cousin the chicken, but ironically the vegetable variation has never been mentioned.

Making vegetable stock is a pretty straight forward process and actually pretty similar to how you make any other stock: you simmer your “flavoring agents” (vegetables instead of bones) with whatever herbs and maybe spices that tickles your fancy. I like to start with a base of an onion, a couple carrots and several cloves of garlic. From there I’ll usually add something “meaty” like a turnip or potato. It’s really your masterpiece to craft. Beware adding too much of one ingredient, as it may overwhelm the others. Carrots, for example are pretty sweet and too many will give you a sweeter broth.

If you’ve got a little extra time, roasting your vegetables prior can really bring out the flavor.

Basic Vegetable Stock
Treat this a guideline, not a recipe. You can craft it for a specific recipe or all-purpose.

1 medium onion; quartered
3 carrots; chopped
3 celery stalks; chopped
1 small turnip; peeled and chopped
7 garlic cloves; smashed
1 shallot; chopped
6 cups of water
Several sprigs of parsley
Several sprigs of rosemary
1 bay leaf

Preheat the oven to 400, lightly oil your vegetables and place in a roasting pan. Roast for one hour. Scrape your vegetables, getting as much of the brown bits as possible, into a large stock pot with the water and herbs. Simmer for 45 to 60 minutes.

Remove from heat and strain into a bowl, pressing out as much of the juice from the vegetables as possible (I like to use a potato ricer). Dispose of the vegetables as you are done with them let the liquid cool. Freeze into any size portions you’d like for easy use at any time! Enjoy.

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Quick & Easy Zucchini and White Bean Soup

July 23rd, 2009

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

The other day I was browsing Food Gawker for inspiration, and I came across a photo for zucchini soup. This is normally the type of thing that I would quickly skip over, but I remembered that I had a stray zucchini around the house that needed to be used, and not much time left to use it!

I talked over a few ideas with Edwin, who was of course thrilled at my newfound fascination with soup. I came up with a few changes to make the zucchini soup I found a little more my style. The biggest change was probably adding white beans. I really enjoy white beans; they always make a really malleable addition to meals. I also some celery, removed the onion and added less zucchini and chicken broth.

One thing to keep in mind is to be a little careful handling the zucchini. After chopping it my hands felt completely dried out, itchy, tight and raw. I was initially a little startled, but then I remembered an excellent comment left by a reader on Edwin’s Celery Root Bisque recipe from last year – handling squash can cause a condition called Contact Dermatitis, and zucchini is a squash. It shouldn’t cause any real damage, but if you’re susceptible like me then your hands might be a little uncomfortable right after working with it. Try touching it as little as possible or, if you’re really concerned, wear latex gloves when handling squash.

Dry hands aside, I have to admit that I really loved this soup. Zucchini doesn’t really have a very strong flavor, so there’s nothing overpowering about the soup – the white beans and pepper make it flavorful. It’s light, very tasty and quick and easy to make – definitely a DinnerCakes win and a great summer dinner!

Zucchini & White Bean Soup
adapted from Cooking with Michele

2 cans chicken broth (14 oz. each)
1 can cannellini beans (19 oz.), drained
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
1/2 cup half and half, optional
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat large pot over medium heat and add oil when hot. Add garlic, zucchini and celery and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add stock, drained white beans and thyme to the pot, then cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until zucchini and celery are softened, about 15 minutes.

Remove pot from heat and pour in batches of two or three into food processor (be careful not to overflow!) and pulse. When desired consistency is reached, pour final batch back into the pot and add half and half, followed by salt and generous amounts of pepper to taste (don’t skimp on the fresh ground pepper!).

Makes about 3 or 4 servings of soup.

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