Szechwan Carrot Soup

Carrots. Such a quiet, unassuming pedestrian root vegetable. For years I avoided these dependable roots that seemingly were just filler in other pedestrian dishes. Need a sturdy veg for a stir fry or curry? Add some carrots. Need some color in a quick salad? Add some carrots. But, if we wait for inspiration, and honor the carrot ITSELF, we find beauty.

When I first found this recipe, I just had to make it. A quick glance at the directions led me to my favorite puree technique; cook up a few key ingredients in 2 o 3 layers, toss in a blender, and reheat. These make quick soups because the ingredients just need to be cut into chunks, making the whole process quicker and not requiring much attention. More importantly, anything with sesame oil, peanut butter, and red pepper flakes either had to be “Wow!” or “Ohhhhhhhh.” This one is either, based on your own preferences. I’ve shared this at a few events, and no one thinks it is just “OK.”

If you’re game, give it a go and let me know if you think it is “Wow!” or “Ohhhhhhhh.”

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 1 celery rib, roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 pound carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
• a 3/4-inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced thin
• 1/8 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
• 1 cup milk

• Garnish: 1/4 cup sour cream mixed with 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:

1. In a large heavy saucepan cook onion, celery, and garlic in oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until onion is softened. Add carrots, ginger root, red pepper flakes, and broth and simmer, covered, until carrots are very tender, about 45 minutes.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients and in a blender purée mixture in batches (use caution when blending hot liquids).

3. Return soup to pan and heat over low heat until hot, being careful not to let boil.

4. Serve soup drizzled decoratively with sour cream mixture.

Notes:

* If you are of the “double the garlic and peppers” persuasion, as I am, resist your first time through this one. That little bit of red pepper truly does add quite a bit of pop to the soup.

* To speed this up a bit, chop the first batch of veggies, and while they cook, chop the second batch. Since you don’t need to worry about any type of presentation here, those perfectly cut vegetables are just not needed. Enjoy the break!

* When blending hot soups, do work in batches, don’t fill the blender more than about 1/4 to 1/3 full. I’ve found that removing the center from the blender lid, and gently holding a wadded up paper towel over the hole lets the steam escape as needed while also keeping the soup from flying all over your kitchen cabinets. Yes, this is experience speaking here.

* The squiggly decoration is easily made by using a squeeze bottle.

Best Tortilla Soup Ever!

This weekend we were hosting the occasional home brewers’ group to do some, uh, home brewing. The brewers get started mid day, and generally the families join in the event a few hours later. I figured that doing some dinner would be comforting and had visions of soup and sammies dancing in my head. But, here in California, that quickly became Tortilla Soup and Quesadillas. Yum!

Tortilla soup is a staple in mi casa, with a batch prepared about once a month during the soup season. This time I was ready to play around with it. I started with some research, from my tried and true slow cooker version, to another barely more than broth with chicken and tortillas, and yet another in the “everything but the kitchen sink” soup variety. My mood was leaning towards something a bit leaner than my usual, but still needing a few items from the kitchen sink recipes. How can someone NOT include some black beans and corn in tortilla soup? That would just be wrong!

Lucky for me, the peppers and onions were fresh from a local farm stand. While a few tomatoes can still be found ’round here, I went for the canned variety as the freshies are not so reliable lately.

For our brewers’ gathering, I made huge amounts of this, so here is the scaled back recipe. This makes enough for a hungry family of 4 with left overs for lunch the next day.

Ingredients:

1 TBS vegetable oil

1 yellow onion, roughly diced

1 TBS chili powder

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 quart chicken broth / stock

1 lime, juiced

1 chicken breast, divided into 2 or 3 pieces

1/2 can corn, drained

1/2 can black beans, rinsed

1 Anaheim pepper, roasted and diced

1 Poblano pepper, roasted and diced

1 can diced tomatoes with jalapeno

Accompaniments:

3 corn tortillas, cut into 1/4 inch strips

1 Haas avocado, diced

1 cup grated jack cheese

low fat sour cream

handful cilantro, chopped

1 to 2 jalapenos, seeded and sliced

Directions:

1. Roast peppers. Line cookie sheet with foil and set oven on broil. Lay peppers on the cookie sheet and place under broiler until skin is blackened and blistering, turn over peppers and return to the oven until skin blackens and blisters on the other side. Place peppers in a plastic bag and seal so that peppers steam. When peppers are cool enough to handle, rub off the skins, and remove the seeds. Dice peppers and set aside.

2. In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium – low heat. Add onions and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and chili powder, and cook an additional 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add chicken broth / stock, raise heat until the mixture simmers. Squeeze in the lime juice and add the chicken breast. Continue simmering for about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken to a plate to cool.

4. Add the roasted peppers, tomatoes, black beans and corn to the mixture. Return to a simmer and leave it alone for another 20 minutes.

5. When chicken is cool enough to handle, shred using two forks. Cover with foil and set aside.

6. Place cheese, cilantro, and jalapeños in serving dishes.

7. Serve soup with tortilla slices, avocado and chicken in the bottom of each bowl, topped with soup. Guests may help themselves to the remaining toppings.

Notes:

• While roasting the chilies, I was sure appreciating those canned versions. But, when tasting the soup, I realized that roasting fresh chilis was an important component to the success this time around. Anaheims are a nice, safe addition, but I really love the poblanos with their stronger flavor. I am convinced that the roasted poblanos were a major contributor to the success.
• There is no way to overestimate the patience needed with the onions at the start of this soup. Be kind to them and keep that heat low. Also, the low heat at the beginning keeps the garlic from getting that nasty burnt garlic flavor that can jump in way too quickly at this step. Patience!  (This is also an important skill to learn when cooking Indian curries.)
• Go ahead and get your fingers and hands messy with the peppers. You’re going to chop them up anyways, so don’t worry about keeping them all perfect.
• I know that half a can of corn and black beans sounds a bit odd, but more than that with these proportions will give you more of a stew. Just take the left overs, toss in a bit of tomato and Serrano chilies and ta-da, you’ve got a lovely salsa for tomorrow night!
• Avocado in the bottom of the bowl?  Just try it once and you’ll be hooked!

Jalapeno Cheese Soup

OK all you hot heads, this is the post for you! Jalapeño Cheese Soup is the perfect combination of healthy vegetables and artery clogging “cheese product” that will keep you warm on a cold night. I’ve been making this for yeeeeeeeeeears. It is a cinch to locate the recipe in our Santa Fe Recipe cookbook for two reasons: 1) the book just flops open to that recipe, and 2) the page is covered with spatters from one of the several times I put too much hot soup into the blender and it exploded out the top and all over the kitchen. I bet you’ve got a recipe book like that, too.

This does call for a lot of jalapeños, but don’t shy away cuz I’ve got a few hints for you as we go along. The jalapeños and onions in the soup are both from Smith Family Farm which thankfully stays open through October. Yipee!

On a side note, when shopping there yesterday I took the liberty of introducing myself to the wonderful gals working the counter and told them about this blog. “Oh! Someone told us about your blog just last Friday.” they told me. What? Really?! Be still my little heart … I was thrilled beyond words.

Jalapeño Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

6 cups chicken broth

1 bunch celery, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces (select the celery with the most leaves for the best flavor)

2 cups onion, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces

3/4 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp white pepper

2 pounds Velveeta cheese, cubed

1 cup diced jalapeño peppers (cut in half, remove seeds, then toss in a food processor)

sour cream

Directions:

1. In a soup pot, place the chicken broth, celery, onions, garlic salt and white pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for 10 minutes, or until the mixture reduces and thickens slightly.

2. Working in batches, place some broth mixture and some cheese and puree together until the mixture is smooth. Pour into a bowl and continue with the batches of broth and cheese until all of it has been pureed.

3. Return pureed mixture to soup pot and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Add diced peppers, simmer 3 minutes. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Notes:

* When selecting the jalapeños, choose peppers with a tight shiny skin. These are the sweetest peppers and have a lovely crunch to them.

* Remember to either wear gloves or use a food processor when working with the jalapeños. If you have yet to learn this lesson for yourself, please, trust me here.

* Since the jalapenos don’t cook too long in the soup, you can always start with less than the full cup and have more diced jalapenos at the table for people to add to their own personal liking.

* A mixture of red and green jalapeños makes for a fun Christmasy presentation.

* When chopping the vegetables, remember that they are all going to be tossed into a blender, so don’t worry about getting them all the exact same size. No one is going to see your ninja knife skills in this dish.

* If you are a cilantro lover, go ahead and mix 1 TBS of chopped cilantro into your bowl of soup.

* Some toasted sourdough bread makes a great tool for dipping while you eat.

Chilled Golden Tomato Bisque

Its summer time and the living is good. We’re continuing the simple life of easily prepared foods from the local farm stands. Smith Family Farm has an abundance of heirloom tomatoes and the question is just how to prepare them today. I ran across this gem at the epicurious.com site, tried the recipe as designed, and found true love. Ok, actually it was more like a crush on the first night when I did chill the soup a bit. It became true love after several more hours of refrigeration, with the cool flavors melding together in harmony. This clearly follows the mantra of “start with the best ingredients and don’t mess them up.” Enjoy!

Beat the Heat blog event

Chilled Golden Tomato Bisque

(from www.epicurious.com)

Ingredients

1 pound yellow tomatoes
1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon mild honey
1 teaspoon Sherry vinegar
Pinch of cayenne

Garnish: chopped red tomato and basil

Directions:

Coarsely chop tomatoes and purée in a blender with broth until smooth. Force through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids.

Whisk in cream, honey, vinegar, cayenne, and salt to taste.

Quick-chill by setting bowl in an ice bath until cold, about 10 minutes.