Two Soups for January-and Potato Kugel

What's this? Recipes?! Been a while, hasn't it?

Sometimes I take for granted that everyone knows how to make a pot of soup, but judging by the aisle of tins at the supermarket, perhaps not. There's something to be said for convenience, of course but if you find yourself with some time at home, these are two recipes that don't require much work once everything is in the pot-just time.

Both soups are meatless, but there's no reason you can't add it and if you prefer beef stock, go ahead and use it. I grew up eating mushroom barley soup with cubes of beef salami in it, of all things (and it was good!) so feel free to experiment.

Mushroom Barley Soup

1 1/2 cups sliced shallots or 1 large onion, chopped
1 lb, mushrooms, chopped (I used a combination of oyster, shiitake, and regular old button mushrooms
3 tablespoons oil (I used corn)
1 tin small butter beans, or lima beans (frozen is OK too)
1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
2 carrots, finely diced
2 bay leaves
A good grind of black pepper
Salt if needed (the stock is rather salty)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 quart vegetable stock (more or less depending how thick you like your soup)

In a large, heavy pot heat the oil over medium heat and add the shallots and mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms have thrown off most of their water. Add everything else except the stock and cook about 1 minute to coat the barley and carrots. Add the stock, stirring and bring to a boil. Skim if needed, then reduce the heat to simmer and cook about 1 1/2 hours or until vegetables and barely are quite soft. The soup freezes well.

Meatless Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup

When my mother made this, she skipped the brown sugar and used a handful of raisins in the soup. Either is fine, but my boys prefer the sugar. This recipe comes from Traditional Jewish Cooking by, Betty S. Goldberg

6 cups shredded green cabbage (I used the cheap kind, not savoy)
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon corn oil
1 large tin chopped tomatoes
3 large carrots, sliced
2 cups red or white boiling potatoes, diced
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
2 cups vegetable stock (or water)
Salt/pepper to taste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons lemon juice.

Toss the cabbage with the flour and set aside.

In a large pot, ovcer medium heat cook the onion in the oil until wilted but not browned. Drain the tomatoes, reserving juice. Chop the tomatoes. Add the garlic to the onions, then add the cabbage. Mix well and add tomatoes, juice, potatoes, carrots, and stock. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add the caraway, salt/pepper, and brown sugar. Reduce to a simmer, cover the pot and cook about 1 hour or until cabbage is very soft, Stir in the lemon juice at the end. Serve hot. This soup also freezes well. You can serve it with sour cream, or...Potato kugel and sour cream. Your choice of course, but I'd take the potato pudding.

1 small onion, grated
2 large eggs, beaten
2 pounds of peeled potatoes, grated
1/3 cup plain flour or 1/4 cup matzo meal
2 tablespoons corn oil
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. and grease a 2 quart baking dish.
Combine onion and eggs in a large bowl. Grate the potatoes into the bowl, and toss well after each potato-this keeps them from turning grey. Add the flour, oil, and seasonings. Pour into baking dish ans bake 1 1/4-1 1/2 hours or until top is nicely browned. Now, you're going to need the sour cream (or applesauce).


I don't know why I've got away from posting recipes, as I still cook every day. I'll try to make a point of including some cookery posts now and then.

Meatless Black Bean Soup

Not the most photogenic soup, so use your imagination.

The soup turned out so well it seems worth posting the recipe.

You Will Need:

4 tins black beans (or about 1 lb dry beans cooked until tender) rinsed and drained
4 tablespoons corn oil
3 large carrots, diced
1 large, sweet onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 bay leaves
1 large green bell pepper, diced
A handful of chopped celery leaves
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1-2 tablespoons ground Ancho chilies (or any you like)
Water to cover
1/4 cup malt vinegar stirred in at the end.

In a large stock pot heat the oil over medium heat. Add carrots, onion, garlic, bay leaves, bell pepper and celery leaves. Saute until vegetables have softened (about ten minutes) taking care not to burn the garlic. Mix together the cumin, coriander, and chili powder and add to the vegetables stirring well to coat them. Add the beans and stir again. Cook about 1 minute-just long enough for everything to be well coated in oil and spices. Add enough water to cover the beans by about 1-2 inches. Simmer with a lid half on the pot for several hours or until liquid is reduced by about half. With a potato masher (or a large wooden spoon) roughly mash the mixture. Black bean soup should still have some texture, though if you prefer a smooth soup you can puree it in batches in a food processor. This should thicken the soup quite a bit so watch it over the next several minutes. When you feel it is close to the thickness you desire, stir in the vinegar and cook another 10-15 minutes over low heat to combine the flavours. Some people will substitute lime juice for the vinegar, or milder vinegar like cider. I'll leave that up to you.

I served the soup with a bit of shredded cheddar, sour cream and scallions.

This recipe will make quite a bit of soup, but it keeps well, improving over a few days. It may also be frozen.

Schav-Cold Sorrel Soup

Schav is a love it or hate it food. I love it, the boys hate it. I have several sorrel plants producing like mad at the moment, so I made a batch of schav figuring I'd be the only one to eat it. They each politely tried some at dinner. They still hate it. I understand, sort of.

This recipe is for a small batch, which is a good place to start if you're unsure about your sorrel soup feelings. As food goes, schav is ugly. The sorrel turns grey, and the liquid itself becomes a milky green-grey sludge. I know, I'm really selling it, aren't I?

The thing is, on a hot day, to grab a glass of iced cold schav is a delight-if you grew up with it. The sourness of the lemon and sorrel is balanced by the sugar and egg. Some people add sour cream when serving, but I prefer it more basic. Either way, it should be as cold as possible short of freezing.

You Will Need:
2 cups water
2 cups chopped sorrel leaves
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 large egg, well beaten

In a pot, combine the water and sorrel. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook 10 minutes. Add the salt, sugar, and lemon juice, and stir to dissolve sugar.

Place the egg in a heat-proof bowl. Whisk in the hot soup whisking quickly to avoid it cooking the egg. Let cool, then chill several hours. Serve alone, or with sour cream.

Polar Vortex Mushroom Soup

So, we're in a polar vortex according to the news reports. Tomorrow's high is expected to be -1 F. with a low of -11 below, or something on that scale. It isn't unheard of in these parts, but it is still unpleasant. As I type, Mr. ETB is outside driving the car around the neighbourhood to keep it charged and warm for the overnight. Not that it matters, I'm not going anywhere tomorrow. Oh, that's fine Canadians-you go ahead and laugh with your block heaters, and insulated houses. I know this is nothing to you guys (I went to Northern Quebec once in January-it was one of the worst experiences of my life! I had no idea it could get that cold).

I had a variety of mushrooms from the nearby Asian market, and soup sounded like the perfect response for surviving  a polar vortex. I didn't have a recipe, but this turned out nicely. I used both butter, and milk in mine but you could easily veganise the soup with margarine and milk substitute. I think it would also make an interesting broth without pureeing the mushrooms.

You Will Need:

1 substantial cold-snap resulting in several days of negative temperatures (optional)
2 lbs. assorted mushrooms (I had oyster, shitake, king trumpet, and regular old button)finely sliced
2 medium onions, chopped
(about) 4-5 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sherry
2 cups rich vegetable broth, heated
1/8 teaspoon smoked salt
Salt/pepper to taste
Generous pinch tarragon
Milk, cream, or liquid of your choice to thin

In a heavy pot, melt the butter (I'd start with 4 tablespoons and see if you need more) and cook the onions over medium heat until they soften. Add the mushrooms, and turn the heat up to high. You can add more butter or a drop of oil if they are sticking badly. Cook, stirring until the mushrooms have given up most of their liquid. Add the salt, smoked salt, pepper, and tarragon. Add half the sherry, and over high heat, cook until it is evaporated. Add the remaining sherry, and repeat the process until you have meaty, cooked mushrooms. Add the hot vegetable broth, bring everything to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. There should be enough liquid to cover the mushrooms by about an inch. If not, add water to cover. Place a lid on the pot, leaving a space to vent, and simmer until the mushrooms are very soft, and the broth is quite rich (about 1 hour).

You'll want to do this in small batches as it is hot, and you'll need to open the food processor or blender to let steam escape. Be careful here, and remember-heat expands. Puree the mushrooms leaving most of the liquid behind in the pot. As you puree each batch, return it to the broth in the large pot. When all the mushrooms have been done, return the pureed mushrooms and broth to a gentle heat, and whisk to combine.

At this point, you can add milk, cream, or a combination. I thought the butter provided enough fat, so I went with a small drizzle of cream, and used 2% milk for the rest. How much you add will depend on how thick you like your soup, and what sort of mushrooms you used. Re-warm the soup after the addition of the milk, and serve warm taking care not to boil the soup.

Serve with toast and a polar vortex.

Mushroom Barley Soup-Meatless

Have you ever tried photographing a steaming pot of soup? Impossible, I tell you!



The weather finally turned cold here, with 13 degrees F. expected this evening. That calls for extra blankets, and a generous bowl of mushroom barley soup. Mine is vegetarian, but you could easily make this with beef broth. Some people like leftover brisket in their mushroom barley soup. My parents used chunks of kosher salami. I imagine sausage would be good as well. Or mutton (if you can get it). The point is, you can adapt this soup to transform it into a main dish.

I can't possibly know how thick you like your soup. Bear in mind that this will thicken as it sits, and if you've made enough for several meals (why wouldn't you?) it may turn into a stew in the fridge. That's OK, as you can always water it down a bit. The soup freezes well, and if you store it in freezer bags it will take up very little space, but provide you with several meals through winter.

You Will Need:

Vegetable stock cubes (use 1 cube per cup of water)
Water to cover
1-2 cups frozen lima beans
4 large carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 lb. mushrooms, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 large sprig thyme or teaspoon dried
Black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups pearl barley

Place your vegetables and spices in a large stock pot. Add enough water to cover the vegetables, counting how many cups it takes as you add. Add 1 additional cup of water, and then add the required number of stock cubes (or just use stock if you have it). Stir, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer then cover leaving lid open to vent. Simmer several hours or until soup has cooked down, and barley and vegetables are soft. You may need to add additional water, so keep some hot water handy in a kettle in case. You may wish to adjust the salt up or down (water works if you're over-salted, but so does some boiled potato, which goes nicely with this sort of soup).

Go grab a big bowl, and warm yer-self up good.

Charred Carrot Soup

This soup comes from the 1987 edition of The Best of Food and Wine. It was quite a bit of work, but certainly a different sort of soup than I typically make. I used a food mill rather than a food processor and I put the soup through a fine sieve after. I suppose that might have made it seem like more work (and grating carrots on a box grater) but I am unwilling to give up counter space to a food processor i will use only occasionally. I rarely used mine, and when it broke, I was happy enough to live without it. My point is, the recipe is "doable" without modern appliances.

You Will Need:

1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
5-6 medium carrots (about 3 cups) peeled and shredded
2 shallots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 small Idaho potato (a floury-type potato) peeled and chopped
3 1/2 cups rich vegetable (or chicken) stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt (adjust according to the saltiness of your stock)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon chopped parsley for garnish

Preheat a 12 inch cast iron skillet over high heat for 5 minutes. Add the oil, then the carrots. Stir to coat. Cook the carrots, stirring frequently until they are partially charred-about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to moderate and add the shallots and garlic. Cook until the shallots are softened-about 2 minutes. Add the potato and stock and bring to a simmer. Cook until carrots and potato are very soft-about 15 minutes.

In a food processor (or a food mill) puree until smooth, then force through a fine mesh sieve (yes, that will be time consuming, so plan accordingly). Return soup to a saucepan and add the cream. Add the red wine vinegar, extra salt, and pepper as desired. Stir in the butter, and serve the soup hot, garnished with parsley.

Kreplach-Meatless

It wouldn't be Hanukkah around here without a bowl of vegetarian kreplach soup. This year, I made the filling from a combination of chickpeas and butter beans-I also made them larger. Honestly, they are a pain to make, which is why I've set kreplach aside as a holiday treat. I suspect they enjoy them more for the scarcity as well.

The basic recipe is HERE.

Vichyssoise-sort of

I didn't have leeks, but had sweet Vidallia onions. The soup was obviously not the same as a true Vichyssoise, but nice on a hot evening anyway. I'm going to skip the photography because we all know what potato soup looks like and there's no way to make it look fancy, save for some chopped chives. I based this on the Julia Child recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, though she would undoubtedly disapprove of using vegetable stock and sweet onions.

You Will Need:

3 cups peeled and sliced potatoes
3 cups sliced sweet onions (or leeks if you have them)
1 1/2 quarts vegetable stock
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste (and no, you don't have to use white pepper)
1/2-1 cup heavy whipping cream (yeah, this isn't health food, but it is served in tiny cups so it isn't like you're going to eat the whole tureen at one sitting). I used 1/2 cup and it was fine.

In a large pot, simmer the potatoes and onions in the stock with the lid slightly vented for about 40 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. Puree in a food mill, then through a fine sieve. You can use a blender if you have one-I do not. Stir in the cream, and adjust the salt and pepper. Serve well chilled in chilled bowls (five minutes in the freezer should do it).

Adorn with chopped fresh chives if you must.

Borsch (t) Meatless

This borsch is filled with cabbage, carrots, celery and tomatoes. I'm storing it in jars, but this most certainly is not the disgusting beet water sold in jars (in America anyway-I can't comment on the borsch situation elsewhere). The recipe I'm providing makes quite a bit, but if you add some boiled potatoes and sour cream, you pretty much have a meal.

You Will Need:

8 cups vegetable stock
2 large bunches of beetroot (use about half the greens and save the rest for something else) peeled and matchsticked
1 small cabbage, shredded coarsely
4 carrots, matchsticked
1 large red onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, scraped and chopped (use the leaves if you have them)
2 cups chopped, tinned tomatoes (drained)
Juice of 1 large lemon
1 teaspoon dried dill
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
Extra water to cover
Salt/pepper to taste

Place it all in a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Skim any scum that rises and then reduce heat to a very low simmer. Cover, leaving a small vent and let simmer about three hours or until beetroot is very tender. Adjust salt and pepper. Serve hot or chilled.

Makes a whole hell of a lot of borsch. You know, a Shissel full.

Mushroom Barley Soup-Meatless

I grew-up eating the mushroom barley soup that came in a cellophane tube-and it wasn't bad. In fact, it was one of the few foods my mother couldn't ruin because all you had to do was add water, and set it to simmer for a few hours. The dehydrated mushrooms, and large white Lima beans were pretty decent, and if we were lucky, she wouldn't try to dress the soup up with the addition of leftover brisket, or hunks of dried salami. What always bothered me about the soup was the lack of carrots. Soup should have carrots-and I mean that as a sort of general statement. Maybe not potato soup (though they wouldn't hurt) but a few carrots almost always make food taste better.

I don't know quite when it was I realised you could make mushroom barley soup without the cellophane tube of ingredients. At some point, I must have decided it was more economical to buy a box of barley, and then there was no looking back-except, were the tubes readily available here, I might buy them as a base. I really might, but they're not, so out comes the box of pearl barley.

With a storm coming in, I didn't feel the need to race out and purchase fresh mushrooms for this-so I used tinned. I don't think anyone noticed. Tinned mushrooms are vastly improved over what used to be sold, and with some searching, you can even find portabellas in a tin. These were not fancy mushrooms, but the .50 cent stems and pieces I like to keep on hand for making kasha. Keep in mind, that using tinned vegetables will increase the sodium content of your overall soup, so adjust accordingly. I didn't have any cooked Lima beans, so I used tinned pintos, which made me feel like such a radical. My mother never would have added pinto beans to mushroom barley soup.


We're on the third night of eating this (with potato/carrot kugel) for dinner and as the 40 mph winds blast the farmhouse with -29 below wind chills, a surplus of soup isn't exactly a bad thing to have on hand.


What I Did:

8 cups vegetable stock
6 large carrots, diced
1 large parsnip, peeled and diced
1 large onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 small tins mushrooms, drained and rinsed
1 cup pearl barley, rinsed well, and drained
1 tin pinto beans (or any you like) rinsed and drained

Add everything to a large stock pot, and bring to a boil. Skim if needed, then reduce to low simmer. Cover, leaving a small space to vent, and cook at least two hours until carrots are very soft, and barley has plumped and given off quite a bit of starch to thicken.

Makes a great, big, kettle of soup.

Borscht With Cabbage and Potatoes

...and pretty much everything else in the fridge.


Guys, I am so unbelievably wiped-out, I'm going to just give you the link to the recipe I used (more or less). I doubled the quantity so we could eat it all week ("farts-a-poppin'!"). I also made a huge batch of refried beans, about twenty burritos for the freezer, and an absurdly large loaf of bread. I.Am.Done.

The recipe may be found HERE.

Julia Child's Onion Soup

I don't know why we keep this as a special occasion soup-it isn't that difficult to make. The step-by-step instructions (with a number of variations) may be found in Mastering The Art Of French Cooking. They are probably widely available on the Internet. Because of copyright considerations, I'll skip posting the recipe and offer some photographs instead. I do encourage you to seek out the recipe, it is quite good, though I draw the line at dotting the top of the cheese with additional butter. I mean, I like butter too, but really...

Carrot/Ginger/Yam/Squash Soup with Kale Chips

...and I served it with brown rice. Insert vegetarian joke here_______________.

The soup was a way to make a small batch using odds and ends around the kitchen. The kale chips were an interesting garnish.


For the soup:

4 carrots, diced
1 cup cooked acorn squash
1 yam, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons peeled, chopped ginger
1 large white baking potato
8 tablespoons butter
Salt Pepper
6 cups rich vegetable stock

Cook the vegetables in the butter until slightly softened. Add the stock and bring to a boil. reduce to a simmer, adjust salt and pepper and cook until all vegetables are quite soft. Strain, reserving liquid. Puree in small batches (carefully) letting steam escape from blender now and then (trust me on this one). Return to pot and thin as needed with stock. Serve topped with kale chips (recipe follows).

Kale Chips:

1 bunch kale, stripped from thick stems and torn into chip-sized pieces
Salt and pepper
1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Wash and dry the kale. In a bowl, combine kale and oil. using your hands, run the leaves until they are fairly coated and glossy. Lay carefully (not overlapping) on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake until crisp-about 10 minutes. Best served the day they are made.

"They Had To Put it in a (Vegetarian) Escarole Account"

Long before I took the temp job, I'd been hearing stories from a neighbour who worked there about the secretary who typed with two pencils to preserve her manicure, and how she said, "escarole" account. She was exactly as depicted, complete with escarole accounts.

Lynn, Massachusetts. Need I say more? No, I guess I really needn't. So let's talk escarole soup instead.

I was up until one in the morning watching three tedious hours of what I think was supposed to be surrealist film making without the really cool stuff like slicing open eyeballs (at least not literally-metaphorically, OK maybe). I felt somewhat ill all weekend, but combined with the lack of sleep, disgust at having lost sleep, and being in a generally pissy mood, I knew I wouldn't be cooking anything terribly challenging. I wanted soup-and lots of it. I had a large bunch of escarole in the fridge. I now have a gallon of escarole soup. Don't you love how that works? It was very nearly as simple as it sounds, with a few small steps along the way.

Before I get to the recipe proper, I want to talk about cheese rinds. My husband thinks this is simply being parsimonious, but there is an actual reason (other than being cheap) to save the rinds off hard cheeses like Parmesan-you can toss them into a pot of escarole soup for flavouring. Sure, they look a bit gross when you fish them out after cooking (you'll want to pull those out) but no one is going to see the bloated, blubbery cheese rinds, whereas they will taste the difference it makes in your soup. Yes, I do feel self-satisfied knowing I've utilised every last bit of a wedge of cheese. Look, some people have actual meaningful accomplishments in life to get all smug about-leave me my damn cheese rinds, OK?

Right. So in those nasty old rinds go, to your beautiful soup. I had every intention of making my own noodles as well, but when I saw that half bag of bow tie noodles in the pantry from God only knows when, I thought, "Hell, yes!" and in they went. Sure, the soup is nicer if you cook the noodles in another pot and add the cooked noodles to the soup-but I didn't. I'm not a nice woman, and neither is my soup. Here, nibble a cheese rind and shut up.

Escarole soup should really have chicken, and I wasn't really sure how I wanted to compensate for that in a meatless version. I considered getting some of those imitation chicken strips in the vacuum pack, but instead I opened a tin of chick peas and called it a day. I'm not feeling well, remember?

It turned out wonderfully. I can truthfully say I prefer it to escarole soup made with chicken. I still feel like crud, but at least I have a good supply of soup on hand.

You Will Need:

8-12 cups rich vegetable broth (always best to have more on hand if needed)
(about) 4-5 tablespoons olive oil
6 large carrots, chopped
5 stalks celery, trimmed and chopped
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 bay leaves
1 large bunch of escarole, trimmed and chopped
1 tin chickpeas, rinsed, drained and skins removed
3-4 handfuls dried pasta
Salt, pepper
Rinds from Parmesan or other hard cheeses

In a large pot, heat the oil and cook the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaves until carrots are softened. Add the escarole a handful at a time and stir-in as it wilts. Add the chickpeas and Parmesan rinds. Add the broth until it covers the vegetables by several inches. Adjust salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Stir in the pasta. Reduce to simmer, skim any foam that rises, and cover leaving about 2 inches for steam to escape. Cook about an hour.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Mushrooms are my great weakness. Where others lose control over cakes and pizzas, I cave to mushrooms. Fortunately, they are often too expensive for me to purchase-but when they go on sale, I will buy in quantity, and cook them for a week straight. Tonight, it was a rich mushroom soup.

I know, you are thinking, "Mushroom soup, big deal", but let me assure you, this is no ordinary mushroom soup. No, this is 3/4 cup of heavy cream, two egg yolks and a stick of butter. Obviously, it is eaten in moderation...usually. There's about a cup leftover in the fridge-I wonder if I'll be able to sleep through the night knowing it is there? Poor, lonely little dish of cold mushroom soup begging to be warmed up.

Hey, who wants to hear a joke?

Why did the Portabella need a new apartment? There wasn't mushroom in the old one! Hardee har har, that one's a real knee slapper.

Why did everyone want the mushroom to come to the party? Because he was such a fungi! Why did the amoeba leave the party early? It was time for him to split!

Er...getting back to the mushroom soup...

The recipe comes from Mastering The Art of French Cooking, and yes it is a pain in the arse. You'll probably wonder if squeezing the liquid out of the cooked mushroom stems is really worth it, and I can say (having tried it both ways over the years) yes. Go to the extra trouble, you'll extract quite a bit of flavour.

This is, as I said a special treat and as such you should use the best ingredients you have available. If you've been looking for a good reason to make your own butter, this might be it (mushrooms are such little sponges they soak up all that wonderful richness).

You Will Need:

1/4 cup minced onions
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour

6 cups rich white stock or chicken stock (I used a rich vegetarian stock to great effect), boiling
Salt and pepper to taste
the chopped stems of 1 lb. mushrooms

2 tablespoons butter
the thinly sliced caps from the mushrooms (1 lb)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 egg yolks
3/4 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons butter

Cook the onions slowly in the butter in a heavy pot, taking care not to let them brown. About 8 minutes. Add the flour and stir over moderate heat for 3 minutes without browning. Remove from heat.

Beat in the boiling stock and blend it with the flour. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the mushroom stems and simmer, partially covered for 20 minutes or longer.

Melt butter in another saucepan. Add the sliced mushroom caps, salt and lemon juice. Cover, and cook slowly for five minutes or until they give up their liquid.

Meanwhile, strain the mushroom stems and press them to extract juice. Return broth to large pot.

Pour the mushrooms and the cooking liquid into the mushroom broth. Simmer ten minutes.

If not serving immediately, set aside uncovered and film with a tablespoon of cream or milk (I did this) Reheat to simmer just before continuing.

Beat the egg yolks with the cream and add 1 cup of the soup to it a spoonful at a time. Slowly return it to the pot and cook to warm it through and poach the eggs, but do not let it come to a simmer. This should take no more than a few minutes. Off heat, stir in the last of the butter and serve immediately.

Mushroom Barley Soup

I let mine cook for a full six hours. You can do this in less time, but you sacrifice the thickening from the barley giving off starch.

You Will Need:

2 quarts rich vegetable broth
1 cup pearl barley, well rinsed and drained
2 bay leaves
8 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 lb. mushrooms (I used Baby Bellas) chopped
A few diced red potatoes


Bring everything to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover with a lid left about an inch ajar for steam to escape. Cook several hours until thick.

Homemade Tomato Soup

This took a bit of time, but no real effort. It is hard to give exact measurements as so much depends on how moist the tomatoes are, etc. I'll give you a general idea of what I used, but you really will need to taste and adjust as you go along. Soup ain't an exact science, 'ya know?

About 4 pounds tomatoes, quartered (I used Black Crimeans and Brandywines)
6 large garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil (you will need more later)
Salt/Pepper
6 small Yukon Gold potatoes, diced very small
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
2 cups rich vegetable broth
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons sweet paprika (not smoked)
Extra olive oil, if needed
Heavy cream for garnish


Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the tomatoes and place in a deep casserole and toss with olive oil, garlic cloves and a bit of salt and pepper. Roast until soft-about an hour.

While tomatoes roast, cook the potatoes in the butter and olive oil with the thyme and rosemary until quite soft. Do this over medium heat. If they brown, it isn't a big deal, but better to keep an eye on them so they do not burn. You don't want burnt.

Combine tomatoes and potatoes and cook over medium heat until liquid reduces by 1/4.

Cool slightly then carefully puree in batches in a blender. Be sure to let the hot air out every so often (just take my experienced word for it). Return to pan, add paprika and cook again until reduced by about 1/4 and then add the broth. Cook until thickened to your liking. Stir in the grated cheese until melted. At this point, taste for seasoning adjustments. I often find soup needs another drizzle of olive oil at the end, particularly if the tomatoes are very bright.

Before serving, swirl some heavy cream on top.

Lima Bean and Wild Rice Soup

This is hardly soup weather-at least around here. Still, it made quite a bit of food with what are essentially pantry staples for us. I adapted a recipe that called for chicken and all manner of other items You can find the original recipe HERE, and my vegetarian version below.

The curry powder sounds odd, but it really does work well, and is more subtle than you might expect. I served this soup with generous wedges of Sally Lunn bread, and some roasted potatoes. It made a lot. I suspect we'll be eating it all weekend.

You Will Need:

1/2 cup butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup tinned mushrooms, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup all purpose flour
6 cups broth (veggie or chicken)
4 cups cooked wild rice
4 cups cooked extra large lima beans
1/2 teaspoon curry powder (I used Madras)
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder (I used Coleman's)
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
Black pepper to taste
Salt to taste
3 tablespoons dry sherry
2 cups half and half

Melt butter in a large stock pot and add the carrots and onion. Cook until softened over medium heat-about five minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and cook another minute. Stir in the flour and mix well. Slowly add the broth, stirring constantly as you go. Bring it all to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add the rest. Cover, and cook on a very (VERY) low simmer for about two hours. The original recipe cautions not to let it come to a boil once mixed or it will break the roux, which sounds right to me.

Matzo Balls From The Boston Globe

My first thought was that the recipe sounded overly fussy, what with beating the egg whites and yolks separately. Still, I wanted to try for something a bit lighter than my usual heavy, "superballs" that could be used for a mean game of jacks if you didn't want to eat them.

So I was wrong, I mean, I was right about it being fussy, but they turned out excellent-and light. I actually used chicken fat to make them since I had exactly three tablespoons of the stuff sitting in a jar in the fridge. That was handy, eh? I did not boil them in broth, but they still turned out full of flavour.

Pea Soup From Discards

I have a new camera, and I'm using a computer that runs Linux. It will take a while to figure out easier ways of posting than last night's photo which took an hour. Anyway, I figure you can imagine pea soup.

After shelling all those peas for last night's dinner, I was left with a couple pounds of bright green, tender pods. I thought about stir-frying them (you can eat the pods of sugar snap peas) but decided instead to make soup.

You Will Need:
1/2 stick butter or margarine
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup dry vermouth
1 large onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, chopped
4 small red potatoes, diced small
1 tablespoon imitation bacon bits
Pods from shelled peas, coarsely chopped
Enough vegetable stock to cover
Salt and Pepper
Cream to finish

In a heavy pot, melt the butter and oil over low heat and cook the onions and potatoes until softened. Add the vermouth to deglaze the bottom of pot and add the peas. Toss and cook for a few minutes and then slowly add the stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Cook uncovered until pods are quite soft.

Drain, reserving liquid.

Put the solids through a food mill. Add as much strained cooking liquid as needed to get a good consistency (it will thicken as it cools, so I tend to go with a bit more than I think I need if not serving right away). Re-warm and adjust salt and pepper. Swirl with a bit of cream before serving.