A Beautiful Bowl of Soup (4 page)

Vegan recipe if olive oil is substituted for the butter and the eggs, sour cream, and crème fraîche are omitted

Yukon Gold potatoes, with their warm, buttery yellow hue, are the perfect background for a showy (and, I think, necessary) topping of crumbled eggs, black olive caviar, and fresh chives.

Makes 5 cups (4 to 6 servings)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup coarsely chopped onion

5 cups vegetable stock (use a light-colored stock)

2 Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 pound total), peeled and cut into ¾ inch chunks (about 3 cups)

1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped

˜ dash of salt and freshly ground pepper, or to taste

1 cup (4 ounces) pitted black olives, finely chopped

2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

˜ dash of freshly ground pepper, or to taste

˜ pinch of red pepper flakes, or to taste

2 hard-cooked eggs, finely crumbled

˜ sour cream or crème fraîche, finely chopped fresh chives, and coarsely ground pepper

Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the vegetable stock, potatoes, garlic, salt and pepper. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat; cover and simmer until the potatoes are very tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir together all the ingredients in a small bowl. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

In several batches, purée the soup in a blender until smooth. (Take care not to overprocess.)

Return the soup to the pan and stir occasionally over medium heat until serving temperature. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Garnish each serving with about 2 tablespoons egg, a dollop of sour cream, a small mound of caviar, and a sprinkling of chives and pepper.

Refrigerate this soup and the caviar in separate covered containers for up to 3 days. When reheating the soup, stir in vegetable stock to thin as desired.

TIP

To hard-cook eggs, place the eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover with at least 1 inch of cold water. Cover and bring the water to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat. Remove the pan from the heat and let the eggs stand in the water, covered, for about 15 minutes for large eggs. (For larger or smaller eggs, adjust the time up or down by about 3 minutes for each size variation.) Drain off the hot water and immediately cover the eggs with cold water; let stand until the eggs are completely cool. This cooling process prevents a dark gray-green surface from forming around the yolk. (If it does occur, the greenish color is harmless and does not alter the nutritional value or flavor of the egg.) Quick cooling also causes the eggs to contract, making them easier to peel. Refrigerate hard-cooked eggs for up to 1 week.

I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.

—Oscar Wilde

I remember grade-school lunchtime, when I would dash from the school bus into my mom’s sunny kitchen welcomed by the aroma of tomato soup, which I topped with crumbled saltines. This tomato soup is as comforting as Mom’s, but fresh and elegant wearing a pastry crown instead of saltines. To simplify, garnish the soup with dollops of Parmesan Cream or Black Olive Caviar in place of the crowns.

Makes 4 cups (4 servings)

1 small sprig fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup water

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cup tomato paste

4 large (2 pounds) ripe tomatoes, peeled and quartered

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

1 frozen puff pastry sheet (8 to 9 ounces), thawed

2 cups half-and-half or milk

1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

˜ ground white pepper to taste

Wrap the thyme, bay leaf, and peppercorns in a square of cheesecloth and tie with kitchen twine. Set aside.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Whisk together the water and tomato paste in a small bowl; add to the soup. Stir in the tomatoes and garlic; immerse the cheesecloth bag in the soup. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat; cover and simmer until the tomatoes are very tender, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly beat the egg with the water. Unroll the puff pastry on a lightly floured board. Cut rounds of puff pastry slightly smaller than the soup bowl tops. (You can use the scraps of dough to make designs, such as an arrangement of triangles, atop the pastry.) Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheet and lightly brush the tops with the egg mixture. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the dough is puffed and golden brown. Transfer the rounds to a wire rack; set aside to cool.

When the tomatoes are tender, remove the cheesecloth bag from the soup. Purée the soup in a blender.

Place a coarse-meshed sieve over a bowl. Pour the soup into the sieve in several batches, stirring with a wooden spoon. Discard the soup solids.

Return the soup to the pan.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, the half-and-half, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Stir until the butter melts and the soup is heated through. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Top each serving with a pastry round.

This soup will keep for up to 3 days in a covered container in the refrigerator. The puff pastry is best when baked just before serving.

Top the servings with Buttered Croutons rather than puff pastry crowns.

TIPS

Puff pastry is a French pastry made using a method of rolling and folding that encloses butter in pastry layers. When baked, the moisture in the butter creates steam, causing the thin layers of dough to puff and separate into dozens of flaky layers. You can find premade puff pastry sheets in the frozen section of most supermarkets. Thaw at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before using. Wrap unused sheets in plastic wrap or foil and return to the freezer.

A bouquet garni is a bunch of herbs either placed in a cheesecloth bag or tied together with kitchen twine. The herbs infuse soups, stews, and broths with their flavors and are then easily removed without leaving a leafy trace.

There is nothing like soup. It is by nature eccentric: no two are ever alike, unless of course you get your soup from cans.

—Laurie Colwin, from Home Cooking

This fragrant, luscious soup invites you to stay in rather than go out on a blustery winter night. I like to serve it with a roasted beet and feta salad on radicchio and baby spinach, drizzled with an olive oil-lemon vinaigrette.

Makes 5 cups (4 to 6 servings)

1 butternut squash (about 2 pounds), quartered lengthwise and seeded

1 large yellow onion, peeled and quartered

2 carrots, halved horizontally (also halved vertically if very thick)

˜ olive oil for brushing, plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

1 whole garlic bulb

3 cups vegetable stock

1 teaspoon curry powder

¼ cup dry sherry

1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar (see Tips)

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste

2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano, or ½ teaspoon dried oregano

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teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste

½ cup milk or half-and-half

salt to taste

crème fraîche or sour cream, toasted chopped walnuts (see Tips), and Fried Sage or coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Place the squash segments, skin-side up, on the prepared baking sheet. Surround with the onion and carrots. Brush all the surfaces lightly with olive oil. Gently remove the loose papery skin from the garlic bulb. Trim off the top stem and about ¼ to ½ inch of the garlic bulb, exposing the cloves but leaving them intact; brush lightly with olive oil. Wrap the garlic in aluminum foil and place on the baking sheet.

Roast the vegetables in the center of the oven for about 40 minutes, or until they are very tender. Set aside until the squash and garlic are cool enough to handle.

Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins; scrape the flesh from the squash; remove the outer layer from the onion. Add half of the garlic, squash, onion, and carrots to the blender. Add about 1 cup of the vegetable stock and purée until smooth; repeat.

Heat the 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the curry powder; stir for about 30 seconds. Pour the soup into the pan. Stir in the remaining 1 cup stock, the sherry, brown sugar, pepper, oregano, and cinnamon. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Add the milk and stir until heated through. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Garnish each serving with a dollop of crème fraîche and a sprinkling of nuts and fried sage.

This soup will keep for up to 3 days in a covered container in the refrigerator. When reheating, stir in vegetable stock, water, or milk to thin as desired.

Omit the crème fraîche or sour cream and toasted walnuts; garnish the soup with Herbed Garlic Croutons.

TIPS

Brown sugar is made of white sugar combined with molasses, which gives it a soft texture. It is available in both light and dark varieties; the lighter the color, the milder the flavor. Hardened brown sugar can be softened by placing an apple wedge in the jar or bag of sugar; seal tightly for 1 or 2 days, then remove the apple.

Toasting intensifies the flavor and enhances the texture of most nuts. To toast nuts on the stove top, put them in a single layer in a dry skillet over medium heat. Stir or toss, watching closely, until they are fragrant and golden brown, about 4 minutes. Or, nuts can be toasted on a baking sheet or pie plate in a preheated 350° F oven for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently. To prevent burning, remove the nuts from the skillet or baking pan as soon as they are toasted.