The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (38 page)
Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
MAKES ABOUT 3 CUPS
3 | tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil |
3 | garlic cloves, minced |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
6 | slices hearty white sandwich bread, crusts removed, cut into ¹⁄ |
1.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine oil, garlic, and salt in small bowl. Let stand 20 minutes, then pour through fine-mesh strainer into medium bowl. Discard garlic. Add bread cubes to bowl with oil and toss to coat.
2.
Spread bread cubes in single layer on rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet to room temperature. (Croutons can be stored in airtight container or zipper-lock bag for up to 1 day.)
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
The gazpacho popular in Andalusia, the southern region of Spain, is creamy and complex, with the bright, fresh flavor of naturally ripened vegetables. The key to fresh tomato flavor was salting the tomatoes and letting them sit to release more flavor. We then followed the same process with the other vegetables—cucumber, bell pepper, and onion—and soaked the bread, which we used to thicken the soup, in the exuded vegetable juices. A final dash of olive oil and sherry vinegar further brightened the flavor of our gazpacho, and a diced-vegetable garnish lent a fresh finish.
SERVES 4 TO 6
For ideal flavor, allow the gazpacho to sit in the refrigerator overnight before serving. Red wine vinegar can be substituted for the sherry vinegar. Although we prefer to use kosher salt in this soup, half the amount of table salt can be used. Serve the soup with additional extra-virgin olive oil, sherry vinegar, ground black pepper, and diced vegetables for diners to season and garnish their own bowls as desired.
3 | pounds tomatoes, cored |
1 | small cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, and seeded |
1 | green bell pepper, stemmed, halved, and seeded |
1 | small red onion, peeled and halved |
2 | garlic cloves, peeled and quartered |
1 | small serrano chile, stemmed and halved lengthwise |
Kosher salt and pepper | |
1 | slice hearty white sandwich bread, crust removed, torn into 1-inch pieces |
¹⁄ | cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving |
2 | tablespoons sherry vinegar, plus extra for serving |
2 | tablespoons minced parsley, chives, or basil |
1.
Coarsely chop 2 pounds tomatoes, half of cucumber, half of bell pepper, and half of onion and place in large bowl. Add garlic, chile, and 1¹⁄
2
teaspoons salt and toss to combine.
2.
Cut remaining tomatoes, cucumber, and bell pepper into ¹⁄
4
-inch dice and place in medium bowl. Mince remaining onion and add to diced vegetables. Toss with ¹⁄
2
teaspoon salt and transfer to fine-mesh strainer set over medium bowl. Drain for 1 hour. Transfer drained diced vegetables to medium bowl and set aside, reserving exuded liquid (there should be about ¹⁄
4
cup; discard extra liquid).
3.
Add bread pieces to exuded liquid and soak 1 minute. Add soaked bread and any remaining liquid to roughly chopped vegetables and toss thoroughly to combine.
4.
Transfer half of vegetable-bread mixture to blender and process 30 seconds. With blender running, slowly drizzle in ¹⁄
4
cup oil and continue to blend until completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Strain soup through fine-mesh strainer into large bowl, using back of ladle or rubber spatula to press soup through strainer.
Repeat with remaining vegetable-bread mixture and ¹⁄
4
cup oil.
5.
Stir vinegar, parsley, and half of diced vegetables into soup and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours to chill completely and develop flavors. Serve, passing remaining diced vegetables, oil, vinegar, and pepper separately.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Sweet pea soup typically calls for stewing fresh blanched peas, leeks, and lettuce in butter, moistening with veal stock, and then passing through a fine sieve. The soup was then finished with cream. To cut back on the fuss, we pureed frozen peas in the food processor and combined them with just butter, lettuce, and shallots or leeks, so as not to overwhelm the delicate flavor of the peas. And adding flour to the vegetables helped thicken the soup to a silken texture.
SERVES 4 TO 6
Remove the peas from the freezer just before starting the soup so that when you are ready to process them, as the stock simmers, they will be only partially thawed. To preserve its delicate flavor and color, this soup is best served immediately.
4 | tablespoons unsalted butter |
5 | shallots, minced, or 1 leek, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise, chopped fine, and rinsed thoroughly |
2 | tablespoons all-purpose flour |
3¹⁄ | cups low-sodium chicken broth |
1¹⁄ | pounds frozen peas (about 4¹⁄ |
12 | leaves Boston lettuce from 1 small head |
¹⁄ | cup heavy cream |
1 | recipe |
Salt and pepper |
1.
Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add shallots, and cook, covered, until softened, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Stirring constantly, gradually add chicken broth. Increase heat to high and bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 3 to 5 minutes.
2.
Meanwhile, process partially thawed peas in food processor until coarsely chopped, about 20 seconds. Add peas and lettuce to simmering broth. Increase heat to medium-high, cover and return to simmer; simmer 3 minutes. Uncover, reduce heat to medium-low, and continue to simmer 2 minutes longer.
3.
Working in 2 batches, puree soup in blender until smooth, then strain into large bowl. Clean saucepan and return pureed mixture to pan. Stir in cream and heat mixture over low heat until hot, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
For a country-style potato-leek soup with the best flavor, we found low-starch red potatoes were best, as they held their shape and didn’t become waterlogged during cooking. Sautéing plenty of leeks in butter helped pump up the flavor, and leaving our soup full of chunks of potato and some pieces of leek kept up the rustic theme. We removed the pot from the heat toward the end to allow the potatoes to finish cooking in the hot broth without becoming overcooked or mushy.
SERVES 6 TO 8
Leeks can vary in size. If yours have large white and light green sections, use fewer leeks.
6 | tablespoons unsalted butter |
4–5 | pounds leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise, sliced into 1-inch pieces, and washed thoroughly (11 cups) |
1 | tablespoon all-purpose flour |
5¹⁄ | cups low-sodium chicken broth |
1 | bay leaf |
1³⁄ | pounds red potatoes, peeled and cut into ³⁄ |
Salt and pepper |
1.
Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Stir in leeks, increase heat to medium, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are tender but not mushy, 15 to 20 minutes (do not brown). Sprinkle flour over leeks, stir to coat, and cook until flour dissolves, about 2 minutes.
2.
Increase heat to high and, whisking constantly, gradually add broth. Add bay leaf and potatoes, cover, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until potatoes are almost tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand until potatoes are tender and flavors meld, 10 to 15 minutes. Discard bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Eight ounces of cooked ham, cut into ¹⁄
2
-inch dice, can be substituted for the sausage, if desired. Whichever you choose, season the soup with care, since both ham and kielbasa are fully seasoned.
Before removing pot from heat, stir 8 ounces kielbasa sausage, cut into ¹⁄
2
-inch slices, into soup.
Reduce potatoes to ³⁄
4
pound. Before removing pot from heat, stir 1 cup hot water and 1 cup canned cannellini beans, rinsed, into soup.
BUYING LEEKS
We try to buy leeks with the longest white stems, the most tender and usable part of a leek; the white parts can vary from 4 up to 8 inches, so it pays to be discriminating when selecting them. But don’t be fooled by supermarkets that sell leeks that are already trimmed down to the lighter base part. This may seem like a good deal because you aren’t paying for the upper leaves, which are discarded anyway, but the truth is that the actual purpose of this procedure is to trim away aging leaves and make tough, old leeks look fresher to the unwary consumer. The bottom line: Hand-select your leeks, and try to find a store that sells them untrimmed.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Most versions of this soup are gluey and drown the potato and leek flavor in an overabundance of cream. We learned that overwhipping the potatoes in the blender causes them to leach too much starch and turn gluey. By using fewer potatoes than you’d find in most recipes (we opted for russets since they broke down well), we lessened the amount of starch and thus the risk of glueyness. And instead of tossing out the leeks’ dark green parts, we simmered them in the broth to give our soup potent leek flavor. We added a slice of bread to the blender when pureeing our soup to help thicken it without masking the flavor as cream would.