Soup for You

It's taken until March for Los Angeles to get a decent dose of Winter; a couple of good rain storms where the Los Angeles River is more than just a narrow channel of concrete, the surface streets become white-tipped rushing waters, and there's a rare rumble of thunder and flash of lightning.  Those are the days best spent inside, in comfy clothes, rain pelting against the windows, and soup simmering on the stove.

Thanks to an overabundance of onions in the Italian Pantry and a flip through Mollie Katzen's Recipes:  Soups cookbook, it was easy to find a recipe worth trying.  When I first saw my plethora of onions, I was going to make French Onion soup, but the Swiss Cheese and Onion recipe in Katzen's book was really appealing.  There was a small issue though...I didn't have any Swiss cheese (or sherry, for that matter), but I did have horseradish (extra hot!), which was the ingredient that tipped the scales in favour of this recipe.  I could do without the sherry.   But I did have vermouth.  A touch of alcohol is a touch of alcohol, right?  After a search of the refrigerator's contents, I came up with Provolone and Mozzarella.  The soup would take an Italian spin (surprise, surprise!).

This also gave me the opportunity to break in the cast iron Dutch oven I finally bought for myself.  I could kick myself for waiting this long to get one, but I'll be using it frequently now.  Wait until you see the results of bread baking in it!  Okay...back to the soup.  It's a quick soup, coming together in less than an hour.  As I said before, the horseradish really adds a smoky depth and a wee bite.  I added a little more than the required teaspoon because:  1.  I love horseradish and 2.  I like a little bite in my food.  You can add more, less, or not at all, but I think you would be doing yourself a disservice if you left it out altogether.  Provolone and Mozzarella mellowed out the taste, and I will be making it again with Swiss, but it's good to know that the substitution doesn't lessen the deliciousness.

Onion Soup
(Adapted from 'Swiss Cheese and Onion Soup' by Mollie Katzen)
Makes 6-8 servings


2 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, sliced thin
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 tablespoons dry vermouth
1-3 tablespoons flour
2 cups water
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1 1/2 cups warmed milk
1 1/2 cups mozzarella and/or Provolone cheese (grated)
pepper, to taste




Melt the butter in your pot.  Add onions, garlic, salt, and mustard.  Cook over medium heat until the onions are soft (8-10 minutes).  Sprinkle in the flour by the tablespoon, stirring constantly.  The more flour used, the thicker the soup.  Mix well.   


Add the vermouth, water, and horseradish.  Stir and cook for 5 more minutes.  Add the milk and cheese, stirring as the cheese melts into the liquid.  


Let simmer for a few minutes more, adding pepper to taste.  

I followed Mollie's suggestion and served the soup sprinkled with a dash of paprika and homemade croutons.  A swirl of crème fraîche would be lovely too.

And yes....soup reminds me of 'Seinfeld.'

Winter Comfort

I spent the first thirty years of my life on the East Coast, growing up in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia, PA. I remember winters of snow, with 12 inches (sometimes more) atop my dad's car in the driveway.  I remember having to shovel that stuff and I remember happily making snowballs and pitifully trying to throw them.  (Yes, I throw like a girl.)  I moved to California in 1998 and I can genuinely say I don't really miss those winters of snow, sleet, and ice.  If I really want to play in snow, I only have to drive a couple of hours outside of Los Angeles to find some.

And yet...I find myself drawn to winter images once the holidays hit.  I have winter themes on my homepages, and even my Blackberry sports a winter scene of a snow-covered lane and bare tree branches bowing heavily under the weight of snow.  Don't get me wrong, I love the weather here.  It was in the mid-80's last week and has been bright and sunny.

Maybe it's that East Coast mindset, even after all this time, that made me crave something that fits the comfort food bill for a cold winter night.  That craving was meatloaf.  I don't know the last time I made it.  Easily 4 or 5 years ago, in what feels like a lifetime ago.  Going along with the other mindset of a 'new year, eating healthier than I have for the past month or so', I grabbed a package of ground turkey out of the freezer.  I checked my copy of 'The Pillsbury Cookbook' and looked at a few online recipes for meatloaf and meatloaf made with turkey to see what I could put into it.  I didn't really want to make the usual version with a tomato base.  So after looking in the Italian Pantry and the fridge, I came to my recipe conclusion.  Two points of note--1.  it's good to have onion soup mix around; 2.  Salsa Verde--not just for tacos or tortilla chips.  What's better than a dinner of meatloaf on a chilly night?  The leftovers in a sandwich the next day for lunch.

Turkey Meatloaf

1 20oz package of ground turkey
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/3 salsa verde 
1 packet onion soup mix
1 teaspoon minced garlic
salt and pepper (to taste)
  

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl, combine all ingredients and mix.  It's best to mix it with your hands as you can really work all the players together.  Put into a loaf pan lightly sprayed with cooking spray. I bought those aluminum loaf pans at the dollar store because they were smaller than the loaf pans I have.  It makes for a higher loaf.  Spread mix to the ends of the pan.  Bake for 50 minutes.  Remove from oven and let rest for 5-10 minutes.  

With the healthier option of haricot vert tossed with almonds

You Never Get Tired...

...of some foods.  Take a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of piping hot tomato soup.  Remember that when you were a kid?  I do.  White bread slathered with margarine, three slices of white American cheese, grilled just a little past the well-done side, cheese oozing, and for me, a bowl of Campbell's ABC Vegetable soup.  I could taste it before I even took a bite.  It was always 'right.'  Perfect comfort food; perfect for lunch or dinner, in summer or fall, on a bright day or with a storm raging outside.

The palate changes as you age.  You find new favourites and try new cuisines with tastes subtle or bold.  Then you think about the old stand-bys and what would happen if you tweaked the ingredients.  You think it's time to venture past that can of Campbell's and the loaf of Stroehmann bread.

It might look something like this:

Barbari bread replaces your white bread, Mozzarella and Fontina stand in for the American cheese, and (what would surely make most children cringe in disgust) a few leaves of spinach between the cheese.  You think it's high time you made your own tomato soup and find another use for the tomatoes you cannot stop roasting.

Still right, even on a sunny 85 degree day in Los Angeles.

Cream of Tomato Soup
(Adapted from a recipe on the kitchn)

2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
pinch of ground cloves
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups roughly chopped oven-roasted tomatoes 
pinch of baking soda
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock 
1 cup milk
tomato paste, as needed
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large pot on medium heat and cook celery and onions until soft.  Add basil and cloves.  Left flavours mingle for a minute or two.  Add flour and cook for an additional couple of minutes.  Add tomatoes, baking soda, and stock.

Lower heat to simmer and let cook for another 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove pot from heat and puree soup, either in batches in a blender or with an immersion blender.  When soup has been pureed, return pot to heat and add milk.  Stir to blend.  More milk or stock can be added to thin soup if it's too thick.  Add tomato paste, if necessary, to impart stronger tomato flavour.  Add salt and/or pepper to taste.  Can be topped with chopped fresh basil, a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream, or homemade croutons.  

**Notes:  I used Roma tomatoes and low sodium chicken stock from Trader Joe's.  I ended up using 3 tablespoons of tomato paste, because I really wanted a strong tomato flavour.  I also topped the soup with a  healthy dose of creme fraiche.  For leftovers on Day Three, I added cooked spaghetti squash to the soup and topped it with homemade garlic croutons.