Year of the Soup: Week 38

I made this soup in honor of Wisconsin.

We’ve just returned from a trip to visit family in Milwaukee, carrying back with us several pounds of delicious cheese.  Yes, we probably could have cheese shipped to us through the powers of the internet, but there’s something about smuggling bricks of cheese through airport security in a carry-on bag that John enjoys.  So we purchased; we carried on; we spent 20 minutes being inspected by the TSA (apparently cheese curds have trace amounts of suspicious materials.)  All good fun.

With such dairy products in hand and the faint memory of Miller Light still in our minds, it only seemed rational to make a variation of Beer Cheese Soup.  A 5 year aged cheddar went into this recipe, but I cut it with some sharp cheddar from the store.  The aged cheddar had too strong a flavor, and frankly I didn’t want to use it all making soup :)  I chose Miller Highlife for the beer (the champagne of beers, of course), to keep everything authentic to Wisconsin tradition.  Coors Light would work just as well if you’re partial to the hometown brew.

I suggest pairing this soup with a salad or some other veggies to balance out the richness.  The flavor is strong, but rather tasty.  Happy Tuesday!

Wisconsin Beer Cheese Soup

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 medium russet potato, finely chopped Continue reading »

Year of the Soup: Week 37

You won’t impress anyone with this soup.  There’s no fancy ingredients, no crazy technique.  It’s just a basic, classic, vegetable soup.  A really delicious one.  Despite the name, none of the ingredients in this soup actually came from my garden.  It’s more like Farmer’s Market Vegetable Soup.  But you get the idea.  I think the key to getting such great flavors is using fresh seasonal veggies.  I don’t recommend scrimping and going frozen on anything – including the corn – it’s worth it to use the real thing.

I’m heading off to Wisconsin for a few days – I’ll be back with more blog posts next week!

Garden Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups chopped leeks, white part only (from approximately 3 medium leeks)
• 2 tablespoons finely minced garlic
• Kosher salt
• 2 cups carrots, peeled and chopped into rounds (approximately 2 medium)
• 2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
• 2 cups fresh green beans, broken or cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 2 quarts vegetable broth
• 4 cups peeled, seeded, and chopped tomatoes
• 2 ears corn, kernels removed
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup packed, chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 to 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice Continue reading »

Year of the Soup: Week 36

I’ve thrown down a challenge to John.  Out of 36 weeks of soups, he has yet to make one all by himself.  He’s appeared as a guest taster and seasoning assistant, and even made his own version of split pea to compete with mine.  But he’s never been the one in charge.  While I realize this was my challenge for the year, I think it’s only fair to get one week off – don’t you?  So I challenged him to take on a recipe this year and do it alone.  I didn’t get a definitive yay or nay on that one, so we’ll see where it goes.

While John did not make this week’s soup, he did provide the recipe.  He found it in a copy of the Missouri Botanical Garden Bulletin in 2006, tore it out, and has kept it in a drawer somewhere since then.  It was the first soup he ever tried to make, and apparently it was a hit when he made it back in 2006 (he’s not made it since then.)  I’d have to agree that this recipe is a keeper.  It has a pretty basic flavor, but it’s both pleasing and filling.  If you can’t find fennel bulb in the store, use anise instead.  Happy Wednesday!

Carrot and Fennel Soup

Ingredients

• 4 Tbs butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 medium fennel bulb, chopped
• 2 celery sticks, chopped
• 1 lb. carrots, grated
• 1 Tbs cumin
• 1/2 lb new potatoes, diced
• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• chopped fresh parsley to garnish Continue reading »

Year of the Soup: Week 35

People have been pushing me towards gazpacho.  I do not like gazpacho, and I do not want to make it.  I’m sticking to my guns on that one.  But I do see the merit in expanding my horizons into chilled soups.  To that end, I thought nothing could be better than chilled Avocado Chipotle Bisque.  I love avocado.  This should be a no-brainer.

Unfortunately, the ickiness factor of this recipe is alarmingly high.  It’s consistency reminded us of the remnants of John’s cold (gross, but true), which made it highly unappealing.  It also boasts a high oddity factor – for some strange reason this soup tastes like bacon.  Something to do with the smokiness of the chipotle and the oils in the avocado must produce this flavor, and it’s slightly off-putting coming from a cold green soup.  Especially for a vegetarian.

In the end, neither John nor I could take more than three bites of this one, and it met it’s fate in the garbage disposal.  I mourn a bit for the delicious avocados that went into this recipe.  They could have been put to many, many better uses.

Avocado Chipotle Bisque

Ingredients

• medium avocados, diced (2 cups)
• 1 Tbs olive oil, hemp oil, or avocado oil
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 Tbs. white miso paste
• 1 1/2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary or
• 2/3 tsp. dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp. chipotle powder
• chopped tomato or red pepper for garnish Continue reading »

Year of the Soup: Week 34

You can see it on his face the minute he tastes it.  For just an instant he looks as if something sour has touched his taste buds, then his features turn to consideration as he tries to figure out what that icky flavor is.  He describes it as earthy, dirty and perfumey, looking at me as though I’ve fed him dirt.  It’s one of the few things that John doesn’t like: thyme.

Discovering this is huge – John likes damn near everything.  The only other food item I know he doesn’t care for is bleu cheese, and he’ll even eat that on occasion.  Now I can officially add thyme to that tiny list, and I suppose try to avoid future soup recipes that feature it.  If I’m feeling nice :)

In the case of this soup, I think the thyme is excellent.  In fact, this whole soup impressed me.  I thought it sounded good because I love roasted peppers, but the thyme and fennel give it another savory dimension.  After that first taste it was clear John wanted nothing to do with this soup.  That’s fine with me.  This recipe makes a small batch, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to finish it off without his help :)

Rainbow Roasted Pepper Soup