The Literate Chef

Archive for the ‘Soups’ Category

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Portuguese Kale Soup

In Recipes, Soups on October 15, 2012 at 7:40 PM

Portuguese Kale Soup

(Yield – about 5 quarts. Active preparation time 1 hour, unattended cooking time 2 hours)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium onion coarsely chopped
7 cloves garlic, minced
6 15oz. cans Cannellini Beans, rinsed and drained
3 lbs. Chouriço, or Linguiça sliced about ¼ inch, or less, thick
4 qts. water
1 cup Beef or Chicken Broth
1 & 1/2 lbs. Kale, (2 medium sized bunches) remove leaves from stems, rip leaves and discard stems
1 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced and diced in 3/4 inch pieces

Procedure:

1.    In an 8 quart pot, heat olive oil on medium.
2.    Add onion and garlic, reduce heat to medium-low and cook 5 minutes.
3.    Add 3 cans of the beans, stir well and cook 5 minutes.
4.    Add sausage, raise heat to medium, cook 3 minutes.
5.    Add water and broth, stir well and bring to a boil.
6.    When soup is at a full boil, add kale and potatoes, stir well and return to a boil.
7.    Reduce heat to medium and boil uncovered for 1 hour.
8.    Mash 1 can (2 cups) of the beans in a food processor and stir into the soup.
9.    Add the remaining 2 cans of beans to the soup and stir.
10.    Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for an additional hour.

Serve as a meal along with warm, crusty bread. Leftovers may be frozen in 1 or 2 quart containers to serve as additional meals during the long, cold, winter.

Please see: My Cousin Vinny to the Rescue

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Bermuda Fish Chowder

In Fish, Recipes, Seafood, Soups on May 20, 2012 at 8:15 PM

Bermuda Fish Chowder

                     (Total Preparation Time – 3 hours, active time 45 minutes. Serves 4 as a main meal or 8 as a starter)

Ingredients:

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
5 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1/3 cup of chopped parsley
1 medium onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
½ green bell pepper, chopped
1 28 oz. can of tomatoes, drained – tomatoes chopped, juice reserved
2 qts. Seafood Stock
½ tsp. dried thyme
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. Hot Hungarian Paprika
8 tbsp. molasses
1 ½ cups of reserved tomato juice
1.5 lbs. of firm white fish, such as snapper, or bass, cut into 1 inch cubes
Gosling’s Bermuda Black Rum
Outerbridge’s Sherry Peppers Sauce

Outerbridge’s Sherry Peppers Sauce & A Seriously Depleted Bottle of Rum

Preparation:

1.    To a 5qt. pot, add the olive oil and garlic.
2.    Heat on medium-low  for 3-4 minutes, do not let the garlic burn.
3.    Add the parsley and stir well.
4.    Add the onion, celery and green pepper, raise heat to medium and cook 6 minutes, stirring periodically, add the tomatoes and cook 4 minutes more.
5.    Add the seafood stock, thyme, cayenne and paprika, bring to a boil.
6.    Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 1 hour.
7.    Remove from the heat, and with a fine sieve, strain the liquid into a 3 qt. pot – discard the solids.
8.    Return the liquid to a boil; add the molasses and the reserved tomato juice.
9.    Add the fish and cook uncovered for 40 minutes on medium-low.
10.    Raise the heat to medium and cook 20 minutes more.
11.    Remove large pieces of fish and shred or chop them, then return them to the chowder.
12.    Serve chowder in soup bowls, lacing each bowl with about 1 tablespoon of Gosling’s Bermuda Black Rum and several dashes of Outerbridge’s Sherry Peppers Sauce.

Serve with toasted French bread, brushed with olive oil and a well-chilled bottle of Sancerre.

Please see On Tour With The Literate Chef – Bermuda, Part I

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Saltibarsciai a la Serge

In Recipes, Soups, Vegetarian Meals on May 8, 2012 at 7:12 PM

                                Cold Lithuanian Borscht Soup from Kaunas

Saltibarsciai a la Serge

 (Preparation time 20 minutes, makes 2 quarts of soup)

Ingredients:

2 lbs. of pickled beets, coarsely chopped with about 24 oz. of their pickling marinade.
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
4 scallions, cleaned and chopped, both white and green parts
2 tbsp. of chopped fresh dill
Fresh ground black pepper
1 quart of plain Kefir
1 & 1/4 cups of sour cream

Preparation:

1.    Combine the beets, cucumber,scallions, dill and black pepper in large bowl and mix well.
2.    Add the beet pickling marinade and the Kefir and stir well
3.    Add sour cream to thicken soup and keep stirring until the sour cream is fully mixed in.

Serve soup cold. In Lithuania it is served with sides dishes of boiled potatoes topped with dill and/or hard boiled eggs.

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Please See: A Visit to Lithuania

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Black Bean Soup

In Recipes, Soups on December 28, 2011 at 3:10 PM

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated (please see note below).   Active involvement-1 hour, cooking time 2&1/2 hours; makes about 16 servings.

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:

•    2 lbs. dried black beans, rinsed and picked over
•    1 ham bone
•    6 bay leaves
•    2 & ½ qts. water
•    8 tbsps. extra virgin olive oil
•    4 cups of finely chopped onions, about 4 medium onions
•    2 cups finely chopped celery, about 3 stalks
•    1 cup finely chopped carrots, about 2 carrots
•    5 tbsps. minced garlic, about 1 whole head
•    3 tbsps. ground cumin
•    2 qts.  Unsalted Chicken Stock
•    6 jalapeno peppers including seeds, chopped fine
•    1 lb. Spanish Chorizos, sliced lengthwise and then at 90 degree angle, so that each slice is a ¼ inch thick half moon
•    1 cup rum

Preparation:

1.    Place beans, ham bone, bay leaves and water in a 5 qt. pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer on a low boil, until beans are tender about 90 minutes. If too thick, add an additional cup or two of water and continue to simmer until beans are tender. Remove ham bone and bay leaves and discard.
2.    In the meantime, heat olive oil in 8-quart stock pot over medium-high heat until shimmering; add the onions, carrots and celery, cook for 6 minutes stirring until vegetables are soft.
3.    Add the garlic and cumin and continue cooking, stirring constantly for about 3 minutes.
4.    Add the beans and their liquid (after removing and discarding the ham bone and bay leaves), mix well.
5.    Add the chicken broth and jalapenos, raise the heat to medium-high and bring to boil, reduce the heat to low, simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6.    Remove 3 cups of beans and 3 cups of liquid to a food processor, process until smooth then return to pot. Add the chorizos and rum bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes more.

Upon serving add a splash of Amontillado Sherry to each bowl and garnish with chopped fresh cilantro and sour cream.

NOTE: Please see The Gift of Christmas Ham that Kept on Giving for a discussion of how this recipe was adapted and developed

From a Cask of Amontillado

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Turkey Soup

In Recipes, Soups, Thanksgiving on December 4, 2011 at 4:00 PM

Turkey Soup with Cheese Tortelloni

Ingredients:

Reserved turkey carcass, skin, bones and meat scraps, as well as any stuffing and gravy that you don’t want to save for leftovers
2 large onions, peeled and quartered
3 stalks of celery, including leaves, cut into thirds
4 carrots, skin left on and cut into quarters

Preparation:

1.    Place all of the ingredients in a 16 qt. pot, cover with water and bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and simmer covered for 1 hour.
2.    Remove cover and continue simmering for 2 more hours or until the meat falls of the bones.
3.    Strain the soup out and discard all of the solids.
4.    When cooled, place soup in refrigerator overnight.
5.    The next morning skim off and discard all of the gelatinous fat that has formed on the top.
6.    Heat the soup; add any cut up leftover turkey and gravy.
7.    Serve with separately cooked tortelloni, tortellini, ditalini, ditali, elbow macaroni or pastina, whatever is your choice, as well as grated Pecorino – Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Please also see: The Turkey that Keeps Giving

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UNCLE FRED’S LENTIL SOUP

In For Moms on the Go, Recipes, Soups on November 19, 2011 at 11:47 AM

Uncle Fred's Lentil Soup

Active time, 30 minutes. Soak lentils overnight. Cooking time, 1 hour.  Makes 6 quarts.

Ingredients:

2 1 lb. packages of lentils
1 medium onion, chopped fine, about 2 cups
5 cloves garlic chopped fine, about 2 tbsps.
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small can (6 oz.) of tomato paste
1 package of Lipton Dried Onion Soup Mix
2 smoked ham hocks
2 9 oz. packages of frozen chopped spinach

Preparation:

1.    Add the lentils to an 8 qt. pot, cover with water to 4 inches above the lentils and soak overnight.
2.    The next day, drain and rinse the lentils and rinse the pot.
3.    In the rinsed pot, heat the olive oil on medium, add the onions and garlic and lightly sauté until translucent, do not let brown.
4.    Reduce heat to medium-low and add the tomato paste, mix well.
5.    Add the contents of one Lipton soup envelope and stir.
6.    Add the lentils and mix well.
7.    Cover with water to about 2 inches above the lentils and add the ham hocks.
8.    When the water comes to a boil, add the spinach, reduce the heat to medium and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
9.    When the soup reaches your desired thickness, remove the ham hocks and discard them. (see note)
10.   Serve the soup with olive oil drizzled into it and warm crusty Italian bread on the side.
11.    Freeze the remainder in 1 or 2 quart containers to enjoy for those nights when you don’t feel like cooking.

Note: As an alternative, if the hocks are particularly meaty, you can remove the meat from the bones, chop it coarsely and add it back to the soup, discarding the skin and bones. You may also wish to use fresh ham hocks, rather than the smoked variety, in which case the meat will be much more tender and definitely worth adding to the soup when thoroughly cooked, however the soup flavor will differ. Try it both ways, each method has its merits.

Please refer to: SOUP’S ON

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Garbanzo Bean Soup

In Recipes, Soups on October 8, 2011 at 12:10 AM

Ingredients:

4 cups of reserved vegetable broth from Ratatouille
2 cups of remaining chicken broth from Ratatouille
6 cups of canned garbanzos (chick peas) – 3 cans (15 oz. size) drained and rinsed
½ lb. chorizo sausage, sliced into ¼ inch pieces and halved
2 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
1 10 oz. package of frozen chopped spinach

Preparation:

1.    Add reserved vegetable broth and chicken broth to a 3 qt. pot and bring to a boil.
2.    Add the beans and chorizo, lower heat to medium and simmer for 45 minutes.
3.    Place the chopped garlic in a mini food processor, add 1 cup of the cooked beans and ½ cup of the liquid from the soup. Chop the garlic and beans to form a paste and return to the soup in order to thicken it.
4.    Add the spinach and bring to boil.
5.    Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve hot with one or two dollops of Greek Yogurt, if desired.

 

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