6th Annual Soup Swap - Coming to a Kitchen Near You?

Recently I followed a twitter link that took me to something wonderful called Soup Swap. Turns out a GENIUS named Knox Gardner (from Seattle!) came up with the idea... the basic principle of which is everyone comes to a central location with the same amount of soup. Taking turns, each person chooses a different container of someone else's soup and in the end everyone goes home with a variety. It runs pretty much exactly like the cookie swap parties that are so popular in the month of December. But with SOUP! I die.

 How could I not get in on that? Did you see the title of my blog? If I don't host a soup swap I'm pretty sure I'd have to shut down my kitchen.

The 6th Annual Soup Swap takes place on January 21st this year. I'm hosting one, and can't wait to see what soups show up on my kitchen counter. You could host one too!  Fellow blogger, Soup Chick has a great post about it today... read more about it and get great ideas for soups that freeze well.

Check back after the 21st for pictures and a report on how our swap went. Maybe I'll even be able to coerce some recipes out of my guests!

Pass the Protein, Please: Hearty Mushroom and Sausage Soup with Farro

Recently, someone asked me if I had any vegetarian soups. I had to pause and think about that for a minute.

I'm not anti-vegetarian by any means. Before my surgery we had lots of meatless meals, usually centered around pasta. However, pasta on it's own isn't a great choice for me anymore, and on top of that, I consciously work at adding protein to my recipes wherever I can. That's why most of my recipes have two different sources of protein, and this one's no different: Hearty Mushroom and Sausage Soup with Farro. I add spicy sausage (a family favorite) as well as farro, which is a terrific whole grain that has a big-time chewy texture and a mild nutty flavor. Farro is also a great source of plant-based protein. It has 7 grams for every 1/4 cup serving, coming in even higher than quinoa or brown rice.  It really adds a special something to this earthy soup.

When it comes down to it, I guess I just don't think like a vegetarian when I'm creating a soup recipe. However, if you're a vegetarian, there are still options here. Usually one of the two proteins I add to my soups is plant-based, so you could simply eliminate the meat protein. In this soup, you could certainly skip the sausage and substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth, and you'd be good to go.

Hearty Mushroom and Sausage Soup with Farro

2/3 cup farro, soaked in cold water for 20 minutes
3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
24 oz. sliced cremini mushrooms (I cheat and buy the packages already sliced for me)
1 t. salt
1 lb. spicy Italian ground sausage
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, pressed through a garlic press
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 t. dried thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
6 c. chicken broth
1 T. red wine vinegar

Heat olive oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. When hot, but not smoking, add mushrooms and stir to coat in olive oil. Sprinkle salt over mushrooms. (This will help them give up more of their moisture so you can get them crispy.) Sautee mushrooms for 15 minutes or so. First they'll give up a lot of moisture, then that will cook off and you want to continue sauteeing them until they are browned and have crispy edges. When done, remove with slotted spoon and set aside.
Sautee sausage in same pot, pressing with spoon to break up, until browned and cooked through. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.

Add in onions and sautee until they are soft and golden, about 6-8 minutes. Add in garlic and sautee briefly, around 30 seconds. Add carrots and celery and sautee until vegetables begin to soften, around 4 minutes. Add red pepper, thyme, and bay leaves and stir to coat vegetables.
Add the chicken stock to the pot, along with the reserved mushrooms and sausage. Drain farro and add to pot. Simmer soup until the farro is tender and chewy, around 30-45 minutes longer. Add vinegar, taste, and season with salt and pepper if needed.

A Soup for Good Luck and Prosperity: Hoppin' John Soup

Over the last couple of years, I've become aware of the Southern tradition of eating something called Hoppin' John on New Year's Day. I'm from the Pacific Northwest, and to be honest, I tend to stagger around on New Year's Day... there's not much hoppin' going on. But I do love the idea of a tradition, so this year I started looking into it with the intention that I would make a soup version.

History on Hoppin' John is all over the place. There are about a gazillion different versions of how the dish got its name and why it's supposed to bring good luck. However, the basic overall idea behind the tradition is that if you eat black-eyed peas along with greens on New Year's Day you will have good luck and prosperity over the coming year. The peas represent coins and the greens represent cash. And if you serve it with cornbread, as I plan to do, that represents gold. In this economy, it's awfully hard to argue with that!

I simply started by looking at a ton of recipes on the internet, and ended up with 6 different windows open with recipes I was interested in. In the end, I created my own by picking from here and there - a jalepeño from this recipe, ham hocks from another, and andouille sausage from yet another. I substituted kale for the traditional collard greens for accessiblity here in the Pacific NW as well as previously mentioned adoration of kale.  (And I vigorously eliminated green peppers whenever I saw them, YUCK!) Since I have never had a traditional version before, I can't honestly say if mine is on the mark or not. However, it is spicy and delicious, and that's enough luck in itself!

Hoppin' John Soup

Recipes were quite varied on soaking the beans, some said soak overnight and others said you didn't need to soak at all. I split the difference, and soaked them about 4 hours - putting them in the water in the morning and then cooking the rest of it that afternoon. Easy enough.

1 T. extra-virgin olive oil
12 oz. andouille sausage links, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
2 smoked ham hocks
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 medium jalepeño, seeds removed, finely diced
1/2 t. dried thyme
2 t. red pepper flakes
1 t. paprika
2 bay leaves
16 oz. package of dried black-eyed peas, picked through, soaked for 4 hours, and rinsed
2 t. salt
10 cups water
1 bunch kale, center ribs removed, chopped
2 T. cider vinegar
1 t. tabasco (or more, to taste)

Add 1 T. olive oil to heavy-bottomed soup pot and heat over medium heat. When hot, add sliced andouille sausage. Sautee about 1-2 minutes per side, until sides crisp a bit and some of the fat has rendered. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon, leaving oil in pan. Cool a bit, then store in fridge for later.

Add the 2 ham hocks and sear on all sides, around 4 minutes or so, until they brown. Remove from pot and set aside. At this point you should have some lovely brown fond at the bottom of your pot.

Add in the diced onions and cook until they start to soften, stirring often to get the fond up from the bottom of the pot and coat the onions, around 5 minutes or so. Add in the garlic and sautee briefly, 30 seconds, then add the carrots, celery, and jalepeño. Sautee 3 or 4 minutes, until the vegetables start to soften, then add the spices: paprika, thyme, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves. Stir and sautee until all the vegetables are well-coated with the spice mixture.

Add the ham hocks back into the pot along with the black-eyed peas and add the water and salt. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat, cover the pot, and simmer the soup for about an hour or so, or until the black-eyed peas are just tender.

Remove the ham hocks from the soup, let them cool a bit, then remove the meat from the hocks, cut into bite-size pieces and add it back to the soup. Stir in the vinegar, the tabasco, the kale, and the andouille sausage and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes or so or until the kale is wilted.

Eat with positive thoughts of the year to come!

Leftovers = Soup! Turkey Soup with Lime and Chile

The day after Thanksgiving is officially "Turkey Sandwich" day at our house. I do absolutely no cooking whatsoever that Friday, and if anyone stands in my kitchen and has the gall to ask, "I'm hungry... what can I eat?" I really cannot be held responsible for my reactions.

On the other hand, if Friday is Thanksgiving-Part-Two-Served-Up-On-A-Roll, Saturday is "Leftover Transformation" day! After a full day of countless sandwiches made with a variety of leftover Thanksgiving wonders, I don't want anything I eat or make on Saturday to taste like Thanksgiving. We have been there/eaten that by Saturday.

This year I stole transformative ideas from other bloggers. I loved Savory Sweet Life's  Cranberry-Apple Crisp made with all my leftover homemade cranberry sauce. Transformed, and delicious! Our leftover New England Sausage, Apple, and Dried Cranberry Stuffing became a Stuffing Frittata by My Last Bite. Yum!

And then it was time for soup! I still had lots of lovely turkey, but we were all craving bolder flavors than just a plain turkey noodle. So this year I made Turkey Soup with Lime and Chile. The end result tastes NOTHING like Thanksgiving. The bright lime is in the forefront and the chiles leave a nice lingering heat behind. It's really good... I would make it even if I didn't have turkey to use up!

Turkey Soup with Lime and Chile
Serves 6-8

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 c. diced yellow onion (1 med. onion)
1 c. diced carrot (about 1 large carrot)
1 c. diced celery (about stalks)
grated zest of one large lime
2 cloves garlic, pressed through a press
3/4 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 t. ground ancho chili powder
2 T. freshly squeezed lime juice
6 c. chicken broth
4 c. cooked turkey, shredded into bite-sized pieces
7 oz. can of diced green chiles
1 can Great Northern beans, rinsed
Toppings: diced green onions, fresh cilantro, tortilla strips

Heat olive oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add onions and sautee until soft and tender, about 6-8 minutes. Add in carrots and celery and continue to sautee until vegetables soften slightly, another 3-4 minutes. Add in the garlic, lime zest, and all the spices. Sautee for one minute until the vegetables are coated and the garlic is fragrant.

Add the lime juice, broth, turkey, chiles, and beans. Bring to a simmer and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, or until the flavors have had a chance to come together. Test for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.

Serve, topping with chopped green onions, freshly chopped cilantro, and tortilla chips.

**I found the spicy heat held nicely with a night in the fridge, but the lime juice needed to be bumped back up the next day with another fresh squeeze.

Thanksgiving Traditions: Warm-Spiced Roasted Cauliflower Soup

A word to the wise: if you offer to host Thanksgiving for your family for one year... you will never ever be able to give it back.

The first few years we were married we alternated every other year at our parents' houses for Thanksgiving. One year at my folks, the next at his. However, in 1999, I offered to host since our house was halfway between both of theirs. Believe me when I say that neither mom ever looked back.

That first year I was so excited! It was the first year I would be cooking the whole meal by myself. I wouldn't let anyone bring anything (I've since wised up on that front) and spent hours, no... days, perusing cookbooks and cooking magazines to formulate the perfect menu.

Somewhere in all my menu planning I came across a little blurb that caught my imagination. I think it was in Bon Appetit magazine, but I can't be sure since it was so long ago. There was an article on favorite Thanksgiving traditions, and one of the responders talked about how they always greeted guests at the door with teacups of soup. No spoons, just a nice soup to sip and enjoy as you entered their home. I was instantly charmed.

Beginning that first year, I have always served a soup as a starter for Thanksgiving. Not at the table, of course, but out in the living room where we are all relaxed and chatting. Over the years I have allowed spoons to sneak in if the guests want them, but in deference to the spirit of that original tradition, I always serve a blended soup.

This year's soup was particularly successful, if I do say so myself. Spending the past year obsessed with soup has served me well.

Warm-Spiced Roasted Cauliflower Soup

serves 8

1 head cauliflower, core removed, florets separated into ping-pong ball sized portions

5 T. extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 t. kosher salt

1 yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)

2 carrots, diced (about 1 cup)

1 stalk celery, diced (about 1/2 cup)

1 clove garlic, pressed through a garlic press

1 t. grated fresh ginger

1 t. turmeric

1/2 t. cumin

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

6 c. chicken broth

sour cream for garnish

Toss cauliflower with 3T. olive oil and the salt and roast in oven at 425°F for 1 hour. Rotate the florets every 15 minutes so that you get a nice even carmelization on them.

Set cauliflower aside and heat remaining olive oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add onions and sautee until soft and tender, about 6-8 minutes. Add in carrots and celery and continue to sautee until vegetables soften, another 6-8 minutes. Stir in ginger, garlic, and spices. Sautee for an additional minute until the spices are distributed over the vegetables and the ginger and garlic are fragrant. Add in the reserved cauliflower and the chicken broth. Bring the soup to a simmer and let it simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or so to bring everything together. Cool slightly and blend well with an immersion blender, or in batches in a blender. Garnish with a sour cream drizzle.

I made this on Tuesday, and served on Thanksgiving Thursday. I actually thought it benefitted for resting those two days... so make at least one day ahead if you can!  

Kielbasa, Take Two: White Bean Soup with Kielbasa and Kale

Allow me to justify posting two soups in a row using kielbasa.

A. This is a soup I made at the end of August, planning to freeze it as part of my back-to-school lunch repetoire. Unfortuntately, I loved it so much I couldn't stop eating it. I ate it twice a day, for both breakfast and lunch, and it was long gone before I started teaching. No lie.

B. Kielbasa was on a Buy-One-Get-One-Free sale.

That should about cover it.

This recipe originally caught my eye in one of my favorite soup cookbooks: Sunday Soup by Betty Rosbottom. It has turned out to be a real winner in my cookbook collection. Her version uses Spanish Chorizo, which is delicious, but not very easy to find. I've only been able to get it if I'm in Seattle or by mail-order. That doesn't meet my "soup for everyday life" requirements. (Mexican Chorizo, by the way, is a completely different product and the two are not interchangeable.) Kielbasa makes a tasty substitute, in my opinion.

I also loved the idea of this soup because it has 2 sources of protein, the kielbasa plus white beans. But the real selling point for me? It calls for kale. **Pause here for a worshipful moment for kale.** I so love kale. I was sold on the idea of this soup long before I ever made it and tasted its brothy soupy wonderfulness.

White Bean Soup with Kielbasa and Kale
Adapted from Sunday Soup by Betty Rosbottom

14 oz. beef kielbasa (I usually buy Hillshire Farms)
1 T. olive oil
1 lg. onion, diced
2 lg. carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 clove garlic, pressed through a garlic press
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 t. dried thyme
8 c. chicken broth
3 cans cannellini beans, rinsed well (you could also use another white bean like great Northern)
1 head kale, center ribs removed and discarded, leaves washed and chopped (around 5 cups)
2x2" chunk of parmesan rind (optional)

Slice the kielbasa into 1/4" rounds. Heat olive oil in bottom of soup pan over medium heat until hot, but not smoking. Add kielbasa in a single layer and brown on one side, around 2 minutes. Flip and brown the other side. Remove kielbasa with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add onions to pan and sautee, stirring to scrape up the fond left by the kielbasa, until the onions are nice and soft, around 5-8 minutes. Add garlic clove, red pepper flakes, and thyme. Sautee for 1 minute. Add in carrots and celery and continue to sautee until vegetables have softened slightly, around 5-8 minutes longer.

Add chicken broth, rinsed beans, and reserved kielbasa to pot, along with the parmesan rind if you're using one. Bring to a simmer, and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes to allow the flavors to come together. Remove the paremesan rind and add in the kale, stirring until it wilts, approximately 3 minutes.

Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper, if desired.

Soup for Everyday Living: Corn and Kielbasa Chowder

As you can probably imagine, I spend time reading cookbooks. Reading and paging my way through a cookbook is one of my most enjoyable pastimes. In the past year, I have really focused on cookbooks that are all about soup. Some of them are really terrific, and some I immediately know are not for me. Thank goodness for our library, so I don't have to spend my own money to find out which are which!

The thing is, terrific or not, all of the cookbooks share one thing: an entire section devoted to the love and pursuit of homemade stock. Each recipe is different, of course, but they all enthusiastically insist that if you don't start with homemade stock - whether it be beef, chicken, or vegetable (one actually gave a recipe for lamb stock!!!) - your soup is doomed to mediocrity.

Whatever. I'm freaking busy here, people. I'm teaching 3rd grade full time right now, I have a husband and two teenage daughters and a household to run... I am not inclined to spend the money on a whole chicken and vegetables and 6 hours out of my life making stock BEFORE I make the actual soup I want to eat. And as for the books that tell me to befriend my "local butcher" and get spare parts for stock... are you kidding me?

So no, you won't catch me telling you to go out and make your own stock. I am particular about the chicken broth I buy, though. I find most to be tinny and way too salty. I prefer a specific type of Swanson's Broth. I buy Swanson's Natural Goodness Chicken Broth with 33% reduced sodium. And when I want to make soup, I can get started immediately. I need soup for real life.

This soup is a riff on one of my favorite soups from Ina Garten - The Barefoot Contessa. I love her cookbooks; everything I've ever made of hers has turned out great. In general, she is very sensible about everyday cooking for everyday people. Although she is definitely in the "you must make your own stock" camp, I forgive her the transgression since she's contributed in so many other ways to my kitchen.

Despite the dairy in this soup, I've found that it freezes just fine. It makes a lot, but that just means more for your freezer!

Corn and Kielbasa Chowder
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten
makes 12 cups

14 oz. beef kielbasa, sliced into 1/4" rounds
1 T. olive oil
2 large yellow onions, diced small
1 T. butter (optional)
1/4 c. flour
1/2 t. freshly gound black pepper
1/2 t. ground turmeric (doesn't add much flavor but contributes a lovely yellow hue)
6 c. chicken broth
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled, cut into 1/4" dice
24 oz. frozen sweet yellow corn
1 c. half & half
8 oz. extra-sharp white cheddar cheese, grated

Heat olive oil in large soup pot over medium-high heat until shimmering, and then add kielbasa in a single layer to the pot. Cook until brown on one side, and then flip and brown the other side. Remove kielbasa with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Check the amount of fat in the pot, and add the butter if it looks like you might need more to sautee the onions. If you have plenty, skip that step. Add the onions and sautee until translucent, around 6-8 minutes.

Add the flour, pepper and turmeric and cook for 2 minutes or so, just long enough to get rid of the raw flour taste. Add the chicken broth and the potatoes and bring to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for around 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Add the reserved kielbasa, the corn, half & half, and the cheese, stirring until the cheese melts. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust the seasoning.

Serve hot, with some more cheese garnished on top if you like.