February Soups

Cream of Pea Soup

I served the cream of pea Adelaide style (with a meat pie) for Australia Day

2 ½ cups water

½ cup split peas

½ onion, minced

1 carrot, minced

2 bouillon cubes

1 bay leaf

Salt to taste

½ tsp sugar

2 sprigs of parsley

1 ½ Tbsp oil

1 ½ Tbsp flour

1 cup milk

1 egg yolk

Pour the water into a soup pot. Add the peas, onion, and carrot. Cook, covered, for 30 minutes over medium-low, stirring periodically. Add the bouillon cubes, bay leaf, salt, sugar, and parsley. Continue cooking on low for 15 minutes longer. Remove the bay leaf. Mix the oil and the flour, making a paste, then blend into the soup. Add milk. Stirring continuously, bring the soup to the boilin point and then add the eggs, first mixed in a bowl with a little bit of the soup. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes, stirring constantly, without letting the soup get to the boiling point.

Spinach Cream Soup

Spinach cream tastes like the creamed spinach side dish

½ package fresh or frozen spinach

½ onion, sliced

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 ½ cups chicken stock

2 eggs

3 Tbsp grated Parmesan

Salt, pepper, and nutmeg

1 garlic clove, minced

3 slices of bread

Wash the spinach, making sure it is well cleaned. Then chop it and the onion. Pour the olive oil into a soup pot and briefly saute the spinach and onion. After 3 minutes, add the chicken stock and cook slowly over low heat for about 30 minutes. Add more stock if necessary. Beat the eggs and parmesan cheese in a deep bowl. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg and mix it all very well. Blend the soup in a blender until thick and creamy and return it to the pot. Add the egg mixture and stir continually until all the elements blend well. Reheat the soup over low heat for about 5-8 min. Rub the garlic on slices of bread and place them in the oven for a few minutes. Place a bread slice in each bowl and immediately pour the hot soup on top.

Orzo Soup

orzo soup

¼ cup olive oil

2 shallots, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

2.5 cups water or vegetable stock

1 cup dry white wine

1 bouquet garni (oregano, thyme, bay leaf tied together)

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup finely chopped mushrooms

½ cup frozen green peas

½ cup orzo noodles

Dried marjoram and grated Romano cheese as garnish

Pour the olive oil into a soup pot and saute the shallots and garlic for 1 minute. Stir often. Add the water, wine, bouquet garni, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Lower to medium heat and add mushrooms and peas. Cover and cook for 30 minutes. Add orzo noodles, check seasonings, and add wine if necessary. Simmer the soup, covered, gently for 15 minutes, then remove the bouquet garni and serve the soup hot. Sprinkle marjoram and some Romano cheese on the top of each serving.

Saint Antony Soup

Saint Antony Soup

2 Tbsp oil of choice

½ cup barley

2 carrots, grated

1 leek, sliced

1 bay leaf

¼ cup fresh minced parsley or chervil

Salt to taste

3 ½ cups water

1 bouillon cube

Chopped mushrooms

Pour the oil into a soup pot and add the barley, stirring continuously for 1 minute. Immediately add the carrots, leeks, bay leaf, parsley, salt, and water. Cook the soup over low to medium heat for 45 minutes, or until barley is tender. Add more water if necessary. Add bouillon cube and chopped mushrooms if desired.

Veloute a la Dubarry

½ lb cauliflower

1 leek, white part only

1 medium potato

3 ½ cups water

2 Tbsp butter

1 ½ Tbsp flour

Salt and white pepper to taste

1 egg yolk

½ dry vermouth

1 Tbsp sour cream

Pinch of nutmeg

Chop the cauliflower and leeks and dice the potato. Place them in a large pot. Add the water and cook slowly, covered, over low-medium heat for 30 minutes. Melt the butter in a separate pot. Gradually add the flour, salt, and pepper and make a roux, while stirring vigorously. Add some of the broth from the soup and mix well. Place some cooked cauliflower florettes aside, then blend the rest of the vegetable mix in a blender. Return the soup to a clean soup pot. Add the roux, stir, and continue cooking, uncovered, over very low heat, not allowing the soup to reach the boiling point. Beat the egg yolk. Add the vermouth and sour cream and mix thoroughly. Pour this mixture into the soup. Add the nutmeg and stir well. Check the seasonings. Reheat the soup for a few minutes if it is cold without allowing to boil. Serve hot, with reserved cauliflower on top as a garnish.

Saint Scholastica Soup

Saint Scholastica

Saint Scholastica Soup

Ingredients

6 cups water

1 cube vegetable bouillon

5 Tbsp French lentils

5 Tbsp split peas

4 Tbsp lima beans

1 leek, chopped fine

2 shallots, chopped fine (2 Tbsp fried shallots)

1 carrot (parsnip), thick slices, quartered

2 turnips (golden beets), thick slices, quartered

1 celery stalk, sliced

½ head of red leaf or green leaf lettuce

1.5 oz butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Pour water in a large pot. Add the lentils, split peas, and lima beans and bring to a boil. Add the leeks, shallots, root vegetables, and celery and continue cooking covered on medium heat for 30 minutes. Add the lettuce and simmer another 30 minutes on low. Add butter, salt, and pepper and stir well. Serve hot. [I made several substitutions shown in parentheses.]

June Soups

Three Peppers Soup

Three Peppers Soup

Three Peppers Soup

3 peppers (1 red, 1 yellow, 1 green)

4 garlic cloves

5 tsp olive oil

5 cups beef or vegetable stock

1/3 tsp saffron

8 slices bread (2 per person)

4 eggs (1 per person)

Salt and white pepper to taste

Paprika

Broil the peppers. Let them cool and peel them. Cut them in long, thin strips. Peel and chop garlic cloves. Heat the oil in a soup pot and add the peppers and garlic. Cook for 1 minute, stirring continually. Add the stock and saffron, stir some more, cover the pot, and cook over moderate heat for 30 minutes. Toast the bread slices. Break the eggs and place them individually one by one into the soup, carefully to keep them whole. Add salt and pepper if desired. Turn off the heat. Cover the pot and let the soup rest for 5 minutes, until the egg whites are cooked. Carefully place 2 slices of bread into each soup bowl, place 1 egg on top, and then cover them with the rest of the soup. Sprinkle some paprika on top and serve immediately.

Cherbah

Cherbah

Cherbah

¼ cup olive oil

3 onions, sliced

6 tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 6-oz jar of pimentos, chopped

½ cup finely chopped mint

6 cups stock (vegetable or meat)

4 Tbsp lemon juice

Egg yolk, beaten

6 bread slices

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot. Add the onions, tomatoes, and garlic. Saute for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the pimientos and mint and mix well. Immediately afterward, add the stock and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Cover the soup, lower the heat to low-medium, and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the seasonings and blend the beaten yolk with 4 Tbsp of the soup. Add this egg mixture to the soup and stir vigorously so it all blends well. Serve the soup hot over 1 slice of bread in the center of each serving.

Greek Spartan Soup

Greek Spartan Soup

4 cups beef broth

8 cups water

2 leeks, sliced julienne style

2 carrots, sliced julienne style

1 celery stalk, thinly sliced

1 small cabbage, shredded

1 large onion, sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 lemons

4 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

Pour the broth and water into a large soup pot. Add all the vegetables and bring to a gentle boil. Lower the heat to low-medium and simmer the soup for 1 ½ hrs, covered. Add more water, if needed. Skim all the white part that rises in the soup carefully and discard it. Squeeze the juice from the 2 lemons and add it to the soup. Beat the eggs carefully and mix them with the soup. Add the seasonings and stir quickly for 2-3 minutes. Serve the soup immediately. [This soup was not very filling. Add potatoes would make it more of a meal.]

Salmon Chowder

Salmon Chowder

Cold Salmon Chowder

2 cups unsweetened original soy milk

½ onion, sliced

1 celery stalk, sliced

1 small red pepper, diced

1 cup fresh salmon, lightly poached

½ cup light cream (coconut milk)

2 tsp dry sherry

Salt and white pepper to taste

Cucumber slices as garnish

Chopped dill as garnish

Pour the soy milk into a soup pot and cook thinly sliced vegetables for 10 min, stirring continually. Remove all the bones and skin from the salmon, flake it, and add it to the soup. Add the cream (coconut milk), sherry, and seasonings. If you wish to serve chilled, chill overnight and serve with cucumber slices and chopped fresh dill. [Personally, I thought it was better hot with soy milk only.]

Okra Soup

Okra Soup

Okra Soup

½ onion chopped

¾ cup of okra, sliced

1 celery stalk, chopped

4 cups water

1 bouillon cube

2 Tbsp medium grain rice

¼ cup corn kernels

¼ cup tomato juice or sauce

Salt and pepper

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Put the vegetables in a pot with the water. Bring to a boil and add the bouillon, rice, tomato juice, and seasonings. Stir well, reduce heat, and cook for 1 hour stirring occasionally. Salt and pepper to taste. I added Cajun seasonings and Tabasco chipotle. Adding shrimp or fish is also an option.

July Soups

Cream of Fennel Soup

Cream of Fennel

Cream of Fennel

1 leek, thinly sliced

1/6 cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 fennel bulbs thinly sliced

4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

3 cups vegetable stock (Knorr)

Greens of the fennel, only the soft tops, finely chopped

½ cup cream (coconut milk)

Saute the leeks in oil until tender. Add the garlic and fennel. Stir well, and cook for a few minutes until soft. Add the tomatoes. Stir well and cook over moderate heat until the tomatoes are dissolved into a sauce. Add stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium for 15 minutes. Blend the soup and return it to the pot. Add the green tops, cream, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat, cover, and rest for 10 min. This soup can be also served cold using yogurt (or non-dairy yogurt) instead of cream. [I decided to make it more filling by adding maccheroni.]

Neapolitan Zucchini Soup

Neapolitan Zucchini Soup

Neapolitan Zucchini Soup

3 small zucchinis, sliced and halved

1 ½ Tbsp olive oil

3 cups vegetable stock

2 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Parsley and basil, finely chopped

Place finely sliced zucchinis in a soup pot. Add the olive oil and cook slowly over low heat for 5 min. Add the water, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cook until the zucchinis are tender over medium heat (about 20 min). Cover the pot. Beat the eggs in a bowl, add the cheese, parsley, and basil and mix thoroughly. Add the mixture to the soup and stir. Cook another 4-5 min.

Gumbo Pottage

gumbo pottage

Gumbo Pottage

1/6 cup olive oil

1 onion chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

2 cups fish stock

1 cup white wine

½ can of tomato paste

15 string beans

4 okra, sliced

1 carrot, sliced

1 Tbsp brown sugar

¼ parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Pour the oil into a large soup pot. Add onion and garlic. Saute over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring often to keep garlic from browning. Add stock, wine, and tomato paste. Stir well, raise heat to medium and bring the soup to a boil. Add the beans, okra, carrot, sugar, parsley, salt and pepper. Stir and cover. Cook for 30 minutes on medium. Add hot sauce to taste. [I added some shrimp to cook in the residual heat of the soup for 3 min.]

Parsley Soup

Parsley Soup

Parsley Soup

4 medium tomatoes

5 Tbsp olive oil

1 leek, finely chopped

1 onion, chopped and minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup dry white wine

4 ½ cups water

Salt and pepper to taste

1 big bunch of Italian parsley, finely chopped

Wash the tomatoes. Boil them for a few minutes and then peel. Slice them lengthwise and discard the seeds. Pour the olive oil into a soup pot. Add the leek and onion and saute for a few minutes, until they begin to turn golden. Add the tomatoes, garlic, wine, water, salt, and pepper. Allow to boil over low-medium heat for 20 minutes. Add the parsley and continue cooking for another 10 minutes. Blend the soup in a blender. Serve hot or refrigerate for a few hours and serve cold. [To me this soup would make a great sauce for pasta, fish, or chicken.]

Saint Seraphim Soup

Saint Seraphim Soup

Saint Seraphim Soup

2 Tbsp butter or oil

½ cup rice

3 ½ cups boiling water

1 carrot, grated

½ onion, sliced

½ green pepper, diced

1 Tbsp parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Pinch of saffron

Melt butter or oil in soup pot and add the rice, stirring one minute. Immediately add boiling water, carrot, onion, green pepper, saffron, and parsley. Cook the soup over low heat, covered, for 30-40 minutes, until rice is tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.