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.

Lentil-Chard Soup

I like to use the Umbrian lentils or French green lentils for soup and pilafs because they maintain their texture rather than the red and yellow lentils that are more appropriate for Indian dals.

Lentil-Chard Soup

Using the colorful red chard stems in soup is a great way to use them

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ onion, thinly sliced

1 carrot, cut in wedges

¼ cup French or green lentils

3 cups water

4 Swiss chard leaves finely chopped

1 chicken or vegetable bouillon cube

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Pour the oil into a soup pot and saute garlic, onion, and carrot on medium heat until golden. Add the lentils, water, chard, and bouillon cube. Cover and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. Add the vinegar, salt, and pepper. Stir well, simmer another 5-10 minutes, and serve hot.

Butternut and Black Bean Soups

I would like to begin a new thread on The Pie-biting Frog about soup. I started a project earlier this year to cook seasonal vegetarian and vegan soups for my wife from a book called Twelve Months of Monastery Soups I found in our local used book store Kaboom Books. Like Mark Bittman's "flexitarianism" I've been gradually shifting toward eating vegetarian until after 5 p.m. I've always enjoyed eating flavorful vegetables and making this shift supports my health, saves money, and is more sustainable for the environment (because meat production is 10-100 times more intensive than vegetable production in terms of water use). I try to buy buy as much of my eggs and meat from local farmers who pasture raise their animals, so that I minimize the suffering of factory meat production. Because the book is organized by months with vegetables that are seasonal in that month, it makes it easy to shop for ingredients in the farmer's market and to practice mindfulness/being in the present moment at the same time.

While most of the soups I've been cooking lately have tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and squash, today's two soups could be served in the fall/winter when winter squash and beans are seasonal. I've been storing butternuts for several months. They have transpired some of their mass, which makes them have a more concentrated flavor.

Butternut Squash Soup (Emeril Lagasse)

Butternut soup just before pureeing

Ingredients

1 Butternut squash, about 2 pounds

2 tablespoons peanut oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic

3 to 4 carrots thinly sliced or diced

1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 finely minced jalapeno pepper

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 to 1 cup of white wine

Directions

Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Peel the squash and cut into 1 inch pieces. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the carrot, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook for 1 minute, and then add squash, jalapeno pepper, chicken stock and wine (if needed add extra stock or water so that almost all the squash is covered.) Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15- 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Remove from the heat and puree the soup using an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth.

Black Bean Soup

French Black Bean soup is topped with crumbled eggs

Ingredients

1 cup dried or 1 lg can of black beans 

1 Tbsp olive oil

½ onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 qt water

¼ cup rice

Juice of one lemon

Salt and pepper to tastes

2 Tbsp flour

2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

Soak the black beans overnight. Rinse them in cold water and drain. Place 1 Tbsp butter in the soup pot and saute the onion for a few minutes. Add the soaked beans, celery, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low. Cook slowly for 1 ½ hrs, stirring occasionally. When the beans are tender* add the rice, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and more water if necessary. Cover the pot and cook another 30 minutes. Make a quick light roux from the remaining 1 Tbsp oil and flour. Whisk the roux into the soup. To add creaminess, blend a small portion of the soup and return to the pot. Serve topped with chopped hard-boiled eggs.

*The outer skin of beans will toughen after adding acid, so always fully cook beans before adding acidic liquids.

A Little Bird Told Me

Pie Birds

I'm sure that everyone has heard the nursery school rhyme about "four and twenty blackbirds baked into a pie" that references the live birds baked into a trencher released unharmed as an amusement for the lords and ladies, but what about a pie bird? Pie birds are ceramic objects that can be baked into the upper crust of a pie that vent steam during cooking.

They evolved over time from simple pie funnels that originated during the Victorian period. 

Shapes now range from the simple black bird shape to complex tableaux. I've got a few. Some of them are collectable including those of Stuart Blass. 

Stuart Blass Pie Birds

  

Here's a great-looking meat pie that I found while looking for images of pie birds:

 

Four & twenty chicken & ham pie

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(7 ratings)

By Good Food

Cooking time

Prep:30 minsCook:1 hr, 45 minsPlus cooling and chilling

Skill level

For the keen cook

Servings

Cuts into 12-15 slices

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp butter, plus extra for greasing
• 1 tbsp chopped sage
• 1 tsp ground mace
• 300g boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 3)
• 1kg cooked ham, trimmed of fat and thickly sliced
• 50g shelled pistachios
• 50g cranberries (fresh or frozen)
• 50g dried apricots, diced
• 3 tbsp chopped parsley
• good grating nutmeg
• 700g skinless chicken breasts, halved to thin
• chutney and salad to serve, (optional)

For the pastry

• 375g plain white flour
• 375g strong white flour
• 140g butter
• 175g lard
• 1 egg, beaten

For the jelly

• 3 gelatine leaves
• 500ml strong chicken stock, heated

Method

1. Soften the onion in the butter with the sage and mace. Cool for a few mins while you whizz the chicken thighs and 300g of the ham in a food processor until minced. Scrape into a large bowl and stir in the softened onion, pistachios, cranberries, apricots and parsley. Season with nutmeg, lots of black pepper and some salt.
2. Grease a deep, 20cm round springform or loose-bottomed tin, then line with baking parchment. To make the pastry, mix together the flours and 2 tsp salt in a large bowl, then make a well in the centre. Put the butter and lard into a small pan with 200ml water and very gently melt. Once melted, turn up the heat and when just bubbling, pour into the well and stir with a wooden spoon to a dough – don’t worry if some powdery bits remain.
3. Once cool enough to handle, knead in the bowl until the dough comes together, then tip onto your work surface. Set aside a third, wrapped in a clean tea towel to keep it as warm and pliable as possible, while you quickly roll the remaining dough into a large circle – big enough to line the tin with a little overhanging.
4. Ease the circle into the tin, pressing evenly into the corners and side – you can be rough with it. Evenly cover the base with half the remaining sliced ham, followed by half the chicken breasts and half the mince mixture, pressing firmly to pack. Repeat with the remaining ham and chicken, then a rounded dome of mince. Put a pie funnel, if you have one, on the top.
5. Roll the reserved dough to a circle large enough to easily cover the pie, cutting out a hole (if using a pie funnel). Brush the edge of the pie with some beaten egg and top with the pastry lid. Press to seal the edges before trimming the excess. Crimp the edges between your thumb and forefinger to seal thoroughly, then make a small hole in the middle to let steam escape (if not using a pie funnel). Brush the top of the pie with more beaten egg.
6. Heat oven to 200C/180 fan/gas 6. Bake the pie for 1 hr. Very, very carefully remove the pie from its tin, brush the top and side with more egg and bake for another 30 mins until browned and crisp. Leave to cool completely before chilling.
7. To make the jelly, soak the gelatine in cold water for 5-10 mins until soft. Squeeze out any excess water from the gelatine, then dissolve in the hot stock. Once cooled, carefully pour into your chilled pie through the small hole, using a funnel, until full – you may not need all the stock. Chill the pie for a few hrs. Serve with chutney and salad, if you like.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2012

 http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2762678/four-and-twenty-chicken-and-ham-pie

Swiss Bakery Kindli Haus for Apricot Pie

Kindli Haus exterior at 3423 White Oak

I was pleased and surprised to discover a relatively new Swiss Bakery in Houston - Kindli Haus on White Oak in the Heights. I had been a big fan of Andre's Swiss Pastry Shop in River Oaks for many years until it closed. They served the best croissants in town, hands down. My wife and I used to love to go there for lunch and have chicken salad sandwiches, tomato basil soup, and fruit mousse cakes. So I was pleased to learn that Andre's wasn't the first Swiss restaurant in Houston. The owner of Kindli Haus, Sylvia Lanz, was gifted an alpen horn from The Swiss Chalet that opened on N Post Oak back in the 1950s. I believe the owner as a child can be seen in the lineup in the photo below.

Kindli Haus offers breads, croissants, apple streudel, meat rolls, gingerbread men, and seasonal pies baked off-site only on Saturdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Their bread-and-butter comes not from being a bakery but rather from teaching food classes like gingerbread house making and hosting raclette dinners from September until spring. Raclette dining is similar to fondue but involves melting the cheese raclette over bread with pickles, potatoes, and other vegetables. www.kindlihaus.com

An apricot pie was the seasonal special on my visit. I was aware of apricot pie being a regional favorite in California where a lot of apricots are grown, but didn't know is was a popular pie in Switzerland. Unlike peaches, fresh apricots are relatively unremarkable, but they transform into something delicious when they are roasted. Like most European bakeries (like Durham's Guglhupf) the baked goods are not heavily sweetened as American desserts. Their pies are more sweet-tart in character. I look forward to trying their prune pie in September.

Apricot pie on shortbread crust with almond paste

The owner has collected and been gifted a lot of fun Swiss decorations including handmade wooden serving trays, dolls, stuffed animals, cow bells, and cuckoo clocks.

Tart aux Blettes for Bastille Day

Last week's baking experiment was tart aux blettes (swiss chard tart). With July 14 being France's National Day Bastille Day, I've been in a French food frame of mind and chard is one of the few greens in the garden that produces well into the summer. The French have a great tradition of savory vegetable tarts that are a good balance to sweet pies. Because I'm lactose-intolerant I like to replace the dairy with alterna-milks when I can. I modified a recipe from Gourmet by substituting the cream with firm tofu instead of cream and added frizzled leeks. This produced a quiche-like consistency.

chiffonade of green swiss chard

finished tart

Tourte aux Blettes 

(SWISS CHARD, RAISIN, AND PINE NUT TART GOURMET NOVEMBER 2006)
EPICURIOUS SWISS CHARD TART

ACTIVE TIME: 40 min
TOTAL TIME: 4 1/4 hr

INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1 cup water
• 2 pounds green Swiss chard, stems and center ribs discarded
• 1 large egg
• 1 pkg firm tofu
• 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest
• 1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) sliced almonds
• one pate brisee pastry dough

PREPARATION
Bring raisins and water to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, 1 hour. Drain in a colander, then pat dry with paper towels. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
Blanch chard in a large pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender but still bright green, about 5 minutes. Transfer chard with a slotted spoon to a large bowl of ice and cold water to stop cooking. Drain chard in a colander, then squeeze out excess water by handfuls. Coarsely chop chard. Slice the leeks into thin rounds and cook over medium heat in butter until soft.

Whisk together egg, crumbled firm tofu, granulated sugar, zest, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Stir in raisins, leeks, and chard until combined.

Prepare the pastry dough (I used this pate brisee Dorie Greenspan recipe). Press into a 9 inch round pie plate or tart pan. Chill for at least 20 minutes. Cover the bottom with sliced almonds to keep the crust crisp. Spread chard filling evenly into shell. Put tart in pan on a baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 1 hour. Transfer to a rack and cool 10 minutes, then remove the side of the tart pan. Cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Serve slightly warm.

Some other baking ideas for Bastille Day: