It's a cold, rainy day today
so I'm staying in the kitchen
and making two types of soups.

I had some focaccia
(Maxine had made it
for our
pizzas last weekend.)
and I brought one piece home with me.
I'll be using it to make croutons
for my soups.

I cubed the focaccia.

I poured in a few swirls of olive oil
then added in butter.
Because it's raining,
I didn't go outside to cut fresh herbs.
I'm Semi-Ho'ing my croutons
by using dried sage and oregano.
Unfortunately,
I had no "
fiends herbes" or "
gerbils" on hand.

I minced some garlic and added that to my herbs and butter/oil.
Never burn or overcook your garlic.
It makes it bitter and will ruin your whole dish.

Bread cubes went in
and I tossed to coat with butter and herbs.
After a quick saute on the stove top,
they went into a slow oven (225)
and baked until nice and crispy.

About 40-50 minutes later,
here are my Semi-Ho'd croutons.

Here's a quart of my chicken consomme.
Now my first soup
is a
creamy roasted red pepper soup,
or as Sandy calls it
"rose pepper" soup.
It's one of
Giada's recipes
that I've kept in my repertoire
since the first time I saw her cook it.
Here's a heads up, folks.
I just linked above to Giada's recipe.
Giada just gives you the Guide Lines.
The Road Map.
But if you follow along my preparation
and execution,
you'll see I'm just going along with a basic recipe
and adjusting and tweaking
as I am wont to do,
depending upon my whim
or upon what ingredients I have on hand.
I prefer to meander off the straight line on the map
and take the bold, green Scenic Route.
And if you look at a road map, you'll know what I'm talking about.

I'm getting lazy and unorganized
in my mises.
Here's just part of what I will be using:
Onion
Carrot
Red Pepper
Jar of Roasted Red Peppers

I actually had part of a red pepper in the fridge,
so I'm roasting it over an open flame.
I was
careful and
attentive
towards my skewers,
so I made sure to soak them for at least 30 minutes.

I charred my pepper all over.
Now, I used to take my hot, charred peppers
and put them in a paper bag,
seal the bag, and let the steam
work its magic on the charred skins.

But then, a few months ago,
I was reading one of The Grande Dame Julia's tomes,
and she recommended
immediately dunking the charred peppers
in ice water.
And this method works much better
than the paper bag method.
It's quicker and more efficient.

You can easily rub the charred skin
off with your fingers.
I chopped the carrots and onions.

Heated my pot,
added olive oil and buttah,
heated more,
then added the carrot and onion in.

Pealed and chopped one potato
and added it in.
The starches in the potato
will help thicken this soup.
A lull in the rain and I ran down
to pick fresh thyme.
I added the stripped thyme leaves
and about 2 teaspoons sugar to the pot.
I had about 1/4 cup white wine left over
which I added in.
Here's the red pepper I charred.
I chopped my charred pepper and added it to the mix
along with the roasted peppers of one small jar.
I had thawed out one quart of my chicken stock
and poured half of it into the red pepper soup.
I brought the soup to a boil,
then lowered to a bare simmer,
covered,
and cooked for about 30 minutes.
I got out my nifty immersion blender
Mr. Hawthorne gave me for Christmas.
Now, Mr. Hawthorne!
Are you listening?
I must give you PROPS
for this gift.
Dear Readers, Let me digress a bit
to explain this scenario.
Come gift-giving time,
Mr. Hawthorne becomes
totally adrift.
So for Christmas and my Birthday,
I give him a list with 4-5 items written down.
(5 in case Dixie wants to give me a present.)
These are all simple, inexpensive, modest items.
Things that I want, I need,
but wouldn't bother to drive myself somewhere
to actually buy.
And I make it very simple for Mr. H.
All items can be found in one store.
It's a win-win.
So for Christmas 2008,
my list to Mr. Hawthorne
was:
My four-copper-cup set I use daily
includes a 1-cup, a 3/4-cup, a 1/2-cup,
and a 1/4-cup.
Never understood that.
I can make 3/4 cup.
Why wouldn't they give me a 1/3 cup?
I wanted a nice, heavy set of measuring cups
which included a 1/3 cup measure.
- Flexible, multicolored cutting boards.
Mr. Hawthorne came through with flying colors.
I received all of the above and more.
In addition to all I asked for,
besides the very nice set of stainless steel measuring cups,
I got another set of multi-colored measuring cups and spoons.
And this wonderful
immersion blender,
which I didn't ask for,
but which he knew I'd like.
And he'd like too.
Thank you, Mr. Hawthorne.
I'm immersion blending here
and it's feeling good.
Test taste
and add some s & p.
Here's my Roasted Red Pepper Soup.
It has my Semi-Ho-Made Croutons
in it along with some Il Villagio Ricotta Salata cheese slices.
This is a very good soup.
Mr. Hawthorne liked it.
Youngest Hawthorne liked it.
YH's friend liked.
I liked it.
I particularly liked the addition of
croutons and cheese.
You think it's going to be a tomatoey soup
just by looking at it, but it's all roasted peppery goodness.
Next, I'll be making a Green Pea Basil Soup.
My sloppy, incomplete mise:
Frozen Green Peas
(Remember folks,
if you have canned peas in your pantry,
I will come and hurt you.)
Shallots.
(I was out of onions.)
Whipping Cream.
Roasted Red Peppers.
(For garnish.)
Creme Fraiche.
(For accent.)
3 ice cube sized blocks of Frozen Pesto.
Once again, this recipe
is a take off from Giada.
It's Giada's Pea and Basil Soup.
I heated some olive oil
and added the chopped shallots.
And some minced garlic.
After sauteeing the shallots and garlic for a bit,
I added in the peas.
Once again, I'm meandering and taking the scenic route.
Instead of fresh basil, which I don't have in February,
I'm adding in 3 cubes of frozen pesto
I made back in October.
Next, the rest of my chicken consomme went in.
And my trusty immersion blender
went to work.
And work.
And work.
After blending,
I added in a bit of cream.
Here's my green pea soup,
with chopped roasted red peppers on top,
Mozzarella cheese, and croutons.
Now, I liked this soup.
Peas and basil, I like.
I would have like it with peas and mint and/or parsley.
BUT, it's a little on the sweet side.
So I added in the creme fraiche.
The tartness of the creme fraiche
in the sweet pea soup
really makes it pop.
Bottom line.
I used up one quart of my lovingly made chicken consomme.
I used up Maxine's
heartfelt-made-from-scratch-is-there-any-other-kind focaccia.
I made two soups -
complimentary soups -
complimentary,
if you will,
both in color and flavor.
Red vs green.
Red, roasty, hearty, umami.
Green, pea-ey, tarty, herby sweety.
Savory vs sweet.
I love textural, flavorful,
colorful, umami/sweet juxtapositions.
Don't you?
Your soups look great, especially the rose pepper one. I think it's finally done raining here, it's been raining for like a week straight.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd like the rose pepper soup. My family? Not so much. Maybe I'll make some just for me sometime.
ReplyDelete