Yummy Soups Part III: Hot and Sour Soup

And next on our tour of soups to have on hand for those cold nights when you arrive home chilled to the bone: Hot and Sour Soup.

Lightly tangy and only a little on the spicy side, we made this version with soba noodles instead of egg noodles or ramen. It's enormously satisfying, especially with the shiitakes. If you're not going to eat it all at once (this makes about 8 servings), I also recommend that instead of storing the soup with all the veggies and chicken and such in the broth, you pack little individual tupperwares with the snow peas, scallions, the chicken, mushrooms, noodles, and store the broth separately. It keeps the colors of the greens better and the noodles from getting soggy.

One last note: this recipe includes making your own stock. You could use store-bought stock -- but honestly, it's just not as good. Do it from scratch -- it only takes an hour, and you can make it the night before.

Hot and Sour Soup

2 lbs chicken wings
10 cups cold water
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 quarter-sized slices of fresh ginger, crushed
1 stalk of lemon grass, cut into 4-inch pieces and bruised with the blunt edge of a knife.

Combine all the stock ingredients in a large pot, bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for about an hour. Skim off any foam or impurities that rise to the top. After an hour, strain and let the stock cool, taking off any fat that rises to the top.

1 package of soba noodles
2 tsp. dark sesame oil

Chicken stock, as made above
1 head of garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp peeled chopped fresh ginger
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps
1 cup boneless chicken breast, thinly sliced

1 cup snow peas (snap off the ends and pull the "strings" from the sides)
1/2 cup scallions cut into 2-inch pieces and halved lengthwise.

In a clean stock pot, bring the stock, garlic, ginger and pepper flakes to a boil. Add in the vinegar, sugar and soy sauce, adjusting the seasonings to your own taste. Stir in the chicken and mushrooms, and simmer until all the chicken is cooked fully through.

Meanwhile, cook the soba according to the package directions. Drain them, and then toss with sesame oil. Prepare bowls by dividing the noodles, peas and scallions among them. Portion out the soup, pouring the broth over the noodles and veggies.

Slurp away...

Yummy Soups Part II: Pho

Poe? Foe? Fuh?

Fee. Fie. Fo. Fum. Yum.

However it is that you pronounce it, this is one hearty happy soup. It's one of those things that is a bit of a pain to make -- it could be easier to just call up your local Vietnamese take-out joint.

On the other hand, there's nothing so wonderful as having the smell of this soup fill your kitchen on a cold, chilly day.

Vietnamese Pho
(Recipe adjusted from Cuisine)

10 cups of water
4 lbs chicken wings
2 yellow onions cut into quarters
2 cups of celery, coarsely chopped
1 head of garlic, cloves crushed

1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise pod
1 piece of fresh ginger (5") halved lengthwise

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onions
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
juice of 1/2 a lime

6 oz rice vermicelli
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup thinly sliced jalapeno or serrano chiles
1 lime, cut into wedges
2 cups bean sprouts (I don't like bean sprouts so I leave them off)

Begin by making a broth. In a large pot, simmer the water, chicken wings, onion, celery and garlic. over a low heat for about 3 hours. Check the broth every so often and skim off any foam or impurities that rise to the top.

Over a gas burner, or on an electric burner on medium-high, char the cinnamon, star anise and ginger, to get a smoky flavor. Scrape the burnt skin off the ginger.

Add the ginger and spices to the broth and continue simmering for 20 minutes more. Then scoop out the large pieces from the broth with a slotted spoon or skimmer, and discard. Then strain the broth through a chinois. Return the broth to the pot and bring it back to a simmer.

Stir in the sliced chicken and simmer until cooked through. In the mean time, bring a medium pot of water to a boil and cook the rice vermicelli by submerging it in in the water with the heat off. When the chicken is done, turn off the heat under the broth and add scallions, red onions, carrot, fish sauce and lime juice. (This keeps the colors nice and bright.)

Scoop some of the noodles and vegetables into a bowl, ladle broth over them and then top with herbs, chilies and bean sprouts if you like.

Yummy Soups Part I: Thanksgiving and Pumpkin Soup

Thanksgiving. Such a low-key holiday.

Actually for us it often is a quite pleasant cooking experience, as we get once more to invade a friend's kitchen, cook up a firestorm, and then depart leaving them with the dishwasher full as we return to a pristine and um... mostly clean apartment.

This year we returned to the home of our lovely Pajama Queen and Mr. Tarte Tatin. Oddly enough, while there was much good eating, there were no pajamas and no tarte tatin... We did however take another step towards sussing out the secrets of the magical pumpkin soup we had at Cibreo.



I love cooking with the Pajama Queen's stuff -- she leaves her Le Creuset out on the stove... temptingly... just asking for me to make some stock for the gravy...

As usual we began the festivities early, the better to eat all afternoon...

Mon Oncle Sumi, who works at the highly recommended (by us, at least) Ma Tante Sumi in the Castro, brought along the makin's for one of their signature appetizers, fresh cubes of tuna, a dollop of guacamole, atop a crisp wonton style chip. Absolutely addictive. At Sumi, you get about six of the chips. At Chez Pajama Queen, we ate about twelve each.

Terribly indulgent.

Course it wouldn't be right if there weren't cheese, and Ms. art Attack went on an ALL OUT cheese buying frenzy arriving at the door with Brinata il Forteto, Manchego, Gruyere, Millefoglie al Marcemino & P’tit Basque. Is that the order in the picture, going clockwise from the olives? Dunno -- we were so busy eating, no one paid any attention at all. I think that's right, sounds right...

Yeah. Anyway. Slice me some more cheese.

My Omnivore obliges by using my favorite cheesy tool of all time, the girolle, to make me wonderful fluffy, cheesy beautiful bouquets of Tete de Moine.

Check out the wrist action going on there.

And the finished product. It could practically be bridal spray. Hmmm... there's an idea...

Seriously, I know many of you might ask, is it really necessary to have a girolle in order to enjoy the Tete de Moine? My answer is yes. Oh, you could slice the Tete de Moine and chew on thick heavy pieces and it would be tasty. But with a girolle, you get beautiful airy, light folds of cheese that just about melt on our tongue.

*Sigh*

But, back to our dinner. The menu:

A "Do we have enough food?" Thanksgiving

Olives & Herbed Almonds
Mushroom Gougeres
Curls of Tete de Moine, Manchego, P’tit Basque,
Gruyere, Millefoglie, Marcemino & Brinata il Forteto

***

Kabocha Squash Soup with Crushed Amaretti

***

Brined Turkey with a Rich Gravy
Pan Seared Halibut with Zinfandel Sauce
Salad
Walnut & Plain Rolls from Bay Breads
Fig & Walnut Dressing a la Joannie
Cranberry Relish
“Oh, Mother of God” Cranberry Jalapeno Sauce
Heathered Yams
Caramelized Chestnuts & Brussel Sprouts
Autumn Root Vegetable Thingy

***

Apple Pie & Pumpkin Pie
Brownie Fudge Torte Cheesecake
Pecan Tart
Ginger Ice Cream & Pear Caramel Ice Cream



Did I mention there was dessert? Holey moley, such good pies and tarts and cheesecake.

And yes, those ice creams come thanks to David Lebovitz's excellent A Perfect Scoop.


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So Cibreo's Passato di Zucca has inspired a sort of philosophical pondering. What, really, is a zucca? Is a pumpkin just a pumpkin? What gives it pumpkin-ness?

When we had the Cibreo version, it was like all other pumpkin soups had been blown off the map, it was that good. I found a recipe for a similar bell pepper soup from Cibreo at Divina Cucina, and intrigued, we decided to experiment.

Although our first attempt was tasty, it wasn't at all what we'd had at Cibreo. Plus, we thought perhaps chef Fabio Picchi had garnished it with cinnamon sugar, which was not quite right. We also used a sugar pie pumpkin, and frankly, the distinctive flavors just weren't there. But then what kind of pumpkins does one get in Italy? Are they really like ours? If the diversity of the tomatoes and other produce is anything to go by, there's some form of fancy pumpkin that they grow in Italy and that we don't see around here. Or do we?

After doing some research, we theorized that perhaps the "zucca" might actually be more like a kabocha squash. So accordingly, for Thanksgiving, we made a version with kabocha. Again, tasty, silky and hearty, but not the right flavor.

We'll keep trying, but if anyone has any clues, any insights into the pumpkin varieties of Italy--please, leave me a comment below!

Pumpkin Soup

1 medium (size of a small person's head) pumpkin? kabocha? something.

3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into large pieces
1 red onion, diced fine
1 medium carrot, diced fine
1 stalk celery, diced fine
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup milk (optional)
1 bay leaf
Olive oil (for garnish)
4 tablespoons crushed amaretti cookies

In a medium pot, sauté the onion, carrot and celery slowly in olive oil until the vegetables begin to turn golden.

Cut open and peel the pumpkin, remove any seeds and any strings on the inside. Cut it into large chunks and place in the pot to cook with the potatoes. Add the broth, and if necessary, water to cover. Cook for 45 minutes.

Using an immersion blender or a food mill, puree the soup. If it seems too thick, add 1 cup milk. Heat the soup with a bay leaf, but do not let it boil.

Remove the bay leaf before serving. Ladle into bowls and garnish each with a trail of crushed amarettis and a drizzle of olive oil.