Tag Archives: Fall Soups

Yellow Split Pea and Parsnip Soup

6 Replies

If I’m being completely honest, I need to tell you that this soup was inspired by a bag of parsnip chips from Trader Joe’s!

As I crunched my way through the entire bag, it occurred to me that these salty and slightly sweet chips would be a welcome bit of crunch crumbled on top of a creamy parsnip soup. Luckily I had the foresight to buy two bags. I found a forgotten jar of yellow split peas in the cupboard and decided to use them as the soup base.

After shooting all day, the last thing I want to do it eat is whatever I have been photographing. I have usually plated it 3-4 different ways, transferred it from bowl to plate to mug to see what looks better and by the time I am finished, I never want to see that food again. Depending on what it is, I will either deliver it to a friend, send it off to my husband’s office or wrap it up and stick it in the freezer.

The recipe for this soup makes a big pot so it’s perfect for freezing, and pulling out on those nights when you just can’t face cooking.
Parsnips are an under-utilized vegetable. I love them roasted but they make a stellar soup ingredient. They have an mild spice flavour, reminiscent of nutmeg and cinnamon.

Start by sautéing the all-powerful culinary trio of onions, carrots and celery and add a heaping pile of diced parsnips.
Ground cumin and smoked paprika really complement the slightly earthy flavour of parsnips.

Packed with fibre and protein, yellow split peas will make a healthy counterbalance to the parsnip chip garnish!

Vegetable stock was my liquid of choice.

Click here to print recipe for Yellow Split Pea and Parsnip Soup.

 

 

Butternut Squash and Tomato Soup with Coconut Bacon

4 Replies

bowl-72-dpiIf the combination of butternut squash and tomato sounds a bit strange, you’re not alone. It seemed like an odd pairing to me as well, when I read about it on bonappetit.com. But when I considered the elements more carefully, it made perfect sense. Butternut squash on it’s own makes quite a sweet soup, which I always enjoy for the first few spoonfuls,. But then it becomes cloying and not terribly nuanced. It always reminds me of baby food. But give the squash a shot of acid, in the form of a tomato and we’re talking a whole different ballgame of flavour. Rich and complex, each spoonful offers a fresh perspective.

The most difficult part of making this soup is cutting the butternut squash in half. Even when I use my 12 inch chef’s blade, my knife always gets stuck halfway through the squash. Then I lift the whole thing in the air and fling it back down on the cutting board, praying that the force will split the squash and I will escape unbloodied. It usually works.

Once you get the squash cut in half, scoop out the seeds, give it a slick of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Place each half facedown on a parchment lined baking sheet. Tuck a peeled clove of garlic under each half and roast in a hot oven for about 45 minutes, until soft.

Now comes the fun part. No need to scoop the flesh out of the shell. It just peels right off in one piece. It reminded me of when I was little and I’d watch my mom peel apples with a paring knife. She’d get all the peel off in one long coil. I thought she was magic! peeling-the-skin-off-is-funOnce the squash is cooked, sauté some onions, jalapeño and ginger until soft. Add the squash, canned tomatoes and some liquid (water, chicken or vegetable broth) and let the whole lot simmer for about 20 minutes. An immersion blender makes quick work of pureeing.dicing-onionsOk, let’s get to the coconut bacon! Which is’t really bacon at all, just coconut flakes tarted up with some liquid smoke, tamari sauce, maple syrup and brown sugar. The whole lot gets baked until brown and crispy.coconut-bacon-contains-no-actual-baconCoconut bacon is the genius idea of Molly over at mynameisyeh. It is crunchy, a little bit smoky, salty and sweet. It is the perfect garnish for this soup and any leftover is fantastic in salad. I must admit , I’m a little bit addicted to it. soup-for-3f

Click here to print recipe for Butternut-Squash-Tomato-Soup-with-Coconut-Bacon.

 

Coconut Corn Soup

3 Replies

3-bowlsGetting dressed in September is tricky business. I’m longing to pull on my over-the-knee suede boots and let the sweater layering begin, but it’s still too warm to fully embrace fall. Transitioning from summer to fall requires a skilled hand in the kitchen as well as the closet.

This month, the markets are still full of fresh corn, but I’m craving something a little heartier than corn on the cob or corn salad. This soup perfectly bridges the gap between summer and fall. The recipe for this soup comes from epicurious.com. Food editor Anna Stockwell intended this to be a pureed chilled soup for the dog days of summer. I decided to transition her recipe to fall by serving it hot. I added a large diced jalapeño to give the soup a little moxie and only pureed half the soup so that it was still chunky.sauteeing-onions-and-spicesGrated ginger adds a welcome zing and turmeric makes the soup a very vibrant yellow. Save the corn cobs and add them to the simmering soup. They really bump up the corn flavour. Coconut milk makes a splendid replacement for  chicken stock in this soup. adding-cobsAvocado, lime and toasted coconut flakes are beautiful and delicious garnishes. I can’t think of a lovelier way to ease into fall.pot-of-soup

one-bowl

Click here to print recipe for coconut-corn-soup.

one-bowl-2

Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

4 Replies

3 bowls 2FF
Ever notice how some winter vegetable soups taste a bit flat and one note, resembling baby food that’s been thinned out with a bit of water or stock? Depth of flavour is often noticeably absent.

This soup is anything but boring. Roasting the squash really contributes to a deep flavour profile. Sautéed leeks add a delicate subtle onion flavour and apples add a welcome sweet-tart juiciness. Ancho chile powder contributes mild smokiness and heat and cumin powder jumps in adding an earthy, nutty, pungent bite. ready to make soup 2The additional time it takes to roast the squash is well worth it. Plus, there is no need to peel or dice the squash. Just cut it in half, lengthwise and set it on a foil lined baking sheet while you prepare the other ingredients.Sautee leeks
buzz soup
reheating soup on stoveFor a gorgeous finish, add a touch of maple cream (mix 1/3 cup sour cream with 1 Tablespoon maple syrup). To make the pretty swirl I show here, put maple cream in a squeeze bottle and drop a few small dots of the cream on top of the soup. Take a wooden skewer or toothpick and run it gently through the center of the dot, to make the elegant pattern. one bowl b 625 sqFinish it off with a light dusting of smoked paprika and a few toasted pumpkin seeds for some crunch.

Click here to print recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup.

Spicy Roasted Tomato and Corn Soup

2 Replies

soup for 3 625F sqIt strikes me as quite ironic that while we consider the cracks and crevices in the skin of
heirloom tomatoes beautiful and even desirable, the same qualities in the skin of an aging woman are not. Yet I digress. We’re here to talk about tomatoes, not the skin of mature women. There’s enough conversation about that topic everywhere we turn these days.
in green bowl I feel as though I have eaten my weight in heirloom tomatoes this summer. I buy them every time I see them, which has been every few days over the past 6 weeks. The local supermarket near my cottage has been carrying them all summer. Heirloom tomatoes just taste better than hybrid tomatoes. There are actually a few reasons for this. Most heirloom plants produce only 2-3 tomatoes. What that means is that all the energy of the plant is concentrated into fewer tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes have more locules, those little cavities in the tomato where the seeds are housed, than hybrid tomatoes.on a pedestalAccording to Christopher Kimball of Cook’s Illustrated, the seeds are the most flavourful part of the tomato. “It turns out the seed in [the tomato] jelly … has three times more flavor compounds called glutamates than the flesh, so when you seed the tomato… you’re actually throwing out most of the flavour.”

Mostly I have been slicing the tomatoes, sprinkling them with salt and basil and just eating them that way. Some days I get fancy and dice them up, mix with a bit of garlic, olive oil, coarse salt and basil and let them macerate for about an hour. Then I toss the tomatoes with some hot pasta and grated Parmesan cheese. sliced on wooden board 2The other morning there was a bit of nip in the air, before it rose to 30°C (86°F), and I started craving something roasted. I was over raw.

This soup was inspired by a roasted tomato and corn soup created by blogger Adrianna Adarme, over at PBS’s food blog, Fresh Taste. if you can’t find heirloom tomatoes, just substitute some large beefsteak tomatoes.
seasoning for roasting
cutting corn off the cob
adding veg stockThe spice in the soup comes from a combination of of heat sources: jalapeño, ancho chile powder and a bit of cayenne. Some cumin and smoked paprika round out the seasoning. The sweetness of the corn is a perfect complement to acidic juicy tomatoes. I pureed the soup and then strained it for an extra velvety texture. This is the perfect transitional soup to help you manage the difficult shift from summer to fall.

ladling soup 2F

Click here to print the recipe for Spicy Roasted Tomato and Corn Soup.

bowl of spicy tomato corn soup

Pear Parsnip Pistachio Soup

2 Replies

Pear Parsnip pistachio soup 2 625 sqPear Parsnip Pistachio Soup. Say that 3 times fast! If you or your progeny are of a certain vintage, the title of this soup may bring back memories of a certain Sesame Street Fairy Tale called The King Banishes the Letter P, featuring King Peter The Persnickety.

I just adore the shape and all the gorgeous colour variations of fall pears. However, for eating out of hand, pears just don’t set my pulse racing like a crisp Sweetango apple. But when cooked, the flesh of pears becomes silky and velvety. That’s what I wanted to capture in this soup.pears 2I decided to combine the pears with parsnips. The earthy tangy quality of the parsnips would provide the perfect balance for the sweetness of the pears. Looking for inspiration, I stumbled across a recipe for a Pear Parsnip soup with a very odd list of disparate ingredients that included wine, milk, pistachios and a chile pepper. But then I saw that the recipe was from Stephanie Izard’s (Top Chef winner Season 4) cookbook, Girl in the Kitchen. Long a fan of Stephanie’s big bold flavours, I knew I had to try this soup. parsnips

cooking soupI baked some pear chips to accompany the soup, because I like a little crunch with a pureed soup. They couldn’t be simpler to make. Slice firm pears very thinly on a mandolin. Or, if your knife skills are excellent and you can slice very thinly and evenly with a sharp knife, go for it! No need to peel or core the pears.  Lay them flat, in a single layer (do not overlap) on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 200°F for 45 minutes. Turn the pears over and bake for another 30-45 minutes until they are curled up at the edges and golden brown. They will still be a bit pliable at this point but will harden upon cooling. making pear chipsThe pear chips will keep for a week, in an airtight container. You could sprinkle a bit of salt or cinnamon on them before baking, but I just left mine plain. They make such a pretty garnish for the soup. Pear Parsnip pistachio soup 3Sometimes pureed root vegetable soups can taste a little bit flat, and you aren’t really sure what vegetables you’re tasting. I wanted both the pears and the parsnip flavours to shine through. This soup delivered in spades. The chile flakes quietly announce themselves with a gentle heat that does not smack you over the head. The wine provides much needed acidity and the milk contributes a mellow gentle background note. Salty pistachios add texture and a wonderful counterpoint to the sweet pears. 

Click here to print recipe for Pear Parsnip and Pistachio Soup.

 

 

Roasted Tomato and Carrot Soup with Cheddar Crisps

4 Replies

flat bowlI may get drummed out of the core for saying this, but even though the Farmer’s Markets are still full of beautiful ripe tomatoes, I find myself shunning fresh sliced tomatoes with a hefty pinch of malden sea salt and a chiffonade of basil. With October just around the corner, I am yearning to roast something.roastedRed ripe plum tomatoes are halved and combined with some sweet carrots, aromatic garlic, onions, thyme and rosemary. Salt, and a healthy pinch of red pepper flakes woke everything up. I wanted a grown up tomato soup. Tossed with some olive oil until glistening, the veggies are roasted in a hot oven for 45 minutes.

I pureed it all in the blender and added some water to thin it out. I decided against using chicken stock as I really wanted the taste of the vegetables to shine through. A tiny bit of 35% cream stirred in just before serving really brings all the flavours together.

I decided to serve the soup with some cheddar crisps. This is what I imagine the childhood classic of tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich would grow up to become!

If you have never made cheese crisps before, you need to try them. They can be made with almost any firm grating cheese (Cheddar, Parmesan, Gruyere, Manchego, Asiago). They are delicious with a glass of wine, served on the side with a salad or even slipped onto a burger for some crunch.  Beautiful to look at, salty and crunchy, they are the perfect counterpoint for this velvety soup. tall bowl 1The crisps are quite simple to make. They can be flavoured with almost anything you like. I decided on fresh thyme leaves, a pinch of cayenne and some black pepper. cheddar crispsThe trick is to spread the cheese out into flat circles so that they are lacy when baked. They will be a bit soft when you remove them from the oven, but they will harden upon cooling. making cheddar crisps

Click here to print recipe for Roasted Tomato and Carrot Soup with Cheddar Crisps.