Soup's On!

As soon as the temperatures dropped after the week of beautiful weather, I immediately craved soup.  How about a two-fer to make up for the scarcity of my online presence the past few weeks?

First up-- a garlic-infused soup reminiscent of a stuffed baked potato.  Hearty and creamy (w/o the cream), load up the toppings and dig in!!

Baked Potato Soup
adapted from Smitten Kitchen (& Cook's Illustrated Garlic Potato Soup)
Serves 4

1/2-1 head of garlic (whatever you have on hand)
1T butter
1T extra virgin olive oil
1/2-3/4c thin sliced leeks, just use the white and light green parts (or shallots, if you can't find leeks)
5-6c low-sodium broth (chicken or veggie)
2 bay leaves
3/4t sea salt
2-2.5lb potatoes (I used PEI potatoes, but Russets would be a good choice)
1/2c greek yogurt (2% recommended)
freshly ground black pepper

topping suggestions:
thinly sliced scallions or chives
crumbled bacon
grated cheddar or gruyere
salsa
sauteed mushrooms
anything goes ;)

Rinse a head of garlic (or the half you have left, in my case) to remove any dirt.  Cut the top third off the head of garlic as well as right along the base (with the roots).  Remove any loose papery skins.  Pop out the top thirds of the cloves and mince them.  Take the bottom two thirds and make a bouquet garni in a square of cheesecloth with the bay leaves.  Tie the ends of the cheesecloth together to form a sachet.

Melt the butter in a heavy pot or dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the oil and leeks and cook until soft, ~5min.  If you walk away and come back to some browned butter, don't worry, the soup will still turn out ;)  Add the minced garlic and cook 1min.  Add broth, bouquet garni and salt.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 40min, until garlic in the bouquet is very tender.

While the broth is simmering, chop your potatoes to 1/2" dice.  Whether you peel them is up to you, I tend to leave them on, both for taste and nutrition.

Add potatoes and simmer, partially covered for 20min, until the potatoes are tender.  Remove the bouquet garni and remove from the heat.  Stir in greek yogurt and then using an immersion blender (or blender or food processor) puree to your desired consistency.  I went for a slightly chunky soup and only pureed about half.  Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.  Serve with your desired toppings.


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Can you believe that I'd never had French Onion Soup until I made it myself?  Anything with caramelized onions has my name all over it, so when my roommate made some homemade beef stock, I decided it was finally time.

French Onion Soup
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Serves 4-6

~2lbs yellow onions, thinly sliced
2T unsalted butter
1T extra virgin olive oil
1t salt
1/4t evaporated cane juice (or granulated sugar)
3T white whole wheat flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
dash worcestershire sauce
dash reduced sodium soy sauce
~1t dijon mustard
1/2c dry white wine (or dry white vermouth)
4c homemade beef stock
4c homemade veggie stock
freshly ground black pepper

for garnish
thinly sliced baguette
finely grated gruyere

Melt butter and oil in a large dutch oven over medium low heat.  Add the onions and stir to coat.  Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low.  After 15min, turn the heat to medium low and uncover the pot, add salt and sugar and stir to combine.  Cook onions for 30-40min, stirring frequently, until the onions are a deep golden brown.

Once the onions have caramelized, sprinkle them with flour and cook for a few min, stirring.  Add the wine, garlic, soy and worcestershire sauces and dijon mustard.  Add both stocks, a little at a time, stirring between additions.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer, partially covered for 30-40min.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325deg.  Arrange ovenproof bowls or crocks on a baking sheet.  If you're going for appetizer-sized portions, 6 will do.  Ladle soup into each of the crocks and then top with a slice (or two) of baguette and the finely grated gruyere, how much is up to you ;)  To finish, bake the soup for 20min or so, and then broil a few more minutes so the cheese gets bubbly.  Serve immediately, with pot holders!

I should note that the soup is delicious in its own right (without the melty cheese on top), and my next version might use a hearty mushroom stock to make a vegetarian version!





Hopefully soup time is coming to an end, I'm ready for asparagus and peas and rhubarb and...  strawberries!!    What's been going on in your kitchen lately??