Ten days of soup, part 2

After a break of a few days while we worked through leftovers, the “ten days of soup” project resumed.  We’ve been able to expand slightly beyond soup, happily, though not too far beyond, while Aaron progresses through his orthodontic adventure.  The goal of the project is to make food interesting and tasty given the soup limitation.

All the soups start with a homemade vegetable stock. For now, most soups are blended with an immersion blender.

Day 6: split pea, made on a cold, rainy day.   I started making split pea soup in the pressure cooker a few years ago.  This has two advantages.  The beans don’t need to soak and cook quickly, so it only takes an hour to make a pot which means I don’t need to plan when I want to make it.    The other advantage is that the soup tastes great, better even, than the traditional long-cooked method. I think this is because pressure cooker holds flavor in rather than releasing it.

Day 7: leek and celeriac.  I cooked with celeriac for the first time last week and just loved it.  This week, I sauted 10 small leeks (a few cups), then added the celeriac, stock and tarragon.  The soup was finished with just a bit of dijon mustard and cream.  View the Recipe

Day 8: parmesan souffle with marinara sauce.  I had a parmesan souffle a few weeks ago at Le Monde in New York.  It was served with a heavenly sauce, but in looking at recipes this week I discovered the sauce tasted so good because it was based on butter, rounded out with cheese, cream, and lemon.  I like the idea of a sauce with souffle but needed to lower the guilt level.  In late summer I made and froze a big batch of marinara, made with ripe summer tomatoes from the farmers market, to tide us over through the winter.  It made a perfect sauce for the parmesan souffle, balancing the richness with some acidity and freshness.

Day 9: Polenta with chard and chevre -- comfort food.  It wasn’t a soup, but close enough.

Day 10:  Beet, tomato and cabbage with a Hungarian flair.   The beets roasted with red onions, olive oil and sweet paprika to caramelize the vegetables and toast the paprika.  This was simmered and pureed smooth in stock, and then crushed San Marzano pomodoro and regular green cabbage, finely chopped, went in.  The soup was finished with half-sharp paprika to give a bit of heat.