SAVORY CREAMED SOUPS FOR FALL

 

                    Savory creamed soups for fall

           November reminds us that we have now reached serious fall, though the Halloween goblins were able to cavort for a few days in unprecedented balmy weather outdoors, warming soup for lunch or even dinner becomes comfort food.                          Holliday dinners will build soft ambience with a small dish of savory warm soup as a starter.

          It is difficult to imagine anyone making soup before pots made of iron, but human ingenuity has left archeological evidence of soup made in 20,000 BC in China in a clay pot. While the word soup comes from Latin ‘suppa’, meaning bread soaked in broth, cooks in all cultures have cherished not only creating savory dishes from a variety of ingredients in liquid, but also using soup to ‘stretch’ a warm meal in lean times by increasing its volume by simply adding hot water.

          The following recipes do not fit in the ‘lean times’ category, since they are all creamy, thickened by vegetables, flour and cream and pureed to a smooth consistency. Fall vegetables are well adapted for these soups. Various baked winter squashes and even pumpkins are easily mashed for this purpose and adapt to different spiced flavors.

                                      Curried butternut squash soup

          This is an adaptation from “The Silver Palate Cookbook” by Rosso and Lukins. Wash, halve and scoop seeds from a large butternut squash and bake in a 400-degree oven for 1 hour on an aluminum foil lined pan. When squash is cooled, scoop out the soft flesh for making your soup.

          Melt 3 tbsp. butter in a 3 qt. pot and sauté 1 large, chopped onion and 1 sliced garlic clove to translucent, add 1 diced stalk of celery, stir in 4 teaspoons curry powder (choose your level of desired heat of curry) and when blended add 3 cups chicken broth, 1 tsp. fresh grated ginger, 1 tsp. turmeric, 1 tsp. salt and ½ tsp. lemon pepper, 2 small peeled, cored and chopped apples, the baked squash, 1 cup water and 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar. Bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

When cooled, purée soup in batches in a blender, adjust seasonings and desired consistency with additional chicken broth. Reheat and serve hot garnished with toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds, chives or parsley.

                                                Creamed broccoli soup

This is an adaptation from “A Feast of Soups” by Jacqueline Hériteau.

Peel tough outer parts from 2-3 large stalks of broccoli and slice in ½ inch pieces. There should be nearly 2 cups of broccoli. Melt 3 tbsp. butter in a 3 qt. pot and sauté 1 chopped medium onion to translucent with the sliced stalks.  Lower heat and stir in 3 tbsp. flour (use rice flour for gluten free) and when blended, slowly add 1 cup warmed chicken broth with stirring to make a thick paste. Slowly add 2 additional cups of chicken broth, 2 cups of broccoli florets, ½ tsp. cardamom, ½ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. pepper. Bring to boil and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes. Cool slightly and purée in a blender. Return soup to pot, stir in ½ cup heavy cream and heat without boiling. Serve hot garnished with a few broccoli florets steamed for 2 minutes.

                                                     Wild mushroom soup

Soak 4 oz. wild mushrooms and 3 large wood ear mushrooms in very hot water for 30 minutes. Swish wild mushrooms through water to remove any clinging soil and coarsely chop. Chop the wood ear and save separately. Strain all mushroom liquid through a paper towel and set aside.

In a 3 qt. pot sauté 1 large onion with 4 oz. sliced button mushrooms, ½ tsp. salt in 2 tbsp. butter for 5 minutes. Add 2 tbsp. lemon juice, the wild mushrooms and saved liquid, 1 chopped celery stalk, 1 chopped carrot, 1 inch peeled and grated ginger, ¼ tsp. lemon pepper and 2 cups chicken broth, bring to boil and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes. Cook the chopped wood ear in a small pot separately for 30 minutes with 2 cups chicken broth.

Slightly cool everything, remove the wood ear with a slotted spoon and purée the wild mushrooms with all of the broth in a blender. Return mixture to the pot to heat. Mix 2 tbsp. flour (use rice flour for gluten free) with 3 tbsp. cold water and slowly stir into the soup to thicken. Add the reserved chopped wood ear mushrooms. Bring to boil with stirring, add 1/2 cup heavy cream and heat without boiling. Serve garnished with chopped chives and bread sticks on the side.   

Savor the warmth of a creamy soup this fall!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        (I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day:” and “Uncharted Journey from Riga”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)

 

COMFORT FOOD FOR GOBLIN WEEK

 

                Comfort food for Goblin week

 

          Halloween is supposed to be next week, but the wildlife goblins are not familiar with human calendars and arrived at out house early.  Their early morning activity left us with a pumpkin carving reminiscent of the Norwegian artist Edward Munch’s famous painting “The scream”, originally exhibited under the German title “Der Schrei der Natur.”

          Origins of our Halloween celebrations are found in an ancient Celtic harvest festival on with bonfires and costumes to ward off ghosts on October 31^st. It is easy to see how it was adapted in Christian times with ‘All Saints Day’ celebration on November 1^st and became ‘All Hallows Day Eve’ or Halloween.

          Unexpected surprises are bound to send a cook for recipes that bring comfort food and serenity to the table. There is nothing easier and more comforting than roast chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, however, cooks like to improvise and this time our lemony chicken was roasted on a bed of vegetables with herbs resulting in a most flavorful and appetizing meal.

                                          Lemon-herb roasted chicken

          Rinse a 5-6 lb. chicken and pat dry with paper towels both inside and out and allow to warm up at room temperature for 20 minutes. Prepare lemon-herb butter by melting 4 tbsp. butter, 2 tsp. Kosher salt, 1 tsp. dried thyme, 1 tsp. oregano, ½ tsp. lemon pepper and 2 grated garlic cloves. Remove from heat and stir in grated zest of 1 lemon.

          Make a deep pocket under the skin on the breast with your fingers and an inverted tablespoon and spread half of the butter mix over the breast meat under the skin. Stuff the cavity with the quartered lemon used for zest-butter, 1 medium onion thickly sliced and one halved garlic clove.

          Make a bed for the chicken in a large roasting pan by slicing: 1 lemon, 1 onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 large carrot and 1 celery stalk. Place stuffed chicken on top, tie the legs with kitchen twine and tuck the wings under or pin to the sides with small skewers.  Baste the rest of the lemon butter all over the chicken, pour 1 cup water in the bottom of the pan and bake at 425 degrees for 1 hour and 30 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast reads 165 degrees. Add a bit more water to the bottom of the pan after 1 hour of baking to avoid burning the vegetables.

          Allow the chicken to rest on a platter for 15-20 minutes before carving. Roasting the chicken on top of the vegetables will give you amazingly flavorful gravy. Scoop out the vegetables from the pan and save to add in making chicken broth from the leftover carcass. For gravy stir in ¼ cup flour in the fat pan drippings on low heat to blend. Slowly add 2 cups of chicken broth with constant stirring. Adjust flavor with salt and pepper and add more chicken broth if the gravy is too thick. Stir in 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar to serve on chicken and mashed potatoes and enjoy.

          Oktober seems to fit foods with Germanic flavorings, so here is a recipe I recently discovered on a German food blog for a German version of zucchini fritters. No surprises there, they include shredded potatoes.

                               German zucchini-carrot and potato fritters

          Coarsely grate 1 medium zucchini on a box grater, salt with 1 tbsp. coarse salt and set on the counter for 30 minutes.  Rinse zucchini 3 times and squeeze out as much water as you can. Toss with 1 medium grated carrot, 4 oz. grated Gruyere cheese, ¼ cup chopped parsley, 1/3 tsp. lemon pepper, 4 tbsp. rough oatmeal (not quick cooking), 2 tbsp. flour, ½ tsp. salt, 1 grated potato squeezed dry in paper towels and 2 fork beaten eggs. Thoroughly mix by hand and allow to stand at room temperature 10-15 minutes. Scoop large egg sized portions, shape in your hands in a football shape, roll in flour and place in hot vegetable oil on a pan.  Slightly flatten each fritter, fry 4-6 minutes per side and set on paper towels to drain. Serve warm or at room temperature with ½ cup sour cream mixed with ¾ tsp. lemon juice, salt, pepper and 2 tbsp. shredded cucumber.

                   Happy Halloween!!!!

      (I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day:” and “Uncharted Journey from Riga”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)

 

 

 

 

WELCOME TO OKTOBERFEST

 

                                    Welcome to Oktoberfest

 

          Harvest festivals have been popular in all cultures, but Germans show a special exuberance in their annual Octoberfest. The famous 2-week festival brings more than 3.5 million people to Munich each fall for celebrations with German food, large steins of beer and various forms of entertainment for all ages. Oktoberfest originated as a glorious wedding celebration in 1810 of Bavarian royalty and has grown through the years into a harvest festival not only in Munich but even in Gardiner ME as the “Swine and Stein Brewfest”.

          As the title of the Gardiner event states plainly – pork, sausages and beer are the main food attractions; though dumplings, pretzels and varieties of cabbage and apple dishes are also popular. After languorous summer meals filled with salads, the crisp days of October entice us to a more substantial fare, and one might celebrate with such dishes for the entire month of October.

                                               Pork chops in mustard sauce 

          Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Core and cut 2 small crisp apples; one in half and the other in thin wedges. Cover with a whet paper towel to prevent discoloration.

          Salt and pepper 2 bone-in-rib pork chops 1 inch thick. Heat 1 tbsp. bacon fat in an oven proof pan to smoking, cook the chops on one side for 3 minutes and set aside. To the remaining fat in the pan add the halved apple cut side down and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the apple slices and 1 small, sliced onion and continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes until the vegetables soften. Stir in 2 tsp. flour to mix, then stir in ¾ cups water, 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar, 1 ½ tbsp. Dijon mustard and ½ tsp. dried sage. Cook all to thicken. Return the pork chops to the pan wedging them in between the apples. Place pan in preheated oven and bake for 10-15 minutes for 1-inch chops, reduce time for thinner porkchops. Serve with new potatoes and red cabbage cooked with wine (Weinkraut).

                                                       Red Weinkraut

          Fry 2 thick slices of bacon in a 10-inch skillet with deep sides, crumble and set aside. Reheat the bacon fat to hot but not smoking and stir in about 6 cups thinly sliced red cabbage and 1 medium red onion, sliced thin. Cook with occasional stirring 6-8 minutes. Stir in 2 small unpeeled cored apples, thinly sliced, 1 tsp. salt, ½ tsp. lemon pepper, 2 tsp sugar, ½ cup red wine and 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar. Cook stirring occasionally until all the liquid is absorbed. Serve warm with crumbled bacon on top. 

                                         Apple crunch with cranberries

          Spray an 8x8x2 inch baking dish with buttery baking spray and preheat oven to 375 degrees.  For the topping: in a small bowl mix 1/3 cup flour with ¾ cups light brown sugar, ½ tsp. cinnamon and ¼ tsp. nutmeg. With a pastry cutter or 2 knives cut in 1/3 cup cold unsalted butter to make a crumbly mixture. Stir in ¼ cup Grapenuts cereal.

          Pare 4-6 medium apples, quarter, core and slice thinly in the baking dish, scattering ¼ cup dried cranberries among the apples. Dot with 1 tbsp. butter. (If cranberries are very dry, soak in hot water for 5 minutes and drain.) Sprinkle crumble over the top evenly and bake for 30 minutes until the top is browned and the apples are soft.

          In Munich the Oktoberfest feeling is kept throughout the year for the benefit of tourists and locals in several Biergartens near Theresienwiese, the center of the fall celebrations. I fondly remember being there one summer with a beer stein in hand, filled with light lager, chanting with others in the Bavarian dialect: “Oans, zwoa, drei, g’suffa!” (one, two, three…drink), as we raised steins in unison on “g’suffa”.

    (I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day:” and “Uncharted Journey from Riga”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)