Soup for the Shivering Soul

It's no secret that soup and I have had a fulfilling relationship since childhood. Soup never gets ornery and soup is always there for me - and how do I reward soup? I slurp it up. I annihilate it. It is a one-sided relationship. But the glory of soup - is I can create it again and again. I let my mind wander to the land of make-believe (this play-acting in my mind of imagined conversations and new places to wander is still going strong in my middle-age). Grandma loved playing make-a-believe with me and as the soup was simmering, I was making-a-believing myself all the way to Rome. 

The arctic blast hit Minnesota last week. My remedy? Italian music and Roman-Style Fish Soup. Reminiscent of a cioppino, this wine-based, spicy broth does indeed warm the shivering soul.

Zuppa di Pesce alla Romana - adapted from Williams-Sonoma Savoring Italy

(Roman-style fish soup from Lazio)

*This tastes best when all is fresh

**The book uses fresh squid which I could not get - if you can get it - by all means, chop it and saute it in the warm oil until opaque 

2 garlic cloves

pinch of red pepper flakes

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup dry white wine

2 tomatoes, peeled and seeded (I didn't peel)

2 tablespoon fresh, chopped Italian parsley

pinch of salt

2 cups water

1 pound small clams

1/2 pound mussels - scrubbed and debearded 

1/2 pound shelled, deveined fresh shrimp

1 pound assorted white fish (monkfish, turbot, bream, red snapper, sea bass cut into chunks). 

*The only fresh whitefish I could get a hold of was tilapia so I used that but it fell apart as you can see in the photos. Halibut would be good but I'd have to sell my first born to afford it. And that's frowned upon here (selling your first born not eating halibut).

In a large saucepan (I used a stockpot) over medium heat, saute the garlic and pepper flakes in the olive oil until the garlic is golden - about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove and discard the garlic. Add the wine and simmer for 1 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley and salt and simmer about ten minutes - let it reduce but not disappear. This will be the base of your broth.

Add the water and bring to a simmer. Add the clams and mussels and simmer about five minutes. Add the tilapia (or other whitefish) and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Add the shrimp and simmer 1-2 minutes until the shrimp is cooked.  Taste the broth and adjust seasonings.

You can lay a piece of bread in the bowls and spoon the soup over it. I am not fond of soggy bread so I perch it on the bowl. A nice touch would be warming the bowls. I seldom do that - but it is loving and gracious.

Dear Soup:
I love you. Sorry I cannot let you be. Thank-you for bringing me to Rome.

Green Soup

For the last two weeks I have been making the green soup I noted on my blog a week or so ago. I have tweaked it to use one bowl and more greens. It's a veritable lawn soup - and I love seeing all that green. Don't think of it as a diet soup - my 5'11" willowy daughter scrounges for this just as she does for chocolate.  The original link is here:
http://www.publicradio.org/columns/splendid-table/recipes/basic_green_soup.html

My version is below:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 yellow onions, coarsely chopped (don't go nuts - you're going to puree it)
2 tablespoons water plus 1 cup water
2 cups plus 4 cups vegetable broth divided (can use chicken broth unless you want it vegan)
1/4 cup arborio rice (gives it a little heft)
1 large bunch Swiss Chard
1 large bunch kale
2 bunches of spinach or one bagged spinach - remove stems if you wish. (I do.)
Big pinch of cayenne pepper
Juice from 1/4 lemon

Heat oil on medium high. Add onions and stir until light brown (3-4 minutes). Reduce heat. Add the 2 tablespoons of water and cover. Reduce heat to low. About every 30 seconds, stir onions until the pot has cooled down. Then let it steam/caramelize for 25-30 minutes - stirring occasionally. Add the cup of water, 2 cups of broth and rice. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

If you wish, trim the thick ribs in the middle of the chard leaves. Coarsely chop chard and kale and add to pot. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add remaining broth, cayenne pepper and spinach. Simmer for five minutes. Add the squirt of lemon. Taste. Adjust seasonings. Wait 5-10 minutes and then puree. Serve.

"There is no natural light these days. Winter won this round. But in my home, all is sunny and cozy.

I make soup at least once a week. I bookmark and scour the web. Soup is such a cornucopia of flavors and textures - no wonder I have it for breakfast, It fortifies me for the day. Other January soups I have made and  savored are:
Proud Italian Cook's Kale, Chicken and Squash Soup. Easy, brothy, multi flavors and textures.
Ciao Chow Linda's Ribollita and Vegetable Soup It's a delicious way to visit Tuscany.
Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice Sausage Lasagna Soup - not low-cal but worth every calorie. If you are out and about in winter - you need this in your life.

Husband dieting adventures continue. He does like this soup - only he adds about 6 crackers to it - is that a Midwest thing? Everyone here adds crackers to their soups. Some "lose it" website has given my normally sane, keen, sharp husband a calorie total - which he swears by. As a former professional dieter, I have told him again and again that he is maintaining his weight. (And he is by George, hasn't lost or gained a pound.) But the website doesn't lie! (Is there a short play in this - "The Day Hell froze Over and the Husband Went on a Diet"). Now how can an intelligent engineer be so duped by a website? Maybe he plays make-believe differently than I do.

If you have a favorite (broth-based) soup recipe, send it over. We don't expect winter to end until Mid-May!

Of Cauliflower Soup and the Innocence of Tea Lite Globes

It all started innocently enough.

I brought home four tea-lite globes to place by everyone's supper plate in the dark December eves. I had the best of intentions - wishing to bring holiday cheer to the table.Then, Kirsten brought me two more bird globes from the Sprawl. They're sweet little baubles. Innocent Christmas tchotchkes. Or so I thought. They light up, turn different colors, shower glittery snow and cast spells.

Shortly after that, my family started watching the globes. Forgetting to eat. And cheering when the globes were "in synch" (all displaying the same color at the same time). Harmless, right?

This developed into everyone grabbing the globes at some inopportune time (when I was eating) and we all had to turn them on at the count of "three" to synchronize their colors. (They never did stay in synch.) Then, they had the nerve to accuse me of always having a snow globe changing color one beat after all the others.

Then... my husband started displaying unusual behavior. He started going to the dinner table early and corralling all the little globes around his plate. He shook them until the glittery light threw sparkles that danced on his plate and announced that clearly he was the most celebratory one in the family.  The gauntlet was thrown down. The competition began.

By Christmas morning, the innocent little globes were being used as pawns as they were stolen to circle one plate and then another. If you reached across the table to grab a pat of butter - Boom! - your snow globe was stolen. And placed in a spoon, on the butter, hobbling precariously on a bottle or just selfishly hoarded.

Later they morphed into puppets on a set. Adorning the Gingerbread House....

Or lining up to get inside the house.

The tea-lite-globes at my mother's home were greeted with joy. My poor mother and sister had no idea what mischief could ensue at the dinner table. Soon the tea-globes were perched on spoons.

And were part of a Coat of Arms display.

And of course graced a dessert tray.

And when 3-year-old Adam patiently explained to me that Santa might not make it to my home on Christmas Eve - because we were all grown-ups - I was sure that Santa knew better.

Unfortunately, making mischief with tea-lite-snow-globes does not burn a lot of calories. And so we are in Day 2 of Christmas Recovery. I saw this on the Food 52 Digest website. It reminded me of one of the endless variations of of the Italian Aquacotta (cooked water) without the eggs. It is basically a "cooked vegetable in water" soup - perfect for the calm before the next holiday storm that is on its way Saturday night. I jazzed it up with shallots and garlic - but it does have a purity that entices during the Season of Indulgence.

Paul Bertolli's Cauliflower Soup (Serves 8 - but really 4 in my house)

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil (I added a tablespoon of Earth Balance Butter but it's vegan without it)
1 medium onion - thinly sliced (I added 1 large shallot and 1 garlic clove also thinly sliced)
1 head cauliflower - about 1-1/2 pounds - coarsely chopped
salt to taste 5-1/2 cups water - divided
Extra virgin olive oil to taste
freshly grated pepper to taste (note: Julia Child would only use white pepper in this!)

Over low heat, warm the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Sweat the onions (and shallots) in it for fifteen minutes. Don't let them brown. If using, add the garlic during the last minute.

Add the cauliflower, salt to taste and 1/2 cup water. Raise the heat slightly, cover and cook for about 15 minutes - until tender. Then add 4-1/2 cups water, bring to a simmer and cook an additional 20 minutes uncovered.

Working in batches puree the soup in a blender. (I used an immersion blender - saves time and clean-up). Let stand for 20 minutes. It will thicken a bit.

Thin the soup with last 1/2 cup of hot water. (Adjust the amount of water to your liking.) Reheat.

To serve: ladle soup into bowls and drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over it. Add a little pepper and enjoy.

It's as white as the new-fallen snow that we don't have... yet. (Do you hear me chortling with joy?) And watch out, I will be visiting all of you for the New Year wishing you all good things.... but if you have a mini-tea-lite-snow-globe, the unexpected just may happen.