Dining Plans

2008 - The Year of the Soup

I am making a declaration. 2008 will be the Year of the Soup.

It is my belief that soup is the most overlooked dish in the kitchen, and even more so on a restaurant’s menu. For 2008, it is my mission to bring soup to the forefront of your palate. I love soup, I love to make it and to eat it, if I was running for office, it would be for King of Soup (or King of Breakfast).

I admit, I do not always order soup when it’s on the menu, but this next year, I will make it my mission. Simple vegetable soups, both creamy and hearty; stews and comfortable broths loaded with meat. Various Asian soups - Thai, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese…

I look forward to the creamless vegetable soups at Joe’s in Venice, the tomato soup at Urth Caffe and their gazpacho too, even if it is over blended.

Chinese restaurants, bring me your War Wontons (yes you, Mao’s and Chang’s) and your spiciest Hot and Sours. If you can’t clear my sinuses, you are no good to me. In a pinch, I will have your sizzling rice and if the mood strikes me, your egg drop.

For seafood stews, I’m fishing for Bouillabaisse in France and Cioppino in Italy. French for flavor and Italian for spice.

While we’re in France, let’s go on the hunt for French Onion. Le Petit serves a piping hot earthenware bowl with topped with melted chewy cheese.

Seasonal soups are a delicious way to taste what is in season. Autumn and winter squash, summer vegetable with fresh corn. We can slurp our way through the farmer’s market.

I am encouraged by the changing soup selections at Bistro style spots like The Nook, where I recently had a flavorful chicken chipotle soup. There’s nothing like soup of the day. Just ask Mr. Lloyd Christmas:

Lloyd: Uh, what is the Soup Du Jour?
Waitress: It’s the Soup of the Day.
Lloyd: Mmmm. That sounds good. I’ll have that.

So there is my declaration. This year, I will have soup. I will make it at home and I will order it when offered. 2008, The Year of the Soup.

To get you started, here is my very basic recipe for Creamy Creamless Cauliflower Soup:

1 Head Cauliflower, somewhat chopped
1 Yellow Onion, roughly chopped
2 Celery Stalks, sort of chopped
1 Large Carrot, kind of chopped
1 Bay Leaf
1 Medium-Large Russet Potato, imprecisely chopped
2 Tsp White Pepper
2 Tsp Rice Vinegar
Stock
Olive Oil

Directions: Pour a good amount of olive oil into a stock pot or dutch oven. Saute the onions, celery and carrots over medium heat. Add the potato, stir and saute. Add the cauliflower, stir and saute. Now, add enough stock (chicken or vegetable) to cover the ingredients in the pot. Also add the bay leaf and any other herbs you like in your soup.

Allow the stock to just come to a simmer and reduce the heat to keep the simmer going without boil. Allow the soup to simmer for about 45 minute or until the cauliflower is very tender and can be mashed easily with a fork.

Fish out the bay leaf. Turn off the heat and use an immersion blender to puree the vegetables. This can also be done with a blender or food processor, but the immersion blender is much easier and less messy. Make sure that you blend up all of the chunks.

Pass the soup through a fine strainer to get out any chunks and make the soup very smooth. Turn the heat back on medium low and add the white pepper and rice vinegar. The white pepper will add a mild spice and the rice vinegar will brighten the flavors. Depending on how salty your stock was, add some more salt to taste. Use the immersion blender to mix in the ingredients. Simmer for another 20 minutes or so and serve.

Tastes best the next day.

This is the easiest soup to make. You can substitute the cauliflower for almost any other vegetable.

(photo via sonicwalker)

By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.

© 2008 la.foodblogging.