As A Dog

2 weeks ago I got some sort of 24 hour virus.  It was a head cold, combined with a fever and chills.  As almost anyone will tell you, the surefire cure for being sick as a dog is warm, comforting, soup.  Which is only fitting, because Branny is once again hosting her Souper Bowl.

It's fitting for two reasons.  The first has to do with the whole "sick as a dog" part because the Souper Bowl follows Branny's commitment to animals.  Her home is overrun with dogs, horses, and a cat.  Her heart is overrrun with kindness.  Put the two together and this is a charity event that couldn't fit her any better.  

The second reason me being sick fits the Souper Bowl is because of the whole "soup" thing.  For every blogger who enters a soup post, Branny is donating $1.00 to the ASPCA.  And we've been doing quite a bit of soup lately.  Hey, it's winter, even if it is California.  I thought I would round them all up into one post, plus they kind of lead into each other.

As I did last year, I'm dedicating this entry to Thatdog, because he's put up with a lot this past month.  What a trooper.  He's such a good big brother and doesn't seem to mind too much that we've completely disrupted his life with a loud, little, screaming thing.

And there's still time for you to enter - You have until January 31st if you'd like to enter some soup of your own!

We'll start with Channukah.  I left this off the menu so I could include it here.  Flipping through my holiday cookbook I found a "vegetable meat soup."  Which is kind of a funny name when you think about it.  I mean, I get vegetable soup, and I get beef soup, but the need to include both in the title would lead one to believe those are the only ingredients.  Really though, this is a fantastic beef and barley soup, loaded with typical soup vegetables like carrots and celery, but also mushrooms, barley, beans, and peas.  It's loaded with just about everything.  It was my favorite part of the meal.

Russian Vegetable Meat Soup (From Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook)
3 carrots
2 potatoes
1 sweet potato
4 quarts water
2 lbs top rib, cut in 1 inch chunks
2 oz dried mushrooms or 1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup dried lima beans
1/2 cup dried green split peas
1/2 cup barley
1/2 lb string beans, diced
4 ribs celery, diced
salt and pepper

1. Grate the carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.
2. Bring the water to a boil and add all the ingredients. Cover and simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

In fact, I liked it so much that I adapted it into a vegetarian version - a "vegetable soup" if you will.  I added some extra mushrooms after I found a "Monterey Mix" at the store which had some of my favorite mushroom varieties.  And I left out the potatoes which were no more than a thickening agent so it could be a little brothier and added garlic which I felt were missing from the first version.  I'm a fan of barley soups in general, and this one is nice and not too heavy.

Russian Vegetable Soup
1 carrot, diced
5 cups vegetable broth
2 oz dried mushrooms (I used a mushroom mix which included porcini, oyster, shitake, and morels)
1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
1/2 cup barley
1 rib celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper

1. Bring the vegetable broth to a boil. Add all the ingredients.
2. Cover and simmer 40 minutes or until the barley is tender.

As I mentioned, I made baked potatoes for our New Year's Eve feast.  And we had leftovers.  What do YOU do with leftover baked potatoes?  I make soup.  Especially in the winter.  Potato soup is ridiculously easy if you already have baked potatoes.  All you have to do is mash them and add a nice roux.  The potatoes make it thick, the roux makes it even thicker and creamier.  So much so that you don't even have to use cream - I make mine with skim milk.  Which is nice, because then I don't feel so guilty about loading in the cheese!

Baked Potato Soup
2 baked potatoes
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
3 cups hot milk
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper

1. Scoop out the insides of the baked potatoes and mash with the back of a fork or a potato ricer, or whatever you use to make mashed potatoes. Make them as smooth or chunky as you like.
2. Melt the butter in a pot. Gradually whisk in the flour until a paste forms. Cook for a minute or two until bubbly.
3. Gradually whisk in the hot milk. Cook until the milk thickens.
4. Add the potatoes, cheddar and salt and pepper to taste. Heat until cooked through.

And this is the soup that should be the star of this post.  Only because this is the soup I made when I was sick and needed to get better quickly.  Once again I used potatoes to thicken this soup so I didn't have to use cream, just vegetable broth.  Although, with the addition of the vegetable broth, the potatoes, and the celery maybe I should call it "Artichoke and vegetable" soup?

Artichoke Soup
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 potato, peeled and sliced
3 Tbsp onion, sliced
1 rib of celery, diced
1 can artichoke hearts, drained
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable broth
1 Tbsp parsley, minced
1 sprig oregano
1 Tbsp basil, chiffonade
salt and pepper

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion, and celery and cook until the potatoes are fork tender. Let cool.
2. Place cooled potatoes, onion, celery, artichokes and garlic in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is smooth.
3. Place the mixture in a pot. Add vegetable broth, parsley, oregano, and basil. Bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Two-fer Tuesday

I’m a sucker for 2 for 1 deals. I mean, who DOESN’T need 2 toothpastes? Or 2 margaritas? Or 2 right shoes? (I think the margaritas are probably my biggest 2 for 1 weaknesses, there are so many nights I can’t remember that I blame on them).

So you can imagine my joy when I realized that my entry for “best thing I’ve ever eaten recently” was a soup and therefore could also be submitted to Branny’s Souper Bowl. This may not be very exciting to you, dear readers, but in Thathouse there was a-whooping and a-hollering. (We don’t get out very much in Thathouse. There was also a celebration the first “day-without-a-pantry-moth-sighting.” )

When I first read about Bellini’s challenge to try and recreate the “best thing you’ve ever eaten recently” I was kind of stump. Truthfully, there are very few things that really stand out as the best thing I’ve ever eaten (although thinking about it, I probably could have easily submitted some of the popcorn we’ve been ordering out at restaurants. POPCORN at RESTAURANTS. ARE YOU READING THIS? It must be the most brilliant idea since the flying machine.). And then we went to Arizona. And while everything we ate at NOCA was delectable, one thing clearly stood out – the parsnip soup.

As I thought about that soup, dreamed about that soup, salivated over that soup, I realized I had a similar feeling about the garlic soup we had in Mendocino for our anniversary. And then I caught myself extolling the virtues of the Nordstrom Café Tomato Basil Soup to Thatmom. Seriously, what is it about soup that can bring on such an extreme feeling? Is it the warmth and comfort, like a favorite blanket? The silky texture that slides down your throat? Maybe the ease at which a good soup can come together. Whatever it is, I realize there is something about soup that draws you in, in a way no other food can.

I searched for the actual NOCA recipe and couldn’t find it, so I satisfied myself by using a recipe from Tom Valenti’s Soups, Stews and One Pot Meals. The verdict? It was a tad bit salty. BUT otherwise it was perfect and delicious and perfectly captured everything about that NOCA soup I loved so much. It was creamy and rich, without an ounce of cream or milk. In fact, the most unhealthy part of the soup comes from the roasting oil alone. And the roasted parsnips added an unparalleled flavor, like any good roasted root vegetable. I see this soup being made again and again and again (just with less salt).

Roasted Parsnip Soup (From Soup, Stews, and One Pot Meals)

• 2 pounds parsnips, trimmed, peeled, and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2/3 teaspoons fresh-ground pepper
• 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 1 stalk celery, cut into small pieces
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 quarts reduced-sodium vegetable broth

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Toss the parsnips, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together and place in a single layer in a baking pan. Roast the parsnips, shaking the pan occasionally to turn them, until tender and easily pierced with a fork -- about 60 minutes. Trim away any burned areas.
2. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat until hot. Add the onion, celery, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper and cook until translucent and softened -- about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsnips, bay leaf, and broth, and increase the heat to medium high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low, partially cover the pot and simmer until the parsnips fall apart easily -- about 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
3. Puree the mixture in a blender, in 2-cup batches, until smooth. Return the soup to the pot over low heat and stir occasionally until warmed through.

And because my first soup attempt failed, I am just pleased as punch to be able to enter this in Branny’s Souper Bowl. And since Branny wants us to dedicate our posts to more than just soup (although really my love for soup is quite obvious), I dedicate this post to our favorite mascot - Thatdog!

Thatdog says "Wait till you try this soup."