Recipe, interrupted

Recipe: Late Summer Tomato & Corn Stew

Summer must be coming to a close, because the thought of a bowl of hot soup has once again become appealing to me. I’m not ready to throw on a parka and snow boots quite yet, though. I still want more of the flavors of summer. This soup makes use of farm-stand ingredients like ripe tomatoes, fresh corn, and thyme. If it already is parka and snow boot time when you set out to prepare this, you can use boxed or canned tomatoes and frozen corn.

I also used Irish bacon here, but Canadian bacon or pancetta are excellent substitutes. For a vegetarian version, I’d use a teaspoon of smoked sweet paprika and a handful of chopped green olives.

 

Makes 6 servings

Preparation time: 40 minutes

 

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling on at the end

1 medium onion, diced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

8 ounces Irish bacon, diced (about 1 ¼ cups)

2 teaspoons fresh minced thyme

8 cups seeded and diced ripe tomatoes

1 cup fresh corn blanched and cut from the cob 

Aged Cheddar cheese, as garnish (My favorite is Cabot Clothbound Cheddar which is not just sharp, but also balanced with the taste of caramel and nuts.) 

 

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and a good pinch of salt and a few twists of pepper, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes.
    
2. Stir in bacon and thyme and cook until heated through, an additional 2-3 minutes.
   
   
3. Add tomatoes. Continue to cook over medium heat until the tomatoes release their liquid and begin to simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently until liquid has intensified in color and soup is very fragrant, about 20 minutes. Stir in corn and cook another few minutes.
   Tomatoes just stirred in
   
    
   Tomatoes simmering
   
   
   With the corn
    
4. Add salt to taste if necessary (it may not be – the bacon can be quite salty). Ladle soup into soup bowls. Drizzle each portion with additional olive oil, garnish with crumbled or thinly sliced cheese, and serve hot, ideally with some crusty sourdough bread. 

Recipes: Green Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing and Miso Soup with Roasted Sweet Potato

This week I’m posting recipes for two Japanese favorites. Really, more like two Japanese restaurant favorites. The salad with carrot-ginger dressing seems to appear at a lot of sushi places, though I don’t think I’ve ever eaten it as part of an “authentic” Japanese meal. The first time I tried it was about 15 years ago at Dojo’s, near NYU. I wanted to lick my bowl clean it was so good.

Miso soup is a cornerstone to any Japanese meal, authentic or not. This version, with sweet potatoes, also started with a memory. My mother and I went to visit a dear friend who was seriously ill. We prepared him dinner, including miso soup with roasted sweet potatoes. If I have ever seen a face transformed by a taste it was certainly then. He recalled how, as a young man in Japan during the 1950s, he was warmed up in the winters by hot sweet potatoes he bought from the satsuma-imo pushcart vendors.

 

Recipe: Green Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing

 

Serves 4 (makes about ½ cup dressing)

Preparation time: 10 minutes

 

1 medium carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 tablespoon mirin

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

½ teaspoon Kosher salt, plus more to taste if necessary

¼ cup grapeseed oil, or other neutral vegetable oil

¼ teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 small to medium head Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped (about 5 cups) (See How to Quickly Trim a Head of Romaine for Salad)

Optional: cherry tomatoes and thinly sliced daikon radish, or other fresh vegetables cut into bite-size pieces

 

1. Place carrot, ginger, mirin, rice vinegar, and salt in a small blender or in a cup wide enough to accommodate an immersion blender. Blend well, into a coarse puree.
   
   
   
   
2. In a slow, steady stream begin to add oils while continuing to blend. Stop blender when dressing is smooth and emulsified. Adjust seasoning to taste.
   
3. Place lettuce on a salad platter, drizzle dressing over it and garnish with fresh vegetables. (If you prefer, you can toss the lettuce with the dressing. The benefit is that the dressing will be more evenly distributed, but I think this bright orange dressing looks better drizzled on top.)

 

Recipe: Miso Soup with Roasted Japanese Sweet Potatoes

 

Makes about 4 servings.

30 minutes

 

1 small  Japanese sweet potato, or ‘satsuma-imo’ or ‘yaki-imo,’ cut into small cubes (I keep the skin on). You can also substitute Jewel sweet potatoes which are more readily available in the U.S.

1 tablespoon grapeseed oil, or other neutral cooking oil

Pinch Kosher salt

One batch hot dashi stock (See How to Make Dashi)

About ¼ cup white miso paste (the amount you needs varies by the brand you buy; some have a more concentrated flavor than others)

6 ounces silken tofu, cut into small cubes

About 6 scallions, cut into small slices

 

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss sweet potatoes in oil, season lightly with salt, and spread on a baking sheet. Roast until cooked through and lightly browned in spots, about 15 minutes.
   
   
2. In the meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, blend miso paste into dashi: put the miso paste in a soup ladle. Tip the ladle into the dashi to allow some of it to flow in with the miso. With chopsticks or a miniature whisk, blend the dashi and miso together. When the miso has been fully incorporated into the dashi and the mixture is smooth, stir it in with the rest of the dashi. 
   
   
3. Set up four miso soup bowls or into 6- to 8-ounce teacups. Distribute tofu, scallions, and cooked sweet potato among the bowls. Ladle hot miso over them. If you have small lids that will fit on top, place them on top and serve.   

Technique: How to Make Dashi

This is a recipe for ichiban, or “first,” dashi. Often, the kombu and katsuoboshi are re-used to make a second batch, or niban dashi. Dashi forms the basis of many Japanese soups and simmered and braised dishes, but is not an ingredient I cook with every day or use very much of, so I just make ichiban dashi. If I have extra dashi left over, I’ll freeze it for another day.

Another variation would be to use dried shiitake mushrooms in place of, or along with, the kombu. 

 

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Makes 3 - 3 ½ cups

 

One 6- by 1-inch piece of kombu (dried kelp)

4 cups water

½ cup katsuoboshi (dried bonito flakes)

 

1. Put the water and kombu together in a saucepan and allow the kombu to soak for about 30 minutes.
   
   
2. Heat the water and kombu over medium heat. Just as the water begins to simmer, remove the kombu. Add the katsuoboshi. Simmer for 5 minutes.
   
   
   
3. Strain through a fine chinois or a colander line with paper towels.
   
   

 

Recipe: Red Lentil and Red Pepper Soup

I like to blend this soup into a rich and velvety puree, but you can leave it on the slightly chunky side if you prefer. Red lentils have a great way of just melting when you cook them, so either way the result is very delicate and tender.

 

The seasoning lends a lightly spiced flavor to the soup, along with some brightness from the cilantro and roasted red pepper. If you are serving the soup as a first course, it’s subtle enough that it won’t leave you unable to taste the rest of your meal.

In the photo above, I’ve garnished the soup with sprouted lentils. (Be on the lookout next week for my Serious Eats post on how to grown your own bean sprouts.) A little fresh cilantro also makes a nice garnish.

By the way, if you reheat leftover soup, you’ll likely need to add a little extra liquid. Red lentils also have a way of thickening over time.

 

Serves 4

Preparation time: 30 minutes

 

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 small onion, chopped

4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed (and minced if not pureeing soup)

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 ½ teaspoons whole cumin seeds

½ teaspoon ground coriander

Kosher salt, to taste

1 ½ cups red lentils, rinsed, picked over, and drained

4 cups light vegetable, chicken, or seafood broth, or water

1 large roasted red pepper (the ones from the jar are fine), chopped

¼ cup chopped cilantro

 

1. In a saucier or wide saucepan, heat the coconut oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, and a pinch of salt to the pan and stir to combine well with the oil. Reduce heat to medium-low, stir occasionally, and cook until onions are tender and everything is fragrant, about 5 minutes.
   
2. Add the lentils and broth or water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, partially cover, and cook until lentils are very tender, about 20 minutes.
   
3. Add red peppers and cilantro. Puree soup with a hand blender. Add salt to taste.
   
4. Serve hot.

 

Recipe: Stinging Nettle Soup

When my sister and I were kids we learned to stay clear of stinging nettles. They grew all over the place near our grandparent’s farm in Germany and if we happened to brush against the leaves, the tiny fiberglass-like hairs would splinter and burn us. There they are called “Brennessel” but we just referred to them as ‘bad,’ as in “get away from the bad!”

I never noticed them growing in the United States until about 10 years ago (though I’m sure they were around) and a few years later saw them crop up in farmers’ markets. What an unbearably painful thing to eat, I imagined. But fortunately, cooking incapacitates the needles and allows you to enjoy the spinach-like leaves that are supposed to be packed with vitamins and allergy-fighting benefits.

Cooked with leeks and blended with some cooked rice and a pinch of nutmeg, stinging nettles make a rich and nourishing soup. It’s easy and painless to make – as long you wear rubber gloves when handling the nettles.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Serves four           

1 large leek, trimmed, washed and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

8 ounces stinging nettle leaves and tender stems

1 cup cooked brown rice

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

1 ounce (about ¼ cup, loosely packed) finely grated Pecorino Romano

Optional: 4 thin slices pancetta

1. Heat a large saucepan or a dutch oven over medium heat. Add olive oil. When oil is hot, stir in leeks and a large pinch of salt. Cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes.
2. Add broth and bring to a gentle simmer. Stir in stinging nettles, brown rice, nutmeg and simmer gently for another 5 minutes.
3. Optional: while soup is simmering, cook pancetta in a small sauté pan or skillet until crispy.
4. Remove soup from heat. Stir in cheese until well blended. Puree soup with an immersion blender until smooth.
5. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with pancetta if desired. Serve hot.

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Recipe: Easy Peasy Soup

This soup is a bright and fresh-tasting change from heavy winter soups and stews and is delicious served any time of year. I'll be honest – we sometimes order a pizza after a long day, but making up a batch of this comforting and refreshing soup can really hit the spot. And this, maybe with some prosciutto and cheese melted on toast, can be on the table in the same amount of time as delivery (or even less). Most of these ingredients can be stored for a fairly long time, so we can even make this when we return home from a family vacation to a mostly empty fridge.

Serves four

Preparation time: 15 minutes

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3 scallions, light green and white parts roughly chopped
4 cups (two 10-ounce packages) frozen peas
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 cup creme fraiche
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3-4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
4-5 fresh mint leaves, chopped (optional)

1. Place garlic, scallions and frozen peas in a saucepan. Add chicken or vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer and cook until vegetables are tender, 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Remove from heat, add creme fraiche, chopped herbs, and parmesan.

3. Purée soup with an immersion blender until very smooth or allow soup to cool slightly and purée in a food processor or blender.

4. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Read more about adding salt to taste in this Interruption on Salt)

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