I'm doing 6 things
I love to make soup. There is something so wonderful about adding disparate ingredients to a pot, adding spice and heat, and enjoying the deliciousness in a bowl and spoon later on. Apart from those made with split peas, I’ve never met a soup I didn’t like.
Today, I’m cooking up a big pot of potato-leek soup—but this ain’t no delicate, “ladies who lunch” bit of a taste served in a china dish. This is a selection of hearty, roasted vegetables pureed to perfection.
- 8 large potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped (I prefer Yukon golds)
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 purple turnip, peeled and chopped
- Mix the above ingredients with two tablespoons of olive oil, sea salt, and cracked black pepper. Place them into a greased, shallow roasting pan, arranged in a single layer. Roast in the middle rack of a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes, stirring every ten.
- While the root vegetables are roasting, de-grit, and finely chop 3 large leeks (white parts only). In a large kettle or dutch oven, saute the leeks with two tablespoons of minced garlic in olive oil over medium heat.
- When the leeks have wilted, add the roasted vegetables to the pot. Add salt and pepper as desired, 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika (I prefer Spanish to Hungarian), and a tiny pinch of coriander. Stir to combine. Add enough broth to cover the vegetables (I use a 32-ounce carton of broth and make up any necessary difference with filtered water), place a lid over the pot, and set the heat to medium high. When the contents reach a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for an hour.
- Blend the soup in batches (or use an immersion blender if you have one) until it is completely smooth, free from lumps and chunks. Serve in large bowls, topped with sour cream and minced chives, or shredded mozzarella cheese and parsley, or seeded, grated baby tomatoes.
This is a particularly starchy soup, so I usually have sliced fruit or braised greens with it, but I was also in a bread baking mood today. Since cranberries have appeared at the market in preparation for the holiday season, I made a loaf of cranberry-orange quick bread.
- 1-1/2 c unbleached white bread flour
- 1/2 c graham flour
- 1 c cane sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp finely shredded orange peel (I use dried)
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 beaten egg
- 1 c orange juice
- 1/4 c cooking oil
- 1 c cranberries, halved
- 3/4 c chopped pecans and almonds (mixed in parts to your taste)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees; Grease and set aside a loaf pan
- Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, orange peel and cinnamon in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the egg, orange juice, and oil. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture all at once, and stir just until combined. The batter should be lumpy, but all of the dry ingredients should be incorporated.
- With a rubber spatula, fold the cranberries and nuts into the batter, then por the batter into the loaf pan, scraping the sides of the bowl clean.
- Bake at 350 degrees for an hour, until a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in a pan for ten minutes, then remove the loaf to a wire rack.
This bread is best after sitting for several hours; it’s possible to taste the baking powder bitterness if the loaf is sliced before being thoroughly cooled.
