A Beautiful Bowl of Soup (12 page)

Carrot Vichyssoise with Sweet Balsamic Swirls

Roasted Red Beet and Carrot Borscht

Lettuce Soup with Radish Salsa

Avocado Soup with Orange Marmalade Chutney

Chunky Gazpacho

In summer heat, when food must be fast, light, and cooling, soups are perfect. Make them ahead in the morning, then refrigerate all day to let the flavors develop.

These soups can be served as tasty first courses, as side dishes to accompany soups or salads, or as a light main course accompanied with bread. Lettuce Soup with Radish Salsa makes a surprising addition to a summer brunch.

Remember that some cooked foods lessen in flavor as they chill, and herbs and spices will blend with the other ingredients and become subtler after a day in the refrigerator. So be sure to taste a spoonful and adjust the seasoning just before serving.

There is little fat in most chilled soups, and many are uncooked. This means that the ingredients must be garden fresh, so use only the best. Serve most of these soups within a day, or two at the most, for top-notch flavor.

As a special touch, present cool creations in chilled bowls. To be fancy, place the soup bowls inside larger bowls filled with crushed ice.

Steep thyself in a bowl of summertime.

—William Shakespeare

Chef Louis Diat at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York created classic vichyssoise in the 1920s. Here, carrots add color, and swirls of balsamic reduction garnish the rich, velvety soup for a stunning presentation. Reducing balsamic with dark molasses gives it the thick, syrupy sweet richness of pricey imported aged balsamics.

Makes 4 cups (4 to 6 servings)

3 cups vegetable stock

1 large russet potato (about 12 ounces), peeled and diced (about 2¼ cups)

1¼ cups thinly sliced carrots

1 leek (white part only), halved lengthwise, rinsed, and thinly sliced

1 cup half-and-half

˜ salt and ground white pepper to taste

½ cup balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon dark molasses

Combine the vegetable stock, potato, carrots, and leek in a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat; cover and simmer until the vegetables are very tender, about 25 minutes.

In 2 batches, purée the soup in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the half-and-half. Season generously to taste.

Refrigerate in a covered container until chilled, at least 4 hours, before serving.

Combine the vinegar and molasses in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat; cook, stirring occasionally, until the amount is reduced by about half and the mixture is a maple-syrup consistency, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate; the mixture will continue to thicken as it cools.

Drizzle each cup of soup with a swirl of the balsamic reduction.

Refrigerate this soup and the balsamic reduction in separate covered containers for up to 3 days. Before serving, stir in half-and-half, vegetable stock, or water to thin the soup as desired. If necessary, add water to thin the balsamic reduction.

TIP

Balsamic vinegar, the Italian aceto balsamico, is wine vinegar made by boiling the juice of white Trebbiano grapes in copper pots until it caramelizes. The vinegar is then aged for up to one hundred years in barrels made from various woods (oak, chestnut, mulberry, and juniper), each adding a hint of its woody flavor and color. The result is a vinegar with a heavy, mellow, almost-sweet flavor, and a dark color. Store balsamic vinegar in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months after opening.

Some commercial balsamic vinegars are made from red wine that has been fortified with concentrated grape juice and caramelized sugar. They can be used in recipes but lack the flavor complexity of true aceto balsamico tradizionale.

Carrots in a dream prophesy an unexpected legacy or money windfall.

—The Dreamer’s Dictionary

To allow time for the flavors to blend, this brilliantly colored soup should be made a day before serving. I like to serve it chilled, but it’s also delicious warm.

Makes 4 cups (4 to 6 servings)

6 red beets, scrubbed, greens trimmed to 1 inch (see Tip)

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 cups coarsely shredded white cabbage

1 cup coarsely shredded carrot

2 leeks (white parts only), halved lengthwise, rinsed, and cut into ¼-inch slices

2 cloves garlic, minced

5 cups vegetable stock

1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns

2 whole cloves

1 bay leaf

¾ cup sour cream, plus more for garnish

1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

˜ salt to taste

˜ freshly ground pepper and snipped fresh dill for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Wrap 3 of the beets tightly in separate squares of aluminum foil. Place them on a baking sheet and roast until tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, cut the remaining 3 beets into 1-inch pieces. (It’s not necessary to peel them first.)

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat; add the just-cut beets, the cabbage, carrot, leeks, and garlic; cook until the vegetables are partially tender, about 5 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, peppercorns, cloves, and bay leaf. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.

When the roasted beets are done, remove them from the oven and let cool. Rub off the skins under cool running water. Cut the beets into ½-inch dice.

Drain the beet liquid through a fine-meshed sieve over a medium bowl; discard the solids. Whisk in the ¾ cup sour cream. Stir in the brown sugar, vinegar, and the diced roasted beets. Season to taste.

Refrigerate in a covered container until chilled, at least 4 hours, before serving.

Garnish each serving with a sprinkling of pepper and a swirl of sour cream topped with dill.

Refrigerate this soup for up to 3 days in a covered container. Serve chilled or reheat, taking care not to let the mixture come to a boil (the sour cream may separate).

TIP

To prepare beets for cooking, trim off all but 1 inch of the greens and leave the root end intact. Scrub the beets well, but do not break the skin; then dry. To avoid staining your hands and cutting board when working with cooked beets, wear disposable plastic or latex gloves, slip off the skins under cool running water, and protect the cutting board with plastic wrap or waxed paper.

Borscht and bread make your cheeks red.

—Jewish proverb

A lovely emerald green, this soup is as light and refreshing as a garden salad. It makes a splashy start to any summer meal, especially dressed up with its peppery salsa.

Makes 4 cups (4 servings)

4 cups torn butterhead lettuce leaves

2 cups (about 2 ounces) stemmed baby spinach

1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs

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cup coarsely chopped shallot

¾ cup plain yogurt

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 cups vegetable stock

˜ salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

½ teaspoon sugar

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teaspoon dry mustard

˜ dash of salt and freshly ground pepper

¼ cup red radish matchsticks (1-by-
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-inch strips)

¼ cup seeded-cucumber matchsticks (1-by-
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-inch strips)

Purée all the soup ingredients, except the salt and pepper, in a blender until smooth. Season to taste.

Refrigerate in a covered container until chilled, at least 3 hours, before serving. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Stir in the radish and cucumber strips. Cover and refrigerate.

Serve the soup in shallow bowls with a mound of the salsa spooned atop each serving.

Refrigerate this soup and the salsa for up to 2 days in separate covered containers.

Top the servings with Herbed Garlic Croutons rather than radish salsa.

TIPS

Butterhead, or butter, lettuces have soft, buttery-textured, sweet-flavored leaves in small, round, loosely formed heads. Boston and Bibb are two of the best-known varieties.

Shallots, a member of the onion family, are small bulbous herbs with a mild onion-garlic flavor. Dehydrated products will not do; always use fresh shallots. (If unavailable, substitute some fresh onion and garlic.) Fresh shallots will keep for up to 1 month in the bottom bin of your refrigerator; use before they become wrinkled or begin to sprout. When cooking, don’t allow shallots to brown or they will taste bitter.

This blend of ingredients is an example of combining sweet, salty, acidic, and hot. The uncooked soup is delicious on its own, but with the topping it’s decidedly memorable. Serve in small portions as a first course rather than as a main course.

Makes 4 cups (4 to 6 servings)

2 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted, and coarsely chopped (see Tip)

1 cup vegetable stock, or more as needed

1 cup fresh orange juice

½ cup plain yogurt

¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves

¼ cup finely chopped red onion

1 tablespoon thin strips orange zest (see Tips)

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

˜ pinch of red pepper flakes, or to taste

˜ salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

chutney

3 tablespoons orange marmalade

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon minced red onion

1 clove garlic, minced

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teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

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teaspoon salt, or to taste

Purée all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Refrigerate in a covered container until chilled, at least 3 hours, before serving.

Stir together all the ingredients in a small bowl; taste and adjust the seasoning. Cover and refrigerate.

To serve, thin the soup with more vegetable stock as desired. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Drizzle each serving with about 1 tablespoon of the chutney mixture.

Refrigerate this soup and the chutney in separate covered containers for up to 2 days. Before serving, stir in vegetable stock or water to thin as desired.

TIPS

The two most common varieties of avocados are the Florida Fuerte, which has a smooth green skin and a relatively firm mild-flavored flesh, and the pebbly textured, almost-black California Hass. Because of their rich, buttery flavor and creamy, higher-fat flesh, Hass avocados are better for puréeing.

Some avocados require a few days of ripening after purchasing; place them in a loosely closed paper bag at room temperature for a day or two to speed up the process. Avocados yield to gentle pressure when ripe and ready to use; for puréeing, they should be quite ripe. Store ripe avocados in a plastic or paper bag in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Once cut and exposed to air, avocado flesh discolors rapidly; to minimize this, coat the cut surfaces with citrus juice and add citrus juice to recipes calling for avocados.

To remove citrus zest, use a zester, which has a short, flat blade with a beveled end and 5 small holes. When drawn firmly over the skin of a citrus fruit, the tool removes thin strips of the color zest. (Do not strip off the white pith beneath; it has a bitter flavor). Or, use a vegetable peeler to remove strips of the zest. Then use a knife to thinly slice the strips.

The qualities of an exceptional cook are akin to those of a successful tightrope walker: an abiding passion for the task, courage to go out on a limb, and an impeccable sense of balance.

—Bryan Miller