Spice (49 page)

1 tablespoon butter or olive oil

1 Spanish onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 rib celery, peeled and finely chopped

1 teaspoon curry powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric

1 bay leaf

4 cups chopped fresh plum tomatoes

4 cups water or fish fumet (page 161)

Salt and pepper to taste

½ French baguette, with the bottom crust removed, cut into ½-inch cubes (about 3 cups)

½ cup olive oil plus extra for garnish

2 tablespoons garlic, peeled and sliced paper-thin (about 6 cloves)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley plus a little extra for garnish

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (about ¼ lemon)

2 pounds rock shrimp

2 eggs

1.
In a 4-quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and stir in the onion and celery. Cook for 3 minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften.

2.
Add the curry powder, turmeric, and bay leaf and stir to coat the vegetables.

3.
Add the tomatoes and water and turn the heat up to high. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.

4.
Cool the broth slightly and purée, using a handheld emulsion blender or a regular blender. Blend the soup until it’s smooth, and then push it through a fine sieve, using the back of a small ladle, into a large mixing bowl. This removes undesirable bits of tomato skin, seeds, and bay leaf.

5.
Place the broth back in the large soup pot and bring it back to a simmer on medium heat. Season with salt and pepper.

6.
Place the bread cubes in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

7.
In a small sauté pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil with the slivers of garlic and cook, stirring constantly with a slotted spoon or a pair of tongs, until the garlic becomes golden brown and caramelized. As you are stirring, the garlic will release its natural sugars and stick to your spoon. After this point it will start to brown. Be careful to remove the garlic quickly from the heat once it has browned; garlic can burn easily and will taste very bitter.

8.
Remove from the heat and pour the hot garlic and oil over the cubed bread. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the cilantro, parsley, and lemon juice.

9.
Add the shrimp to the simmering broth and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the shrimp are pink and just cooked through.

10.
Add the bread mixture to the soup and stir. Keep on very low heat.

11.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk the eggs vigorously until they are smooth and broken up, as if you were preparing eggs for an omelet. Temper the eggs by ladling in 1 cup of the soup and mixing until the eggs are incorporated; you are bringing the eggs closer to the temperature of the soup so that they add creaminess without scrambling into bits. Stir the eggs into the pot and continue to stir until the soup becomes creamy. Remove the soup from the heat.

12.
Warm your soup bowls by running them under hot tap water for a minute and then drying them off with a towel (you can also run them through a dishwasher cycle or heat them in a 200°F oven for 4 minutes).

13.
Ladle the soup into warm bowls. Drizzle additional olive oil over the soup and sprinkle some chopped parsley on top. Serve immediately.

Note

The soup separates after it’s been sitting for a while, but a good strong stir with a spoon or whisk emulsifies it again.

Mashed Potatoes with Fenugreek

To me, the perfect mashed potato is light, creamy, buttery, and really smooth with no lumps. And there’s a lot to consider when you’re aiming for perfection.

First, the choice of potato: I like to use an Idaho or russet baking potato because they are starchy and dry and therefore stay fluffy after I add the butter and milk. Other kinds of potatoes—like new potatoes or fingerlings—can turn watery, mealy, or gummy.

Next, once cooked, be sure to dry your potatoes by putting them back on the heat for a few minutes on the lowest possible setting. This lets extra water evaporate and creates an extra fluffy mashed potato. When the potatoes stop steaming, they are ready for mashing.

These potatoes are “mashed” in name only. Since I like my potatoes without any lumps, I put them through a ricer or food mill; this produces the lightest and creamiest end result. Potatoes can turn quickly into a gluey mess if overprocessed or stirred too much, so never use a food processor or high-speed mixer.

Finally, consider the temperature of your dairy products. I like to melt the butter with the milk or cream before incorporation; the potatoes will absorb warm dairy faster, so you’ll need to do less stirring.

If you do have lumps at the end, here’s a good trick: buzz a handheld emulsion blender through the potatoes until the lumps are gone. But be quick or you’ll end up with glue. An emulsion blender works better than a food processor because the blade pulls the ingredient in but doesn’t push it out, so it purées more tightly and quickly.

Fenugreek is my favorite flavoring for mashed potatoes, especially with meats. When I serve these potatoes with fish, I add lemon zest or chopped preserved lemons to brighten the flavors to better suit fish.

These potatoes really spice up a Thanksgiving table. Try them with the Braised Beef Short Ribs on page 66.

S
ERVES
4
GENEROUSLY AS A SİDE DİSH

4 baking potatoes (about 1¾ pounds)

1 stick butter

2 teaspoons finely minced garlic (about 2 large cloves)

1 cup whole milk or heavy cream

2 teaspoons ground fenugreek leaves (see page 198)

Salt and black pepper to taste

1.
Peel and cut each potato into 4 equal pieces. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover them with warm water by 3 inches. Bring the potatoes to a boil over high heat and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer the potatoes for 18 to 20 minutes, until they are tender when poked with a fork or squeezed with a pair of tongs.

2.
Drain the potatoes immediately into a colander and place them back into the saucepan over the lowest possible heat. Let them dry for 8 minutes or less. When the steam has stopped evaporating, they are ready to mash.

3.
Meanwhile, melt the butter with the garlic, milk, and fenugreek over medium heat (about 5 minutes) and set aside.

4.
Push the potatoes through a ricer or food mill over a large mixing bowl. Stir in the melted butter mixture and season well with salt and pepper.

5.
Serve hot. You can reheat the potatoes gently over low heat, stirring constantly, or hold them warm in a low (150°F) oven. Stir to fluff before serving.

Variation