I’ve always been wary of gazpacho. Bad batches can end up tasting like salsa or tomato juice. Often, you have an urge to over spice it. Tomatoes, some mild veggies, a little bit of salt and vinegar – how could these ingredients be enough for a flavorful, satisfying soup? But if you start adding a little bit of heat or some extra garlic you begin to veer dangerously close to Bloody Mary sans vodka territory. No one wants a virgin Blood Mary. Lots of Americanized recipes list bread chunks or croutons in their ingredients, in order to add a little bit of thickness and texture. Or worse, they leave the soup chunky. This is called salsa. And while it’s better than a virgin Blood Mary, you don’t want to sip on salsa.
The Mimi of this wonton soup recipe is Mimi Thorisson. Her food blog Manger and two cookbooks are portrayals of idyllic life – lots of beautiful, fresh food, adorable children, even cuter dogs, and a photographer husband, capturing every single moment perfectly. It is almost suspiciously serene. But while her pictures evoke envy and a bit of skepticism, we do love to look at and cook her food.
Luke and I celebrated New Year’s Eve separately, he in Philadelphia with friends and me alone on a plane. To make up for missing each other on December 31, this past weekend we made a special meal for Chinese New Year (新年快乐!). Admittedly, this soup is so easy to make it may not warrant being called “special.” But the wontons do possess a certain je ne sai quoi. With a scattering of scallions and a swirl of sesame oil, these brainy wontons are subtlety elegant and delicious.
We enjoyed our bowls of soup reflecting on the past year and hoping that in 2017, amidst these already troubled times, we can do more good and experience more good than in 2016.
Ingredients:
1/2 – 3/4 pound peeled shrimp, coarsely chopped
1/2 – 3/4 pound ground pork (not too lean)
1 egg white
1 TBS soy sauce
1/2 TBS oyster sauce
1/2 TBS rice wine
1/2 tsp sesame oil (plus more for serving)
1 TBS grated fresh ginger
pinch of sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
pack of square wonton wrappers
2 quarts chicken stock
chives, scallions, cilantro (freshly chopped) for garnish
Directions:
Begin by making the wonton filling. Mix the shrimp and pork in a medium sized bowl. Add the egg white, soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, ginger, sugar, salt, and pepper and mix well. Set the filling aside for 20 minutes.
Lay out a large piece of parchment paper and sprinkle with flour. Take your pile of wonton wrappers, one at a time, covering the pile with a damp towel so that they do not dry out. Add a little over 1 tsp of filling to the center of a wrapper. Wet the edges of the wrapper with water (we set out a little bowl of water and wet with our fingers) and fold in half to make a triangle, pressing down firmly. Make sure the seal is secure, you do not want any little gaps. Then, gather the 2 opposite corners of the wrapper, dot them with water, and join them together. Again, press firmly to seal. Set wrapped wonton on a lightly floured baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filing, until you have about 25-30 wontons. You will likely have leftover filing and definitely leftover wrappers. The filing keeps for 2-3 days so more wontons can be made later.
Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Season with a bit of salt and pepper, to taste. While doing this, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the wontons and cook in batches (roughly 12 at a time). The wontons are finished when the rise to the top, about 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate as they are cooked.
Add the cooked wontons to the chicken stock and bring back to a gentle boil. To serve, ladle about 6 wontons into a bowl and top with some chicken stock. Sprinkle with chives, scallions, and/or cilantro and a few drops of sesame oil. Serve with chili oil on the side, if desired.
This chicken soup recipe is very apropos. Why? We’ve got three compelling reasons. Reason one, winter is here, aka cold season. Maybe you’ve got some sniffles already. Or feel the flu coming on. Chicken soup is the OG penicillin. Reason two, it’s the New Year and you’ve made some New Year’s resolutions. Like cook more. Or, stop eating so much processed garbage. Put this homemade goodness in your body and you’re satisfying both of those resolutions. Reason three, it’s January, the drabbest month of the year, and all you want to do is sit in front of your SAD lamp. Make this chicken soup this weekend and you’ll have an excellent reason to sit on your couch and watch Netflix all day. Tell your friends you have amazing, homemade chicken broth simmering on the stove and can’t leave your house. Foolproof excuse.
This homemade chicken soup fulfills all your current life requirements. And it’s delicious! Julia Moskin provides the original recipe (with a beautiful video), which we did some slight tweaking too. Enjoy!
Ingredients for broth:
1 chicken, 3 to 3 1/2 lbs (or the smallest you can find in your supermarket) with skin on, cut up into 8 pieces
3 celery stalks, cut into chunks
2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 onion, quartered
1 parsnip, peeled and cut into chunks (optional)
handful of parsley springs
10 or so black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 tsp kosher salt
Ingredients for soup:
reserved chicken fat (up to 3 TBS)
2-3 leeks, rinsed, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and sliced into thin half-moons
2 shallots sliced thinly
2-3 celery stalks, diced
2-3 carrots, peeled and diced
1-2 TBS freshly chopped herbs (parsley, tarragon, thyme, dill all work wonderfully)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Making the broth is easy, just start a day in advance. Place cut up chicken (here’s a how-to), vegetables, salt, peppercorns, and bay leaves in a large soup pot. Cover with cold water by 1 inch.
Bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn heat all the way down. You want hardly any bubbling. Cook uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Alternatively, you could turn the heat all the way off, cover, and let the chicken sit in the warm pot all morning and/or afternoon.
Once the broth has cooled down, remove the chicken and place in a separate container. Notch up the heat just a little bit and let the broth simmer. You want it to get concentrated and flavorful. An additional hour should suffice. Just don’t let all your broth cook off! Then strain your broth through a fine sieve (colander lined with cheese cloth also works well). Discard solids.
Refrigerate chicken and broth separately for at least 8 hours (up to 3 days) until a layer of yellow fat has risen to the top of the broth. Once ready, skim the fat and set aside. You can also now shred the chicken into bite size chunks. Shredding the 2 breasts should yield enough chicken pieces. You can reserve the dark meat for something else.
You are now ready to make the soup. Place 3 TBS of chicken fat (+butter, if necessary) into a soup pot. Add leeks and shallots and cook over medium heat until leeks begin to fry and shallots are translucent and soft.
Reduce heat and add celery, carrots, and a heaping TBS of herbs. Sprinkle with salt. Cover pot and cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Don’t brown! And don’t worry. They will cook more in the broth.
Add broth to the pot and heat to a simmer. Add noodles and continue simmering until noodles are cooked through. Add the chicken chunks and salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve with a sprinkling of freshly chopped herbs on top.
It is finally officially summer! The farmers’ market is overflowing with luscious fruits and vegetables begging to be turned into a delicious seasonal feast. And there is no more archetypal summer meal than soup.Oh-kaaaay…so that’s a completely sarcastic statement, but Luke and I both feel this soup deserves serious summer status! 1) It requires no oven use whatsoever 2) It includes many of summer’s best bounty aaand 3) This soup manages to be light and healthy (entirely veggie!!) but also extremely flavorful and nuanced (especially when parm broth is used). Luke and I strongly advise that you blast “Summer Sixteen” while chopping up all of these veggies. Making this delicious soup is an ideal way to celebrate summer.
This recipe is adapted from Mimi Thorisson’s soupe au pistou, which can be found in her cookbook A Kitchen in France.
Ingredients – Soup:
3 TBS olive oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
2-3 medium carrots, minced
1 leek, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
2 zucchini, minced
8 oz green beans, cut in half lengthwise
4-5 tomatoes, peeled, deseeded, and chopped (or 1 15-oz can chopped tomatoes, with juices partially drained)
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 bunch basil, roughly chopped
1 TBS herbs de provence
salt & pepper, to taste
1 bay leaf
5-6 cups water or preferred broth (chicken, vegetable, parm)
8 oz kidney beans (pre-soaked or from a can)
8 oz white beans (pre-soaked or from a can)
1 cup elbow macaroni
Luke and I topped our bowls with a simple mix of basil, garlic, olive oil, and a touch of salt, mashed with a mortal & pestle:
2 garlic cloves, minced
handful of basil leaves, finely chopped
1 TBS olive oil
pinch of salt
Directions:
In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, leek, zucchini, green beans, tomatoes, and garlic. Saute for 5-8 minutes, stirring to make sure the vegetables cook evenly. Add the basil, herbs de provence, and salt and pepper. Saute for 2 minutes more.
Add your chosen liquid and bring to a boil. Once boiling, simmer for 15-20 minutes, uncovered.
Add the uncooked macaroni and cook until al dente, 8-10 minutes, and then stir in the beans.
Serve immediately! If you like, top with basil mix and shaved parm.
The impetus for concocting this recipe was an Instagram post, and if I remember correctly, it was post by Bon Appétit. Upon seeing the photo in my feed, I immediately thought to myself “YES, what a great way to use all those leftover Parmesan rinds Luke and I are always having to throw away.” Ingenious cooking for the WIN. I saw this post back in January, during the height of soup making season, and have been saving Parmesan rinds in our freezer since then. So finally last weekend, before we head into consistently nice Springtime weather, Luke and I spent our Sunday afternoon simmering some Parm broth. It perfumed our lil’ apartment with a cheesy fragrance…mmmmm. The result: a rich and versatile broth that can be used to enhance flavor in soup, pasta, and bean dishes.
Ingredients:
2 TBS olive oil
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 head garlic, halved crosswise
1 bunch thyme
3-5 parsley sprigs
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 cup dry white wine
1 lb Parmesan rinds (we used around 10 rinds of varying sizes)
Directions:
In a large pot or dutch oven heat the oil over medium-high heat. Cook onion, garlic, thyme, parsley, and peppercorns, stirring often, until garlic has browned, about 5 minutes. Add wine and bring to a simmer. Cook until the liquid is reduced by half, about 4 minutes, scraping up any brown bits.
Add 8 cups water and Parmesan rinds. Bring to a boil and the reduce heat and simmer for about 2 hours. You will have to stir occasionally to prevent cheese from sticking to the bottom of your pot.
After 2 hours, strain your broth through a fine-mesh sieve (we used a colander and cheese cloth) into a large bowl.
Luke and I were recently gifted two Ottolenghi cookbooks (Nopi, The Cookbook and Plenty More). Admittedly, we’re a little late to the Ottolenghi party, but we’re trying to catch up. With the master chef in mind and our two new cookbooks supplying ample inspiration, we bought a giant pack of za’atar. Giant because we couldn’t find anything smaller than a 16 oz bag at the Middle Eastern grocery store and also because we figured we’d be whipping out za’atar filled Ottolenghi recipes on the daily. As it turns out we still have some catching up to do (Ottolenghi recipes are hard!!). Sooo…this is not an Ottolenghi recipe (it’s actually adapted from Tara Parker-Pope’s on NYT) and it uses a very minimal amount of za’atar, but it is a simple and delicious soup, with just a lil’ exotic touch. The savory za’atar oil nicely balances the sweetness of the soup and the feta adds a salty zing. We recommend serving with a winter-y salad and thick crusty toasts (or, maybe za’atar flatbread?!). Makes a very comforting meal on a chilly winter night.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil + 2 TBS
2 TBS za’atar
2 TBS butter
1 onion, diced
2 medium sized carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 leek, white part only, peeled and diced
2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
approx. 1/4 of a butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
4 cups water
salt + pepper, to taste
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Directions:
Za’atar oil: In a small skillet, combine 1/4 cup olive oil and za’atar. Cook over medium heat until hot and fragrant, but be careful not to burn (1-2 minutes). Pour into a small bowl and set aside to cool. Should sit for an hour or so for flavors to infuse.
In a large pot, heat butter and remaining olive oil over medium high heat. When butter has melted and is shimmery, add the onions, carrot, celery, and leek. Lower heat a bit and cook until slightly caramelized, 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add more oil if necessary to avoid onions sticking to the pot. Add the sweet potato and butternut squash cubes and sauté for 1-2 minutes more. Add the water and stock and bring to a boil, then lower to simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes or until sweet potato and squash are completely soft.
Puree the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. Add salt and pepper to your liking. Ladle the soup into bowls, crumble some feta on top, and drizzle on za’atar oil.
Details: Serves 6-8. A great soup to freeze and reheat later!
This soup is THICK. And delicious. Beware: without the olive oil and thyme garnish, it could be mistaken for a bowl of hummus. If you bring leftovers to the office for lunch, don’t be surprised if a coworker tries to dip a carrot.
Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
2 parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
2 shallots, peeled and quartered
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
2 TBS minced fresh thyme (or 2 tsp dried thyme)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
salt + pepper
plenty of olive oil to coat veggies
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375ºF.
Spread cauliflower, parsnips, shallots, and garlic on a baking sheet. Cover with oil and spices and give a good mix to evenly coat.
Roast vegetables for 30 minutes, making sure to toss veggies at least once or twice.
While veggies are cooking, warm stock in a soup pot over low heat.
Remove veggies from oven. Blend in batches with stock in a blender or add veggies to soup pan and blend with a hand blender. Make sure to blend until smooth, should take 3-5 minutes. Add more stock if necessary to thin.
If in a blender, add mix back to pot. Add heavy cream, stir into soup, and bring back to a simmer.
Serve with a garnish of olive oil and fresh thyme.
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