Category Archives: Soups

RED AND GREEN SOUP

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I found these bangles on ebay.  They’re made of bakelite, or polyoxybenzylmethylenglocolanhydride, for the chemistry geeks out there.  Bakelite is an early plastic, developed in 1907 by  Leo Baekelandl, and has become very collectible.  People love bakelite bangles for the distinctive “clunk” they make when tapped together.  Kind of like my kids’ heads.  🙂

Bakelite comes in a variety of colors, and is often referred to with food names, such as root beer, creamed corn, spinach, peanut butter, and apple juice.  When I was a kid, my dad had an old car with a dashboard that I now realize must have been made of bakelite.  It looked a lot like this:

My sister and I used to say it looked like Chinese food.  I think the dish we were specifically referring to was Shrimp with Lobster Sauce, which was a family favorite back then, and is one of the most unappetizing dishes I can think of:

shrimp

Shrimp with Lobster Sauce.  Mmmmm — or not? 

Creamed corn, shrimp with lobster sauce, whatever.  Anyway, I love bakelite bangles and the warm colors they come in.  I even collected them for a while and made desk accessories out of them:

 Mom’s got too much time on her hands

I have my own food names for the Christmas-y red and green bangles that have inspired today’s recipe.  The green I call Asparagus Soup, and the red is Red Pepper Soup, because they remind me of the soup I have been making on Christmas Eve for over a decade.  These two soups are both great on their own, but when poured side by side in a shallow bowl, they are a wonderful and showy start to a holiday meal.

Start by making a batch of Asparagus Soup and a batch of Red Pepper Soup.  To serve, you’ll need two 1-cup measuring cups — Pyrex glass measuring cups with a spout work especially well.  Fill one cup about 2/3 full with Asparagus Soup and the other 2/3 full with Red Pepper Soup.  Pour one soup slowly down one side of a shallow soup bowl while simultaneously pouring the other soup down the opposite side.  The soups should meet in the middle of the bowl and not blend together.  (The Asparagus Soup is usually the thicker of the two soups and provides a sort of wall against which the Red Pepper Soup rests.). My family looks forward to garnishing their soup with a squiggle of sour cream (dilute sour cream with a few teaspoons of water and place in a plastic squeeze bottle or ziploc bag with the corner snipped off).

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ASPARAGUS SOUP
Author: 
Recipe type: Soup
 
Ingredients
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 2 14-1/2 ounce cans chicken broth
  • 2 pounds fresh asparagus, tough ends discarded, cut into 1" pieces
  • 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 3 tablespoons half and half
Instructions
  1. Melt butter in a large stockpot over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute until tender. Add the flour and stir for 2 minutes. Gradually stir in the chicken broth. Bring the mixture to boil over high heat, then add the asparagus and herbes de Provence. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the asparagus is very tender, approximately 25 minutes. Cool slightly.
  2. Puree the soup in a food processor or blender. (Do not fill the container more than half full -- hot liquids expand when blended, and if container is too full, the lid will blow off and hot soup will splatter everywhere.) Return the soup to the stockpot and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the half and half and cook over medium heat until heated through.

 
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RED PEPPER SOUP
Author: 
Recipe type: Soup
 
Ingredients
  • 4 large red bell peppers
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 14-1/2 ounce cans chicken broth
  • ½ teaspoon herbes de Provence
  • Pinch of dried tarragon
  • Pinch of cayenne
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 3 tablespoons half and half
Instructions
  1. Preheat broiler. Halve peppers lengthwise, discarding stems, sees, and ribs. Place skin side up on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil until skins are blistered and charred, approximately 8-12 minutes. Transfer peppers to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand until cool enough to handle. Peel peppers and slice into thin strips.
  2. Melt butter in a large stockpot over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute until tender. Stir in peppers, broth, and herbes de Provence. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
  3. Puree the soup in a food processor or blender. (Do not fill the container more than half full -- hot liquids expand when blended, and if container is too full, the lid will blow off and hot soup will splatter everywhere.) Return the soup to the stockpot and add tarragon and cayenne. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the half and half and cook over medium heat until heated through.

 Slowly pour the two soups down the side of the shallow bowl

 Meeting in the middle

 Ta da — Christmas Eve Red and Green Soup! 

 Sour cream Christmas tree garnish by my daughter

 Sour cream doggie garnish — also by my daughter

Merry Christmas to all . . . 

 And to all a good night.

SPANISH BEAN SOUP

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I found this Spanish flamenco dancer doll at an estate sale, at which there were tons of dolls from around the world.  I especially admired this doll’s attitude.  Looking at her makes me want to toss my head back and yell “ha ha ha” or something like that.

Naturally, the Spanish dancer inspired me to make a Spanish dish.  I recently discovered Alubia de Tolosa beans from Spain, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to use them.

They look like black beans, but these are no ordinary beans.  These beans cook up big and red and meaty.  I’ve learned that it is important to soak these particular beans, even if your recipe does not call for them to be soaked.

Before soaking.

After soaking.

When my husband came home that night and asked what was for dinner, I told him “Spanish Bean Soup.”  He said, “I didn’t expect a kind of Spanish Bean Soup,” to which I replied, “Nobody expects a Spanish Bean Soup.”  I told him, “Its chief feature is beans . . . beans and surprise . . . surprise and beans . . . .  Its two features are beans and surprise . . . and simplicity . . . . Its three features are beans, surprise, and simplicity . . . and an almost fanatical devotion to fresh ingredients. . . .  Its four . . . no . . . .  Amongst its features . . . are such elements as beans, surprise, simplicity . . . . I’ll start again.”

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

This is an easy, hearty soup, perfect now that the temperature has dipped down into the 80s here in Houston.  Br-r-r-r-r-r!  And while you’re enjoying it, be sure to toss your head back at least once and shout “ha ha ha!”

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SPANISH BEAN SOUP
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • 1 pound Alubia de Tolosa or black beans
  • 1 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
  • ¼ cup tomato paste
  • ½ cup red wine
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup chopped smoked ham
  • 4 bay leaves
  • ¼ cup butter
  • Salt, to taste
  • Optional garnish -- sour cream, chopped cilantro, pickled jalapenos, chopped onion
Instructions
  1. Wash and pick over beans. Place in a large stockpot and cover with two inches of water. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and let soak, covered, for two hours. Drain beans.
  2. Return soaked beans to pot and add 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered until tender, approximately 1-1/4 hours. Add onion, bell pepper, tomato paste, wine, cumin, black pepper, ham, bay leaves, and butter. Season to taste with salt. Continue simmering until soup thickens and vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaves and discard.
  3. Remove about 2 cups beans and set aside. Coarsely puree remaining soup using a food processor or stick blender. Return pureed soup to pot and add beans back in. Ladle into bowls and garnish as desired. Serve hot.

 

 Spanish Bean Soup.  Ha ha ha!

 Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!