Soup Night (19 page)

Serves 6

The sweetness from the pineapple and cinnamon takes this familiar favorite to a new level. Serve with a warm pan of the Carolina Cornbread on
page 171
.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  
• 1 garlic clove, minced
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  cup chopped green pepper
  
• 2 (16-ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained; or 3–4 cups cooked kidney beans (see
  page 27
  )
  
• 1 (16-ounce) can diced tomatoes
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  cup diced cooked ham
  
• 1 bay leaf
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  teaspoon ground cumin
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  teaspoon dried oregano
  
• 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple
  

1. 1.
   Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and green pepper, and sauté 1 to 2 minutes longer.
   
2. 2.
   Add the beans, tomatoes, ham, bay leaf, cinnamon, cumin, and oregano. Reduce the heat under the pot, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
   
3. 3.
   Stir in the pineapple and its juice, and heat through. Serve hot.
   

Make ahead?
Through step 2.

For large crowds:
Easy to expand.

For vegetarians:
Just leave out the ham.

Recipe from
Eric and Kat Meyer
, Cleveland, Ohio

Serves 6–8

Eric and Kat say: If we don’t have this soup each and every time, we face a mutiny. It’s that good.

• 4 cups chicken broth
  
• 1 (20- to 24-ounce) bag frozen peas and carrots
  
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
  
• 12–14 ounces smoked sausage, cut into bite-size pieces
  
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
  
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  (12-ounce) can evaporated milk (more if needed)
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  cup raisins
  

1. 1.
   Combine the broth, peas and carrots, and sweet potatoes in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
   
2. 2.
   Add the sausage (we use chicken sausage) and the curry powder, and simmer for 15 minutes longer.
   
3. 3.
   Lower the heat, making sure it’s reduced below a simmer before adding the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and raisins. Stir well. Watch this like a hawk. Don’t let the soup boil; if you do, it will separate.
   
4. 4.
   Taste the soup and add more curry powder, evaporated milk, and/or raisins if desired. Serve hot.
   

Make ahead?
Probably not a good idea. You will risk the ingredients separating during reheating. Besides, it only takes about 20 minutes from start to end.

For large crowds:
The Meyers feed more than 100 people, so obviously this soup can be expanded!

Chicago, Illinois

Martha Bayne
is the Queen Mother of soup in Chicago. Starting with one simple idea, she has had a major impact on hunger awareness, first in her hometown, and now in other cities too.

The basic format is straightforward: Once a week, from early January to mid-April, she coordinates a soup supper in the back room of a bar called The Hideout, where she works as a bartender. She sweet-talks local cooks (both professionals and home cooks) to contribute the soup and bread. Each night, six cooks bring soup already hot in slow cookers, and stay to serve it. Small tables set with candles and compostable bowls and spoons welcome the diners, who are asked to contribute what they can afford.

Small tables set with candles and compostable bowls and spoons welcome the diners, who are asked to contribute what they can afford.

The volunteer cooks help spread word of the event through their own networks, and each supper usually draws between 100 and 150 people. On a typical evening, the donation bucket totals $350, although it has been as much as $1,000. All the proceeds are donated to local nonprofits working on hunger relief.

After four years in Chicago, Martha took her act on the road, hosting Soup and Bread Suppers in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Detroit, Seattle, and Madison, Wisconsin, which now has its own Soup and Bread event.

And then, in 2011, this very energetic woman took her passion to a new level, by publishing a book about soup and soup-based community events:
Soup & Bread Cookbook: Building Community One Pot at a Time.
It’s a small book but filled to the brim with wonderful stories about many community efforts to address hunger, anecdotes about the volunteer chefs, and delicious recipes. Reading it will warm your soul.

• www.soupandbread.net
  

• Butternut and Acorn Squash Soup
  

Recipe from Martha Bayne,
Chicago Soup and Bread

Serves 6–8

Martha says: This soup is adapted from one found in the
Soup & Bread Cookbook
.
It was created for Soup & Bread by a Chicago filmmaker named Jack Newell, who in turn adapted it from a recipe in Eric Ripert and Michael Ruhlman’s
A Return to Cooking
.
Such is the mutable — and community-built — nature of soup.

Try adjusting the proportions of acorn to butternut squash — or swap in a cup of sweet kuri squash. Or roast an apple in the oven and then throw that in the mix as well. If you are
really
lazy, you can roast the squash in its skin first (see
page 77
) and then just scoop out the innards and add the squash to the sauté mix.

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
• 1 cup sliced yellow onion
  
• 2 cups peeled and diced acorn squash
  
• 2 cups peeled and diced butternut squash
  
• Sea salt
  
• Freshly ground white pepper (fresh and white are important)
  
• 5 cups chicken broth
  
• 1 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
  
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  
• 3 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated (
  ³
  ⁄
  ₄
  cup)
  
• Optional seasonings: ground nutmeg, honey, cayenne, and/or minced fresh ginger
  

1. 1.
   Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the acorn and butternut squash and sauté until soft, maybe 10 minutes.
   
2. 2.
   Season the squash mixture with salt and pepper, add the broth, and bring to a simmer. Cook until the squash is tender, about 30 minutes.
   
3. 3.
   Transfer the soup to a blender and purée until smooth. For extra-satiny smoothness, pass the soup through a fine sieve after it’s puréed.
   
4. 4.
   Return the soup to the pot, and add the cream and the remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Simmer.
   
5. 5.
   Wrap the thyme in a piece of cheesecloth and tie with string to make a little bundle. Add it to the simmering soup and let it infuse for 10 minutes, then remove.
   
6. 6.
   Add the cheese and mix gently until incorporated. Add optional seasonings as desired and serve hot.
   

Make ahead?
Absolutely.

For large crowds:
This soup could be expanded almost indefinitely.

Serves 6

This hearty soup is rich with Southwestern flavors, and it’s a very warming option for a cold evening.

• 1 (14
  ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  -ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, broken up
  
• 2 cups beef broth
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  cup salsa
  
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  
• 12 ounces bulk-style pork sausage, spicy or mild, as you prefer
  
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
  
• 1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn
  
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
  

1. 1.
   Combine the tomatoes, broth, salsa, and oregano in a soup pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and then reduce the heat to low.
   
2. 2.
   Shape the sausage into small patties, about 1 inch in diameter. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the sausage patties. Cook the patties until no longer pink in the center, 10 to 12 minutes. You may have to do this in two batches. Drain on paper towels.
   
3. 3.
   Add the corn to the soup, cook for 3 to 4 minutes, and then add the sausage. Continue to simmer until everything is heated through.
   
4. 4.
   Sprinkle with cilantro and serve hot.
   

Variation:
To reduce fat and sodium, substitute ground chicken or turkey for the sausage. Cook in the same spoon-size rounds.

Make ahead?
Of course. I suggest you cook the sausage and refrigerate it separately from the tomato mixture.

For large crowds:
Double or triple the basic soup, maybe using proportionately a little less of the meat. Increase the oregano gradually, tasting as you go.

Serves 6–8

With the maroon-colored beans, bright crimson peppers, and red wine in the stock, this soup becomes a study in red. Artistic and also delicious.

• 1 pound dried red kidney beans
  
• Water
  
• 2 onions, coarsely chopped
  
• 3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
  
• 2 bay leaves
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  
• 3 large red bell peppers, seeded and finely chopped
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  cup red wine
  
• 10 cups chicken broth
  
• 4 hard-cooked eggs, chopped, for garnish
  
• 2 lemons, cut into wedges, for garnish
  

1. 1.
   Cover the beans with water and soak overnight. Or, if you forgot to do it the night before, here’s a quick alternative: cover the beans with water, bring them to a boil, boil rapidly for 2 minutes, then leave to stand for 1 hour.
   
2. 2.
   Drain off the cooking liquid and add the onions, celery, bay leaves, salt and pepper to taste, bell peppers, wine, and broth. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally.
   
3. 3.
   Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 3 hours, or until the beans are completely tender.
   
4. 4.
   Remove the bay leaves. Transfer the soup to a blender (careful, it’s hot) and purée until smooth, then return it to the pot. Or use an immersion blender and purée the soup right in the pot.
   
5. 5.
   Bring the soup up to heat and serve hot. Garnish each serving with chopped egg, and serve lemon wedges on the side.
   

Variation:
There’s something quite satisfying (not to mention economical) about starting with dried beans, but you may prefer to take advantage of the convenience of canned beans. You’ll need 4 or 5 cans; drain and rinse well.

Make ahead?
Up through step 4.

For large crowds:
Expands easily.

Serves 6–8

Elsewhere (see
page 175
) I describe my friend Andrea Pedolsky as a cook who uses her editorial talent to create new dishes from old recipes. Here’s another example, created from leftovers (hence the name). Andrea says the final soup should be slightly chunky.

• 1 medium russet potato, chopped (but not fine-diced)
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• Salt
  
• 1 pound yellow split peas
  
• 6 cups water
  
• 1 small onion, chopped
  
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
  
• 1 garlic clove, smashed
  
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  
• Freshly ground black pepper
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  cup heavy cream
  

1. 1.
   Preheat the oven to 400°F.
   
2. 2.
   Toss the potato in 1 tablespoon of the oil, place on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, and roast until browned, about 30 minutes. Open the oven occasionally and stir the potato pieces so they don’t stick to the pan.
   
3. 3.
   Wash the split peas and put them in a large soup pot. Add the water, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and then simmer, stirring occasionally, until the peas have softened, about 1 hour.
   
4. 4.
   Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until just past translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the celery and sauté until soft, 1 to 2 minutes; add the garlic and sauté until softened and well blended with onion and celery, about 1 minute. Add the thyme and salt and pepper to taste.
   
5. 5.
   When the split peas have softened (some of the water will have been absorbed), add the onion mixture to the soup pot and stir to combine. Add the roasted potato and stir; then stir in the cream.
   
6. 6.
   Cook the soup for at least 30 minutes longer to allow the ingredients to soften and blend a bit more. Serve hot.
   

Make ahead?
You bet.

For large crowds:
Easy to multiply, and very economical for a crowd.