Soup Night (27 page)

Serves 6

No, not crab apples, those little bitty fruits no one knows what to do with, but crab and apple, plus velvety avocado.

• 2 cups crabmeat (2 7
  ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  -ounce cans, or equivalent fresh crabmeat)
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 2 large apples, cored, peeled, and chopped
  
• 2 celery stalks, diced
  
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  
• 4 cups chicken broth
  
• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and chopped
  
• 1 cup light cream or half-and-half
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  
• Fresh chives or chive blossoms, for garnish
  

1. 1.
   If using fresh crabmeat, sort through it carefully for bits of cartilage, and remove. If using canned crabmeat, drain well. Set aside.
   
2. 2.
   Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat, add the apples and celery, and sauté until soft, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the apple mixture, stir well to coat everything, and sauté for 1 minute. Add the broth and simmer, stirring now and then, until mixture is thickened and bubbling.
   
3. 3.
   Add the avocados, and stir well.
   
4. 4.
   Working in batches, 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.
   Add the reserved crabmeat and cream, and simmer the soup until heated through. Top each serving with snipped chives. Or better yet, if you happen to have chives in your garden and they are blooming (usually early spring), separate the lovely purple flower heads into individual bits and sprinkle a few on each soup bowl.
   

Make ahead?
Yes, through step 4.

For large crowds:
Unless you live where people catch their own, crabmeat is a splurge. This soup is probably best for a small dinner party at home.

Long Beach Peninsula, Washington State

Empty Bowls is an international grassroots effort with two goals: to fight hunger, and to advocate for arts education. There are events all over the United States and several other countries, but each one is run by local artists, who shape the event to the circumstances of their community.

Local potters contribute handmade bowls, local cooks contribute soup and bread, and those who attend purchase an empty bowl for $5 and enjoy a simple meal of soup and bread. Each person goes home with a bowl, and the money is donated to a local hunger-relief agency.

The basic idea is this: local potters contribute handmade bowls, local cooks contribute soup and bread, and those who attend purchase an empty bowl for $5 and enjoy a simple meal of soup and bread. Each person goes home with a bowl, and the money is donated to a local hunger-relief agency.

The one I know best is located on the Long Beach Peninsula in Washington State, a tiny sliver of land in the bottommost corner of the state, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula itself is only 28 miles long and 1.5 miles wide, and while there are about half a dozen small towns and villages throughout those 28 miles, in truth, it’s like one small town all stretched out. It is no surprise, then, that this Empty Bowls event pulls in people from the entire peninsula, all of whom seem to know each other.

The coordinator is Karen Brownlee, a local potter. The first year of the event, she was asked to contribute handmade bowls, and found the whole thing so touching that she volunteered to fill the coordinator shoes the next year. Because one of the goals is to expose young people to art, Karen brought her potter’s wheel to every classroom on the peninsula to teach kids how to do it. It was a major commitment of her time: twelve classrooms, two trips each — to help students make the bowls, which she took back to her studio to fire, and back to the schools so students could paint their creations, then back to the studio for the second firing. But she knows it was well worth it, because that year they had more bowls, more soup, and raised more money.

The following year brought great drama. Exactly one day before the event, a major tsunami struck Japan, a disaster guaranteed to unnerve residents of the peninsula, which is a defined tsunami zone. Should we cancel, the organizers wondered? Will we all be underwater (a not unrealistic possibility)? But in the end, they decided to continue, and it was their best turnout ever. Everyone came because it gave them the opportunity to check on everyone else, to see that their neighbors were okay, and they raised a record $5,500 for local food banks.

I have had the pleasure of attending this event, and I can tell you it’s a hoot. It’s held in a local church, on a Saturday. They replace the pews with long tables, but leave the piano, and somebody always sits down to play. One long table along the side wall is filled with pots of soup donated by local restaurants, and baskets of homemade bread are set out on every table. Middle school students act as servers, replenishing breads and clearing tables, and they take their jobs very seriously.

As you first enter, tables in the vestibule area are filled with the bowls made by students. They are clearly kid-made and utterly charming. People admire all the bowls, choose their favorite, pay their $5, and take a seat at one of the tables. The food was delicious, the conversation buzz was intense, and I met lots of new people.

I made an error that day, and learned something important in the process. I thought that all the soups were available for tasting, and so I asked for a new bowlful. It was gently explained to me that part of the concept of Empty Bowls is to educate people about hunger; one bowl of soup and a piece of bread is all some people have to eat in a day, and the intention was that we would have the chance to experience what that’s like. It was a powerful, humbling lesson.

• www.emptybowls.net
  

Recipe from
Suzy and Philip Poll
, Houston, Texas

Serves 6

Suzy says: Our Soup Nights always have a theme, and this one is popular for our Southwestern night.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1
  ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  cups chopped onion
  
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 4 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
  
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
  
• 1 (28-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
  
• ³
  ⁄
  ₄
  cup medium-hot green salsa
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  cup chopped fresh cilantro
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  cup cornmeal
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  cup milk
  
• 1 egg
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  teaspoon salt
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  teaspoon black pepper
  
• 1 pound lean ground beef
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  pound spicy pork bulk sausage
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₃
  cup uncooked long-grain rice
  

1. 1.
   Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté about 3 minutes longer. Add the broth, tomatoes with juice, salsa, and half of the cumin (
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₂
   teaspoon), oregano (
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₂
   teaspoon), and cilantro (
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₄
   cup). Bring the soup to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
   
2. 2.
   Make the meatballs: Combine the cornmeal and milk, and let rest until the milk is absorbed. Add the egg, salt, pepper, and remaining cilantro, cumin, and oregano. Mix well. Add the ground beef and sausage and stir to combine thoroughly. Form 1-inch meatballs.
   
3. 3.
   Drop the meatballs into the simmering soup. Stir occasionally.
   
4. 4.
   Add the rice and allow the soup to simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
   
5. 5.
   Ladle the soup into bowls and serve hot.
   

Make ahead?
Yes, but Suzy cautions that over time the rice will puff and the soup will thicken. Add water or additional broth to thin as needed. Or, complete steps 1 and 2, but refrigerate the meatballs uncooked.

For large crowds:
Suzy’s original recipe makes twice this amount; I’m sure you could do more if needed.

Recipe from
Channing Meyer
, Loveland, Colorado

Serves 6

Channing says: This is a variation on a recipe from one of the best chefs I have worked with, Brent Beavers. It has been adjusted to give it more of a sherry flavor, and has the addition of nutmeg for more complexity. It really is love in a bowl.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1 cup mirepoix (1 stalk celery, 1 carrot, and about
  ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  medium onion , finely chopped; see note)
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 1
  ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  teaspoons dried basil
  
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  
• 1 pound mushrooms, sliced (I use white button)
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  cup cream sherry
  
• 3 cups vegetable broth
  
• 3 cups heavy whipping cream (do not skimp, heavy is the best)
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  teaspoon ground nutmeg
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  teaspoon ground coriander (optional; makes the soup a bit sweeter)
  
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
  
• Salt
  

• 1 tablespoon butter
  
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  

1. 1.
   Heat the oil in a large soup pot, add the mirepoix and garlic, and sauté over medium-high heat until the onion is translucent and the carrots slightly softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the basil, oregano, mushrooms, sherry, and
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₂
   cup of the broth. Cook until the mushrooms are softened slightly, stirring occasionally; check to see that there is still liquid in the bottom.
   
2. 2.
   Add the remaining 2
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₂
   cups vegetable broth, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
   
3. 3.
   Add the cream, nutmeg, coriander, and pepper. Simmer until the soup is reduced and thickened, about 45 minutes.
   
4. 4.
   Some folks prefer a cream soup that is a bit thicker, especially in winter. To thicken the soup a bit more, make a roux: Melt the butter in a small saucepan, then add the flour, constantly whisking over medium heat. The roux will become brown and have a nutty flavor. Make sure not to get it too “hard” or dry, or it will be a bit more difficult to dissolve in the soup. If you do, just add a bit more butter. While the soup is at a slight boil, add the roux a bit at a time, using a whisk to dissolve. Add and wait for a minute to see how thick the soup is becoming.
   
5. 5.
   Season with salt to taste, but go carefully; you do not want to actually taste salt in the finished soup. If you like, add a little more sherry or more of the herbs. Feel free to adjust as you see fit.
   

Make ahead?
Yes, through step 5. Wait until reheating to determine whether it needs additional thickener.

For large crowds:
Channing’s full recipe makes 8 quarts — 32 servings!