Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (39 page)
SERVES 4 TO 6
Don’t fill the blender by more than two-thirds with hot soup; if necessary, process in three batches. You can also use an immersion blender to process the soup directly in the pot. Use the lowest setting on your toaster to dry out the bread without overbrowning it. A garnish is essential to add texture and flavor to this soup. In addition to the Fried Leeks, we also like to serve this soup with crisp bacon bits, a dollop of sour cream, freshly chopped chives, and
GARLIC CHIPS
or
GARLIC CROUTONS
.
4 | medium leeks, white and light green parts halved lengthwise, sliced thin (4 cups), and washed thoroughly; dark green parts halved, cut into 2-inch pieces, and washed thoroughly |
2 | cups low-sodium chicken broth |
2 | cups water |
4 | tablespoons unsalted butter |
1 | onion, chopped |
Salt and pepper | |
1 | small russet potato (about 6 ounces), peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into ¹⁄ |
1 | bay leaf |
1 | sprig fresh thyme or tarragon |
1 | slice hearty white sandwich bread, lightly toasted and torn into ¹⁄ |
1 | recipe |
1.
Bring dark green leek pieces, broth, and water to boil in large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Strain broth through fine-mesh strainer into medium bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; set aside. Discard solids in strainer and rinse out saucepan.
2.
Melt butter in now-empty saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in sliced leeks, onion, and 1 teaspoon salt, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.
3.
Increase heat to high, stir in reserved broth, potato, bay leaf, and thyme and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until potato is tender, about 10 minutes. Add toasted bread and simmer until bread is completely saturated and starts to break down, about 5 minutes.
4.
Remove and discard bay leaf and thyme. Transfer half of soup to blender and process until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to large bowl and repeat with remaining soup. Return soup to saucepan and bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with Fried Leeks.
MAKES ABOUT
¹⁄
2
CUP
1 | medium leek, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise, sliced into very thin 2-inch strips, washed thoroughly, and dried |
2 | tablespoons all-purpose flour |
Salt and pepper | |
¹⁄ | cup olive oil |
Toss leeks, flour, and pinch each salt and pepper in medium bowl. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet until shimmering. Add half of leeks and fry, stirring often, until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer leeks to paper towel–lined plate, then sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Repeat with remaining leeks.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Choosing the right potato was the first step in developing our garlic-potato soup. We liked peeled russets for the way they broke down and thickened the broth, but we found adding red potatoes to the mix ramped up the potato flavor. The key to getting the garlic right proved to be not quantity but cooking technique. We settled on incorporating garlic in two ways: We sautéed three cloves in the pot before adding the broth (the base of our soup), and we poached two whole heads of garlic in the broth, then squeezed out the softened pods, mashed them, and added them back to the soup. Topping the soup with crisp garlic chips cooked quickly in a skillet made just the right garnish.
SERVES 6
A garnish is essential to add texture to this soup. We like Garlic Chips, but crisp bacon bits,
FRIED LEEKS
, or
GARLIC CROUTONS
are good options, too. A potato masher can be used instead of an immersion blender to mash some of the potatoes right in the pot, though the consistency will not be as creamy. If leeks are not available, substitute an equal amount of yellow onion. The test kitchen prefers the soup made with chicken broth, but vegetable broth can be substituted.
3 | tablespoons unsalted butter |
1 | leek, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise, chopped small, and washed thoroughly |
3 | garlic cloves, minced, plus 2 whole heads garlic, outer papery skins removed, and top third of heads cut off and discarded |
6–7 | cups low-sodium chicken broth |
2 | bay leaves |
Salt and pepper | |
1¹⁄ | pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ¹⁄ |
1 | pound red potatoes (unpeeled), cut into ¹⁄ |
¹⁄ | cup heavy cream |
1¹⁄ | teaspoons minced fresh thyme |
¹⁄ | cup minced fresh chives |
1 | recipe |
1.
Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leeks and cook until soft (do not brown), 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add garlic heads, 6 cups broth, bay leaves, and ³⁄
4
teaspoon salt. Partially cover pot and bring to simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until garlic is very tender when pierced with tip of knife, 30 to 40 minutes. Add russet potatoes and red potatoes and continue to simmer, partially covered, until potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
2.
Discard bay leaves. Remove garlic heads from pot and, using tongs or paper towels, squeeze at root end until cloves slip out of their skins into bowl.
Using fork, mash garlic to smooth paste.
3.
Stir cream, thyme, and half of mashed garlic into soup. Heat soup until hot, about 2 minutes. Taste soup and add remaining garlic paste if desired.
4.
Using immersion blender, process soup until creamy, with some potato chunks remaining. Alternatively, transfer 1¹⁄
2
cups potatoes and 1 cup broth to blender or food processor and process until smooth. (Process more potatoes for thicker consistency.) Return puree to pot and stir to combine, adjusting consistency with up to 1 cup more broth if necessary. Season with salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with chives and Garlic Chips, and serve.
MAKES ABOUT
¹⁄
4
CUP
3 | tablespoons olive oil |
6 | garlic cloves, sliced thin lengthwise |
Salt |
Heat oil and garlic in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, turning frequently, until light golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer garlic to paper towel–lined plate. Season with salt to taste.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
We were after a soup with pure broccoli flavor that wasn’t hiding behind the cream or the cheese. Overcooked broccoli has a sulfurous flavor, but we discovered when we cooked our broccoli beyond the point of just overcooked—for a full hour—those sulfur-containing compounds broke down, leaving behind intense, nutty broccoli. Its texture was fairly soft, but that was perfect for use in a soup. Adding baking soda to the pot sped up the process, shortening the broccoli’s cooking time to a mere 20 minutes. A little spinach lent bright green color to the soup without taking over the flavor. After adding cheddar and Parmesan, we had a soup so full of flavor and richness that it didn’t even need the cream.
SERVES 6 TO 8
To make a vegetarian version of this soup, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.
2 | tablespoons unsalted butter |
2 | pounds broccoli, florets chopped into 1-inch pieces, stalks peeled and sliced ¹⁄ |
1 | onion, chopped coarse |
2 | garlic cloves, minced |
1¹⁄ | teaspoons dry mustard |
Pinch cayenne pepper | |
Salt and pepper | |
3–4 | cups water |
¹⁄ | teaspoon baking soda |
2 | cups low-sodium chicken broth |
2 | ounces baby spinach (2 cups) |
3 | ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (³⁄ |
1¹⁄ | ounces Parmesan cheese, grated fine (³⁄ |
1 | recipe |
1.
Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add broccoli, onion, garlic, mustard, cayenne, and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 6 minutes. Add 1 cup water and baking soda. Bring to simmer, cover, and cook until broccoli is very soft, about 20 minutes, stirring once during cooking.
2.
Add broth and 2 cups water and increase heat to medium-high. When mixture begins to simmer, stir in spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Transfer half of soup to blender, add cheddar and Parmesan, and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer soup to medium bowl and repeat with remaining soup. Return soup to Dutch oven, place over medium heat and bring to simmer. Adjust consistency of soup with up to 1 cup water. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, passing extra Parmesan.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
For soup with intense squash flavor, we sautéed shallots and butter with the squash seeds and fibers, simmered the mixture in water, and then used the liquid to steam the unpeeled squash. We scooped the squash flesh from the skin once cooled, then pureed it with the reserved steaming liquid for a perfectly smooth texture with big butternut squash flavor.
