The Essential James Beard Cookbook (11 page)

CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

An easy soup that is distinctive enough to serve to company. This was the recipe used in the Beard household for many years.

Two 28-ounce cans Italian plum tomatoes, drained (about 3 cups tomatoes)

1 cup
Beef Stock
or canned beef broth

1 small yellow onion, stuck with 2 whole cloves

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1½ teaspoons sugar

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons unsalted butter

2 cups heavy cream

Chopped fresh basil or fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Put the tomatoes, stock, onion, basil, salt, and pepper in a large saucepan. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Add the sugar, and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove the cloves from the onion, and purée the tomato mixture in a food processor. Return to the saucepan. Add the baking soda. Taste for seasoning. Blend the butter and flour together into a smooth paste, beurre manié, and whisk it, bit by bit, into the tomato mixture over medium heat. Cook until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat. In a separate saucepan bring the heavy cream almost to a boil. Gradually stir into the tomato purée. Bring nearly to a boil over low heat. Serve with a sprinkling of chopped basil or parsley.

FOUR-DAY VEGETABLE SOUP

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

I happen to think that vegetable soups made without meat stock are infinitely more intriguing. The results are often so delicate and unexpected that one is inspired to improvise constantly and find new and even more delicious combinations, for to my mind, success with vegetable soups is entirely a matter of inspiration, taste, and inventiveness.

I remember going through the refrigerator and the vegetable basket one winter day while living in France and coming up with a considerable array of bits and pieces, which I turned into a thoroughly good soup. This continued with a series of variations for four days (hence the name of the soup), resulting in three hot soups and one cold. Each time I had a totally different and distinctive product. This recipe, then, is not to be slavishly followed, but to serve as a starting point for your own ideas.

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 cups finely chopped cooked cabbage

2 carrots, shredded

1 small turnip, peeled and finely diced

4 white button mushrooms, chopped

4 Swiss chard leaves, with stems, well rinsed, chopped

2 small zucchini, finely diced

1 tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped

3 or 4 leaves fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put all of the ingredients in a deep saucepan with water to cover, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste—about 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil gradually over low heat. Cover and simmer the soup gently for 1½ to 2 hours, or until all the flavors are well blended. Taste and correct the seasoning.

Four of us ate the soup that night. The next day, I added to the remainder another couple of peeled and chopped tomatoes, a few leaves of finely chopped spinach, another zucchini, and a few leftover cooked chickpeas. I added a bit of grated lemon zest and a touch of onion about 10 minutes before serving.

For lunch on the following day I had the soup cold with a dollop of crème fraîche.

Finally
, on the fourth day, I added 2 or 3 peeled and diced beets, another cup of cabbage, 3 or 4 more mushrooms, and a little vegetable broth from vegetables I had cooked for lunch.

Of course, if you have some chicken or vegetable stock you can add it to your soup. The secret is to have variations of color and texture and flavor.

AVGOLEMONO

(EGG-LEMON SOUP)

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

Editor: The eggs give this famous Greek soup a luscious creaminess, and the lemon is bracingly tart, making it a perfect light first course. To make it more substantial, add chopped cooked chicken and shredded leaf spinach.

2 quarts
Chicken Stock

½ cup long-grain white rice

Kosher salt to taste

2 whole eggs plus 2 large yolks

½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Bring the stock to a boil in a large pot and add the rice. Simmer until the rice is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Taste and add salt, if needed; this will depend on how seasoned the stock is.

Whisk the eggs and egg yolks together in a bowl until light and frothy. Slowly whisk in the lemon juice.

Add a cup of the hot broth to the mixture, little by little, whisking it in until well blended, then slowly add the mixture to the pan, stirring constantly. Heat through, stirring, but do not allow to overheat or come to a simmer or the eggs will curdle. The soup should be lightly and delicately thickened, of a thin custard-like consistency.

GARBURE BASQUAISE

MAKES 8–10 SERVINGS

A hearty soup-stew from the Basque country, which combines beans, other vegetables, and ham. It can be varied in all kinds of ways by adding leftover meat or poultry. Serve it with crusty French bread.

1 pound dried white navy beans

½ pound split green or yellow peas

1 ham bone, with meat

1 medium yellow onion, stuck with 2 whole cloves

3 bay leaves

3 quarts water

Kosher salt

6 red-skinned potatoes, scrubbed and cut into small pieces

4 white turnips, peeled and cut into small pieces

4 carrots, sliced

4 leeks, white and pale green part only, well washed and sliced

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried thyme

12 links sweet Italian sausage

1 small cabbage, cored and shredded

Grated Gruyère cheese, for serving

Put the beans and split peas in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Boil 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and let stand 1 hour. Drain. Put in a large, deep pot with the ham bone, onion, bay leaves, and 3 quarts water, and cook until the beans are just tender, but not mushy, 1 to 1½ hours, adding salt, if needed (if the ham is salty, it may not be necessary). Strain the beans over a bowl, reserving the liquid, and remove meat from the ham bone; discard the bone, onion, and bay leaves. Return the bean liquid to the pot with the potatoes, turnips, carrots, leeks, garlic, and thyme, and cook until tender, about 25 minutes.

Prick the sausages with a fork and cook in a skillet with water to cover for 10 minutes to draw out the fat. Add the cabbage, beans, ham, and drained sausages to the soup. Cook until the cabbage is just done and the soup thick enough to almost hold a spoon upright, about 20 minutes. Serve in bowls or deep soup plates, sprinkled with the cheese.

GARLIC SOUP

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

Don’t be alarmed by the quantity of garlic called for here. After garlic had been cooked slowly for a certain length of time it loses its harshness and becomes quite delicate. The beautiful flavor of this soup is something that could never be achieved with garlic powder. So don’t even think about it.

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, or, preferably, rendered chicken, goose, or pork fat

30 peeled garlic cloves, more or less, to taste

6 to 8 cups
Chicken Stock

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

4 or 5 large egg yolks

3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

Crisp toast

Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat. Add the garlic and cook gently, shaking the pan often, so that it softens in the fat without browning. (Browning will make the flavor bitter.) Add the stock and season to taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, then drain the garlic—reserving the broth—and purée the garlic in a food processor. Return the garlic and broth to the saucepan and reheat. Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl and stir the olive oil into them. Blend a little of the soup into the yolk mixture to temper the eggs, then stir it all very gently back into the soup. Heat thoroughly but do not allow to boil, or the yolks will curdle. Place a piece of toast in each soup plate and ladle the soup over it.

GRUYÈRE SOUP

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

This is very close to the more usual Cheddar soup, but the flavor and texture are entirely different. Be sure to use Gruyère cheese from Switzerland, or your soup will not be a success.

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups whole milk

1 teaspoon or more Dijon mustard

2 cups
Chicken Stock

2½ cups (10 ounces) shredded Swiss Gruyère cheese

Tabasco

Croutons, for garnish

Finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Whisk the melted butter and flour in a medium saucepan and cook over very low heat for several minutes. Add in the milk and continue whisking until simmering and slightly thickened. Whisk the mustard into the stock in a medium bowl. Stir into the milk mixture and heat through. Gradually stir in the cheese and season with a dash or two of Tabasco, stirring until the cheese is just melted. Correct the seasoning, adding a little salt, if necessary. Serve in heated cups or soup plates, adding a few croutons to each and a bit of finely chopped parsley.

ONION SOUP AU GRATIN

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Editor: Beard loved everything about French cooking, and his book with Alexander Watt,
Paris Cuisine,
was an early exploration by an American on the subject. Here is his rendition of that famous restorative, onion soup.

2 medium-large onions, peeled and coarsely chopped

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 cup dry white wine

2 cups
Beef Stock

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons shredded Gruyère cheese

8 to 12 small slices of French bread or small squares of bread

Sauté the onions in 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until they are limp and golden brown, shaking the pan well as they cook so they don’t stick or burn, about 10 minutes. Stir in the flour, then mix in the wine and the stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add the nutmeg. Cover and simmer over very low heat for 1 hour, then add 2 tablespoons of the cheese.

While the soup simmers, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet and sauté the bread over medium-high heat until crisply brown on both sides.