Soup Night (11 page)

Recipe from Jennifer Rollins,
SE Works
, Portland, Oregon

Serves 6

Jennifer says: This is one of my very favorites for those rainy Portland fall evenings. Add a loaf of crusty bread with sweet butter, friends, good conversation, a crisp white wine, and ideally a nice fire in the fireplace . . . and you can’t go wrong!

• 1 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds)
  
• Olive oil (optional)
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
  
• 3 cups vegetable broth
  
• 1 cup apple cider
  
• 1 cup water, plus more as needed for consistency
  
• 1 cup heavy cream
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  teaspoon ground nutmeg
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon sherry wine vinegar, or any mild vinegar
  

• 1 tablespoon butter
  
• 1 medium apple, cored and diced
  
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, chopped or cut into pretty ribbons
  
• Ground cinnamon
  

• More diced apple
  
• Crème fraîche (see
  page 237
  ) or mascarpone
  

1. 1.
   Preheat the oven to 350°F.
   
2. 2.
   Roast the whole squash in a baking dish for 45 to 50 minutes (see box on following page) or until tender; let the squash cool, and then scoop out the flesh.
   
3. 3.
   Melt the butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until nice and soft. Add the broth and simmer for about 10 minutes.
   
4. 4.
   Add the reserved squash and stir to combine. Add the cider, and then 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. Add water as needed until you like the consistency.
   
5. 5.
   Whisk in the cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. The cream is important. You can substitute half-and-half if you must, but don’t use milk. It’s a mistake I made only once.
   
6. 6.
   Stir in the vinegar; this is important to keep the soup from tasting like dessert. Heat thoroughly but gently; don’t let the soup come to a boil.
   
7. 7.
   While the soup heats up, make the topping: Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the apple, sage, and cinnamon to taste, and cook until everything is soft and fragrant. Remove the mixture to a bowl and set aside.
   
8. 8.
   When the soup is hot, serve it topped with a spoonful of the apple mixture.
   
9. 9.
   Optional but really wonderful additional toppings: uncooked diced apple (a nice little crunch and, if you use a tart apple like Granny Smith, a refreshing tang in an otherwise fairly sweet soup), and a swirl of crème fraîche. Mascarpone would work well, too.
   

Variations:
One of the reasons for the popularity of butternut squash soup surely must be how graciously it accepts new ideas. Dennis Battles, of Long Beach, Washington, incorporates roasted pears in place of the more usual apples and always challenges his guests to name the secret ingredient (they never get it). And see Martha Bayne’s version on
page 140
.

Make ahead?
Steps 1 and 2, for sure; up through step 4 if you’ll be rushed on soup day.

For large crowds:
This soup is easy to multiply in the fall, when butternut squash are in such abundant supply.

I hate trying to cut a tough winter squash when it’s raw, so roasting it whole, with a few fork holes poked into it, is fair game as long as you don’t mind getting your hands dirty removing the seeds from the roasted squash. Otherwise, lightly grease a baking dish. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out and discard the seeds. Rub oil on the cut edge, and place the halves, skin-side up, in the prepared baking dish. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, let the squash cool, and then scoop out the flesh.

— Jennifer Rollins

Recipe from Sonia Montalbano,
SE Works
, Portland, Oregon

Serves 6–8

Sonia says: My mother came up with the original recipe for this soup, and then I changed it a little (mostly the difference is in how you deal with the chicken, see notes below). When I entered this soup in the Soup Cookoff (
page 80
), I had a photo of my grandmother at her wedding on the table, because nice displays always attract attention and more money for the cause. “Nona” is what Italian children call their grandmothers, and I let people draw their own conclusions; if they thought it was my grandmother’s recipe, I was willing to let them! But what I didn’t explain to them is that
I
am Nona, because when my friends all had kids none of them could say “Sonia” and it came out as “Nona.”

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1
  ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  large yellow onions, diced
  
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
  
• 8 cups water
  
• 1 (3- to 4-pound) chicken, giblets removed
  
• 8 ounces orzo or ancini di pepe pasta
  
• 2 large carrots, diced
  
• 2 celery stalks, including the green leaves, diced
  
• 1 (14-ounce) can corn kernels or kernels from 2 fresh corncobs
  
• 2–3 large cremini mushrooms, sliced
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₄
  cup chopped curly Italian parsley, plus more for garnish
  
• 2 bay leaves
  
• 1–4 cubes chicken bouillon (depending on method of preparation; see note below)
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  
• Parmesan/Romano blended cheese, grated, for garnish
  

1. 1.
   Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and thyme, and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the water.
   
2. 2.
   Break the leg bones in the chicken, but do not separate the legs from the bird; this allows some marrow to be released, which is an important flavor factor. Sonia says, “Grasp the very bottom of the leg, the part you would have in your hand if you were eating the drumstick of a fried chicken, and smack the bone with something heavy. Or use pliers to crack the bone.”
   
3. 3.
   Wrap the whole chicken in cheesecloth and submerge in the water.
   
4. 4.
   Bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the bird.
   
5. 5.
   Remove the chicken from the pot but do not discard the water.
   
6. 6.
   When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the cheesecloth and strip off the meat, discarding the skin and bones.
   

1. 1.
   Separate the breast meat from the rest of the chicken. Hack the remaining chicken, including the breastbone and ribs, into pieces approximately 2 inches in size; Sonia uses a cleaver.
   
2. 2.
   Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and thyme, and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the breasts and sauté until nicely browned, about 5 minutes per side. Remove the chicken; when it’s cool enough to handle, shred the meat and set it aside.
   
3. 3.
   Add the chicken parts to the skillet and sauté until browned, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. You may need to do this in two batches, depending on the size of the chicken.
   
4. 4.
   Place all the chicken pieces in a large soup pot, add
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₄
   cup of the water, and cover. Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. This is called “sweating” the chicken; it will release the juices and makes for a richer broth.
   
5. 5.
   Strain the chicken juices into a small bowl; remove and discard the chicken pieces that you used for sweating. Return the chicken juices to the pot and add the remaining 7
   ³
   ⁄
   ₄
   cups water.
   

1. 1.
   Add the pasta and carrots to the broth and bring to a boil. Add the celery, corn, mushrooms, parsley, and bay leaves. Reduce the heat to a simmer.
   
2. 2.
   Add the bouillon cubes: If you used the “easy” method, add 2 or 3 cubes. If you used the “other” method, I like to add 1 cube just to boost the flavor. (Or try chicken-flavor Better Than Bouillon, a concentrated paste.) Simmer until the bouillon is dissolved, 4 to 5 minutes.
   
3. 3.
   Add the shredded chicken. Simmer until the pasta is cooked, but still al dente (remove a sample and taste it). Remove the bay leaves. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot and pass freshly grated Parmesan and fresh parsley for garnishing.
   

Make ahead?
Cook the chicken, whichever way you prefer, one day ahead. Refrigerate.

For large crowds:
I suspect you could make this for an army, and it would still be delicious.

Portland, Oregon

If you are involved with any nonprofit organization, or know anyone who is, or if you simply care about your community, I’m sure you have attended fund-raisers built around a silent auction. And I’m also sure at some point you must have thought, “Isn’t there something else we could do?”

They took a typical boring event — a silent auction for charity — and turned it into something cozy and warm and welcoming. That’s the power of soup.

Turns out, there is. This small agency in Portland, a grassroots organization dedicated to job training and support services, has created an innovative event built around soup. Now in its twelfth year, the Soup Cookoff is both popular and effective: in 2011, they raised $85,000 to help the families of Southeast Portland.

The agency has one big fund-raiser a year, an event with multiple layers. There is a sit-down dinner, a silent auction, and a live auction. But the part that everyone seems to enjoy the most is the Soup Cookoff. Here’s how it works:

Local cooks (not professionals) are invited to enter their soup. They bring a large amount to the event, enough to serve tastings to several hundred people. The cooks are encouraged to prepare a description of their soup, and some put together an elaborate display.

As the guests arrive, they buy tickets for $1 each and vote for their favorite soup by dropping tickets into jars next to the soups they like best; if they run out of tickets, they just tuck in $1 bills. The money is part of the fund-raising, of course, but it’s also a way of determining the cookoff winners. At the end of this part of the evening (before the dinner) the jars are counted and the one with the most money is deemed the People’s Choice and earns the Golden Ladle award for its creator. In addition, local celebrities (chefs from local restaurants, elected officials, and community leaders) choose a second winner, and sometimes that recipe is featured in a local restaurant for a year.

The joy of it is the many conversations between tasters and cooks, and the all-in-fun competitive spirit. And in the end, the deep satisfaction of knowing that deserving people were helped.

“It was a small event at first,” executive director Holly Whittleton says, “just 30 to 40 people. In 2011, we had 350 guests, but the basic idea hasn’t changed. Community development is what we’re all about, and this was always intended to be a grassroots event with a strong community feel. Even though we’re much larger now, it still is friendly, warm, welcoming.

“Food and not-for-profits just seem to go together,” she adds with a smile. “But there’s something special about soup that fits with us. It creates a humble environment that just works. We don’t have a lot of money to rent space, so we put a focus on affordability, on highlighting our community, on having fun.”

Two recent cooks talked about their experiences — and shared their winning recipes.

Sonia Montalbano,
a volunteer board member, admires this organization because “we actually get things done. We help people learn English, help people go back to school, help people get jobs.” Speaking of the Soup Cookoff specifically, she says, “The first time I went, I was just blown away. It is such a clever idea. It’s a very festive atmosphere, with music and people milling around talking to the chefs and checking out the auction items. People are just intrigued at the idea of trying the soups. And the cooks go all out with their presentations. They are lined up on long tables, on one side of the room, with slow cookers or restaurant-style serving pans. They have a supply of small taster cups, and people gather around to ask about the soup and to taste it. I see all kinds of neat conversations between the tasters and the chefs.”

Jennifer Rollins
adds, “They took a typical boring event — a silent auction for charity — and turned it into something cozy and warm and welcoming. That’s the power of soup.”

• www.seworks.org
  

• Nona’s Chicken Soup
  
• Squash This!
  

Recipe from
Lisa Fine
, Montpelier, Vermont

Serves 6

Lisa says: Borscht tastes especially good if you make it one day and eat it the next; the soup thickens as it absorbs the flavors of the vegetables. We make plenty for leftovers to enjoy the next day.

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1 onion, diced
  
• 3 carrots, diced
  
• 3 red potatoes, scrubbed and sliced
  
• 3 beets, sliced
  
• 8 cups water or vegetable broth
  
• ¹
  ⁄
  ₂
  cabbage, sliced
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  
• Sour cream or yogurt (optional), for garnish
  

1. 1.
   Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, potatoes, and beets, and sauté until the onion is translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour the water over the vegetables and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables begin to soften, about 30 minutes.
   
2. 2.
   Add the cabbage and simmer until all the vegetables are cooked to your liking, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
   
3. 3.
   Top with or mix in sour cream or yogurt, if desired, and serve hot.
   

Make ahead?
It’s even better if you do; see Lisa’s note above.

For large crowds:
With its inexpensive and outrageously healthy ingredients, this is an ideal soup to make in large quantities.