Shrimp Bisque

Shrimp Bisque - Seriously Soupy

One of my soupy goals for 2011 is to make a Lobster Bisque, a creamy and delicious soup that I have enjoyed for years at restaurants but never attempted because it seemed too difficult. After making soups for over a year, I don't think any soup is impossible anymore (even though some can still seem challenging) and decided to try a variation of a Lobster Bisque by using some shrimp that I had at home. Still hoping to make Lobster Bisque in a few weeks, this Shrimp Bisque included carrots, leeks, celery, onions, sweet potatoes, chives, garlic, non-fat, thick Greek yogurt (I didn't have heavy cream), and some delicious lobster stock from Brooklyn Bouillon that really enhanced the flavors and actually made the soup pretty healthy (as opposed to the rich cream and butter used in most bisques). The addition of parsley, dill, and red pepper flakes also give the soup a nice kick in this delicious and comforting creamy-fish soup.

Rue of celery, stock, onions, garlic and leeks

Shrimp Bisque
Ingredients:
3 cups of water
3 stalks of celery, chopped up
1 sweet potato, chopped up
Dab of butter - use your discretion
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, peeled and minced
Lobster stock 
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 can of tomato paste
1 leek, cut up (white part only)
3 carrots, cut up
1/4 teaspoon of dried dill
1 bunch of fresh parsley - about a handful
1 pound of shrimp
1/3 cup of flour
1/2 cup of Greek yogurt such as Fage 
1 lemon, squeezed
1 chive, cut up
1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Cut up the chives, onions, garlic, leeks and celery. Add butter to a deep pan and let melt. Add the chives, onions, garlic, leeks, celery and stock. Let soften and cook for 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste, dill, red pepper flakes, parsley, water and cut up the carrots and sweet potatoes and add them to the pot. Add the yogurt and flour, stirring periodically and add more water (if necessary). Add the shrimp and lemon and let cook for another 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper, mix and taste. Add the soup to a blender and mix. Enjoy!

Brooklyn Soup Swap

Does your soup rock? - (Image Credit:nonfamous.com)

Since late last year I have been trying to make this blog more dimensional and community-focused by having soup parties, teaching soup classes, and having a soon-to-be soup tour. In correlation with Brooklyn Bouillon, I am now adding soup swap to the growing list of events. Held on February 19th from 3pm to 5pm, the soup swap will take place in Brooklyn (details in this eventbrite) where participants are asked to bring a favorite soup of their choice that can feed up to 15-20 people. If you can't cook a soup (but still love soup), you can also attend. Simply bring something that goes with soup like cheese, bread, a beverage, or a dessert. The event is 100% free and all swappers will be able to bring home 2-3 soups that they tried at the party. Not only that but this fun and casual event will be a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon - learning about soup recipes and meeting new people.

If you are in the NY metro area I would love it if you could join us. I'm hoping this will be a monthly soup meet-up where participants can create soups based on a theme such as chilled soups, bean-only soups, orange soups, noodle-only soups, meat soups, international soups, etc.

For more information and to RSVP, please visit eventbrite.

To learn more about Brooklyn Soup Swap, please visit meetup.com/Brooklyn-Soup-Swap

For any questions, please email seriouslysoupy@gmail.com

Serena

Souperbowl Cook-Off Recipes

Make-shift signs courtesy of the chalkboard at Jimmy's

Even the impending snow storm didn't scare off die-hard soup lovers.  Of course we had some people cancel but Mark Dingle of Foodie Link and myself were really pleased with the turnout for our first annual Souperbowl at Jimmy's No. 43. Part Cook Off/Fundraiser for the Bowery Soup Kitchen, six participants competed for prizes including a subscription to Edible magazine, Andrea Beaman's new book Health is Wealth, a gift basket and recipes from Brooklyn Bouillon and a gift certificate to Orwasher's Bread. An avid competitor at various food competitions, Lorin won the first prize for her Porcini Mushroom and Barley Soup. She later told us that the soup didn't come out quite like the original recipe, which usually calls for dried porcini mushrooms. Instead she used a variety of fresh mushrooms and hamburger meat - even though it wasn't what she intended to make the crowd loved this hearty soup and voted unanimously for her creation. Naomi of Cantaloupe Alone won second place for her Black Bean and Kale Soup that were topped with some amazing cornbread croutons. She also had a similar story of how her soup recipe changed (originally intended to more of a chili) - but was still packed with rich flavors from the sriracha, chili powder and the beer. Chris won third place for his Pancetta and Corn Chowder. He talked about how easy this soup was to prepare that was also a "lighter "Italian" twist on a Winter classic soup."  An evening of community and delicious food and a running joke about a participant that brought a can of Campbell's chicken noodle soup as their entry made us forget about the impending snow storm. And really, who is afraid of a little snow when you can indulge in an evening of soup!

The Winner Is...

First Place - Porcini Mushroom and Barley Soup By Lorin Cook
Love this soup for a freezing, snowed in day. It's a hit after the kids make a snow man and the little Popsicles need to be warmed up. Hearty and delicious, it's a real winner. I've made this for dinner parties and impressed even the toughest of critics.....my family! It's not only soup... it's a meal!

Lorin talking about her mushroom and barley soup

Porcini Mushroom and Barley Soup

Ingredients:
4 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
51 oz. good quality chicken stock
1 cup pearl barley
2 teaspoons thyme, chopped

Directions:
1. heat water to steaming and add mushrooms
2. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes, until soft
3. Strain , reserve broth and chop mushrooms
4. Melt butter, add onion, reduce to low and cook,stirring often until caramelized (15 minutes)
5. Add celery and carrots, cook 5 minutes
6. Add mushrooms and garlic, cook 2 minutes
7. Add white wine and cook until almost evaporated
8.Srit in mushroom broth(reserved liquid rom soaking), chicken stock & barley
9. simmer 30 minutes until almost tender
10. Stir in thyme, salt and pepper
11. Simmer 5-10 minutes until tender


Second Place - Black Bean and Kale Soup by Naomi of Cantaloupe Alone
Black beans are a popular favorite in my kitchen. Velvety soft with a deep savory flavor that stands in for meat. Once the beans are ready they are happy on a plate with other foods including eggs, rice, pork or chicken, sweet potatoes, corn bread, kale or chard, and many more mid-autumn and winter favorites. I buy mine from Cayuga Farms, which has a stand at Wednesday's Union Square Farmer's Market. Get them in bulk, make fewer trips, and take benefit of Cayuga's price breaks.

Naomi's soup was a hit!

Black Bean and Kale Soup
Ingredients:
1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 tblsp olive oil

12 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped, divided

2 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped, divided

2 cups dried black beans, rinsed

2 qt water

1 bottle of beer (you can even use a local one, I use Brooklyn Lager!)

1 tsp plus 1 tblsp chili powder

1/2 tsp sriracha (chili paste), optional

1/2 cup olive oil

4 large leaves of kale, sliced into ribbons

salt and pepper
 
Directions:
Saute the onion in 2 tblsp olive oil until transparent in a large stock pot over medium. Add half of the garlic and half of the tomato. Cook until tomatoes become shaggy and are falling apart. Add the black beans, water, half of the bottle of beer, and 1 tsp chili powder. Cook for 1 1/2 hours until the beans are mostly tender. Add the rest of the garlic, tomatoes, beer, 1 tblsp chili powder, 1/2 cup olive oil, and sriracha. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 30-45 minutes until beans are very tender. Add the kale and cook for 3 minutes until kale is just beginning to wilt. Serve!

Third Place  - Pancetta Corn Chowder By Dave
A lighter "Italian" twist on a Winter classic. Combining comfort food with an infusion of smoked flavor, this soup will satisfy a variety of tastes.

Chris talks pancetta

Third Place - Pancetta Corn Chowder
Ingredients:
One Slab of Pancetta
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 Yukon Gold Potatoes
2 Yellow Onions
1 Tbsp Minced Fresh Garlic
1 Tbsp Thyme
1 Tsp Tarragon
1 Tbsp Cayenne Peppr
1 Tsp Smoked Paprika
1 Tbsp Dill
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Pepper
¼ Cup Of Sugar
2 Pints Heavy Cream
Half Gallon 2% Milk
2 Lbs Sweet Corn (Not on the cob)
¼ Cup Flour
2 Tbsp Butter

Directions:
1)      Place diced Pancetta with extra virgin olive oil in a pan and cook until slightly brown, not over cooked (est 5 – 10 min).
2)      When finished, place the Pancetta and pork drippings into a large soup pot add small diced potatoes, small diced yellow onion, minced garlic, thyme, tarragon, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and dill.  Sautee for a few minutes over medium heat.
3)      Add in the heavy cream and 2% milk, bring to a boil, then reduce to medium (20 minutes)
4)      Lay sweet corn on a baking sheet, spray with extra vigin olive oil and sprinkle with a touch of sugar.  Cook at 450 until slightly browned (cooking time varies 10 -15 min).
5)      Make a roux – Sautee flour and butter until golden brown
6)      Add roasted sweet corn and the roux to the soup and continue cooking over medium heat (20 minutes).
7)      Garnish with paprika and fresh parsley.

Beautiful gift basket provided by Brooklyn Bouillon

Andrea Beaman's new book - Health is Wealth was awarded to all 3 winners

Rachael Mamane passionately discussing her company - Brooklyn Bouillon

We are having yet another soup party in February. Email me at SeriouslySoupy@gmail.com for more details.

Seriously Soupy Serena

Friendly Reminder: Soup Cook-Off This Wednesday

There is only three days away until the soup cook-off/fundraiser for the Bowery Mission, a non-profit soup kitchen in NYC and FoodieLink, a website that focuses on healthy food, good eating and long-term sustainability. I have teamed up with FoodieLink to sponsor this exciting event and I am pleased to announce that Andrea Beaman, Season One contestant of Top Chef has signed on to judge the 10 finalists and their soups. There will also be prizes for the first, second and third placed soups including a subscription to Edible Manhattan magazines, copies of Beaman's books, stock from Brooklyn Bouillon and a gift certificate from Orwasher’s Bakery - among many other prizes!

Entries are currently closed for the contest but for those that attend you can expect to sample of over 10 soups, bread from Orwasher’s Bakery, regional cheeses, and the chance to get to know good foodies including NYC food professionals. The event is held at Jimmy’s No. 43 and tickets for this fundraiser and all-you-can-eat soup party costs $30/per person. To purchase tickets, please visit Event Brite. To learn more about this exciting winter soup contest, please visit FoodieLink.

The Brooklyn Cookery Experience

Ribollita made at Brooklyn Cookery - Image Credit: Alicia Hansen Photography

Students at the Brooklyn Cookery - Image Credit: Alicia Hansen Photography

Soup Talk - Image Credit: Alicia Hansen Photography

Straining the Vegetables for the Stock - Image Credit: Alicia Hansen Photography

When I started Seriously Soupy in October of 2009, I never (and I mean never!) would have thought that I would love soup making (or soup experimenting as much as a do). I never tout myself as an expert or a chef but just someone who has loved learned about how to cook better as well as how to cook with new ingredients and learn new techniques. Another part of this experience has been the exciting opportunities to attend events, guest blogging, and most recently teaching a class about soup making at Brooklyn Cookery. This monthly home-based cooking school run by Emily and Sweet Joy is a relaxed and educational forum where guest chef's (and the ladies themselves) teach about simple, seasonal, and affordable menus ranging from how to make pasta, tapas, and wine, to an upcoming cocktail class (sorry, that one is sold-out) and a soup and bread-making workshop. Having known about the class for over a month (in the mist of the holiday madness), I knew that I would be making a basic vegetable broth, a ribollita, and a chrizo and kale soup. Since these were all recipes that I have mastered on Soupy, I felt confident that they tasted good but I was very nervous about the actual teaching part - hence why I take the blogging route. Learning about the origins of ribollita helped take some of the mystery out of this Tuscan soup, which I learned was traditionally prepared in three steps or that broccoli and kale are probably not the best ingredients to use when making broth - interesting tidbits that I often overlook as I experiment with recipes.

Soupy Ingredients - Image Credit: Alicia Hansen Photography

Rachael S. Mamane talking about beef and chicken stock - Image Credit: Alicia Hansen Photography

Dough - Image Credit: Alicia Hansen Photography

Jeff's homemade bread - Image Credit: Alicia Hansen Photography

I prepared the vegetable broth ahead of time as well as soaked of the beans overnight (thank you Sweet Joy) for the ribollita. After a brief discussion about vegetable broth, I enlisted Rachael S. Mamane of Brooklyn Bouillon to talk to the class about how to prepare meat and chicken stocks. Her passion for cooking is obvious as she emphasized that beef stock generally take over 12 hours to prepare and that chicken stock (which takes about three hours) and also requires skimming of the impurities. We then talked about ribollta and the class got to work chopping up the vegetables (the only tedious part of making soups). While that was cooking, Jeff, a bread enthusiast, discussed bread making and how it is actually easy to prepare. Demonstrating how to prepare, I was amazed just how simple it was. Since we were making baguettes, a handy Non-Stick Baguette Pan was used - allowing air to circulate during the baking process. The result was a crisp and delicious piece of bread. Jeff also experimented with bread-making and placed some dough topped with fresh rosemary in Sweet Joy's fire - resulting in a delicious homemade flatbread that complimented perfectly with truffle butter, olive oil and herb butter! The chrizo was up next - another simple recipe that essentially involves cooking the potatoes and heating the chrizo and some delicious flavors (hello, red pepper flakes!).

Bread experiment - Image Credit: Alicia Hansen Photography

Jeff teaching us about bread - Image Credit: Alicia Hansen Photography

Chopping away - Image Credit: Alicia Hansen Photography

The whole experience went by so quick - a whirlwind of learning about bread and frantically flavoring the soup and chopping up vegetables that (I think) was a fun experience for everyone involved. Not only an experience about making and eating soup and bread, Brooklyn Cookery was an open and friendly atmosphere to meet new friends and talk about anything from food to kids to the impending snowstorm. There was wine and cheese and of course bread that we happily devoured and even some dough that we were able to take home to try this bread making experiment for ourselves. A community of learning, food and friends that not only allows students to take home recipes -- but filled our bellies, minds and souls. 

Images by: Alicia Hansen Photography

To learn more about Brooklyn Cookery, please visit: http://brooklyncookery.blogspot.com/

The Recipes:

Vegetable Stock Recipe
Ingredients:
8-10 cups of water, approx.
Bunch of dill
3-5 stalks of scallions, chopped up

1/2 red onion, peeled and chopped up

cloves of garlic
5-6 red and white potatoes, chopped up

1 head of broccoli

1 zucchini, chopped up
2-3 carrots, chopped up

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

Other ingredients for vegetable broth:
Celery

Mushrooms

Corn (right on the cob)

Spinach

Squash
Peppers
Sweet potatoes
Peas
green beans
fresh herbs

Directions:

Add eight to 10 cups of water to a large pot and let boil. Cut up vegetables of your choice (skins and all), and add them to the boiling water. Consider some fresh herbs and pepper to flavor your stock. Cover the stock and place on a low flame, letting it cook for two to three hours. Check on it periodically to taste and stir. Turn off flame and strain veggies in a soup strainer (veggies can also be used for another soup). Freezer half or use your stock for soup! Enjoy.

Ribollita (Bread Soup)


Ingredients:

2 cups of Northern white beans, soaked (or one 15-oz can of Northern white beans)

6 cups of water, approximately

2-3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 15-ounce can of organic stewed tomato sauce (or 2-4 fresh tomatoes, diced)
1 zucchini, cut up

1 bunch of dark kale, cut up

2-3 stalks of carrots, cut up

2-3 stalks of celery, cut up 
1/2 red onion, peeled and chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced
bunch of fresh basil, chopped up
bunch of fresh rosemary, chopped up
bunch of fresh thyme, chopped up

1 tablespoon of bread crumbs 

Crunchy Italian or French bread, cut up into small squares
parmesan cheese (for top of soup)

salt and pepper

Directions: 
Soak the white beans for 3-4 hours. When ready to cook, add 2 cups of water to the pot and bring to a slight boil. Cut up the onions, carrots, zucchini and garlic and them to the pot, along with some olive oil. Let cook for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, basil, beans, rosemary, thyme and the rest of the water and cover. Let cook for an hour (checking and stirring the soup periodically). After an hour (or so), add the bread crumbs and kale and let cook for another 5 minutes. Cut up the bread into small squares and add them to the soup. Serve and top with parmesan cheese (optional).

Chrizo-and-Kale Soup

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped up
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes
5 waxy potatoes (1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
3 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 bunch kale (12 ounces), stemmed and shredded
12 ounces chrizo, cut into 1/2-inch half moons

Directions:
In a large pot (6 to 8 quarts), heat oil over medium. Add onion and cook until soft, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic and red-pepper flakes; cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add potatoes and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer until potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add kale and sausage. Simmer until kale is wilted, 10 to 15 minutes.

Russian Beef and Cabbage Soup

The locally-sourced and produced Brooklyn Bouillon

The second favorite recipe at the soup party was this Russian beef and cabbage soup that was submitted by Rachael Mamane as an entry for the fall soup contest.  Coincidentally Rachael also happens to the founder of a new locally-sourced broth company called Brooklyn Bouillon that includes a product line of beef, chicken, duck, lamb, bison, turkey, lobster and vegetable stock and veal demi-glace from farms such as Grazin' Angus and DiPaolo Turkey. So not only would I be trying a 100 percent brand new soup, I would be testing out her bouillon that is expected to hit the shelves at Eataly as well as launch later this year.

I used grass-fed beef, which Rachael stated provides a richness to the soup that when paired with the cabbage and vinegar provides a natural tang - as opposed to using sauerkraut. I also used a mixed variety of heirloom tomatoes and an interesting combination of sugar, red pepper flakes and simple flavorings like salt and pepper. For this recipe, I started making the soup a day before the party and allowing it to sit overnight in its juices really enhanced the flavoring and texture of the soup causing it to easily fall apart, which Rachael also said this allows for any excess fat to make its way to the surface. Although this was the second soup voted in the taster's choice poll, it was the first one to go at the party and a recipe that is easy to make on your first try. I also found that the bouillon naturally enhanced the soup -- complementing the beef and added a rich and vibrant taste to the soup. Sadly with the franticness of making four soups over of the course of two days,  I didn't manage to take a picture of the completed process, but I do have step-by-step pictures of how to make it. I hope you enjoy the hearty fall soup, and as soon as Brooklyn Bouillon is up and running you'll have a delicious stock to work with.