Gingered Carrot Soup

Colorful and fragrant carrot and ginger soup is a light and soothing soup. Carrot soup with ginger is a nutritious and low fat soup recipe with just a touch of sweetness and a touch of spice.

This carrot and ginger soup recipe is both vegetarian and vegan. Scroll down for more vegetarian carrot soup recipes.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:

* 3 tbsp olive oil
* 1/2 yellow onion, diced
* 1/4 cup fresh ginger, minced
* 4 cups chopped and peeled carrots (about 1 1/2 pounds)
* 3 cups vegetable broth
* 1 1/2 cups orange juice
* dash nutmeg
* salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
In a large pot, sautee onions and ginger in olive oil until soft, about 3-5 minutes.

Add carrots and vegetable broth and reduce heat to medium. Allow to simmer for about 40 minutes, or until carrots are soft.

Add orange juice and stir well.

Working in small batches and using a food processor or blender, process soup until smooth.

Return to pot or serving bowl and add nutmeg, salt and pepper, stirring well. Serve with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream if desired and enjoy!

Healthy soup
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Chilled Wild Blueberry Soup

When I was younger, we used to pick wild huckleberries while anchored in the Georgian Bay area of Canada. We'd all return with purple mouths, hands and tongues, but with enough berries left in our containers so my mother could make the world's most heavenly huckleberry pie.

I've heard many an argument about wild blueberries versus wild huckleberries. Do you know the difference?

They come from the same family but are a very different berry. Wild Huckleberries only grow in the wild but wild blueberries often are harvested commercially on farms. (You can even buy them frozen in your market.) The wild blueberry is smaller than a regular blueberry and has many soft, tiny almost unnoticeable seeds, while the huckleberry has larger seeds so they are slightly grittier when eaten. Blueberries are also more blue, while huckleberries are blackish blue or reddish black. Huckleberries have a much more vibrant and robust flavor than blueberries. They're sweeter too. Also, wild blueberries are have a slightly more earthy taste than you might expect.

Now that I live in Florida, my days of fresh-picked huckleberries are just a memory. But because of those memories, I should have guessed how much I'd like this nearly savory soup made from wild blueberries. It's a thicker fruit soup than I'm used to, but you could add more cream to thin it out if you prefer. A beautiful summery first course, you could also pass it around in little glass mugs.

Chilled Wild Blueberry Soup
By Rowan Jacobsen from Fine Cooking Magazine

Ingredients:
8 cups frozen wild blueberries (from one 3-lb. bag), or fresh if available 
1/2 cup dry white wine 
1/2 cup heavy cream 
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves; more for garnish 
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest (from 1/2 medium lemon)  
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom 
Kosher salt 
Sour cream or crème fraîche

Method:
Heat the blueberries and wine in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the blueberries are thawed, about 5 minutes (if using fresh blueberries, bring the mixture to a simmer). Stir in the heavy cream, mint, lemon zest, cardamom, and 3/4 tsp. salt.
Working in batches, purée the blueberry mixture in a blender or food processor until smooth. Strain through a medium-mesh sieve into a storage container. Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator, about 4 hours.

To serve, whisk vigorously to loosen the soup (chilling thickens it and you can add more cream at this point if you wish.). Season to taste with more salt. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and garnish with a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche and a single mint leaf.  Makes about 5 cups.

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After glancing through my drafts folder, I noticed lots of odds and ends I've never gotten around to posting. Rather than deleting them I thought I'd start a little side blog and get them posted as there are several good ideas and recipes among the discarded drafts. You'll notice some wooden cooking utensils on the sidebar. That's the new blog, if you have time to take a look.

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Have a wonderful 4th of July!
Happy Birthday, America!

Cold Sorrel Soup

I love cold soups in the summer, don't you? So refreshing. What could be easier for a picnic? Just pour it into a thermos to keep it chilled and take it along. You can dress cold soups up or down.....it all depends on how you serve them. I posted a wonderful strawberry soup a while back; I've served it at a luncheon, at a casual cook-out and it was even served at an engagement party I attended,  passed around in small glass cups on a silver tray during cocktail hour.  And I've got another cold soup coming your way for the 4th of July. 

But today, it's all about chilled sorrel soup. Is sorrel available in your area? Or perhaps you're growing it in your garden?  If so, you've got to try this lovely soup. Sorrel is a member of the buckwheat family and you'll find it most frequently used in soups and sauces. You can use sorrel in salads too, but I'd stick with the small tender leaves that are less acidic. Cooked in a cream soup like this one, you'll find sorrel tangy with a slight lemony flavor.
 

It's an easy green to clean. Wash to remove grit, fold the leaf in half lengthwise, grab the stem/vein and pull to remove any woody strings. Sorrel practically falls apart and melts when it hits anything hot. Fresh, as you can see, it's a lovely green color. Unfortunately, when cooked it turns a drab green, but its fresh tangy taste survives to make a delicious soup.

I've saved a couple recipes. Gabrielle Hamilton from Prune likes to serve her sorrel soup hot over some diced cooked potatoes rather than puréeing the potatoes along with the sorrel. I think I'd like to try that texture in a sorrel soup and I'd like to try it hot too. But because it's summer, I'm sticking with this recipe which calls for chilling and you can serve it in paper soup cups if you want. 

Cold Sorrel, Leek and Potato Soup
Adapted from HERE.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter 
1 medium leek (white and light-green parts only), thinly sliced (about 1 cup) 
Kosher salt 
2 small Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into small dice (about 2 cups) 
4 cups low-salt chicken broth 
4 oz. sorrel leaves, ribs removed; more for garnish 
1/2 cup heavy cream  
Freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Melt the butter in a 4-quart pot over medium-low heat. Add the leek and a pinch of salt and cook until tender but not brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the potatoes and then add 4 cups of chicken stock and 1 tsp. salt. Bring to a boil, cover partially, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 12 minutes. Add the sorrel and cook until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

Purée the soup in a blender until smooth. Pour the soup into a medium bowl, cover, and refrigerate until completely chilled, about 4 hours. Whisk the cream into the soup and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with thinly sliced sorrel leaves and even a dollop of yogurt or sour cream. Makes about 4 cups.

Cranberry Bean, Lacinato Kale and Pasta Soup

I'm not the soup-maker my sister is, but every once in a while I like to make a big batch of soup and portion it out for freezing...what's left anyway, after enjoying it for a couple days. I'm thinking healthy is where I want to be right now after all the rich food since Thanksgiving and this soup fits the bill perfectly.

Luisa at The Wednesday Chef posted this a few years back and I copied it. I forgot all about it until I read something recently about cranberry beans. So I dug it out, ordered some cranberry beans from Rancho Gordo and made it for my daughter on a cold Florida day. First, I discovered cranberry beans taste marvelous all by themselves. (Testing them for doneness was a treat.) Then, knowing kale is one of Tracy's favorite veggies made it a perfect match and I had both leeks and orecchiette pasta in the house. 
Luisa suggests cooking a fresh portion of pasta each time you serve the soup but I didn't and I froze some portions as well. She's right of course, and it makes for a better soup, but it's rather time consuming when you're in a hurry.

You'll see after reading the recipe there is a divine spiced bean purée to dollop on top and then mix into the soup. Wow. The flavors! This puree MAKES the soup. The first photo shows the bean puree before mixing it in. I think it makes a nice presentation; then you can serve the Parmesan on the side. The last photo was taken after we mixed in the purée. 
You're going to love this one!

Cranberry Bean, Lacinato Kale and Pasta Soup
From The Wednesday Chef

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil plus 2 1/2 tablespoons, divided
2 leeks, white part only, cleaned and sliced, about 2 cups
2 medium carrots, finely chopped, about 1 cup
1 onion, finely chopped, about 1 cup
3 cups dried cranberry beans or Good Mother Stallards, if you're lucky enough to have some hanging around the house
Kosher salt
2 bunches lacinato kale, cleaned, stemmed and coarsely chopped, about 10 cups
3 cups dried orecchiette pasta (about 9 ounces)
1 tablespoon fresh minced sage
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons Hungarian paprika
1/8 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Method:

In a 4-quart soup pot or cast iron casserole (with a lid that fits), heat 1/4 cup of olive oil and cook the leeks, carrots and onions over medium-low heat until just softened, 8 to 10 minutes.


Add the dried beans and 12 cups of water. Bring to a simmer over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and cover the pot with the lid, stirring occasionally. 

After about 45 minutes, add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt. Continue to cook, covered, and again stirring occasionally, just until the beans are soft, 45 minutes to 1 hour or more (this may vary according to the beans you use).

With a slotted spoon, remove 1 cup of the beans and, separately, 2 tablespoons of bean liquor and set both aside. Add the kale to the soup, stirring in a few cups at a time as the greens wilt. Cover, and continue to cook for 8 to 10 minutes more until the greens are tender, then remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and reserve.

In a food processor, combine the reserved beans and bean liquor, sage, parsley, paprikas and lemon juice, the remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth, then check for seasoning, adding more salt if desired, or bean liquor to aid in blending.

Just before serving, stir the cooked pasta into the soup. 

Ladle the soup into bowls and top each with about 2 tablespoons of spiced bean purée. Grate Parmesan over the top of each bowl to taste and serve immediately. Serves 8-10.

The Real Deal

There was a small restaurant in a strip mall in Michigan...a joint really...but a group of us met there for breakfast or lunch fairly often. It was in our neighborhood and their steel cut oatmeal was the morning draw. The place was always hot, crowded (everyone knew a good thing when they tasted it) and the wait staff was wonderful.

I was devastated to learn on one of my trips north recently that our old hangout had closed. Nobody ever heard an explanation. I'm doubly sad because the one thing I always ordered for lunch, without fail, was their matzoh ball soup. Now I've tried a lot of matzoh ball soups and aside from Wolfie's in Ft. Lauderdale, now also closed, I've never had one that came close to theirs. Yes, you're all going to comment that I should try such and such and I wish I could, but trust me when I say this soup was a winner. No fussing around...just great chicken broth with two lovely, light matzoh balls in it. It's all about the broth, isn't it?

What I know about traditional Jewish cooking is zilch. I've made Kugel, yes. Probably not a traditional recipe either. But matzoh ball soup? Nope. Never made it. Which is odd because I do make my mother's chicken broth on regular basis. So I've got that part down pat. If I can't get that soup at my favorite dive any more, I'm just going to have to make it myself.

So. I began with Mother's chicken broth and stuck it in the fridge overnight. Please go here for a printable recipe. Use any veggies you want. (I hope you all keep a bag in your freezer to save pieces of leftover fresh veggies and chicken bones until you have enough to make some stock. So simple to do and it makes such a difference in your cooking.)

And rendering chicken fat? A new one on me. It appears that rendered chicken fat (also called schmaltz) is an integral part of a matzoh ball. And a lot of other dishes as well. I had saved chicken fat from some chickens I cooked and froze it. It didn't seem enough to me, so I asked the butcher for some more. He directed me to the freezer and there were packages of it. A smaller market might actually be willing to save it for you free of charge...although I'm not sure anyone does free of charge anymore. Please go here for a printable recipe for "schmaltz". Bring the schmaltz to room temperature before making the matzoh balls.

Now as far as the matzoh balls are concerned, there are a lot of recipes out there. But I wanted pure soup....without noodles, chicken or veggies..... although I added a sprig of thyme, a mushroom and a carrot to mine, but merely for presentation, and plain old fashioned light-as-air matzoh balls. Ina Garten uses parsley in her recipe and egg whites for lightness (everyone else said seltzer) and because I think she knows what she's doing, I made her recipe, sans parsley, which I am not overly fond of to begin with. But just to cover my bases, I also made an old New York Times matzoh ball recipe with seltzer just to compare. 

Ina's were problematic; they were so airy I could barely form them into balls, even after refrigeration. The ones with seltzer were somewhat denser and were a cinch to form into balls; later, when I bit into each of them, they were nearly the same. So I am only going to give you the recipe I found in the New York Times. You can go online and try Ina's if you want...as I said she used lots of parsley in hers; anyway I found hers way too difficult to handle resulting in practically no difference in texture. (The ones with more holes in the photo below were Ina's, but both were equally light.)

Now my Jewish readers will probably jump all over this recipe and I can't wait to read the comments. But if I do say so myself, this soup was perfect.
 
And remember, fall is nearly here with cold and flu season not far off. The very least you should do is make a big pot of broth and freeze it in several containers, ready to go. There is NOTHING better than chicken soup when you feel lousy. Actually, even when you feel good!

Matzoh Ball Soup

Ingredients:
homemade chicken broth
schmaltz

For the matzoh balls:
1 cup matzo meal
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons schmaltz (rendered seasoned chicken fat) at room temperature
1 tablespoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup seltzer

Method:
Mix all matzo ball ingredients in a bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Bring some salted water to a boil in a pot. Reduce heat; form matzo balls by taking spoonfuls of the batter into the palm of your wet hands and rolling them loosely into balls. Drop them into the simmering salt water one at a time. Cover the pot and cook them for 30 to 40 minutes.
Then bring your chicken stock to a simmer. Serve your stock with two matzoh balls.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

It was in the 30's last night and will be again tonight. Brrrrr. Big deal, you say. Well in South Florida, it IS a big deal. Our homes are not insulated as well as yours; the cold comes pouring in all the sliding doors and windows, all while we're setting records for cold. (Yes, we have heat, but it just isn't very efficient when temps drop this low.) And I know pretty much across the rest of the country, you're setting records too. Luckily, I kept my Michigan warm clothes!  Down jackets, sweaters, wool caps, gloves and boots are the order of the day down here. It's funny, really, to see everyone dressed like this with palm trees in the background!
Did I ever mention it snowed down here in the 70's? Nobody believes me, but it did. Didn't stick, of course, but we had flurries. I was driving the kids to school when it started. Snow wasn't new to us because we had lived in Michigan for years, but you should have heard the commotion from kids who had never seen it before.

Anyway, it's perfect weather for soup - something I don't say very often. My sister to the rescue! She has a simple but delicious recipe for a Seafood Chowder which I love. Sharon is the master soup-maker in the family....she has an endless supply of hearty, delicious soup recipes and this is yet another winner. Frankly, I think it comes from living in the north country and she loves soup every day for lunch. I like this particular soup because it takes no time at all, you can freeze it and you can use any kind of crabmeat, including imitation crabmeat. In fact, I think this soup is better with the imitation crab. Certainly cheaper.

Here's the skinny on imitation crabmeat:

The processing of imitation crabmeat begins with the skinning and boning of (usually) Alaska Pollock. Then the meat is minced and rinsed, and the water is leached out. This creates a thick paste called surimi. The word means "minced fish" in Japanese, and the essential techniques for making it were developed in Japan over 800 years ago. Surimi is commonly used in Japan to make a type of fish ball or cake called kamaboko. In 1975, a method for processing imitation crabmeat from surimi was invented in Japan, and in 1983, American companies started production. Many ingredients are added to the surimi to give it a stable form, appealing texture, and crab-like flavor. Sugar, sorbitol, wheat or tapioca starch, egg whites, and vegetable or soybean oil can all help improve the form of the surimi. Natural and artificial crab flavorings are added, and some of these flavorings are made from real crab or from boiled shells. Carmine, caramel, paprika, and annatto extract are often used to make the crab's red, orange, or pink coloring. Imitation crab is cooked, which helps set the surimi and give it the final texture and appearance. Nutritionally speaking, surimi is not that different from real crab, although it is lower in cholesterol.

I'm making a big pot of this soup today, having it for lunch, giving some to a friend and then freezing the rest for the next deep cold front, which is due Saturday, with no time in between to recover from this one!

Sharon's Seafood Chowder

Ingredients:

1 small onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped ( with leaves)
5 mushrooms, chopped
1/3 cup salted butter
2 cans cream of potato soup
1 can cream of shrimp soup
4 cups milk or half and half
1 can minced clams with juice
8 ounces crabmeat, shredded
10 ounces small frozen shrimp
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
4 dashes angostura bitters
1/3 cup sherry

Method:

In a medium soup pot, sauté celery, onions, and mushrooms in butter until almost caramelized. Stir in remaining ingredients except the sherry. Heat but do not boil. Add sherry and adjust with more cream if desired and season to taste with salt and pepper. Freezes well in small containers.

Savor the Moment

It’s way past time to talk a little about cookbooks. We always talk recipes, but never enough about the cookbooks we find them in. One of my favorites is Savor the Moment- a treat for the visual senses. You’ll just love it. The Junior League of Boca Raton published it in January of 2000. Great photography and design are a big part of its success, but let's face it, the recipes have got to be meticulously tested and super good to rack up sales. And believe me- these stand the test. There are even a couple of my own recipes in there….thank God; how embarrassing if I had nothing scrumptious enough to get in!

We all own some Junior League cookbooks- I would be amazed if you told me you didn’t. But in this one, the photographs by Dan Forer are breath-taking… with rather enchanting and unique mise en scènes. And you don’t need to live in Boca Raton to appreciate them either. The book highlights special menus aboard a yacht, playing croquet, in a garden on the grounds of our Morikami Museum, on a polo field and a picnic under a beachside gazebo. The vignettes go on page after delightful page- in color and in exquisite taste. One that absolutely charms me every time I see it also makes me think of the 20’s for some reason; Nick and Nora Charles must be lounging just out of the camera's reach:

Don’t you love it? (I probably should have chosen one featuring food rather than gin, but you can’t beat a good martini.) I seem to be rambling on about the visuals rather than the flavors but let me reassure you: while the photography is first class, so are the recipes within. Everything gels perfectly to form a nifty book -think Christmas or birthday gifts here. It’s a bigtime winner. It’s also an award-heavy book; one important one among many: it won the 2001 James Beard Foundation/KitchenAid Book Awards. And what’s really sweet about this book ( and all other Junior League cookbooks) is it raises funds directly benefiting community projects. How can you beat all this? I'm going to make it really simple for you to order: cookbook@jlbr.com or http://www.jlbr.org/. Trust me on this one- it’s a super addition to everyone’s cookbook library.

Anyway……just because it’s spring (you know- cherry blossoms, forsythia, pre-wedding parties) and just because this is a luscious-looking, delicious and versatile soup, I'm going to share Savor the Moment’s Strawberry Patch Soup recipe with you- which, as it turns out, is a mere side bar on one of the pages. Mere being an understatement in this case.

My introduction to Strawberry Patch Soup was at an engagement party- where practically everything was pink, including most of the women’s dresses and the men’s ties. And to top it all off, after we had been munching on various hor d’oeuvres for a while, glass cups half filled with this soup were passed on silver platters. Chilled of course, and what could be more unusual? And pink. Clever hostess.

It’s really tough to classify. I wouldn’t call it a dessert soup (though there's no reason you couldn't serve it as a light dessert)… not a savory soup either. Something in between I guess; because it’s not particularly sweet, but it goes down really smoothly- especially on a hot evening, which this was. Someone mentioned the recipe was in Savor the Moment and I dug the recipe out and have since served it several times. Always in a crystal bowl so everyone could serve themselves and usually at a luncheon. Luckily, I discovered some small glass cups in my pantry which were the perfect size because I consider this is a sipping soup not a sit-down-and-have-a-bowlful type soup.

Not that there aren't plenty of recipes for Strawberry Soup around, but none quite like this one. The instructions in the original recipe don't mention this, but I like the soup to be really smooth and creamy so I strain the strawberries after I have processed them. It takes some elbow grease, but the results are worth it: a soft pink and no seeds.

Get creative with your serving glasses, but you can’t miss if you serve it icy cold on a warm day- in a garden or on your patio. It seems to be a ladies luncheon soup to me, but remember, I first had it in the evening- at a cocktail party. And everyone loved it.

Strawberry Patch Soup

(Adapted from Savor the Moment, Junior League of Boca Raton, Florida)

Ingredients:

16 ounces fresh strawberries
1 cup sour cream
1 cup half and half
¼ cup superfine sugar
2 tablespoons Riesling

Method:

Combine strawberries and sugar in a food processor. Pulse until well blended. Because I like a smooth soup, I take the time to press the mixture through a fine sieve.

Return the strained mixture to the processor, add the other ingredients and pulse until combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve. You can garnish with mint and strawberries if you like. I would guess this serves a small glass to about 15 people or if you serve it as a dessert, perhaps 8 -10 servings.

More Soup

I seem to be all hung up on hot soups right now. Probably the bone cold weather we’re all having. Yes, I live in Florida, but it’s plenty cold here right now too- things are relative. Our 50° is the north’s 20°. Although anything relative to the north’s minus 40° probably will never happen in Florida. But we did get cold enough for snow in the mid 70’s; really- I was there- I was driving the kids to school. Still, our homes just aren’t as well insulated as the northern homes are- the cold sort of oozes in around windows and doors.

My son and his family in Michigan are right in the middle of this wretched weather, although for some odd reason, he never complains to me about it- neither does my daughter who lives in New York City. I do know my son would love to move to Florida if he could do the following: 1. Sell his home and 2. Find a job down here. If these two things happened (unlikely in Michigan’s economy- well, in everyone’s economy right now.) he would be down here in a flash. I also know his daughter would like to graduate with her high school class in Clarkston and that will happen in 2010 so it’s coming fast. When his friends express surprise at his wish, they forget he was raised here from the time he was 9, so it seems like home to him. And his brother is living down here too.

Michiganders (and the far north in general) turn out some of the best soup-makers around. When I lived there, I had an enormous repertoire of hot soups and my sister, who lives there still, has homemade soup nearly every day for lunch. I am still watching my weight after my splurges over the holidays so I have been searching for low cal, healthy soup recipes.

Several months ago I was watching Nigella Lawson on some channel or other and she threw together a soup that looked delicious, comforting and low cal. I printed it out but have not had the chance to try it until this week. I had a couple lunch guests coming for a meeting and decided to try it; we only wanted a light meal so I thought this would be perfect. The point of the recipe is to use whatever you happen to have in your refrigerator; of course, Nigella just “happened” to have Udon noodles ( I found them in our Whole Foods store.) and also had bok choy, ginger, bean sprouts and mushrooms handy. I don’t keep those items on a regular basis so had to make a trip to the store; but I think her point was you could substitute other noodles for the udon noodles, or regular mushrooms for shiitake- just use what you have. Nigella can turn even soup-making into a sexy event- cooking while in her bathrobe and giving a sly wink and grin when she takes a mouthful.

If you get a "snow day" perhaps you could give this soup a try. Hopefully you will have some of the ingredients in your pantry; if not, improvise! It's the flavor of the broth that counts so stock some star anise and ginger.

It barely takes any time at all to make this soup and the star anise gives it a slight licorice flavor; you certainly can omit it if you like, but I find it an unusual and delicious addition. I served it along with some toasted whole wheat pita pieces sprinkled with sesame seeds. The entire lunch had an Asian flair. Everyone smacked their lips in delight and asked immediately for the recipe.

Udon Noodle Soup

Adapted from Nigella Lawson, Nigella Express

Ingredients:

6 ounces udon noodles (dried, from a packet)

3 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 star anise

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

2 tablespoons soy sauce

3/4 cup bean sprouts

3/4 cup sugar snaps (zucchini or any fast cooking vegetable you happen to have)

3/4 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms

2 heads baby bok choy, finely sliced

2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves (optional)

Method:

Place the stock, brown sugar, star anise, ginger and soy sauce in a saucepan. When the soup comes to a boil, add the noodles. Once these are nearly done (read the noodle package for instructions- udon noodles take about 4 minutes)) add the bean sprouts, mushrooms, sugar snaps and bok choy. These vegetables will be done in 3 minutes. Pour the soup into two bowls and top with cilantro, if desired.

Prince

My daughter has a cat that is borderline certifiable. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. It’s not that he’s unfriendly, just that he marches to his own drummer- and not the way most cats do. When she puts makeup on, he climbs a corner wall nearby, hangs there precariously and watches her. When she goes to the loo, he goes to the loo. Once, when taken for a meet and greet with a man who accepts cats for temporary boarding, ( for, among others, Dan Ackroyd,) she was told her cat “ does not play well with others”. After watching Tracy taking a bubble bath for a while, he decided it looked interesting, decided to join her and leapt in. (It was never repeated.) When she has to go out of town, he sits in her suitcase so she can’t pack. When she comes back, he's excited when she walks in, then suddenly remembers he's supposed to be mad at her and proceeds to snub her the rest of the day. In other words, he thinks he’s human.

When my kids were younger, we had several cats at different times so I am familiar with the ways of felines. Trust me, this one is different. He never used to be but one day last year Tracy took him to a fancy grooming service. When she went to pick him up, they had shaved him. He was almost embarrassed about it. And never has been the same since as far as I am concerned.

Her cat’s name is Prince. Not because he is one, or ever was, because I know for a fact he came from a back alley someplace- no breeding at all. But Tracy adores Prince, the singer, (who actually calls himself “The Artist Formerly Known As Prince” for some reason unknown to me) and so she named her cat after him. I doubt he would be pleased to hear it.

Just after Christmas, we were window shopping in Palm Beach and saw a funky cat doormat outlined in red in Barzina, one of our favorite shops. Gretchen, the owner, travels the world looking for fascinating things to stock her small shop; turns out the doormat is from Vietnam and she carries them in four different animal shapes. They are unusual, inexpensive and funny so we bought one for my daughter’s front door. There is a slight opening under her door and Prince is forever pushing his toys under the door and out into the hall. We thought the doormat would bring a smile to the faces of company as well as prevent the cat’s toys from shooting down the hall outside her apartment door. True to his personality, Prince took one gander at the mat, pounced on it and declared it was his personal possession. And so, no surprise, the mat remains inside the apartment, which was not quite the point; now it has to be moved aside to exit the apartment and the cat’s toys are still ending up in the hallway.

When Tracy’s away, Stu, a very kind neighbor who loves Prince

( he has many fans just like the real Prince), comes over twice a day, feeds and plays with him and in general gets him stoned on catnip. I guess this is comfort food for him. When he doesn’t have Tracy, at least he has Stu and catnip. Dontcha wish comfort was that easy for the rest of us?

All of which got me to thinking about what gives me comfort. Do we all crave special foods which make us feel better or safer or comfy from time to time? When we're worried, ill or far from home we all want the equivalent of Mother or a favorite blanket. For me it’s always things like puddings, custards or warm soup. For others, it’s mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, ice cream, and even chocolate.

I have recipes from my childhood for all my favorite comfort foods, but if I have to pick one, especially if I feel really wretched and need something quickly, it’s Mother’s egg drop soup. It can’t be simpler to make and you probably have the makings in your kitchen right now. Or if you don't you should have. It’s rather pathetic to fall back on clichéd chicken soup, but it’s the truth. Luckier still would be if you had homemade chicken broth in the freezer. We always did. My grandmother made it with (brace yourself) chicken feet. I told that story to someone years ago and have been razzed about it ever since. I thought of her the other day when I saw a package of them in the grocery store. I wonder how many people look at them and say Ewwwww! I mean they do look like little hands. But they make super tasty stock and are worth the extra effort. If you can find them in your market and you’re game to try them, just make certain they are well cleaned to begin with, then boil them briefly, drain them, cut off the claw tips and throw them in with your chicken parts.

So to begin with, here’s my basic chicken stock recipe-it’s really, really good and makes 6 quarts.

Homemade Chicken Broth

Ingredients:
5 pounds assorted chicken bones, necks and wings, feet

2 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped

3 celery ribs with leaves, roughly chopped

3 carrots with tops, roughly chopped

2 leeks, green parts only

15 sprigs fresh parsley

10 sprigs fresh thyme

8 sprigs fresh rosemary

8 sprigs fresh dill

2 bay leaves

15 peppercorns

6 sprigs parsley

1 large clove garlic, unpeeled, cut in half crosswise

Method:

Rinse bones in cold water. Place remaining ingredients in a large stock pot, add bones and cover with cold water. (About 7 quarts or so) Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 3 1/2 hours. Strain the entire contents of the pot through a colander, pressing down on the bones and discard the solids. Chill the stock overnight. The next day, remove the surface fat. Pour into individual containers and freeze or use immediately. Do not refrigerate for more than 1 day.

( And hey! Nobody’s going to tell on you if you use canned chicken broth. It’s just not as good- and be sure to buy the low sodium. )

So now when you have a rainy day, are snowed in, feel lonely, have a cold, have the flu, need comfort food, or just plain love quick hot soups, here is Mother’s recipe for egg drop soup. It will only take a couple sentences and while my diet is not something I usually think of when in need of comfort, this one is only 81 calories a serving. Perfect.

Mother's Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth or stock

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 a green onion, minced (optional)

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Method:

Bring the 4 cups of chicken broth to a boil. Add the white pepper and green onions. Cook for about another minute.Very slowly pour in the eggs in a steady stream. To make shreds, stir the egg rapidly in a clockwise direction for one minute. To make thin streams or ribbons, gently stir the eggs in a clockwise direction until they form.

Sometimes, as a change of pace, you can add some flour to the beaten eggs to make a paste and then drop into the boiling broth and make tiny little dumplings.

Butternut Squash Soup

The tail end of a cold front moved through South Florida last night and prevented us all from becoming babbling idiots after the many long months of heat and humidity. It won't get out of the 70's today and is supposed to go down to the 50's tonight. Doesn't sound like much to get excited about? But to us it means fall has arrived.....and a day like this is the reason we live in Florida: not a cloud in the sky, a cool breeze and we can finally throw open our windows and doors. (And give our electric bills a break.)

It's a perfect time to give some thought to my Thanksgiving menu now that we are cooler and Halloween is days away. It looks as though I am having some of the family here and I like to plan ahead, freeze what I can so I can spend time with children, grandchildren and friends.

There are certain dishes my family insists upon: butternut squash soup, turkey of course, a brussel sprout dish they all adore and that really, really old recipe for frozen fruit salad. It astounds me everyone still looks forward to seeing that salad on the table. Other side dishes and the dessert are up to me. Dessert is usually pumpkin something or other. Perhaps I'll try a pumpkin roulade this year; I read a recipe for it recently and have yet to try it.

This year, we shall start the festivities with a scrumptious Bellini or two (or three). We had them last Christmas and all I can say is YUM! I already sent for and received the white peach puree; you can order it overnight (it arrives frozen) from The Perfect Puree Company in Napa, California. I noticed they also had a coconut puree and because my family loves my coconut bread toasted for breakfast (AND there is a minimum order) I ordered some of that as well.

When we lived in Michigan, my mother used to buy an enormous hubbard squash at least once every fall. We all adored it- especially when it was a lovely dry one. After baking she would beat it much like mashed potatoes and she added butter, salt and pepper and a little brown sugar, but not much. Sometimes when the squash came out of the oven, it was somewhat watery and she had to cook it down to dry it out a little, but it never tasted as good as a hubbard squash that was dry to begin with. Is there a trick to knowing when a hubbard squash is going to be dry before buying and baking? If anyone knows the answer, let me know. Mother also used acorn squash a lot, halving it and putting butter and brown sugar in the center. I still bake it often, but I just use salt and pepper.

Butternut squash is a member of the gourd family and is a winter squash as are acorn and hubbard. (Summer squash would be a squash like zucchini or yellow squash; they have thinner skins.)It has a hard, thick skin and it is filled with seeds. When picking one out, choose a squash that feels heavy for its size, with blemish-free skin, and no soft, moldy spots. Although the squash is native to Mexico and the surrounding areas, the most popular butternut squash is the Waltham Butternut which was originally grown in Massachusetts. There are so many ways to serve it: in a risotto, in lasagna, in soups, in ravioli, custards, breads and pancakes.

I think you will like my soup recipe; I use it as an appetizer- a small cup of it to kick off the dinner. It has lots of flavor and the touches of bacon, Marsala and fresh thyme marry perfectly with this squash. You could easily serve it for lunch or dinner as the main course. I freeze it after after I have added the stock and simmered it for 20 minutes. You can then thaw it when you wish, add the heavy cream, seasonings and Marsala and reheat.

Butternut Squash Soup

Adapted from Thanksgiving The Williams Sonoma Kitchen Library

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, about 3 pounds, halved lengthwise, remove seeds and fibers
6 slices of bacon, chopped
2 yellow onions, diced
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
fresh thyme leaves, whole, for garnish
5 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons Marsala
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Turn your oven on to 375°.
Place the squash, cut sides down, in a baking pan. (I put tin foil down first to save clean up) Add water to a depth of about 1/4 inch. Bake about 45-50 minutes or until the squash is fork tender. Let it cool and then scoop out the flesh. You will need 3 and 3/4 cups.

Saute the bacon about 3 minutes and then add the onions and thyme. Cook until tender, about 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a food processor ( and in several batches) puree the squash and onion mixture until smooth. Place in a large saucepan and add the chicken broth. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. At this point, you can remove it from the stove, cool it and freeze.
When ready to use, thaw the soup overnight and place in a saucepan, reheat, add the cream, Marsala, cayenne, salt and black pepper. If you would like a thinner soup, add more broth.
Serve in bowls and garnish with fresh thyme. Serves 8-10.

Ghivetch

Even after all the years I have lived in Florida, I still can't get used to the idea that it is almost Halloween. Fall has not begun here yet. Yes, it may surprise you to discover we do have a change of seasons but it takes a good strong cold front coming through for us to sit up and take notice. As for now, it's still hot and humid in Florida and I long for the Michigan fall. For the gold and red trees, for pumpkin fields, for cider and donuts, for University of Michigan football games, for trick or treating in the brisk night air, for leaves falling from trees, swirling to the ground and even for getting the sweaters out of my closet. I remember being in northeastern Michigan at the old family cabin in Standish and looking out over the Rifle River. Can anything be more beautiful?Fall also makes me think of hot soups- something we don't make very much in Florida. My sister is a master soup maker and so was my mother; I will share some of their recipes with you now and then. But today, I feel like a good hearty vegetable soup called Ghivetch. One of my favorites because it works for lunch or dinner- along with some French bread to sop up the juices. Like most stews it is better the next day and freezes beautifully. I can't remember where I found the recipe but I do know it is delicious, good for you and I love the fragrance from the kitchen filling the house while it cooks.

The history of Ghivetch (pronounced you-vetch with the accent on the vetch) is rather convoluted. People refer to it alternately as Moldavian, Romanian and Bulgarian. Let's just say it is a blending of the cookery of the Balkan states, Yugoslavia, Romania and Bulgaria and, because of the substantial number of immigrants from these countries, it is particularly well known in Israel. Ghivetch is a medley of stewed vegetables similar to ratatouille, sometimes served with yogurt. My recipe does not use meat, fish or yogurt but I have found several that do. The choice is up to you. I cannot call it entirely a vegetarian dish because of the beef bouillon but I don't know why you couldn't use a vegetable broth instead. Anyway- serve it with some crusty French bread and wouldn't an apple crisp be a great finale?

Ghivetch

Ingredients:
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup green beans, sliced
1 cup diced potatoes
2 medium tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup celery, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
1 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow squash, sliced
1/2 Bermuda onion, sliced
1/2 head cauliflower, in florets
1/2 cup red pepper, sliced
1/2 cup green pepper, sliced
1 cup frozen peas
1 can beef bouillon (or beef consomme )
1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon dry tarragon
2 teaspoons salt
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon savory (or thyme if you can't find it)

Method:
Wash and prepare all the vegetables and place them in a large baking dish.

Mix the beef bouillon, garlic, olive oil, salt, tarragon, savory and bay leaf and pour over the vegetables. Cover tightly with tin foil and bake in a 350° oven for 1 and 1/2 hours. This recipe serves a minimum of 4, perhaps 6.