Soup Love

One of the first things I loved about my husband was his love of soup. Not a lot of guys are that into soup, but this one loves just about any food in liquid form. When we were just acquaintances he served a cold chipotle tomato soup at a dinner party.  It was a very bold move. While most people polity stirred it around and choked back a few insanely spicy spoonfuls, I ate it up, stars in my eyes.

Now that we're married, we make soup together a lot. We both just can't get enough of the wonderful feeling of a piping hot, flavorful, nutrient-packed broth making its way down our insides and warming us through. The healthy-conscious side of me loves how many veggies you can pack into one dish - and how many bowls you can eat without feeling guilty. I still prefer chunkier stew types and he favors silky purees but we've both leaned to appreciate the spectrum. A perk of our union was inheriting his immersion blender, which has opened up a whole new world of soupy goodness.

These days Dave's repertoire has expanded and he's learned to be a little less heavy-handed with the spices, but he still has a weakness for one store-bought soup. His favorite soup chain, Hale and Hearty Soup used to make a wonderful Tomato Cheddar and whenever we're back in New York he wistfully scours the sandwich boards of every outpost we pass, hoping his beloved will be the soup of the day. It's been a while, however, since we've actually had a sighting, and I'm starting to think they may have discontinued it entirely. So I decided to learn to make it for him. 

Re-creating a tomato soup wasn't much of a challenge, and after searching a few copycat recipes on the internet I concluded that with the right mix of cream and cheese he'd be over the moon. I had been saving some old Gouda rinds for a moment like this, and after sawing off the waxy parts I threw them into the broth. Half an hour later I had some tough, cheesy bits floating around but an incredibly richly flavored broth.

And instead of keeping this recipe a surprise, I decided to involve the connoisseur himself. I wanted to use as little cheese as possible (both to keep it somewhat healthy and for my own enzyme deficiencies), so I stirred in small chunks of cheddar bit by bit, soliciting expert opinion along the way. After a few rounds, he pronounced it almost perfect. I seasoned it with salt, and he was in love.

Tomato Cheddar Soup

Inspired by Hale and Hearty Soup

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Several stalks of celery, diced

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth (I used Better than Bullion)

1 28-oz can diced or crushed tomatoes

1-2 tsp dried thyme

cheese rinds - gouda, parmesan, or other aged cheese *be sure to remove wax before melting!

1/2 cup half-and-half or cream

6-8 oz cubed cheddar, or more to taste

Salt, to taste

Saute the onion, garlic and celery until onions are translucent. Add the broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add thyme and cheese rinds and let simmer 30 minutes to 1 hour, until tomatoes are falling apart and cheese rinds are moist and spongy (see picture above). Remove cheese rinds and puree with an immersion blender (or cool and pour into standing blender). Add cream or half-and-half, and stir in cheddar bits until desired taste is achieved. Be sure to salt along the way as you will probably get to the right flavor with less cheese needed.

Enjoy with a nice slice of toast and your valentine.

Sunday Night Soup

I love soups, stews, and basically anything you can eat out of a bowl. They’re healthy, usually require only one pot and very minimal hands-on time, and can often be made without a trip to the grocery store. You just throw everything together and let it cook, the longer the better. The problem with working 12+ hours a day is there’s very little time to let things, well, stew.
Enter the crock pot. I inherited one from my mother-in-law a few years ago, and am slowly realizing how great a solution it is to my time shortage issue. Plus, coming home to the aroma of intense flavors that have been simmering all day is a wonderful antidote to the trials of intern year.
I recently came across Real Simple magazine’s post on their most-pinned slow-cooker recipes. This black bean soup recipe caught my eye. Raised half Hindu and half Jewish, cooking pork is something I know very little about. But this recipe was pretty persuasive in its simplicity so I decided to give it a try. It turns out navigating the pork section of the grocery store was the hardest part. I found the final flavor a little overwhelmingly hoppy (then again I don’t like hops) and one-dimensional in its flavor, so I added a few spices and reduced the beer.  The end result was perfectly hearty, but not too rich for a nice end-of-the-weekend meal. The husband even had seconds.

Beer-braised pork and black bean soup

1 large onion, diced
1 lb dried black beans
1 chopped chipotle en adobo with 1 T adobo sauce
1 t chili powder
1 t cumin
2 chicken bullion cubes
1 bottle beer (I used an IPA but a lager would probably work better)
1.5 lbs pork shoulder
2-3 cups water

1. Combine all ingredients in crock pot. Set on high for 5 hours.

2. Pull apart pork, discard fat and bones. Add more water as needed/desired (I tend to like a thicker soup but it could be watered down more).

3. Serve with a dash of lime juice, a dollop of sour cream (we used plain Greek yogurt, almost always just as good and it definitely is here), and cilantro and cheese as desired. Serve with a nice crusty bread. Or tortillas.