Home&Garden
feature article winter 2007-08
Beau-ootiful Soo-oop!
“Beautiful soup! Who cares for fish,
Game or any other dish?”
Those words from Alice in Wonderland are especially true in winter. These warming soups from local chefs and caterers are easy to prepare and sure to please.
by Felicia Russell
Here’s a riddle for you: What warms you in winter, cools you in summer, can be reincarnated, and tastes better on the second day?
Soup. And for many of us, it’s the perfect wintertime meal.
“From a very young age we’re programmed to think of soup when winter comes along,” says Danielle Edmonds, Cooking Studio facilitator at Whole Foods in Belmar.
Edmonds remembers her mother scouring the refrigerator and cupboards at the end of each week for past-prime ingredients that were still good enough for soup. Although Edmonds’ mom rarely used a recipe, she had an idea of the proportions: fill ¼ of the pot with carrots, celery and onions in a 1:1:2 ratio, add a healthy serving of meat, and cover it all with water or stock.
Dan Witherspoon, owner, cooking consultant and chef of The Gourmet Spoon in Denver, says soup is “a great simple meal—when someone else is making it.” When Witherspoon had to prepare 15 gallons of soup five days a week as a young chef, it was a lot of work. However, he often reminds his students that “it takes as long to make a half-batch of soup as it does 3 gallons.” And because soup keeps in the freezer for two to three months, a little extra work means a quick, easy meal when you’re too tired to cook.
Sue Dubach, owner of Sage & Savory Catering in Boulder, loves to dine on a warm bowl of soup in winter. And she often turns leftover tomato or cream-based soups into sauces for pastas or meats by reducing the soup and adding fresh ingredients. She also likes to jazz up leftovers with garnishes, like homemade cinnamon croutons, which are particularly good on potato-sausage soup, she says.
Making soup is simple and satisfying, especially when you follow these tips from expert chefs:
• Use good, sharp knives. All you need is a 10-inch French knife and a 3-inch paring knife.
• Start with high temperatures, but then reduce the heat to let the flavors meld.
• Cook pasta and grains separately, put them in the soup bowl first and cover them with hot soup.
• Get your pot hot, then heat the oil and
sauté veggies and herbs al dente before adding liquids.
• Work backward, starting with the ingredients that need the longest cooking time.
• Never forget the onions!
Felicia Russell is assistant editor of Boulder County Home & Garden Magazine. Her favorite wintertime soups are borscht and curried pumpkin.
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Daal Gosht
