COOKING WITH GRANDMA CHRONICLES PART 85

FIFTEEN -MINUTE MINESTRONE I know purists may shudder at the notion of putting together a version of minestrone in 15 minutes, but it’s precisely the integrity of such a classic recipe that makes it a good point of departure. Admittedly, for speed we have to omit slow-cooking vegetables like carrot, cabbage, and fennel. Leek must

Recipe »

COOKING WITH GRANDMA CHRONICLES PART 64

GAZPACHO To call gazpacho a liquid salad is unkind, but the expression does sum up the appeal of this chilled Spanish soup. Like any salad, prime ingredients – in this case, fresh ripe tomatoes, red bell pepper, and cucumber – show at their best but it takes time to peel, seed, and chop them, an

Recipe »

COOKING WITH GRANDMA CHRONICLES PART 41

RUSSIAN BORTSCH Katya makes the best Bortsch and no wonder since she was brought up in Russia. The soup is crammed with vegetables, enough to make it a vegetarian main course, though Katya tells me that traditionally it is always followed by a main course of meat or chicken with a grain such as kasha

Recipe »

COOKING WITH GRANDMA CHRONICLES PART 17

FRESH GREEN PEA SOUP When Grandma was a child, she would help her mother to pick green peas in the garden, then she would sit beside the kitchen table to help in shell them. Out would pop peas of all sorts of sizes and sometimes, ugh, there might be a little worm inside.  Cooking times

Recipe »

Summer Herb Soup with Nettles and Sunflower Seeds

This recipe comes from an idealistic young French chef, François Bogard, at the Château de Chaumont in the Loire valley. His ingredients are left to grow naturally with only organic fertilizer and a minimum of irrigation, and in his recipes even the water comes from a bottle so he knows the source. There’s nothing Spartan, however, about his use of cream! Sorrel or watercress can be substituted for nettles, and the soup can be served hot or cold.

Recipe »

Winter White Vegetable Soup (Soup Savoyarde)

The former kingdom of Savoy borders the Alps and includes Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe. Appropriately, this hearty soup is creamy white and full of root vegetables, bolstered with plenty of cheese. The local tomme de Savoie is an aged, slightly piquant cow cheese, good for cooking as well as enjoying with bread; Gruyère can take its place. Serve the soup as a vegetarian main course, in generous bowls and accompanied by country bread.

Recipe »

Pumpkin and Leek Soup with Foie Gras (Soupe de Potiron et Poireaux au Foie Gras )

The richness of pumpkin and the hearty onion flavor of leek have long been favorite partners in French soups. In 1766, when traveling through Burgundy Tobias Smollett wrote, “I observed a vast quantity of very large pompions (pumpkins) with the contents of which they thicken their soups and ragoûts.” French pumpkins are larger than most in the United States, so here I call for a piece rather than a whole pumpkin. Now that duck liver is produced in farmhouses all over France, the festive addition of a sliver of foie gras is almost expected!

Recipe »