This was a recent experiment that ended up as a tasty dinner and then lunch the next day. I used a basic carrot soup recipe with ginger and lemon to start but then added a lot of other things to it (curry powder, cashews, coconut cream). It made a very interesting, satisfying soup.

My inspiration for adding all of those extra ingredients were a really wonderful bowl of soup I had a couple of years ago at The Cricket Cafe on Belmont and a recent lazy approach to dinner in the form of Pacific Foods Cashew Carrot Ginger soup.

I think you could easily substitute coconut milk for the cream (it won’t end up as creamy) but you’ll save some fat for a dessert or something. I went ahead and froze my leftover coconut cream in three batches for other recipes. That’s what I do when I open a can of coconut milk and don’t use it all. I’m assuming it will work with the cream as well. No one comment and tell me it won’t work. Do not crush my dreams!

Also, I just want to add that I got the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook for my birthday and I am so excited to cook something from it!

Curried Carrot Soup with Coconut & Cashews
Adapted from a recipe in Bon Appétit
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 white onion, chopped
1 tbsp peeled fresh ginger, grated
Optional: 1 tsp fresh turmeric, grated
1 tsp curry powder
4 cloves minced garlic
3 cups medium carrots, peeled, chopped
1 tomato, seeded, chopped
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup toasted cashews
3 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt broth
1/3 cup coconut cream
small squeeze of lemon juice
Optional Garnishes: chopped green onion, thai basil leaves

Frozen pieces of ginger and turmeric, about to be microplaned

Melt butter and heat oil in a heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 4-5 minutes. Add ginger (and fresh turmeric, if you’ve got it), garlic and curry powder; sauté 2 more minutes.

Oh, last month I came across fresh turmeric at Pasta Works. I know, neat! I used what I needed then and then peeled some and cut it into about 1-inch pieces, wrapped it up and froze it like I would peeled, fresh ginger. That’s what I used here. If you have access to fresh turmeric, great. If not, just skip it. Or if you wanted to, you could add maybe a 1/4 tsp dried. But I wouldn’t worry about it.

Next, add the chopped carrots, tomato and lemon zest; sauté 1 minute.

Add 3 cups stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover partially and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes.

Stir in coconut cream and cashews. Cool slightly.

Puree soup in batches in blender. Return soup to pot. Squeeze in a little lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring soup back to a simmer, thinning with more stock, if needed. Ladle into bowls. Garnish with green onions and Thai basil if you have any.

***

Oh, I just added a bunch of images to Flickr, including: Brunch at Country Cat, our last dinner at Carlyle, Lincoln City and assorted food stuff.

Recently, I found myself with a bag of lentils and a dream. Or something like that. Maybe it was just a bag of lentils, a craving for soup and memories of the awesome chicken tagine of last month. So I kind of combined the two for something I like to call Lentil Soup #22 (or Moroccan-Style Lentil Soup). I’ve posted lentil soups before, but this is way different.

I used Spanish lentils for this (they hold their shape really well) but any brown lentil will work fine. So would red or green, probably.

Lentil Soup #22 (or Moroccan-Style Lentil Soup)
Adapted from a recipe by ME!
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin
2 tbsp sun dried tomato paste
1 cinnamon stick
8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 1/4 cups brown lentils
1 handful cilantro, chopped
Optional: 1/2 tsp Rogan Josh seasoning
Garnishes: more cilantro and yogurt

Heat the olive oil in a big soup pot. Add the onion and garlic and saute over medium, until a little golden and soft, 8-10 minutes.

Next comes the paprika, cumin, tomato paste and Rogan Josh seasoning, if using. Stir and cook about another two minutes.

Add the cinnamon stick, broth, diced tomatoes and bring to a boil.

Combine the lentils into the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, about an hour. Taste and adjust seasonings and salt and pepper to taste. Add the chopped cilantro and serve.

Garnish with more cilantro and yogurt.

***

In bread news, I made the Pecan, Raisin & Anise Baguettes which turned out well and then last weekend I made another French Round. I let the starter go for 16 hours, I used Morton Kosher Salt (saltier!) and spritzed with water. It made all the difference! So good! nom nom nom nom

While growing up Cream of ____ soups were always just something to make casseroles with — but not anymore! Wow, this was tasty! I tweaked it a little from the original by adding garlic, thyme, hot sauce and mushrooms and I was so pleased with the results. This is definitely what is going to happen to some of our leftover turkey and turkey stock next weekend. In fact, it’s a great recipe for that as I’ll probably have leftover cream, veggies and everything else. So will you, so you should definitely make this soup.

I cooked the mushrooms in a separate pan because I didn’t want them to soak up all the butter and I didn’t want to add more butter. I’m not sure you have to do that, but that’s the way I did it.

Cream of Chicken Soup
Adapted from a recipe by Food Network Kitchens
6 tbsp unsalted butter
1 white Spanish onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 leeks, cleaned well, white part chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
12 cremini mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup AP flour
7 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
4 sprigs parsley
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
2 3/4 cups cooked, diced chicken
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp dry sherry
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
A few dashes of hot sauce
Parmesan Cheese
Optional: 1 cup cooked brown rice

Roasted Chicken with Rosemary-Orange Butter — leftovers of which, became this soup! I highly recommend the roast chicken recipe too.)

Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, leeks, garlic, dried thyme and carrots. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 12 minutes.

While those veggies cook, in a separate pan, heat the olive oil. Saute the mushrooms with a pinch of kosher salt for 10 minutes or so, over medium heat, until they give off some liquid. Set aside.

Add the flour to the larger pot of veggies and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 2 minutes more.

Pour in the broth and bring to a boil while whisking.

Tie the parsley sprigs and bay leaf together with a piece of kitchen twine and add to the soup.

Add the mushrooms. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Stir in the chicken and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.

Whisk the heavy cream, sherry, and salt into the soup. Taste and adjust salt and season with pepper and hot sauce to taste. Remove and discard the herb bundle.

Add the cooked, brown rice if desired. Divide among soup bowls, sprinkle the top of each soup with the chopped parsley, Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

It was Fall here in Portland…for about a weekend. Really! It was cold and we had a high of only 60 degrees F and quite honestly I loved it. Now, we are back to the sunny and the 80’s nonsense but when it was nice and Fall-like, I made this soup. It was delicious!

Instead of kielbasa, I used that age-old tradition of going through the freezer, seeing what was in there, and using that. It was sweet Italian sausage (2) and some chorizo (1) the uncooked kind, so I thawed it all and browned that up first. You can also use cooked kielbasa (what the original recipe called for) or even Spanish chorizo. I am thinking about giving that a try next time.

Let’s see, I also added some harissa (because I had some) and I opted to add both some red wine and red wine vinegar. You could also just pick one and use two tablespoons of whichever one you choose.

Green Lentil & Sausage Soup
Adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten, in the cookbook, Barefoot in Paris
1 pound French green lentils (recommended: du Puy)
2 tbsp cup olive oil, plus extra for serving
4 cups diced yellow onions (3 large)
4 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts only (2 leeks)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 tsp ground cumin
3 cups medium diced carrots (4 to 6 carrots)
3 quarts Chicken Stock, homemade or good quality store bought
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tbsp harissa
1/2 pound kielbasa, cut in 1/2 lengthwise and sliced 1/3-inch thick, or 2-3 sausages (raw), removed from casings
2 tbsp dry red wine
Optional: 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Freshly grated Parmesan, more olive oil and chopped cilantro leaves for garnish

In a large bowl, cover the lentils with boiling water and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drain.

If you are using uncooked Italian sausage, brown it in a large stock pot in the olive oil. When it is done, remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl and set aside. Return pot to heat and add more olive oil if needed, then saute the onions, leeks, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, and cumin for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are translucent and tender.

Add the carrots and saute for another 10 minutes. Add the drained lentils, tomato paste, harissa, chicken stock and cover, and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 - 1.5 hours, or until the lentils are cooked through and tender. Check the seasonings.

Add the cooked sausage or the kielbasa and red wine and simmer until the sausage is heated through. If using, add the vinegar before serving.

Serve drizzled with olive oil, some shaved Parmesan and cilantro leaves.

I like this recipe a lot because you can substitute with abandon. No fish stock? Use chicken or vegetable! No lime leaves? Use some zest. It continues on like that…I’ve made this once with all the right ingredients and once with a lot of substitutions and both turned out delicious. They didn’t taste exactly the same but this is a recipe that lends itself (imho) to experimentation and variation. Also, jwa, who generally dislikes fish soups/stews loved this. That’s high praise right there, people.

This last time I didn’t have any lime leaves, green onions or lemongrass. My substitutions: strips of lime zest, a little lime juice, chopped white onion and two herbal lemongrass tea bags. Stash Lemon Blossom, to be exact.

Oh and also this is a great use of frozen scallops. Scallops are very expensive and you need the fresh, dry-packed ones to sear. This recipe is nice in that the scallops are cooked in the soup, no searing involved. So, if you find good frozen ones that you like (the Trader Joe’s Wild Japanese Scallops have always been sweet and tender for me), this is a great budget scallop recipe!

Asian Scallop Soup
Adapted from a recipe for Scallop Soup by Capiral Pence!
5 cups fish, chicken or vegetable stock (I like using half vegetable/half chicken stock)
2-3 kaffir lime leaves (or zest and juice of 1 lime)
1 stalk lemongrass
1 tbsp olive oil
2 small carrots, julienned
1 zucchini, julienned
1 bunch green onions
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp ginger, grated finely
fish sauce to taste (1-3 tbsp)
1/2 can coconut milk (can be lowfat, if so, use the full can)
12 large scallops
1 tsp roasted chili paste (you can also use a little cayenne pepper)
8 oz udon or soba noodles, cooked
Garnishes: Any or all of the following — mint leaves, cilantro leaves, bail leaves, chili oil, peanuts

In a large saucepan over high heat, bring the stock, lime leaves or zest, and lemongrass (or tea bags) to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer and cook the broth for 5-10 minutes until the stock is infused with flavor.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add the carrots, zucchini,l green onions, garlic and ginger. Cook until tender, about 3 minutes. If you are using chili paste, add it now.

Strain the stock through a sieve into the stockpot with the vegetables. Discard any solids in the sieve.

Add the coconut milk to the broth and bring to a light boil.

Add the scallops and simmer until just opaque and cooked through.

If you are using frozen scallops, don’t bother defrosting. Mine took about 6 minutes. You can always pull one out and cut it in half to see if it’s opaque.

Testing a scallop for doneness

Season with the fish sauce (I used about 3 tablespoons, but start with one and increase from there) and cayenne pepper, if using.

Place the cooked noodles in 4 bowls and top the noodles with 3-4 scallops and some of the broth. Garnish with the garnishes.