Kat on Thyme

May Day, May Day

May Day, May Day. It’s raining and I have a cold. I thought I had made it through cold season unscathed, but alas, just days after making that remark to myself, here I am with a runny nose and no energy…

Thankfully, though, the fridge is not empty. I can’t remember whether it’s feed a cold, starve a fever, or starve a cold, feed a fever (when I was little I was so slight, whatever the ailment, it was a feeder) but I haven’t lost my appetite quite yet. Last Friday I worked from home, and saved out some soup for myself for the weekend, before delivering the rest of soup, and the other dishes, to the family for whom I cook. And it’s been soup for every other meal since then.

I find it almost impossible to make a small pot of soup. And silly, really, since most kinds of soup freeze well. The problem is getting the soup cool enough to store if most of it isn’t getting eaten right away. At work there is an empty fridge in the garage, so I put thick soups in a very large metal sheet pan and cool them in a thin layer, uncovered in the fridge. At home, however, there isn’t room inside the refrigerator for large trays of food and I don’t want a flat of soup steaming it up anyhow. So, to get the soup cool fast, I use an ice bath. I usually transfer the soup into a cool stock pot and then submerge the pot into a sink full of ice water. Stirring occasionally helps get it cooler faster.

So here you go- a large recipe for a weekend’s worth of soup! It’s wonderful with some toasted Rosemary Bread sprinkled with green olive oil and kosher salt.

Minestrone with Spanish Smoked Paprika and Orzo

½ head green cabbage, thinly shredded
1/3 pound of thick sliced apple wood smoked bacon, cut into small strips
2 small onions, chopped
2 large carrots, sliced in ¼ inch slices
4 stalks of celery, sliced in ¼ inch slices
1 red bell pepper, diced
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 small bunch collard greens, stems removed and sliced into ribbons
1 Tablespoon Spanish Smoked Paprika (sold in small cans on the spice aisle)
½ cup dry sherry
1 quart chicken stock
1 quart water (more if soup seems too thick)
1- 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, with their juice
1- large can (28 ounce?) kidney beans, rinsed
1 cup orzo (you’ll cook it separately)
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup Italian parsley, to garnish, minced

Place the cabbage in a colander and salt liberally. Toss the cabbage to coat it with the salt and set aside.

Heat a heavy stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat and add the bacon. Cook until crisp and brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain. If there is more than a thin coating of fat on the bottom of the stock pot, pour off the extra fat and discard. In the remaining fat, sauté the onions, carrots, celery until soft, about 6 minutes. Add the bell pepper and garlic and continue to sauté for another few minutes. Add the collard greens and paprika and sauté until the greens are wilted. Add the sherry and scrape up any bits of paprika that may have stuck to the bottom. Cook until the sherry is almost evaporated. Add the stock, water, tomatoes with their juice, and the drained kidney beans and bring the soup to a boil. Rinse the cabbage with water and add to the soup. It should be wilty. Turn down the heat and simmer to blend the flavors. While the soup is simmering, cook the orzo in boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain and rinse. Add the orzo and the reserved bacon back to the soup and let simmer for a few minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. It will certainly need salt and pepper. Once you are happy with the seasonings, add the parsley and serve.

Makes one full stockpot of soup- over a gallon.

Rainy Day Soup

Spring in Seattle. Bring a raincoat. The tulips bloom, the trees blossom, the peonies send red shoots up through the soggy soil. It looks like spring. Until I peek out from under my wooly knit hat, and down to the fleece coat, over a heavy sweater, over a long sleeved shirt, jeans, clogs and still, in April, socks. It’s been a chilly April. I love the May flowers but I’m ready to skip the rest of the April showers. And the socks.

The good news is that it’s still soup weather and I love soup. What’s not to like about soup on a rainy day? And today, I got out the pressure cooker to make that soup go just a little bit quicker. I’m a big fan of pressure cookers to cook beans and lentils, especially for soups, in which case you don’t have to worry too much about overcooking them. The new pressure cookers are safe and easy to use. The one I have at home is not one of those new ones, it’s a relic from the 60’s and came from a second hand store, complete with its original, kind of retro-chic, instruction booklet. It works fine, but doesn’t have the safety features that the new ones have, and I’m always a bit on edge while the pressure valve on top is rattling away. But if you have nerves of steel, $3.99 to spend, and don’t mind garage sales, it’s not a bad way to go.

At the other end of the pressure cooker spectrum is the precision engineered Swiss pressure cooker that I use at work-- a Kuhn Rikon (5.25 quart), which works famously. The gauge of the stainless steal is heavy enough to use for sautéing ingredients before adding the liquid, and the handles stay cool if you keep the flame low. Releasing the pressure is easy- just take the whole thing to the sink, (the double handle makes it easy to carry) and run cool tap water around the rim. If you have one of the sinks with the removable spray faucet, it’s even easier. And for size, I wouldn’t go any smaller than the 5.25 quart. If you’re going to the trouble to make soup, why not make a lot!

So I wouldn't say that a pressure cooker is an essential kitchen tool, but it certainly is a handy one, especially if you’re a lover of legumes. I loaned mine to a friend when I went to Costa Rica to work a few winters ago, and she liked it so much she bought one of her own. (Perhaps it’s time I go retrieve mine from her cupboard!) It’s one of those things that if you have it, you’ll find uses for it. And this is how I used it today.

Roasted Carrot and Lentil Soup with Sweet Spices and Coconut 

10 large carrots (about 2 pounds), peeled, cut in half lengthwise, & cut into 1 inch pieces
1-2 Tablespoons canola oil
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
½ teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon butter
1 small onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, sliced lengthwise in half and chopped
1 Tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Dash of cloves
Freshly ground pepper

1/3 cup dry sherry
1 quart vegetable stock
1 quart water
2 cups lentils, washed, (I used French Green lentils)

1 can coconut milk, (light is fine)
Salt and pepper to taste
Toasted Unsweetened Coconut for garnish
Carrot Greens for garnish

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Toss the carrots with the oil to coat (start with 1 tablespoon, and add more if you need it). Then add in the maple syrup and salt. Spread out the carrots on a Silpat lined baking sheet (or parchment) and roast for about 20-30 minutes or until the carrots begin to brown and caramelize.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a 5 or 6 quart pressure cooker over medium heat and add the onion and celery. (You could also use a dutch oven or stockpot- just add about 15 minutes to the lentil’s cooking time.) When the onion is soft, add the ginger and spices and continue to sauté until the spices are fragrant, another few minutes. Add the sherry to deglaze the pan. Scrape up any browned spiced from the bottom of the pan. Add the stock, water, and lentils and seal the pressure cooker. Bring to high pressure (to a boil if using a stock pot) and turn the heat down. Cook in a pressure cooker for 15 minutes and use the quick release method to release the pressure. The lentils should be very soft. Add the coconut milk and the carrots, once they are soft. With a hand held immersion blender, puree the soup. You could also use a regular blender or leave the soup chunky. If you aren’t going to puree, you want to make sure your carrots are cut in fairly small pieces when you start the recipe. Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings adding more salt and pepper and perhaps another dash of maple syrup if the soup needs a bit more sweetness. Ladle into bowls and garnish with the toasted coconut and a sprig of carrot greens.

Makes almost 4 quarts of soup. Thank goodness it freezes well.