When snow falls and wind stings, there’s nothing like a bowl of soup for warming nourishment. It’s easy to open a can and plop its contents in a pan, but with a little more effort it’s possible to craft homemade soups that offer bigger flavors, way less sodium and a lot more satisfaction.
Baltimore is lucky to have an extremely talented chef, Ned Atwater, who puts as much love and care into his Atwater’s soups (
www.atwaters.biz
makes 8-10 servings
(courtesy Atwater’s)
1/2 pound dry cannellini beans — soak for three hours (if using canned, add with potatoes and reduce cooking time) 2 onions, medium dice 2 carrots, medium dice 2 celery stalks, medium dice 1 head garlic, peeled and sliced 1 pound link sausage, sliced 1 tsp. paprika 1/4 cup olive oil 2 potatoes, medium dice Salt and pepper to taste 1 gallon chicken stock 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped 1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped Garnish: Mix together 1/2 pound cooked pasta, 1/2 cup fresh chopped basil, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese » In a heavy soup pot, saute onions, carrots, celery, garlic, sausage, paprika and oil for about 10 minutes. Drain beans and add to soup pot. Add potatoes, salt, pepper and chicken stock, and stir. Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until the beans are soft, adding more water if necessary. Add rosemary and parsley, stir and taste. Before serving, spoon some garnish on top of each bowl of soup.
Atwater’s advice is to keep homemade soup recipes seasonal and simple. “I think that the most important thing is to take a few minutes and see what the time of year is,” Atwater said. Start with seasonal produce: root vegetables and beans at this time of year.
After you choose your protein and vegetables, he said, look in the spice drawer and start smelling what you have. “If rosemary and potatoes really turn you on, go to the next thing: what kind of broth?” Decide if you want a broth base or a creamier milk base for your soup.
Use all of your senses, he said. Consider color, texture, the balance of flavor. A spicy or chunky soup might benefit from a cool, creamy dollop of yogurt or sour cream.
While the best soups come from homemade stocks, busy home cooks can cheat with quality canned stock, said Carla Snyder, co-author of “300 Sensational Soups” (Robert Rose, 2008, $24.95). But making stock is simpler than it looks, she said, and can easily be done on weekends.
Snyder recommends simmering homemade stock to reduce it by half and mixing it with Swanson’s Organic, the brand she prefers.
Rachel Rappaport, a Baltimore-based food blogger (
www.coconutlime.blogspot.com
www.coconutlime.blogspot.com
