A Serendipitous Soup

I've been laid up for the past ten days with a vicious virus and chest cough that left me with little energy and a cavernous craving for soothing soups.  Fortunately, prior to getting sick, I had made a delicious Beet Apple Soup by Sheila Lukins from her Simply Delicious column in Parade Magazine.

6 Beets scrubbed and trimmed

8 cups vegetable or chicken broth

 2 cups apple juice

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced

3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (or to taste)

Salt,fresh pepper and creme fraiche or plain yogurt to garnish.

Place beets in a large, heavy pan and cover with the broth and juice.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until tender ~ about 45 minutes.  Transfer beets to a bowl with a slotted spoon and cool.  When cool enough to handle, slip off skins and cut into pieces.  Strain broth through a fine sieve lined with two paper towels and return to pot.  Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat.  Add the apples and saute until just caramelized ~ 10-15 minutes.  Puree the beets and apples together in batches in a food processor, adding broth as needed through feeding tube.  Return the puree to the pot and combine with the broth.  Stir in lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Serve soup hot or cold, garnished with a dollop of yogurt or creme fraiche.  Serves 8.

Having to cook also for my son who needs more substantial food than soup, I made a Thai Chicken Stew with Potato-Chive Dumplings from my favorite newsletter, The Dish from Food & Wine.

Here's where the serendipity comes in.  The recipe for the potato-chive dumplings called for the dough to be very stiff.  Well, in my weak, sickly state, I wasn't going to knead the dough to a fare-thee-well; so when it felt sufficiently stiff to me, I cut up the cute little dumplings and threw them into the boiling water, wistfully hoping they would bob right up to the top like good little dumplings should do.  Needless to say, about half of them did; the other half just disintegrated into the water.  After dinner, my son asked what I was going to do with the pot of potato water.  I answered to make potato leek soup, of course!  I went to one of my favorite cookbooks, Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells and found a recipe for Leek, Potato and Bacon Soup.  Yum!! 

Since I didn't follow the recipe exactly, as I already had my potato broth, here's Patricia Wells' version adapted from Jose Lampreia, Chef at Maison Blanche in Paris.

5-6 lbs. leeks

2 Tbsp olive oil

8 oz. lean slab bacon cubed, fat removed

2 lbs  boiling potatoes peeled and cubed

Salt and fresh ground pepper

Trim leeks and rinse well, slicing the white tops and tender greens into thin rings.  In a large stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat until just hot.  Add bacon, reduce heat and brown thoroughly on all sides.  Add leeks and potatoes and toss to coat with bacon fat.  Cook until leeks are wilted and softened.  Add 2 quarts cold water and salt.  Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes.  Turn off heat and let soup rest for at least one hour so favors can be infused.  To serve, bring back to a gentle simmer.  Serve with lots of freshly ground pepper (and I added a dollop of plain yogurt).  Serves 6 to 8.

Note:  This soup freezes well and also thickens quite a bit after one day.  It can be diluted with either milk or broth.  It is a wonderfully fragrant thick wintry soup ~ perfect for cold weather and weathering colds and coughs.