Tom’s Soup Solution – Two Soups
After Cat Thomson's recent review of Charlotte Pike's book (The Soup Solution), there could be only one topic for today's Tom Cooks! Coincidentally, I did bring back a soup recipe from my Spanish travels, but it's now completely out of season. See more below.
But I'm 100% with Cat saying that October marks the beginning of the hearty soup season. The finest of these autumnal kings will contain root vegetables, will warm the cockles of your heart and other organs, and will probably stick to your ribs. Leaving aside these anatomical impossibilities, let's kick off with a family favourite, courtesy of the Queen of Skye, Lady Claire Macdonald.
Parsnip, Ginger & Lemon Soup
This is closely based on a recipe from The Claire Macdonald Cookbook. I don't know if you can still find Claire's books in the shops, but I highly recommend all of them. This morning I saw a second hand copy for sale on Amazon. In very good condition, a steal at £3.69. You won't get mine at any price. But I digress.
First, a couple of tips. Buy decent sized parsnips, avoiding the thin straggly ones. The amount of butter sounds alarming, but you won't notice in the end product. Claire sieves her soup after blitzing. I don't, but this means your lemon peel must be chopped very finely. Make sure you get rid of any white pith, otherwise you add an unwanted bitterness. I would recommend grating the ginger as opposed to chopping.
Ingredients
4 parsnips, peeled and cut into equal size chunks; 2 onions, peeled and chopped; 90g butter; thumb of ginger, peeled and very finely chopped, or grated; 1.1 litres chicken stock; very finely chopped peel (or zest) of half a lemon, pith removed; juice of half a lemon (you may want a little more); s & p.
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Melt the butter and cook the onions gently until soft but not coloured. Chuck in the parsnips, ginger and lemon peel or zest (not the juice at this stage). Cook for a few minutes, add the stock, and simmer until the parsnips are soft. Blitz well with a hand blender. Season with salt and pepper, then add the lemon juice - you may want a little more.
For a smoother finish sieve before serving.
Salmorejo
Another find during our Great Andalusian Adventure. I had heard of salmorejo, but I couldn't have told you what it was. Simple, but sensationally good. I know it's no longer the season for cold soups, and your tomato crop is probably past it; however, it was my duty to bring you such a thing of loveliness. Bookmark it for next year. There are of course variations on the theme. This, I think, is the traditional version from Córdoba.
I have no idea if you could use tinned tomatoes. I think they would need to be really good ones, not the rather sour, cheap versions. Some recipes say you can leave the skins on, but I would always skin them first. (Cut a cross in the base and cover with boiling water for about 90 seconds. The skins should come off fairly easily.)
When the recipe calls for day old bread, bear in mind we are talking about real bread which is slightly stale, not Mother's Pride or some such supermarket abomination. While I normally use a hand blender for soup, I'd recommend your Magimix or equivalent for this recipe.
Ingredients
1 kg ripe tomatoes (preferably plum or vine-ripened), skinned; 200g day-old white bread (crusts removed); 2 cloves of garlic; 200ml extra virgin olive oil (use your good stuff); 2 tbsp sherry vinegar (MUST be sherry); salt.
For garnish
Chopped hard boiled eggs; finely chopped Serrano ham (you could get away with Parma, but don't tell your Spanish friends); drizzle of good olive oil.
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Blanch and skin the tomatoes, then roughly chop. Rip up the bread then place in a bowl and soak it with enough of the tomatoes/tomato juice to soften.
In a high-powered blender, combine the tomatoes, soaked bread, garlic, and salt. Blend until smooth. With the blender running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil to emulsify the mixture until it becomes creamy and pale orange. Add the sherry vinegar and blend for a final few seconds. Check the seasoning.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Garnish with a little of the egg and ham.
Once again I am indebted to the very gracious and lovely Lady Claire Macdonald for her permission to reproduce her recipes.