Recipe of the Moment: Winter Soup with Orange and Ginger

I somehow was lucky enough to receive Martha Stewart Living magazine for free for a year. I originally ordered it because I thought it might have a few ideas, but I'm shocked to report that each issue is full of great craft ideas, but more importantly, tasty recipes.

Or at least, recipes that look tasty because even though I've been subscribed for months, I've only ever bookmarked recipes and projects, but I decided this month I was going to start making my way through everything. After all, what's the point of the subscription if I never use it?

So first up is Martha's Root Vegetables soup, which I've modified a bit to reflect things I have on hand, as well as things I could actually find in stores. For example, there was no rutabaga in my local market, which is a shame because I absolutely love rutabaga. Maybe next time!

Ingredients

1 vidalia/sweet onion

2 parsnips, peeled and chopped

1 celery root, peeled and chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1 small butternut squash, peeled and chopped

2 red potaoes, chopped

1 tsp ground thyme

6 cups of water

1-2 oranges 

freshly grated ginger

salt

pepper

olive oil

Preparation

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 4-7 minutes.

Add parnsips, celery root, carrot, butternut squash, potatoes, thyme, water, and salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer until vegetables are tender, 20-40 minutes.

Puree soup in a blender until smooth.

Separate each orange wedge from the other.

In each bowl: Squeeze one orange wedge's juice into the soup and stir. Use additional wedge, ginger, and salt and pepper as garnish. Enjoy!

Recipe of the Moment: Onion and Pepper Cream Soup

This soup happened completely by accident. I saw a recipe for mushroom soup on Pinterest, and I was intrigued, especially because one commentator said that her husband requested it twice in one week. 

I've never been a fan of mushrooms. In fact, I only started eating them after I read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. He has a section on mushrooms and how they're so good for you. And when I say I started eating them, I mean I stopped picking them out of my food at restaurants. I've bought them a few times at the farmer's market, but they always go bad by the time I get around to making something with them. (Seriously! Why do mushrooms go bad so quickly?)

Which is exactly what happened with this soup. I looked over the recipe and bought the ingredients, i.e. the mushrooms, and then they went bad. Normally when vegetables start to go bad, I chop them up and eat them anyway, but I don't want to chance it with vegetables. So I just used what was left over in my pantry, and it turned out amazingly! Seriously, this soup is fantastic. Since then, I've made it with mushrooms, and I have to say, I almost prefer it without. So it's your call!

Ingredients

10 oz mushrooms, finely chopped and/or diced (optional, I used baby portabella mushrooms)

1 large onion, diced

2 red peppers, chopped

3 cloves of garlic

olive oil

1 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

4 cups of water

1 tbsp cornstarch

salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

dash of nutmeg

black pepper

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add onions, garlic, and peppers, and saute until golden brown on medium heat. 

Add mushrooms, thyme, bay leaf, black pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until water from mushroom disappears.

Add water. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat. Simmer for half an hour.

Add cornstarch to thicken. Season with salt and nutmeg.

Add milk and heavy cream and turn the heat off. Do NOT let the soup boil once you add the milk and cream.

Serve and enjoy! If you like, add some bread and cheese.

Recipe of the Moment: Finishing Touches for Soups

I've never been one to put crackers in my soup, even though apparently that's popular. When I first learned that it was common, I thought it was because people like the crunchiness of the crackers with the liquid soup, or maybe the extra salt was the reason? Then I tried it and quickly discovered crackers turn to mush when they've been in your soup for too long, leaving your soup kind of lumpy and gross.

Someone told me that people put crackers in their soup to cool it off, in case it's too warm. I can't really see that being the case though. Why wouldn't you just wait 5 minutes for your soup to cool off? Or blow air on your spoon (and soup) to cool off each bite if you can't wait? I'm genuinely perplexed by this.

In the same vein, I've always been confused by French Onion soup because there's a huge glob of cheese on top! And underneath the cheese is this salty, dark broth that has little bits on onion floating around that you occasionally get to taste. I mean, I like cheese, and I like onions, but how are you supposed to eat it? And is it supposed to taste good?

Maybe I've just had really bad French Onion soup in my time.

Anyway, the point of all this is that I've finally found the most amazing compromise. (Oddly enough, it was inspired by Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook.) So here's the thing: I like bread. I use bread to sop up the last bits of my soup. Sometimes I even put bread in my soup. I also like cheese. Cheese goes on almost every meal I make. So why not combine them to make a cheesy bread crust over the top of the soup? 

Brilliant idea, right? I know. I do this for everything now. And it is SO GOOD. 

Ingredients

3-4 slices of a baguette per bowl (or less, depending)

Shredded cheese of your choice

Soup in a bowl

Preparation

Preheat broiler.

Slice baguette.

Add small amounts of shredded cheese on top of baguette. (Reserve some cheese for later.)

Place baguette slices onto a baking sheet and place in broiler.

Leave in broiler until cheese is slightly melted and starting to brown.

Remove from broiler and place immediately into soup bowl.

Take the leftover cheese and sprinkle on top, make sure to get the spots the bread doesn't cover.

And voila! The bread and cheese creates a seal and you have you delicious soup waiting underneath!

Recipe of the Moment: Beet Gazpacho

Has gazpacho always been around? I feel like I just started hearing about it a few months ago. And I just got around to looking it up was last week. Before, I heard the name and was like, "Eh... better not chance it." Turns out it isn't harmful. For anyone else ignorant like me, gazpacho is a cold, raw vegetable soup originating from Spain. Usually tomato based. But this one is beet based, and it's delicious and very easy to make.

Recipe of the Moment: Carrot and Orange Soup

I've never heard of this combination before I found it in Mireille Guiliano's The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook, and I was a little suspicious. Generally, I think it's pretty great. And unlike most soups, I actually prefer this one cold. It's very refreshing!

Recipe of the Moment: Pea Soup

Because peas are in season, I really wanted to do something with them, and since soups are really easy, that's what I decided to go with. I found this recipe on Epicurious, and it's really simple. I sprinkled a little bit of gruyere on top, but I think something a little creamier would also be nice. This also really made me miss my Ninja. Maybe one day soon we'll be reunited...