Everyday Dorie: Fresh-Off-The Cob Corn Chowder
August 9, 2019 at 7:16 am | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, soups, veggies | 13 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, soup
We’re a soup lovin’ crowd here at Cook the Book Fridays. This is the third one we’ve made, and we’ve barely cracked the book open. August might not be my idea of hot soup weather, but corn has just come into season here in New York. There are mountains of beautiful ears at the Greenmarket, so I’m happy to oblige our liquid dinner cravings with this Fresh-Off-The-Cob Corn Chowder. Along with potatoes, fresh sweet corn forms the base of this chowder, which also has sautéed aromatics like onion, garlic, celery and fennel stalks. Dorie says the fennel is optional, but I really think it adds a wonderful flavor here (and is a good way to use a stalk of two after you’ve done something else with the main bulb). About half of the veggies are cooked and pureed with the soup stock to make a creamy base that, thanks to the starchy corn and potatoes, contains no dairy, and the other half is sautéed and added at the end for fresh texture. I did not use the bacon in the recipe, as I forgot to get it at the store, but I had some smoked turkey breast to give it a similar flavor (I would have used turkey bacon anyway).
One of the best parts about making a soup like this is getting to garnish it. I always enjoy planning out the finishing touches. Here I went with the extra sautéed corn and veggie bits, cubed potatoes, pulled smoked turkey, a little sour cream, some fennel fronds and a dustings of fennel pollen and black pepper. The soup is excellent, and I really enjoyed my leftovers the next day heated up just a bit warmer than room temperature.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan (it’s also here), and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see how the group liked this one.
Everyday Dorie: Green-as-Spring Soup
May 10, 2019 at 4:24 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, soups | 8 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, soup
This Green-as-Spring Soup was pretty easily put together after a walk through my neighborhood farmers’ market. After a long winter of turnips, the stalls are overflowing with green stuff right now! Armed with some leeks, garlic and shallots, a bunch of asparagus (which I trimmed, but did not bother to peel) and a zucchini, I got to work. After a quick sweat down of the alliums, it was everything else in the pot with some broth to simmer till soft. I had some nice spinach from my favorite farmer and I threw in just a handful of that, along with my herbs, for extra pop. Happily for those of us lacking amazing knife skills, it doesn’t matter how neatly things are cut up…it all gets puréed smooth in the blender. I fished out a few of the asparagus tips before blending the soup, which I used as garnish, along with a quick herb cream I made from pesto and greek yogurt. I added a drizzle of good olive oil, too, because, well, more green!
This soup was delicious and velvety even though it contains no dairy (apart from the garnish). It’s fresh and satisfying, and was even better reheated the next day.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see how the group liked this one.
Everyday Dorie: Potato Chowder Lots of Ways
January 11, 2019 at 3:15 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, soups, veggies | 13 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, soup, vegetables
Well, it’s officially frigid here and all I want to make for dinner is soup. Luckily, Cook the Book Fridays picked Dorie’s Potato Chowder Lots of Ways for the recipe of the month. I like the “lots of ways” bit because it pretty much tells me I’ll have room to improvise, which I usually do anyway but having permission is a refreshing change. Hahaha. I actually didn’t really veer too far off base here, just a few tweaks and some flavoring and topping customization. This is really a potato and onion chowder, using just about every allium you can think of: yellow onions, leeks, shallots and garlic. Any not on this list can be added as a topping. I first pre-crisped some turkey bacon bits in my Dutch oven and set them aside for garnish. As the alliums cooked down all soft and sweet, I seasoned them with Old Bay. My dad used to have a boat on the Chesapeake, so I love that stuff. I never peel potatoes if I don’t have to, and didn’t see a reason to here, so I left the skins on mine.
I don’t always love how I feel after eating soup with a cream base, so I skipped the cream here and instead stole a couple of ladlefuls of soup out of my pot (the liquid with some potatoes and onions) and whizzed it really smooth in my blender. I stirred that back into the soup to give the base a thicker, velvety texture and then added about 1/4 cup of 2% milk just to give it a slightly lighter, more chowdery, color. Because I’d been restrained with the dairy in the soup, I felt no guilt when adding a blop of crème fraîche as a topping. Also on top of the “my way” chowder, I sprinkled those bacon bits, some sliced scallion and some tiny potatoes that I crisped up in olive oil, crouton-style. Delicious. I will definitely try this chowder other ways as the season goes on.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see how the group liked this one.
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