Since I love the whole concept of soup for dessert, I was looking forward to trying out this concoction. The creamy, dark chocolate soup (not to be confused with the much-coveted cartons of sweet chocolate-y bliss that we remember from grade school)  topped with a foam made from Devonshire (Devon) cream, and whimsical cocoa puffs enrobed in milk chocolate did not disappoint. So let’s get down to it, shall we?

I have to admit it, the “puffs” pictured above are impostors – Whole Foods 365 brand that I purchased while at my wits end grocery shopping on Valentine’s Day weekend. I’m not sure that it made a difference, but, being the daughter of an emphatically anti-sugar cereal mother, I’ve still never had the pleasure of tasting real cocoa puffs. The real bummer, however, was that I’d planned on buying Valhrona 40% milk chocolate for coating the puffs, as the recipe suggested, but found myself screwed over once again by the romantically inclined shoppers of Whole Foods. They were fresh out and I settled on the Callabaut 33% instead, which is more sweet and strongly vanilla flavored, and has a markedly lighter color.

The biggest star in this dessert is the flavor of juniper berries, which I crushed and infused with some of the warmed milk for half an hour. The flavor imparted from the juniper berries, when combined with Valrhona 72% bittersweet chocolate, is complex and divine, and I’m so excited to now have this flavor combination in my arsenal as we begin working with chocolate at the FCI.

I used an immersion blender to create an emulsion of melted chocolate and juniper-infused milk, and just like that, the soup was ready to chill.

Devon cream, aka Devonshire cream, according to Wikipedia, is: “a type of clotted cream made by heating unpasteurised cow’s milk and then leaving it in shallow pans for several hours. During this time, the cream content rises to the surface and forms clots.” I didn’t anticipate having trouble finding a jar of the stuff, considering the number of Brits in Manhattan, but after three unsuccessful attempts in specialty stores I opted for plan B: making the cheat version. Luckily, I learned to make a lovely styling of Devonshire cream back at the Brooklyn restaurant where I used to intern, using Mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, and just a bit of sugar and lemon juice. I subbed it in for the real deal, and created my foam using the immersion blender once again.

Components: Devon foam, bittersweet, juniper-infused cold chocolate soup, chocolate-covered cocoa puffs, and extra-tall shot glass (which we had on hand courtesy of Brian’s fraternity ball, circa 2000, but I’ve also seen them at CB2).

This dessert goes down as perhaps my favorite incarnation of chocolate to date. There’s nothing too sweet here, the milk chocolate of the cocoa puffs is well-balanced with lots of intense bitter flavor from the soup. The juniper berries, as I already mentioned are made for this kind of chocolate, they harmonize so well that I can’t believe more pastry chefs and chocolatiers are not pushing the combination. The Devon foam, though not completely authentic, still lent a nice contrast of subtle sweet flavor and smooth texture, I found myself trying very hard to ration the cocoa puffs as to get a little foam, puff, and soup on my spoon with every bite. I can’t wait to make this for dinner party guests.

Next up: Flameed Bananas ~ Rum and Coke Ice Cream ~ Peanut Phyllo Crisps

Interested in playing along? Click to get your copy of Dessert FourPlay: Sweet Quartets from a Four-Star Pastry Chef

I’m not going to sink to the same level as this bout of premature winter that Mother Nature has tossed our way by complaining about it. Instead, I will silently voice my opinion by fighting back against the cold with this feisty, flavorful soup.

Tortilla soup defines comfort food for me – hearty, warm, and spicy, without lighting my mouth on fire. The rich chicken stock is underscored with a bit of heat, and cradles the sweetness of tomatoes – in this case, some of the last that we will be likely to see at the market until next August.

The shredded chicken is perfectly tender from hours of slow simmering, and gives the soup the guts it needs to stand on it’s own as a meal.

I staged a pathetic attempt at making my own tortillas for the first time and it was a miserable FAIL because I was unable to procure the necessary lard on such short notice. I tried to substitute with my all-natural, organic shortening and instead of flat, flexible pancakes, I ended up with mush balls that fell apart when rolled out. I fried up a few of those up to give the soup it’s signature flavor, but my hopes of topping the soup with gnarly strips of crispy tortilla were dashed.

That will have to be a project for another day.

Tortilla soup requires that you make your own stock (you need to do it anyway to cook the chicken to tender perfection), and therefore, you should plan to make the stock and set the chicken aside in the fridge the night before if the mood strikes for say, a weekday dinner. No matter how you get it done, it is well worth the effort, and the perfect end to our first blustery day that reminded us, cruelly, that winter is just around the corner.

Tortilla Soup

For the Stock:

1 (4 to 5 pound) whole chicken, innards removed and rinsed
Salt
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup medium diced carrots
1 cup medium diced celery
4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
8 cups water

For the Soup:

8 (7-inch) corn tortillas
Vegetable oil, for frying
2 cups chopped onions
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 bay leaf
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes, peeled and seeded (about 6 to 8 Romas)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Garnishes:

1 large avocado, peeled and diced
2 fresh limes, cut into quarters
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

For the Stock: Season the chicken with salt. Place in a large stockpot and add the remaining ingredients. Season with a teaspoon of salt. Place the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the chicken is tender, about 2 hours.

Remove from the heat and cool completely. Remove the chicken and set aside. Strain the liquid into a another pan, discarding the vegetables. Remove the fat and bones from the chicken. Dice the chicken into 1/2-inch pieces. Set aside.

For the Soup: Preheat the fryer. Cut half of the tortillas in quarters and thinly slice the other half. Fry both cuts of tortillas in batches, until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels. Season with salt and set aside.

In a stock pot, over medium heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions. Season with salt, pepper and oregano. Saute until soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf and jalapeno. Continue to saute for 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for 2 minutes. Crush the reserved fried tortilla quarters over the tomatoes. Stir to mix. Stir in the reserved chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Using a hand-held blender, puree the soup until smooth or leave chunky (either way, be sure to remove the bay leaf). Re-season the soup. Stir in the reserved chicken and cilantro. Simmer for another 5 minutes. To serve, ladle the soup into individual bowls. Garnish with the avocados, squeeze of lime  lime juice, fresh cilantro and the fried tortilla strips. Serve warm.

I’ve arrived at the point in the winter season when I turn into a serious hater. I hate my coats, my scarves, and my gloves. I hate shoving my feet into boots and freeing my face off each morning as I make the trek to the subway. I hate the sad selection of root vegetables and apples at the greenmarket. And with the teeth-rattling wind chills that raged all week, the only place that I wanted to be (besides curled up in bed) was in the kitchen making soup, pretending that I’d never have to go outside again.

Butternut squash soup is one of my winter favorites for a few key reasons. First off, it has only a few ingredients that are readily available and quite affordable.

And then there’s the fact that it is almost impossible to mess it up. Even my cat could make this soup.

And lastly, despite it’s decadent, creamy texture and big flavor, it’s ridiculously good for you (low in fat, high in nutrients).

This particular recipe features a puree of roasted red pepper drizzled on the top. I found the flavor off-putting and say don’t bother.

I used a hand blender to puree the soup right in the pot. If you do not have this very awesome gadget, never fear – a regular blender or food processor will yield the same effect. For me, it was worth the 25 bucks to never have to clean my blender after making soup.

I highly recommend using fresh thyme for this soup, and don’t forget to add the zest. The recipe calls for orange, but I used lemon instead.

As I mentioned earlier, If you like the taste of biting garlic and slightly bitter pepper overpowering the lovely creamy squash flavors, then this puree is for you. Otherwise, steer clear.

I served this soup with some rosemary crackers that I will show you in my next post. The soup was entirely delicious and achieved the desired warming effect, briefly lifting my spirits, if only until I had to return out into the elements once more.

Butternut Squash Soup with Roasted Red Pepper Purée
Adapted from Gourmet, December 2003 

For the soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 1/4 cups chopped onions

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 2 1/2-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch pieces

5 1/2 cups (or more) vegetable broth

3 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Thanksgiving is coming and in an effort to not feel too much like huge pigs, each year we try to eat pretty light during the days leading up to the big event. Some years we are more successful at it than others, but when this spicy and flavorful butternut squash soup is on the pre-game menu, we have a shot at staying on the wagon until Thursday evening.

There is no set recipe for this soup and I can only offer guidelines based on how I like to make it. You can’t really go wrong if you start with a very fresh, local butternut squash of medium size (will feed 4 as part of a meal, 2 as the meal itself). Peel, seed, and chop the squash into pieces that are roughly 1 1/2 inches.

The sort-of -secret ingredient in this soup is apples – for this recipe I use two of the Macintosh variety, peeled, cored, and chopped into eighths.

Bring a pot of water to boil and add the squash. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes, or until you notice that it has gotten soft enough to mash with a fork. At this point, add the apples and simmer for an additional three minutes. Remove from the heat and strain.

Puree the squash and apples in a food processor or blender until they are completely creamy and smooth with absolutely no lumps.

Once the mixture is smooth, dump the contents of the food processor into a large saucepan and add a cup of vegetable stock – homemade or store bought will both work here.

Once the stock is stirred in, begin to add curry to the soup, a little bit at a time. I used a Tikka Masala blend that I got from an Indian grocery, but red Thai curry would also work fine here. Slowly add spice and then taste, stopping when it has reached your desired level of spice.

Once the soup is spicy to your liking, add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Also, you may choose to add a tablespoon of butter, although I thought it was just fine without it.

Stir and simmer for a few more minutes, then taste again and add more seasoning if needed. Spoon the soup into bowls and add a pinch of nutmeg to the top for presentation and aroma. This soup is perfectly complimented by a multi-grain roll or piece of sourdough toast.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

1 medium to large sized butternut squash

2 Macintosh apples – the food, not the computer

1 cup vegetable stock

approx 2 tablespoons Thai red curry or other curry (red colors are recommended for presentation)

salt and fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon butter (optional)

Pinches of nutmeg (optional)

The arrival of my November 10^th installment of NY Magazine elicited squeals of delight from yours truly – a whole spread of holiday foods featuring local ingredients (and the farmers who grow them!) written by a few of my favorite chefs. Given that I’ve been in a soup-y mood lately and that I love love love fennel, deciding to dive in with Dan Barber’s recipe for a fennel soup was a no-brainer (stay tuned for other gems, including Ed Brown’s Roasted Oysters with Leeks & Bacon – drool).

This soup is simple once you move beyond the stock, which is just slightly more complex than an average vegetable stock with it’s fennel, garlic, coriander seeds, and thyme. I recommend that you prepare it in advance, otherwise you are looking at 4 hours in the kitchen. 

Alas, I did not photograph the stock-making process, but the instructions are straightforward – apologies for being a bad blogger. 

There are few things more satisfying that chopping into a big bulb of fennel – it’s dense and crisp and your kitchen is instantly filled with fresh, anise aroma. Well, maybe there is one thing more satisfying – peeling an apple clean with just a single insertion of the blade. When chopping the fennel, be sure to use only the white parts for the soup and hold the greens for later.

The rest is simple – sweat out the onions and shallots in a tiny bit of olive oil, add the apples and fennel, then the stock, season, and simmer for half an hour. Come back in 30 minutes and you will have a saucepan of mush – fennel, apples, and the rest all cooked down and ready to become creamy soup.

Contrary to Dan Barber’s instructions, I pureed the mush in the food processor as I tend to avoid cleaning my blender at all costs. I let the food processor do its job for about three minutes and got the desired effect – a creamy, dense fennel soup that tastes so rich that you’ll never miss the stick of butter that you’ll swear is enveloped in that fennel-apple goodness. This soup is a vegan’s dream.

Dairyless Local-Fennel Soup
From New York Magazine, November 10, 2008
THE RECIPE:
For the Vegetable Stock:

• 
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil 

• 1 1/4 cups medium-diced onion 

• 1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots 

• 1/4 cup medium-diced leeks
•  
1/2 cup medium-diced carrots 
• 
3 1/4 cups medium-diced fennel 
• 
Salt

• 1/8 teaspoon coriander seeds 

• 1/8 teaspoon black peppercorns 

• 6 sprigs parsley 

• 3 sprigs thyme 

• 1/2 head garlic

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the vegetables and a pinch of salt, and sweat over low heat. Add the coriander seeds, peppercorns, parsley, thyme, garlic, and 6 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 50 minutes. Strain and chill.

For the Fennel Soup:

• 
3 tablespoons olive oil 
• 
1 onion, chopped 
• 
3 small shallots, minced 
• 
3 1/2 cups diced fennel, white part only, reserving green fronds for garnish 

• 1 apple, peeled and diced 
• 
Salt and ground black pepper 

• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, crushed 
• 
4 cups vegetable stock (recipe above) 

• 1/2 teaspoon chopped thyme

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and shallots, and sweat until translucent. Add the fennel and apple, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes before adding the fennel seeds and stock, bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 minutes. Add thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer to a blender and purée, adding the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Return to saucepan and heat gently. Garnish with fennel fronds.

THE CHEF:
 Dan BarberBlue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns
Instead of the traditional pumpkin or squash soup, Dan Barber prefers the anise-flavored fennel. “It’s so silky and rich, you don’t need to add dairy,” he says. “Which means it’s hearty without being filling, so you can enjoy the rest of the meal.” Barber has experimented with many varieties for flavor, but Ken Migliorelli’s oversize bulbs, he’s says, “are the sweetest.”
THE FARMER:
 Ken Migliorelli(Migliorelli Farm) Tivoli; 845-757-3276 or migliorelli.com Ken Migliorelli comes from a family of Italian farmers—when his grandfather emigrated from Italy in the thirties, he brought broccoli-rabe seeds with him and planted them on his farm in the Bronx. That same strain of seed is now grown on Migliorelli’s farm in Dutchess County, which is one of the largest regional farms specializing in Italian products—broccoli rabe, arugula, and dandelion, among 140 other items. “The fennel’s grown in a sandy loam soil,” says Migliorelli. “That’s what makes it sweet.”