Chicken Soup is the electric blanket of food. You turn it on, heat it up, get yourself a bowlful and you feel warm and snuggly all over. Quickly.

Could there be something, anything better on a cold or dark, gloomy, wintry, rainy day?

It isn’t particularly cold here today in Connecticut. But it is dark, gloomy, wintry and rainy. 

Time to make Chicken Soup from my mother’s wonderful recipe. She would always make this soup on dark, gloomy, wintry, rainy days. Here is her recipe:

My Mom’s Chicken Soup

1 large whole chicken

 water

4 carrots, peeled

3 stalks celery, peeled

1 medium parsnip, peeled

1 large onion, left whole but peeled

small bunch of fresh dill

1 tablespoon salt, or salt to taste

6-8 whole black peppercorns

sprinklefingers:

recipes and cooking are so funny. and by ‘funny’ i mean that they are sometimes a pain in the ass. the majority of people i know are so tied to recipes and have been using them for so long that their ability to improvise in the kitchen could be considered a lost art.

when i describe how i’ve made…

Most of my mother’s best recipes were lists of ingredients followed by the instruction “bake (or cook) as usual.”

In her youth there were few cookbooks and food magazines and certainly no internet with recipes from everyone, everywhere. A girl learned to cook by helping her mother get dinner together every day, so by the time she grew up and got married and had children of her own, she was well-equipped to get a good meal on the table for her own family.

But it’s not like that today. It’s been generations, in fact, since most women learned to cook at home. We all know why, so it’s not worth getting into here. But because of it people — men and women — who like to cook may no longer come to the task with any hands-on experience. And we’ve become so enamored of food in this country that the simple act of getting dinner on the table seem fraught, to many, with possible mishaps, if not terrors.

Hence: the cookbook, the precise recipe. It certainly can stifle creativity and it seems a shame that so many people need to follow so exactly out of fear or concern that they’ll get it wrong.

On the other hand, even though I grew up a daughter to a good cook who taught me the ins and outs of cooking, I didn’t know much about French cuisine and found Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, with its pages of detailed instructions, a real friend. Like the Julie of movie fame, I made many of the recipes, step by step (I did NOT go through the entire book!)

But after several dinners and several mistakes, I felt confident to expand on my own.

So I agree with Sprinklefingers that a good way to approach cooking if you’re a newbie with little, if any, kitchen experience, is to follow the recipes in a book but all the while consider what you might do differently if you were to change it. Like, what you would do if you liked brown rice better than white or preferred dill to thyme or only liked white meat chicken and you were using a recipe that called for a whole chicken. Or what you would add to the plain old Minestrone soup if you wanted to spice it up. Or whether that recipe for Grilled Cheese with a slice or two of pear and a sprinkle of curry powder would make it a little more interesting.

For me, the detail of Julia Child’s Mastering book helped me to understand the concept of the recipe better, but for someone else, a more laissez-faire, short-on-instruction approach may be more free-ing.

But whichever is best for you, the thing to remember is that cooking should be a pleasure and also, an opportunity for you to improvise to make the food so that it suits your tastes. Don’t let yourself get stuck feeling like a prisoner to a recipe. That makes cooking less enjoyable.

Sprinklefingers posted James Beard’s recipe for Potato and Leek Soup. One of my favorites. It’s one I made often, first, exactly as it was in the book. Then one day I had no leeks, so I substituted onions. Once I didn’t have enough potatoes so I added parsnips. And once I included carrots and peas. And once, I didn’t have potatoes, one of the soup’s main ingredients.

But I did have sweet potatoes, so I used them instead. That’s how, if you start out with a good cookbook and let yourself feel free to improvise you can end up with this recipe for Sweet Potato Soup:

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

2 tablespoons butter

2 leeks, cleaned and chopped

4 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

1-1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 cups half and half cream

garnish: chopped chives, pita crisps, croutons, dollop of creme fraiche, etc.

Place the sweet potatoes in a saucepan of lightly salted water and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to medium and cook for about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and set the potatoes aside in a bowl to cool. Add the butter to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until the butter has melted and looks foamy. Add the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes, or until softened. Add the sweet potatoes, stock, chives, thyme, ginger and a sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan partially and cook for 20 minutes. Puree the soup in a blender (or with a hand blender) and return the puree to the pan. Stir in the half and half, whisk the ingredients thoroughly until well blended and heat through.  Garnish and serve. Makes 6-8 servings

More snow! Will I ever be able to get out of the house? I mean, it’s blown up to the middle of the door!

I remember days like this when I was in high school. They didn’t call school off in those days. We had to walk to the bus stop, knee deep in white fluff.

We were strong and courageous, full of the pioneer spirit that made America great! No coddling for us!

Okay I remember it happened once. So much snow, it seemed so bizarre that school might be open, which is why I remember it so vividly. And actually, the bus never came because the roads hadn’t been plowed yet, so I walked back home, as did all my friends on the block. We hadn’t listened to the radio before venturing out to prove our pioneering spirits.

Not many people are going out today because it’s ferocious here in Connecticut. It snowed all night. We got at least one foot of new snow and it’s still going on. I see my neighbor’s driveway has been plowed. They’re both doctors, so I guess it’s essential they get out. 

My job? Not so essential! This is one of those times I can really enjoy not being too important. 

It’s a perfect day for homemade soup. Here’s one of my favorite recipes, it’s from my book Hip Kosher. Serve it with a hunk of crusty bread and you don’t need anything else for dinner.

Pasta Fagiole

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large clove garlic, chopped

2 carrots, sliced 1/2-inch thick

2 stalks celery, sliced 1/2-inch thick

28-ounce can tomatoes, with liquid

1 quart vegetable stock

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup ditalini or other small tubular pasta

2 15-ounce cans red kidney beans, with liquid

freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrots and celery and cook for 2 minutes or until softened slightly. Add the tomatoes, stock, basil, parsley and some salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Add the pasta and cook for 5 minutes. Add the beans and cook for another 8-10 minutes or until the pasta is tender. Serve the soup sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Makes 6 servings

This is a perfect day to make soup. It’s cold, dark and rainy where I live, the kind of day when you want to stay inside, wear your most comfortable clothes, read a book or watch a movie and know there’s a comforting something simmering on the cooktop. 

I’m going to make Minestrone. The recipe is flexible. I always have fresh carrots, potatoes and celery, frozen peas and corn, canned tomatoes and beans, packages of macaroni and rice and some fresh herbs in the house, but if I don’t have the zucchini I’ll leave it out or substitute broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage. If you don’t have some of the veggies — peas or corn, for example — leave it out and use a different vegetable. The bay leaf isn’t critical. And although I don’t like dried basil, you can use it if that’s all you have (about 1/3 the amount of fresh).

Minestrone

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

3 carrots cut into 1/2-inch slices

3 stalks celery cut into 1/2-inch slices

2 Yukon Gold or all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into bite size chunks

1 zucchini, cut into bite size pieces

1-1/2 cups frozen peas

1 cup frozen corn kernels

28 ounce can Italian style tomatoes, chopped

8 cups stock (vegetable or chicken) or water

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 can rinsed and drained canned white beans

1/2 cup white rice or elbow macaroni

freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic, carrots, celery, zucchini, peas and corn and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stock, bay leaf, basil, oregano and some salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover the pan partially and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the beans and rice or macaroni and cook for another 20 minutes or until the rice or pasta is tender. Serve sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Makes 8 servings

If you’ve never tasted a parsnip go out right now and buy some. They’re sweet and easy to cook and useful for an incredible number and variety of recipes. Parsnips, the vegetable that looks like a creamy-white carrot, is at its finest just after the first frost, when the starches turn to sugar. The season is now and for the next couple of months (of course you can get them all year but they’re best now).

I learned to love parsnips because my Mom always stuck one in the pot when she made chicken soup, and it gave the broth a lovely, sweetness. Fanny Farmer was less than charmed by parsnips than I am. In 1906 she wrote, “Parsnips are raised mostly as cattle food.”

Taste for yourself. Here’s a thick and hearty soup to warm you up on colder days. If you’ve never eaten a parsnip this will give you a good first taste. If you have, well, then you already know how good they are and can add this recipe to your collection.

Btw, this is a terrific first course for a Thanksgiving dinner.

Parsnip Soup with Croutons

2 slices homestyle, firm white or whole wheat bread or French bread

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

1/2 teaspoon combined dried oregano and thyme (or use mixed dried herbs)

1 clove garlic, mashed

1 large yellow or Spanish onion, chopped

1 pound parsnips, peeled and sliced (1/4-inch thick)

2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks

5 cups vegetable stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 cup half and half cream, whole milk or coconut milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Trim the crusts from the bread and cut the bread into 3/4-inch dice. Place the bread on a baking sheet and cook for 7-8 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Melt 2 tablespoons of the olive oil plus one tablespoon of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the herbs and garlic, then pour this mixture over the lightly toasted croutons. Toss the bread to coat them with the herbed butter mixture. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 8-10 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside. Heat the remaining one tablespoon olive oil and butter to the saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until softened. Add the parsnips, potatoes and stock and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer the soup for about 45 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Puree the soup with a hand blender or in a traditional blender or food processor. Return the soup to the pan, stir in the cream and reheat. Serve the soup topped with the croutons. Makes 6 servings

Have to be fair. Yesterday I gave a recipe for Gazpacho, a soup from Spain to serve for World Cup watching. 

Now on to the Netherlands. I’ve been working on a recipe for a summer version of Dutch pea soup. Dutch Pea Soup (Erwtensoep) is thick and smoky, made with dried peas and a ham hock or bacon. It’s one of my favorite winter soups but it’s too heavy for a summer day.

Here’s the one I came up with. It has fresh peas and it’s as light as a feather. I’ve made it with yogurt and buttermilk. Either way, the recipe works, and it’s very refreshing. The jewel green color is lovely too. To get that smoky flavor of Erwtensoep use some bacon — but you can also substitute fake bacon (Morningstar Farm soy strips).

I had a friend once, a much older woman named Ro whose family escaped Holland during World War II. She always said she hated Dutch Pea Soup. She was such a gracious and gentle woman and yet when she talked about pea soup she would get an impossibly angry look on her face. One day she told me about the time when she was a young girl and her mother served pea soup. She didn’t want to eat it. Her father made her sit at the table for hours and hours, past her bedtime and she kept refusing to eat. Finally she fell asleep at the table and when she woke up the pea soup was still there. She finally gave in and ate the soup, now cold, for breakfast. But she never ate pea soup again.

Ro is gone now but I would like to think she would try — and even enjoy — this recipe.

Summer Dutch Pea Soup

4 ounces bacon or Morningstar Farms veggie bacon

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large Yukon Gold potato, peeled and chopped

6 cups vegetable stock

6 cups shelled fresh peas or 3 (10-ounce) packages frozen peas

3/4 cup plain yogurt or buttermilk

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

extra plain yogurt or dairy sour cream or creme fraiche

Cook the bacon in a soup pot for 5-6 minutes over medium heat or until it is crispy. Remove the bacon and all but a film of fat from the pan. Crumble the bacon and set aside. Pour the olive oil into the pan. Add the onion and potato and cook, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, bring to a simmer, cover the pan and cook for about 12 minutes or until the potato has softened. Add the peas. Cover and cook for another 3 minutes. Remove the cover and remove the pan from the heat and let cool. Puree the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Whisk in the yogurt. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with a blob of yogurt or sour cream and some of the crumbled bacon. Makes 6 servings

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Doesn’t matter who you’re rooting for in the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands. Gazpacho is a Spanish soup but it’s an all around winner and almost everyone loves it, so it’s a good dish to serve to friends who might be watching the game with you Sunday.

The first time I ever tried Gazpacho was right after my brother Jeff and sister-in-law Eileen returned from their honeymoon in Spain and they invited the family over for dinner. Eileen, who’s good at lots of stuff, will be the first to admit that she’s not such a great cook. But she was determined to make Gazpacho for us.

It took her seven hours, not including the shopping. In her effort to make the dish the authentic way, she traveled to a distant neighborhood to find perfect produce from a Spanish market, hand-chopped the vegetables rather than use a food processor and ground the bread and herbs using a mortar and pestle that she borrowed from her grandmother. 

The soup was fabulous. Plump, ripe, fruity summer tomatoes. Crunchy bell peppers. Icy-crisp sweet cucumbers. Homemade, well-seasoned croutons.

She never made it again. And once we heard how long it took her no one asked for the recipe. Who would bother??

A few years ago, for a food column, I played around with Eileen’s recipe. I wanted readers to be able to make this recipe — the easy way. It still requires several steps, but it won’t take you seven hours to make. Here’s the modern, still-tasting-authentic version. You might have to do this in portions, depending on the size of your food processor.

Food Processor Andalusian Gazpacho

The Soup:

5 ripe tomatoes

1 cucumber

1 green bell pepper

4 slices homestyle white bread, torn into small pieces

2 large cloves garlic

1 medium onion, cut into chunks

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup water

salt to taste

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

3 cups tomato juice

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or oregano

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Croutons (or use packaged):

4 slices homestyle white bread

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

salt to taste

Garnish:

chopped green bell pepper, scallions, cucumber and fresh chili pepper

To make the soup, cut the tomatoes in half, crosswise and squeeze out the seeds. Chop the tomatoes and set aside. Peel the cucumber, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Chop the cucumber and set aside. Remove the stem and top of the bell pepper, cut in half and remove the seeds and pith. Chop the pepper and set aside. Place the bread, garlic cloves, onion and olive oil in a food processor. Process until finely minced. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice during the process. Add the water and a shake of salt and process for a few seconds. Add the tomatoes, cucumber and bell pepper and process to the desired consistency. Pour into a large bowl and add the wine vinegar, tomato juice, basil or oregano and parsley. Refrigerate for at least one hour to let flavors blend. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve soup topped with croutons and garnish on the side. Makes 6 servings

To make croutons: trim the crusts from the bread and dice the slices. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the bread. Sprinkle with basil and salt to taste. Cook, tossing the bread occasionally, for several minutes until the dice are toasty brown. Dish out and set aside.

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