Salmon bisque

 

This recipe comes from my mother's old "Joy of Cooking" book, which had lost its cover and been wrapped with book tape ever since I can remember. It's well splattered, so it seems like it must have seen significant use, but I'd never even cracked it open as a child, gravitating instead to the red checkerboard BH&G or Betty Crocker for some reason. Maybe I was put off by the lack of pictures? The inline ingredient recipe method? At any rate, I thought it was time to try something out of it, and this seemed suitably old school.

Salmon bisque
Adapted from “Joy of Cooking” by Irma S. Rombauer

Ingredients
2 7.5-ounce cans salmon, including oil
1 14.5-ounce can chopped tomatoes
½ cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 cups water
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
1½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon paprika

Method
In large heavy pot, combine salmon, tomatoes, onion, parsley and 2 cups water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in another large heavy pot, melt butter. Whisk in flour and cook for a few minutes. Slowly pour in milk, whisking constantly. Add salt and paprika and continue to cook and stir over medium low heat until mixture thickens. Add salmon mixture to bisque, keeping mixture below a boil and serve. Makes about 6 servings.

Ratings: Pretty good flavorwise, depending on how you feel about canned salmon. Dave has fond memories of salmon patties, so he really liked it. I wasn't a salmon patty fan myself, and while the mixture cooks it smells like canned pet food, but it's a decent soup. Definitely pantry friendly -- you don't even need broth on hand. And it just somehow smacks of something made by 1950s moms for ladies luncheons while wearing starched aprons.

Pear parsnip soup

 

 Parsnip and pear soup
Adapted from "365: A Year of Everyday Cooking and Baking" by Meike Peters

Ingredients
½ tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
⅔ cup chopped peeled parsnips (about 2 large-ish)
7 ounces peeled and cored firm pear, chopped (1 large)
3 large cloves garlic, chopped into large pieces
3⅓ cup broth
1 bay leaf
1 bunch fresh thyme, plus more leaves for garnish
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Nutmeg, salt, pepper
¼ cup cream
Mascarpone or crème fraiche for garnish

Method
In large heavy pot, heat oil over medium low heat. Add garlic and cook until soft. Add parsnip, pear and garlic and cook for one minute, stirring. Add the broth, bay leaf, thyme and rosemary. Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Simmer for 25 minutes until parsnip is tender. Remove from heat and remove the bay leaf, rosemary sprig and any woody thyme stems. Let cool slightly and puree. Return to pot and add cream and heat through. Adjust seasoning as needed. Serve garnished with a small dollop of mascarpone or crème fraiche. Serves 4 as a light first course, or 2 heartier servings.

Rating: Fine. It's highly reminiscent of this parsnip apple soup from "The Cafe Brenda Cookbook" that's my usual go-to parsnip soup. I happened to have pears and parsnips on hand when I saw this recipe so I gave it a shot. It's a perfectly good combo pack, perhaps a tad sweeter than the Cafe Brenda version, which I slightly prefer because it has a bit more tang.

 

 

Blueberry buttermilk coffeecake(s), one with almond streusel

The local store often only carries buttermilk in quarts, so anytime I buy some I'm usually scrounging around for recipes to use up the rest. (Yes, I've been told it freezes well, but I know myself, and that means three years from now I would be thawing and tossing old buttermilk.) So I tried a pair of blueberry coffeecakes that both called for buttermilk. Two very different takes, but both winners.

Blueberry-almond coffeecake

Adapted from “Happy Holidays from the Diva of Do-Ahead,” by Diane Phillips. Do-ahead in this case simply means baking the cake ahead of time. While a room temperature coffeecake is still cake, to my mind it’s not nearly as good as a freshly baked warm coffeecake for breakfast. I opted to premix most of the streusel and dry ingredients the night before and was able to get a warm cake on the breakfast table in about an hour.

Ingredients

Streusel
½ cup sugar
½ cup flour
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Cake
1½ cups flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, softened
¾ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon almond extract
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup blueberries
1 cup sliced almonds

Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 10-inch springform pan.

Combine streusel ingredients: sugar, ½ cup flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and 4 tablespoons melted butter. Set aside.

Combine 1½ cup flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream ½ cup softened butter with brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time until well combined. Mix in buttermilk, almond extract and lemon zest. Stir in dry ingredients until blended. Fold in blueberries. Pour into prepared baking pan. Sprinkle streusel on top, then top with almonds. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until it passes the toothpick test. Cool 15 minutes on a wire rack before attempting to remove cake from pan.

The recipe notes that you can double the ingredients and bake it in a 13-by-9 pan.

Rating: Heavenly. If you love almonds, you will adore this cake. Nice and moist, good flavor, definitely repeatable. Will probably try the sheet cake option next time, but the round version has more presentation possibilities.Only regret: I didn't put a tin foil sheet under the springform pan, which resulted in a bit of grease leakage on the over floor.

 

Berry and buttermilk cake

From “Apples for Jam” by Tessa Kiros, a really lovely looking book that organizes food by colors, an interesting concept that actually kind of sort of works. Pity about the choice of a font so faint it’s nearly unreadable. But you'll note that I made the recipe anyway. The recipe notes that you could use halved  hulled strawberries in this recipe as well. Blackberries, anyone?

If you don't have superfine sugar, give regular sugar a few pulses in the food processor.

Ingredients
2½ cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ cup superfine sugar
Nutmeg
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
¼ cup butter, melted
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup blueberries
2½ tablespoons raw sugar

Method
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease and flour an 8-by-12 pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar and a generous sprinkling or grinds of nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat eggs together until light and fluffy. Combine eggs, buttermilk, butter and lemon zest. Stir into flour mixture with a wooden spoon just until combined. Spoon into prepared baking dish, spreading to cover the bottom. Sprinkle berries over the top of batter. Sprinkle raw sugar over the top and bake for 25 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.

Rating: Really very nice. Wonderful berry flavor comes through, very nice texture, and that raw sugar topping makes a really nice crust on top that’s not as overwhelming as streusel can be, and much faster to make all around. I’d definitely make this one again. Lovely on a snowy Sunday morning so gray I couldn't find any natural light in which to photograph this, not even a sun room with windows on all three sides.It's much more homespun than the other version, but there's a place for both.

Now: About that pan size: While I do own a pan that size, it's really a scalloped-sided ceramic baking dish, because who owns a pan that size in the U.S.? This is the second time I've run across a recipe stipulating that size, and it's a bit challenging, since even this handy King Arthur guide to alternative baking pan sizes doesn't address it. Not addressed in this Joy of Baking guide either. If you go ahead and bake this in a 9-by-13, I'd recommend checking the cake sooner since that would affect the baking time. I gather this is a much more common size in Europe and Canada; not sure I'm willing to buy one more pan I have to store, although I guess I could give up one of my six 9-by-13 pans accumulated over the years ...

Tortellini soup with dill and spinach, avgolemono style

 

This soup looked so appealing I had to try it. Plus lemon and dill, right? It gets its creaminess from the Greek-style tempered egg mixture.

Lemony tortellini soup with spinach and dill

From Bon Appetit

Ingredients
1 bunch spinach, about 10 ounces
1 bunch dill
8 cups good broth
10 ounce package of tortellini
4 eggs
Juice of 1 medium lemon (4 tablespoons)
Black pepper
Grated Parmesan for garnish

Method
Remove sturdy stems from spinach and chop leaves. Chop dill leaves coarsely. Set aside.

Bring broth to a boil. Add tortellini and cook about 3 minutes or according to package directions. Remove tortellini from broth and divide among 4 soup bowls.

Beat eggs in a medium bowl. Add lemon juice and several generous grinds of pepper and some kosher salt. Slowly whisk in ladles of hot broth one at a time until egg mixture is quite warm.Add to broth in pot and cook about 5 to 7 minutes until thickened, whisking often. Do not let mixture boil. Adjust seasoning as needed.

Remove from heat and stir in spinach and dill. Spoon over tortellini in bowls and serve garnished with grated Parmesan. Serves 4.

Rating: Short version: Skip it.

Longer version: I did not love this. Hard to believe I'm saying this, but it might be too lemony. It overwhelmed the dill flavor. Maybe if the lemon was dialed back a bit and some crushed red pepper flakes added to give it a bit more balance? My expectations were lower when we reheated the leftovers, especially since I wasn't sure how well the pasta would hold up and how well an egg soup would reheat. Like most soups, it tasted better with age and actually reheated just fine. We could finally taste the dill a bit and it was more balanced. That got me wondering whether heating the broth with the dill a day ahead would have helped. Not going to waste time finding out.

Lentil vegetable soup, chickpea chorizo soup

 

These two recipes (one potentially vegetarian and one not) have three things in common: They're very sturdy soups good for cold, bleary days, they come from the same cookbook and they both taste significantly better if made at least a day ahead. They both qualify for the "One-Bowl Meals" premise if paired with a crusty loaf of bread and a green salad.

Chunky lentil and vegetable soup
From “One-Bowl Meals” by Tonia George

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 carrrots, finely chopped
2 leeks, white parts only, thinly sliced
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 14-ounce cans chopped tomatoes
1 cup green lentils (it prefers the frequently elusive Puy lentils)
1 quart broth
Grated Parmesan for garnish

Method
Melt butter in large heavy pan. Add carrots, leeks, onions and garlic and a large pinch of salt. Stir together to coat with butter. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When vegetables have softened, add oregano, red pepper flakes, tomatoes, lentils and stock. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes or until lentils are cooked. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with grated Parmesan. Serves 4 generously.

 Rating: OK-ish the first day, better the second and really at its best by day 4.

 

Chickpea, tomato and chorizo soup
From "One-Bowl Meals" by Tonia George

Ingredients
6 ounces chorizo sausages, sliced
1 red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 14-ounce can chopped tomatoes
leaves from 2 thyme sprigs
1 ¾ cup chickpeas
1 quarter broth

Method
Brown chorizo in a large heavy pot. Add onions and garlic and cook until softened. Add tomatoes and thyme and cook for 5 minutes. Add chickpeas and broth, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for another 10 minutes. Serves 4 generously.

Rating: Not bad even the first day, considerably more flavorful after that. If I wind up with a few chorizo sausages on hand again, I might consider making it again since the rest of the ingredients tend to be on hand already.