Kitchen Garden Journal

Corn chowder is quite possibly the world’s perfect soup. It’s sublime in its simplicity and infinite in its variability. I’ll give you the basic principles and a few ideas for jazzing it up, but I leave the rest to you. 

2 Tbsp cooking oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

3 large potatoes (russets, yellows, reds, doesn’t matter), cut in ½ inch cubes

½ cup white wine  

4 ears fresh sweet corn, scraped off the cob (about 2-3 cups), cobs reserved if using fresh

6-8 cups water or stock

Salt & Pepper

1 cup heavy cream, optional

Parsley or cilantro, minced, for garnish

Working over a shallow bowl, cut the corn kernels off the cob. Put the cobs in a small saucepan (break them in half if necessary), and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 5-10 minutes, then strain off the liquid and reserve. This gives you a nice, simple base for the soup and captures all the flavor from the corn that might have been wasted.

In a soup pot, heat the oil and gently sauté the onion over medium heat until just beginning to brown and stick. Add the potato cubes and continue to sauté for about a minute. Add the wine and allow it to cook off, scraping the residues from the bottom of the pot to dissolve them.  Add reserved corn liquid and half the kernels and simmer until the potatoes are cooked, about 15 minutes.

At this point you have a couple of options: you can either puree it (using an immersion or stick blender is best), not puree it, or partially puree it. For me, it depends on the type of potato I’m using. If I’m using russets, I like to peel them first and then just blend them into oblivion because they create just the silkiest textured soup imaginable. With reds and to some extent yellows, it can be nice not to peel them. Some people just like a chunky soup, but I think chowder should be creamy, so I give it a partial puree. Just stick the blender in a corner of the pan and go half way. Best of both worlds. Nice and creamy but with little chunks of tender potato to grab onto. 

Hint: please make sure the potatoes are actually cooked before pureeing. Chowder with crunchy potatoes is disgusting.

Okay, now it’s time to finish the soup. Add the remaining corn and simmer for 5 minutes until al dente. Reduce heat to low and add the cream, if using, and heat until just simmering. Season to taste and serve, garnished with a little cilantro or parsley or chives.

Variations:

Nothing goes quite so well with corn (or chowder) than fresh seafood, and my favorite way to make this soup is to add shrimp, specifically Maine shrimp. You’ll have to wait until January for them to come into season, so you’d better freeze your corn now. For this version, use the shrimp peels to make the stock, and add the peeled tiny shrimp about 2 minutes into the final five minutes of cooking. 

Many types of seafood can be used in this soup to great effect. Let your imagination run wild. Maybe add some diced red bell pepper, Old Bay seasoning and a container of crab meat for a Marylandish version. Or some chunks of cod or haddock, a personal favorite of mine (don’t fully puree the base for this one, and don’t forget the bacon). Squeeze some lemon on there. Or simmer it in some Narragansett, I really don’t care.

Corn also begs to be dressed up in Mexican flavors. Instead of cream, make a puree of lime juice, garlic, cilantro and sour cream and drizzle that in at the end and garnish with hot sauce. Or use some roasted poblano peppers or green chilies and throw some cheddar cheese in there.  

I mean, this would also be great with red curry paste and coconut milk. Simmer it with a stalk of lemongrass and garnish with Thai basil. The shrimp would be awesome in there as well.

So yes, my friends, this is a soup that really wants to please you, whatever mood you happen to be in. All you need is corn, onions and potatoes and a little bit of imagination.

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Our kids love to eat vegetables - but no thanks to us. Here's the awful truth: we toil away all day producing beautiful vegetables and then come home for a family dinner of pizza or crackers and cheese with salami and fruit. We enjoy lovely farm lunches chock full of fresh veggies with our crew everyday but we're often too tired to cook anything serious at the end of a long day. 

Thankfully, we've never had to worry that Lily and Oliver weren't eating enough veggies because they love Celia and Barbara's soup. For two years Celia Riahi and Barbara Audley have been taking care of our children at their lovely Waldorf-inspired home day care in Amherst, The Cottage Garden. I remember marveling the first time I witnessed my son and daughter sitting around a teeny table with six of their friends happily shoveling spoonfuls of thick green soup into their mouths. Some days it's orange soup, sometimes with Israeli couscous or barley stirred in. Either way, the kids gobble it up and we feel like virtuous parents.

Celia and Barbara take the summer off and the kids just started camp at Amherst Montessori, so we started freaking out when we realized we'd have to start packing their lunch. We begged Celia and Barbara for the magic soup recipe and because it's been such a life saver for us we thought we'd share it with you.

Soup Base

• Rapunzel vegan soup bouillon (or just water)
• Olive oil
• Onions, 4 medium or 2 large
• Garlic to taste
• Potatoes 5 lbs
• Carrots 3 lbs

This is the base for both green and orange soup variations. Follow this method but add the ingredients below for either green or orange soup, depending on which one you're making.

Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil in a 5 quart saute pan until soft and translucent. Peel, chop and wash all the veggies. Boil 8 cups water and dissolve 4 cubes in it and set aside. When the onions are done add the soup boullion or water and add cut veggies. Add water to cover and simmer on low until everything is soft. Puree with an immersion blender. It should be thick but add water as necessary to blend. Put in containers to freeze until needed. 

To serve, thaw, heat and add a bit of water if needed. Cook a grain separately and add to the soup so it is sort of a thick veggie sauce with a grain - Israeli couscous, barley, quinoa, brown rice or even a small pasta shapes work well. Do not blend the grain, just stir it in. Be sure to leave the soup smooth but thick like a veggie sauce.  Add grated cheese on top or serve with some cheese on the side. Serve with carrot sticks and fruit for a great lunch.

Orange Soup

• The Base as above
• Sweet potatoes, 3 large
• or
• Large Butternut squash, bake separately and add before blending
• Optional: 2 apples

Green Soup

• The Base as above
• 2 bunches of either: spinach or kale
• 1 bunch cilantro
• Cumin to taste, salt to taste
• Optional: mustard greens, chard, bok choy, lentils

Note: Celia never adds tomatoes, mushrooms or celery to the children’s soup.

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Since the hurricane blew over there has been a sharp chill in the air and it’s got us thinking about soup. And eating a lot of it, too.

There are so many wonderful soups that one can create so simply from the colorful palette of autumn vegetables.  We love soups with beans. They are incredibly easy, and there are few better ways to enjoy the coarser greens like kale and escarole than tossing them into a rich bean soup. Just throw some onion and garlic in a pan, sauté for a bit and add some tomato puree and the soaked beans. Cover with water, bring to a boil, and away you go. No need to use stock because the beans make their own broth. Add the greens in the last 20 minutes so they don’t overcook.

Recently we’ve “discovered” a whole class of pureed soups that are based on water, sautéed onion, and potato. Add any vegetable you like to these three ingredients and you’ve got a simple soup that brings out its very essence. All you need is a few ingredients and an immersion blender and you can whip up an incredible variety of these soups in about a half an hour.

Perhaps the simplest of these is potato-leek soup. Just sauté the onion and leeks together, add cubes of peeled potato and water to cover, simmer until cooked, blend and finish with cream. Sprinkle a little chives or parsley and voila! Done.

Take this soup and substitute carrots for the leeks. Add a few slices of ginger if you like. Cauliflower makes the silkiest cream soup of them all. So easy. What about broccoli? Throw in some grated cheddar cheese after pureeing for the best cheddar-broccoli soup ever. Spinach? You bet. Go out and grab the last of the season’s sweet corn and use that, too. You can add some bacon at the beginning and leave it chunky if you like for delicious corn chowder.

Once you get the basic concept, it’s like a whole world is open to you.

It reminds me a lot of the recent Häagen-Dazs ice cream ad campaign. They have this new product line called “5” of ice creams made with just 5 ingredient s: milk, cream, sugar, eggs and fill in the blank. It’s a great concept. Less is more. Purity, simplicity, and variety.

For those of you who prefer written out recipes to descriptive ones, here’s a link to a classic Moosewood carrot soup with lots of variations.

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• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. cooking oil
• 2 lbs. lean lamb shoulder (cut in 2-3 inch pieces, dusted with flour)
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 4 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 cups chicken broth
• salt and pepper, to taste
• bouquet garni (2 sprigs thyme, 3 sprigs parsley, and 1 bay leaf—tied together)
• 8 small new potatoes, peeled
• 8 baby carrots, peeled
• 8 small turnips, peeled and halved
• 8 cipollini onions (peeled) and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cups frozen peas

Preheat the oven to 350F. Heat oil and butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and brown the lamb. Sprinkle with the sugar on both sides and let brown for 2 minutes longer (that will give a nice caramelized touch). Transfer the lamb to a large oven-proof casserole dish. Reduce the heat to low and add the chopped onion and garlic and cook gently for about 8 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook until lightly colored (stir constantly). Add the wine and tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly). Add the chicken broth and stir in the tomato purée. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then pour over the meat in the casserole. Add the bouquet garni.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the all the vegetables except the peas. Cover and return to oven and bake for 30 minutes. Add the peas and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Discard the bouquet garni and serve straight from the casserole with a loaf of crusty French bread.

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• 1 pound dry white cannellini or lima beans, or 2 cups fresh shelled barlotti beans
• 1 large yellow onion or 1 bunch leeks
• 1 head garlic
• 4 Tbsp good quality olive oil
• 2-4 bunches of black Tuscan kale or 2 heads escarole
• 2 quarts chicken stock or water (plus more water)
• 4 oz pancetta or bacon or sausage meat (optional)
• a few plum tomatoes (optional)
• 2 sprigs of rosemary or sage
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and pepper to taste

This delicious soup of creamy beans and earthy greens is sure to take the chill out of those rainy fall evenings.  Soak the beans in ample water overnight.  Coarsely chop the onion and garlic.  If using leeks, be sure to thoroughly wash them first by cutting a vertical slash the length of the shank and running water in between all the layers.  If using bacon, cut it into ¼  inch dice.  In a large, heavy bottomed soup pot (4 quart size or larger), brown the bacon or sausage meat over high heat in the olive oil.  (It is also perfectly good without the meat.)  Add the onions and garlic, reduce heat to medium, and sauté gently until softened but not browned, about 10 minutes.  Throw in some chopped tomatoes if you want.  Add the beans, mix thoroughly, and continue to sauté 2-3 minutes more.  Add the stock or water, plus additional water to bring it about an inch above the level of the beans.  Add the bay leaf.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to very low and simmer for 1 ½ hours.  Meanwhile, wash and chop the greens, removing the midrib from the kale if desired.  Taste the beans at this point, if they’re almost ready, add the chopped greens and continue to simmer about a half an hour more.  When done, add the salt, at least 1 heaping tablespoonful, and the pepper.  For maximum warming effect, serve over steaming hot polenta with a glass of red wine.

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• 2lbs yellow or cipollini onions
• 1/2 stick butter, or combination of oil and butter
• 1 shot Port wine
• 2 quarts homemade beef stock, or use canned
• salt & pepper
• To serve:
• 4 slices slightly stale french bread
• grated Emmenthaler or Gruyere cheese, or a combination

This is an absolute classic and is actually pretty easy once you get all the onions peeled and thinly sliced. Heat the butter in a large, heavy skillet or dutch oven and add the onions. When they are hot and actively cooking, reduce the heat to low. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for a long time, even over an hour. What you are looking for are the various phases the onions go through as they cook: sweaty, soft, mushy, golden, deep golden and virtually disintegrating. Be sure to stop there, before they start sticking and turning black. Add the Port and stir until evaporated. (If you happen to have saved some pan drippings from a roast, throw them in now. There are few better things to use them for.) Add the beef stock and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. The soup is done now but if you wait until the following day to serve it, it's even more delicous. To serve: Toast the bread. Serve hot soup into individual oven-safe bowls, topping each with a piece of bread and some grated cheese. Place all the bowls on a baking sheet and stick them under a hot broiler until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

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With the air inside the house so dry this time of year, fresh bread has a life of about 12 hours. Luckily, there are many things you can do with the stale ends, like this classic Italian peasant soup.

• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 medium leeks, thinly sliced, or 2 cups sliced onions    
• ¼  cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 1 quart whole peeled tomatoes
• 4 cups vegetable stock or water
• 2 ½  cups cubed stale bread
• 8 large basil leaves, cut in strips, optional
• freshly grated parmigiano

Heat the oil in a pot suitable for making soup and saute the garlic until just beginning to brown. Add the leeks or onions and saute until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper, and cook 10 minutes until soft. Add stock and simmer another 10 minutes. Add bread, cover pot and remove from heat. Let stand 15-20 minutes until bread is falling apart. Add basil, and serve with olive oil and freshly grated parmigiano. Tastes even better the second day.

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This is a simple soup eaten daily in Portugal in infinite versions. There seems to be a Cape Cod Portuguese-American version as that contains beans and a different type of sausage, linguiça. Either way, the combination of rich potato broth, deep hearty greens and salty pork is perfect for those cold rainy fall nights. Try it with a wine from the Douro region!

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut in 1" chunks
• 6 cups water or vegetable stock
• 1-2 bunches kale, collards, or 1/2 savoy cabbage
• Thin slices or small chunks of dry sausage such as chorizo or sopressata (optional)

Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 25-30 minutes or until potatoes break apart. Puree the soup with an immersion blender, food mill, or some other way. Return to the pan. Wash and remove the tough stems from the kale or collards and stack the leaves on top of one another.  Roll them up like a cigar and slice into very fine shreds. (They use a meat grinder-like machine for this at markets in Portugal so you can buy it pre-shredded. It looks kind of like grass clippings.) Add kale to simmering potato broth and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Serve hot in bowls garnished with the sliced sausage and a thread of high quality olive oil.

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• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 onion or leek, chopped fine
• 1 turnip, 1/4 inch dice
• 3 carrots, 1/4 inch dice
• 3 beets, 1/4 inch dice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 3 potatoes, peeled, 1/4 inch dice
• 1/2 cabbage, 1/2 inch chunks 
• 1 bay leaf
• salt & pepper
• 1/4 cup canned tomato, or diced plum tomatoes
• 6 Tbsp wine vinegar, or to taste
• 2 Tbsp dill, chopped 
• sour cream 

In a large soup pot saute onion or leek, turnips, carrots and beets in butter and oil until onion is translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add broth, potatoes, cabbage, bay leaf, tomato, and salt & pepper. Simmer 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar and taste for salt. Refrigerate overnight if serving cold. Add dill and sour cream to the bowl when serving.

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Last week our assistant grower, Aaron, who is a soup master, made this soup for crew lunch. It owes its velvety smoothness to the use of russet potatoes. Their high starch content makes for an extra-rich, thick soup.

•  3 leeks, thoroughly washed, trimmed and finely chopped
• 1 med onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 Tbsp Butter
• 4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 4 cups vegetable stock or water
• 1/2-1 cup heavy cream or milk
• salt & white pepper
• chives or parsley, finely chopped, for garnish

Saute leeks and onion in butter in a large saucepan 4-5 min until translucent. Add potatoes and stock and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes or until everything is quite soft. Puree in a blender with the optional cream. Return soup to pot and season with salt and white pepper to taste. Served cold, it is vichysoisse; hot, it is leek and potato soup. Garnish with a sprinkle of chopped chives or parsley. 

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