Part of why I cook is that I love to nourish others. Good food, prepared with love, is good for the spirit as well as the body. While I may grumble about the wet weather and darker days, there are a few things I love about winter and fall. One is, of course, soup. I love soup and always have.
Fall and winter invite soup. It’s cold, dark, and wet outside. Spending the evening in a warm kitchen, stirring a bubbling pot is time well spent. Soup warms and comforts long before you take the first bite. The smells of your aromatics fill the kitchen. Your fingers warm as you chop the ingredients. You “taste” the wine on a regular basis to make sure it’s okay to put into the soup. Maybe that’s just me.
Summer soups are also delicious, but just aren’t the same. While all of the chopping does have the same sort of meditative quality, there’s something magical that happens when you make a hot soup.
Now why did I say sexy soup? There’s a secret… I don’t want to be single forever. I’ve heard that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach (and at least a few of my mom’s friends have wondered aloud why I’m not married when they try my cooking). Sexy soup is my attempt to bring the comforting, warming quality of soup together with something a little fun and flirty, because who doesn’t want a little something sexy in their life?
The first recipe is probably not great as a seduction recipe. While onions are aphrodisiacs, they are not necessarily the sexiest-smelling ingredient out there.
Rich Onion Soup with Cheese Toasts
1 leek, trimmed, cleaned, and sliced (white and light green part only)
3 yellow onions, peeled and sliced
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
½ a stick of butter (yes, really)
1-2 quarts of water (depending on the size of your onions)
Better Than Bouillon No Beef
Sherry
Fresh thyme
Pepper
Toss the butter into a large soup pot and heat over medium. You can start with less if you worry about that sort of thing. While it melts, chop your veggies. Toss them in and stir to coat with butter. Let it sit over medium heat until everything is soft. I probably left it for 20 minutes. Stir it every so often. If it starts to stick, you can add a bit more butter and/or some oil. Once everything is meltingly soft, add 1 quart of boiling water. I just fill my electric kettle and pour that on. Stir well. Add 2 T. of Better Than Bouillon and stir until it dissolves. Add about 1 T. fresh thyme leaves and a generous grating of black pepper. Add sherry to taste (I used about 1/8 c.). Let simmer for five minutes, then taste. If it’s too salty, add some more water. If it seems watery, add more Better Than Bouillon. Keep warm while you make the toasts.
Turn on the broiler. Put a few slices of bread under it. Keep an eye on them! Once the tops get toasty, remove from the oven. Wait until cooled slightly. Butter the untoasted sides, add a thin layer of Marmite (Vegemite is usable, too) and a slice of cheese. I used white cheddar, but you can use anything. Put back under the broiler. Watch carefully. A fire in your oven is not sexy. Neither is blackened toasts. Once the cheese is melted and bubbly (even a bit brown), remove from the oven. Dish up the soup and serve with a toast on the side. You can dip the toast in the soup, or put it in your bowl and let everything soak up.
Velvety Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
This soup is a bit more on the sexy side. It’s got a vibrant color, a more subtle flavor (no halitosis!), and is loaded with healthy things. It’s warm and comforting, but has a touch of sophistication. It’s classy enough to take home to Mom and Dad, too.
Do this ahead of time:
1 butternut squash
5 cloves of garlic, peeled but whole
kosher salt
pepper
olive oil
fresh thyme (1.5 teaspoons of the leaves)
Pour yourself a glass of wine. Trust me, you’ll want it. Use a big knife to cut the top off of the butternut squash. Then cut it lengthwise into quarters. Scoop out the seeds. Now, cut it crosswise into chunks. If the squash is especially large or malformed, you might want to make the pieces smaller. Start drinking your wine. Using a small, sharp knife, peel the squash. (You can do it later, but unless you are doing this step way in advance, you risk burning your fingers.)
Put the squash pieces into a glass baking dish as you finish peeling them. Drizzle with olive oil (I used 2 T.), sprinkle with salt, grate on some pepper, toss in the thyme, and then put in the garlic. Toss everything together, coating with your fingers. Put it into the oven. Leave it there, shaking the pan once in awhile, until everything is easily pierced with a knife.
Now, pop that into a large saucepan with one cup of white wine (I used chardonnay) and three cups of boiling water. Let it simmer until everything gets mushy, then pop it in the blender until smooth. You might need to add more water or wine to get the texture right. Taste and add salt and agave nectar as needed. I probably used ½ t. salt and 1-2 t. agave nectar. I also tossed in a shake of cayenne and a sprinkle of ground ginger. It’s good!
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