Moroccan Lentil Soup

This Moroccan Lentil Soup could be considered a variation on a previous Moroccan style soup posted earlier. However, this version is interesting as one of few soup recipes that call for eggplant among its ingredients. Although the list of ingredients looks long, the actual preparation is straightforward.

Eggplant often shows up in dishes that emanate from parts of the world where lamb is a frequent menu item, and lamb stock was the base for the previous Moroccan soup (see 23 February 2011). This recipe calls for chicken stock, a somewhat milder base, but has plenty of ingredients to give it the intensity that the lamb stock provided in the 2011 soup. Beware, like the previous Moroccan soup, this one is on the spicy side.

Since the recipe only calls for 1 ½ cup of chopped eggplant, the question becomes what to do with the rest. Another 1 ½ cup went into a minestrone soup, and a couple of remaining slabs appeared at our dinner table as Eggplant Parmesan. For the cilantro, I keep a container of cilantro pesto in the refrigerator and dole that out when cilantro is called for. In this case, I happened to also have mint, so used some of each, but heavier on the mint.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, chopped fine

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. curry powder

½ tsp. allspice

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. red pepper flakes, or start with less and add

1 ½ cups peeled, finely diced eggplant

1 14 ½ oz. can diced tomatoes

1 16 oz. bag lentils, preferably red

10 cups stock, or combination of stock and water

¾ cup cooking sherry

2 tsp. cilantro or mint

Salt and pepper

Juice of ½ lemon

Yogurt when serving if desired

Directions

1. In a soup pot, melt butter over medium heat and cook garlic, cumin, curry powder, allspice cinnamon, and pepper flakes until spices release their flavor.
2. Add oil and cook onion, carrots, and eggplant until coated and just soft.
3. Add stock, tomatoes, lentils, sherry, cilantro and lemon juice, and chopped mint, if using. Cook until lentils are completely soft. 

Creamy Vegetable Soup

This Creamy Vegetable Soup is utterly French in the rich delicacy of its texture and taste. Even those who are generally attracted to the exotic and spicy in their cuisine might occasionally enjoy something so elegant as this soup.

Hard as it may be to get excited about a soup based on cauliflower, squash, and onions, when you want something soothing, try this. A thinner version of this might also be the basis for a cold soup in a different season, although I haven’t tried it and have never actually been served a cold soup in France.

This recipe calls for cream, however, once the soup is pureed, it IS CREAMY, without the addition of actual cream. I had planned to serve it that way, when a bottle of heavy cream came my way, so I added just a couple of tablespoons to give the soup an even richer taste. Normally, when cream is called for I would use Low Fat Evaporated Milk. In this case, if the soup is very thick, even a little milk might work.

Ingredients

4 lbs. butternut squash, peeled and seeded

1 small cauliflower

2 Tbsp. butter

4 medium onions, peeled and chopped

8 cups chicken stock

4 Tbsp. cream

Salt and pepper

¼ tsp. nutmeg

Directions

1.    Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.

2.    Take enough of the squash to make one cup finely diced. Put squash in boiling water.

3.    Remove core and break cauliflower into florets. Take enough of the top florets and break into smaller pieces to make one cup. Add to boiling water. Par boil until JUST tender (Squash takes at least twice as long as cauliflower).

4.    Immediately rinse vegetables in cold water and set aside.

5.    Chop onions and cut rest of squash in chunks.

6.    Melt butter and add onions, squash chunks, and remainder of cauliflower, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cook covered until vegetables are soft, but do not brown.

7.    Add chicken broth and cook until all vegetables are soft. When cool enough, puree vegetables. Return soup to pot and add cream and reserved vegetables.

Curried Cream of Celery Root Soup

Each food group has its own candidate for the ugliest, the least likely to succeed in attracting through appearance. Monkfish are mighty ugly when encountered head on; wild boar are pretty scary; and there are some prickly looking fruits that resemble weapons more than edibles.

Among vegetables, the celery root is right up there when it comes to daunting looks. However, the vegetable has its uses. In addition to celery remoulade, the sophisticated French way with a raw vegetable, celery root can be cooked, often combined with potatoes. Recently I tried out a celery root soup and found it both delicate and flavorful. It was the curry that brought out the taste without overwhelming the flavor.

One problem of dealing with this vegetable is that the weight in the store includes scary hairy protuberances that have to be trimmed, so it is hard to know how much root one will end up with. Some of the bulbs are only baseball size, while others are considerably larger but include a lot more that needs trimming.

Since I like my soup to have a sturdy consistency, this recipe requires a large bulb, or a couple of smaller ones. I find that a peeler works on the top and sides, but the bottom definitely requires knife work.

Ingredients                                                               

4 Tbsp butter

2 leeks, cleaned and chopped or one medium onion

1 Tbsp sliced garlic

1 Tbsp curry powder

2 tsp ground cumin

3 lbs. celery root, peeled and cubed

6 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper

½ cup cream, half and half, evaporated milk or to desired consistency

chopped cilantro or parsley for garnish

Directions

1. Melt butter in a soup pot. Add leeks, or onion, and garlic and cook until soft
2. Add curry powder and cumin, salt and pepper, until seasoning releases its flavor.
3. Add celery root, stir to coat vegetable,
4. Add broth and bring to a boil.
5. Cook until celery root is soft, about 25 minutes.
6. Cool sufficiently to puree in blender.
7. Add cream to desired consistency.