Vaguely Southeast Asian Turkey-Noodle Soup

It's day 2 of Thanksgiving leftovers, and already I'm getting a little tired of just reheating the dishes I served on Thursday. Time for something else! Early in the day, I thought about making a simple turkey-noodle soup. I'd already thrown out the carcass, so there wasn't going to be a "make your own stock" situation at my house (I know I should save it and use it, but the last few years, it just sits in the freezer).

I thought I'd making something simple with cooked turkey, onion, celery, carrot, egg noodles and turkey broth. But then it dawned on me that with some Southeast Asian flavors, I could probably make something just as satisfying and a lot more interesting. In went the ginger, garlic, star anise, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice and cilantro. The results were a big hit around the table. Home run!

Vaguely Southeast Asian Turkey-Noodle Soup

6 oz. rice sticks (rice noodles, similar in size to linguine) broken in half
4-6 cups boiling water
2 tbsp. canola or vegetable oil
1 sweet onion, cut into slivers
2 stalks of celery, cut into slivers
1 carrot, peeled and cut into thin julienne (like matchsticks--I recommend using a julienne peeler)
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
3 inches of ginger root, peeled and finely grated
6-8 scallions, sliced into small pieces, white and green parts separated
2 quarts (8 cups) low-sodium turkey broth
3 star anise pods
1 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
Freshly ground white pepper, to taste
2 cups cooked turkey cut into 1/2 inch or smaller pieces
Juice from 1 lime
1/2 cup cilantro leaves

1. Place the rice sticks in a bowl and add boiling water until the noodles are submerged. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then drain the noodles.

2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery, and sauté until softened, about 8-10 minutes. Add the carrot, garlic, ginger and white scallion parts, and cook another minute until fragrant.

3. Increase heat to medium-high and add turkey broth, star anise, fish sauce, soy sauce and white pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Add the turkey and simmer over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the star anise pods, stir in the lime juice and adjust seasoning to taste. Stir in the cooked noodles.

4. Serve in bowls garnished with a good pinch of cilantro leaves and green scallion pieces.

Lucky Peach 101 Easy Asian Recipes

"...the magazine equivalent of throwing an M-80 into a bowl of ramen and taking a crime-scene photo of the results." That's how--writing in the second issue--editor Peter Meehan described the first issue of Lucky Peach, the irreverent food quarterly launched in 2011 by Meehan and Momofuku chef David Chang.

Each issue revolves around a theme, such as the apocalypse (#6), gender (#8), and obsessions (#14). The magazine's recipes range from the exotic to the simple, including cultural mash-ups like a recipe from issue #1 for Instant Ramen Cacio e Pepe. They once created an issue-within-an-issue (for #9) called "Mad/Guts" about a René Redzepi food conference and stuffed the small-size book inside an insert with a photo of a woman's belly--so extracting the book was like conducting a c-section.

And they haven't shied away from complicated recipes, like the holiday issue's (#13) 11-page spread on constructing an elaborate Tuscan-style Christmas gingerbread house, complete with blueprints. Or the Roast Chicken, 2034, a.k.a. "The Frankenbird" (#6),  a chicken that had its skin carefully removed, its meat replaced with pork glued in place with meat glue, the skin carefully reattached, and the whole thing roasted.

So when Peter Meehan and the editors of Lucky Peach put out the cookbook Lucky Peach 101 Easy Asian Recipes, I wondered how "easy" the recipes would really be. After all, a chef like Chang probably has a different idea of what's "easy" than a home cook like me.

Chineasy Cucumber Salad

Thankfully, the recipes in the book really are pretty easy with one important caveat: the ingredients. This isn't the kind of Asian cookbook that instructs you to make Pad Thai with ketchup; recipes call for authentic ingredients, the kind you can maybe find in the Asian foods aisle, although more likely you'll need to visit an Asian market. Recognizing this, the cookbook opens with a helpful section explaining the ingredients called for in the recipes. Substitutions are sometimes provided in this section. Take Shaoxing wine, for example. The book acknowledges that many cooks substitute sherry for this ingredient, which is similar in some respects. But they also note that shelling out for the authentic stuff will make the dish taste better, however, they also acknowledge that the cheap Shaoxing wine you can find in the Asian aisle, which has salt added to make it non-potable, will also work fine.

The book's recipes are divided into 12 categories, with a dozen or so recipes for most categories save for dessert, which features only two--well, really only one, since the first recipe is sliced oranges. The other is Egg Custard Tarts, a very simple recipe that uses puff-pastry cut-outs baked in a muffin tin to form molds for a simple vanilla-egg custard. It doesn't strike me as particularly Asian, but it does sound good and quite simple if you use store-bought frozen puff pastry. The book acknowledges that the default Asian dessert is cut fruit (hence the oranges recipe).

Elsewhere, the recipes are clearly Asian and run the pan-Asian gamut of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and other cuisines. Many of these you'll probably recognize, like Beef Satay, grilled skewers of flank steak marinated in a mixture of coconut milk, garlic, ginger and spices and served with a simple peanut sauce made with creamy peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic and water. I made a sampling of the recipes from the book and was pleased with all of them.

Jap Chae with added chicken

I started with Jap Chae, one of my favorite dishes to order in Korean restaurants. It's a noodle and vegetable dish made with sweet potato noodles, which are a translucent gray color when dry and even first cooked but, but once tossed with a a brown sauce, they pick up that color, turning a beautiful golden brown. The book notes that the dish is often a side, although I added chicken to mine and served it as a main. The hardest thing about this recipe was finding the noodles, which weren't to be found in the Asian aisles at Giant or Whole Foods but which I did acquire from an Asian market in Chinatown. This recipe was easy to follow and the resulting dish was tasty and exactly what I expected.

Next, I went for a soup-and-salad combo of the "Chineasy" Cucumber Salad and the Hot and Sour Soup. The salad is super easy--it's just cut up cucumbers with peanuts, cilantro and dressing, but again assembling the dressing could prove the most difficult task, as it calls for Chinkiang vinegar (also known as "black" vinegar) and Sichuan chili oil. Lacking the latter ingredient, I sprinkled my salad with a pinch of gochugaru, which is Korean chili pepper flakes. This gives the salad just a bit of kick. It's a wonderfully simple and refreshing side to something spicier.

For the soup, I was so excited the book had a recipe for Hot & Sour Soup, the Chinese staple that is one of my favorite soups and among the first Chinese dishes I learned to love as a child. I remember, as a teenager, making a version of Hot & Sour Soup from a packet that was absolutely terrible (I actually made it multiple times, despite the fact that it didn't taste anything like the soup from a Chinese restaurant).

Hot and Sour Soup

Thankfully, the Lucky Peach version is really good, a faithful rendition of the soup that's hot (although not too much) and flavorful. A couple weeks after making this, I ordered hot and sour soup from a Chinese restaurant. It was hot--far hotter than this--but had an unpleasantly thick texture, likely thickened with cornstarch. The Lucky Peach recipe doesn't thicken the broth, and it doesn't need it. In making this, I made a substitution regarding the pork. The recipe calls for 8 oz. of pork shoulder cut into matchsticks. For simplicity, I substituted ground pork. I also ended up substituting  an additional 8 oz. of ground pork for the tofu, since Giant was out of tofu the day I made this. Flavorful-wise, the soup was still tasty, although I definitely would recommend making the soup with a mixture of pork and tofu, as I like the combination of textures. Lastly, there's a mistake in this recipe: dried wood ear mushrooms are soaked in step 1, but then never reappear. They should be added after returning the soup to a simmer in step 3 (this was corrected in the online version). Here again, I made a substitution, as I couldn't find dried wood ear mushrooms, so I used fresh shiitakes. Still delicious.

Other soups in the book include miso (located in the short "breakfast" section), chicken noodle (similar to the chicken soup that ran in Lucky Peach issue #1), beef noodle soup (a recipe that looks like a simpler version of the delicious soup at Momofuku CCDC), a miso version of clam chowder, a slow-cooker version of pho and, of course, ramen.

Kung Pao Chicken

The last thing I made from the book was Kung Pao Chicken, an adaptation of the Kung Pao Shrimp that appears in the book (substituting cubed raw chicken for shrimp is an easy swap). Like Hot and Sour Soup, this is another of my long-time favorite Chinese recipes, one that I have a good go-to recipe for. When I make it, I use red chili pepper flakes, whereas this recipe calls for 10 small dried red chilies. The challenge with this instruction is which chili pepper to use. I used chiles de árbol, which I found at Whole Foods. They gave the dish a mild spiciness (unless you eat one--then wow, be careful, as they are hot). The recipe states that they intentionally dialed back the heat, but it would be easy to ramp back up. If you like the look of a few whole chilies, you could always use both the 10 (or more) dried chilies plus a generous pinch of chili flakes. I liked the heavy use of vegetables in this recipe, which includes red and green bell peppers and celery, in addition to the usual scallions.

There are lots of other dishes I want to try. Thumbing through the book while writing this article, the Miso-Glazed Explant caught my eye. Again, this is super-simple: cut Japanese eggplant in half, brush with oil, roast and glaze with red miso and mirin. Sounds delicious, Asian and easy, just as promised.

Jap Chae
Adapted from a recipe in Lucky Peach 101 Easy Asian Recipes by Peter Meehan and the editors of Lucky Peach; also available online

Note: The original recipe does not include chicken, which I added. Other substitutions I made are noted below.

10 oz. sweet potato noodles
2 tbsp. vegetable oil (the original recipe called for grapeseed oil), plus more as needed
1 lb. boneless-skinless chicken breast cutlets, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (this was not included in the original recipe)
1 large or 2 small yellow onions (about 3 cups), thinly sliced (the original recipe called for red onion)
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 large carrot, peeled and cut julienne
8 oz. shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced
4-5 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
4-5 garlic cloves, minced (about 2 tbsp.)
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup low-sodium tamari (the original recipe calls for standard soy sauce)
2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. dark sesame oil
3 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

1. Cook the noodles in boiling water according to package directions. While they cook, prepare a large bowl of ice water. When the noodles are done, drain them, then transfer to the ice water to cool. Once cooled, set aside in a large bowl until ready to use.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and sauté until cooked through, about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove chicken from pan. Add additional oil to the pan if needed. When the oil is hot, add the onion and bell peppers and sauté until the vegetables have softened, about 5-6 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then add the carrot, mushrooms, scallions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

3. Add the mirin to the pan, and stir to combine and deglaze the pan, scraping off any browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a spatula or wooden spoon.

4. Add the cooked chicken and vegetable mixture to the bowl with the noodles. Add the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and sesame seeds and toss to combine.

Hot and Sour Soup
Adapted from the recipe in Lucky Peach 101 Easy Asian Recipes by Peter Meehan and the editors of Lucky Peach; also available online

1/2 cup wood ear mushrooms (note: wood ear mushrooms are generally sold dried; I couldn't find them, so instead, I used 8 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced)
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp. chopped fresh ginger (about 1 1/2 inches of peeled ginger root)
4-5 scallions, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
8 oz. ground pork (the original recipe called for  pork shoulder, cut into fat matchsticks)
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (the original recipe didn't specify low-sodium)
8 oz  soft tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (as my grocery store was out of tofu, I substituted an additional 8 oz. of ground pork, but I really recommend making the recipe with tofu, as it adds texture)
1 tsp.  sugar
1/2 cup rice vinegar
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. freshly ground  black pepper
1 tsp. dark  sesame oil
Sriracha (1 tbsp. or more to taste)
2  large eggs, lightly beaten (optional)
Fried Chinese noodles (optional, not in the original recipe)

1. If using fresh shiitake mushrooms, heat 1 tbsp. of oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until lightly browned, about 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and aside. If using dried wood ear mushrooms, place them in a bowl and cover with warm water. Soak until plump and pliable, about 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat remaining oil in the pan over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger, scallions, and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the meat is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add the broth and increase heat to medium-high to bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low and continue simmering.

3. Stir in the tofu (if using), sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, pepper, sesame oil and sriracha. Return the mixture to a simmer. Adjust to taste with additional salt, srirarcha and/or vinegar, and stir in the mushrooms.

4. Slowing add the beaten eggs to the soup while gently stirring, which will set the egg into strands. Serve immediately. I like to add a side of crunchy fried Chinese noodles.

8-2-Eat: Winter Bean Recipes

8-2-Eat is my food-focused list series. A perfect Friday distraction. Beans taste particularly good in the winter, when they can be simmered and flavored as a main star or side to a number of ingredients. Here are 8 ways that I like to enjoy them.

Smoky Pinto Bean, Red Wine and Bacon Soup. This recipe, from the New York Times' Melissa Clark, is the best bean soup I've ever had. It's absolutely incredible. Splurge for Benton's Smoked Country Bacon for this one and you won't be disappointed.

Apple-Fennel Soup with Beans and Sausage. It's not the cannellini beans the broth that really makes this soup, a puree of apple, fennel, onion, garlic, celery, ginger and sage.

Pasta e Fagioli Soup

Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Bean) Soup. Adapted from a recipe by the late and ever so talented Italian cook Marcella Hazan, this soup, which uses cranberry beans, is much better than what you'll get at that "Italian" chain restaurant.

Spicy Beans and Pepperoni on Toast with Fried Eggs. A delicious and easy way to incorporate navy beans into breakfast.

Spelt Soup with Escarole and White Beans. Beans, greens and grains are a perfect winter soup trio. Here, cannellini beans team up with the heirloom wheat-grain spelt and bitter green escarole.

Quick Black Bean Soup. This is a longtime favorite. Although the version that requires an overnight soak and simmers all afternoon is wonderful, this much quicker version that uses canned black beans is good too and ideal for a weeknight dinner.

Salmon with Beans, Kale and Bacon 

Broiled Salmon with White Bean, Kale and Bacon Ragout. There are a lot of soups on this list, but beans can be used in other ways. Here, cannellini beans, bacon, garlic and kale form a side for broiled salmon.

Chili. Whether chili should contain beans is a subject of debate. Sure, if you're making a traditional chili con carne, perhaps not, but there are lots of other types of chili where I saw beans are more than welcome to join the party. Try them in BBQ Turkey Chili, Cincinnati Chili or Thai-Style Chili, a mashup of chili and tom kha gai soup.

Black Eyed Peas with Bacon and Chard

Do you believe in luck? Many people don't; I don't really--except that I sort of do. Like a lot of people, I know that many things in life happen by chance. I believe "luck" is when those are things you want to have happen. Like winning a contest, unexpectedly running into an old friend or being the last person to snag something special.

Certainly the number of things we do for luck attests to our belief in it. We kiss the Blarney stone, knock on wood and hunt for four-leaf clovers.

Then there's the practice of eating black eyed peas on New Year's Day. It's a tradition many Southerners observed, which I hadn't heard of until just recently, having read an article about it in the New York Times Food section.

There are quite a few explanations for the practice, many of which date back to the Civil War and some go back to ancient times.

Although it's not a tradition I'm tied to, I'm certainly not one to turn down a good bowl of pork and beans with greens, which is what I made, inspired by the accompanying recipe by Kim Severson, as well as another Times recipe by David Tanis, I made my own version of the dish. Their dishes call for using dried or fresh peas, as well as ham hocks. They cook for several hours, which I'm sure is delicious, but I wanted a faster recipe--something you could make midweek to enjoy black eyed peas any day of the winter, not just on New Year's Day. So I use canned black eyed peas and bacon, specifically the hickory-smoked bacon from Benton's that I love so much.

Black Eyed Peas with Bacon and Chard
Inspired by recipes by Kim Severson and David Tanis for Black Eyed Peas

1/2 lb. thick-cut hickory-smoked bacon, cut into 1/2 pieces
1 large sweet or yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. red chili pepper flakes (use more or less depending on your taste for heat)
1 bunch (about 1 lb.) Swiss or rainbow chard, leaves removed and cut into 1-inch wide strips, stems discarded
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
15 oz. can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 bay leaf

1. Cook the bacon in a Dutch oven or other large soup pot over medium heat. When browned and crisp, remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Reserve 2 tbsp. of the hot bacon fat in the pot (use the rest for something else, like thin and crispy cornbread).

2. Add the onion to the pot and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Ad the garlic and chili pepper flakes and cook another couple minutes until the garlic is fragrant. Add the chard leaves, season with salt and pepper and stir to mix with the other ingredients. Allow the chard to wilt a bit, then add the cooked bacon, black eyed peas, chicken stock, allspice and bay leaf. Increase heat to bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes.

3. Ladle the soup into shallow bowls and serve with cornbread and an old fashioned (recipe below).

Old Fashioned Cocktail

2 oz. bourbon whiskey
1/4 oz. simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Orange peel garnish
Maraschino cherry garnish

Combine whiskey, simple syrup and bitters in a cocktail mixing glass with ice. Stir until very cold, then strain into a rocks glass with a single large ice cube. Squeeze the orange peel over the drink, rub it around the rim of the glass and drop it in. Add the cherry and serve.

Mexican Corn Soup

I know I just wrote about Corn-Leek Soup last week, but this Mexican variation on corn soup is just too good to pass up while the sweet corn is still good. This recipe comes from Ingrid Hoffman via Food Network. Hickory-smoked bacon gives it smoky meaty richness, the chipotle chili powder gives it a little kick and the toppings of avocado, cilantro and queso fresco add contrasting freshness.

Mexican Corn Soup
Adapted from a recipe by Ingrid Hoffman for Food Network

1/2 lb. thick-cut hickory-smoked bacon
1 yellow onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, cored and diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 ears of sweet corn
1 1/2 cups sungold cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp. fresh oregano leaves
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 avocado, diced
1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco cheese

1. Heat a Dutch oven or large soup soup pot over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until browned and crisped, turning occasionally. Remove bacon and set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate. Remove bacon fat in excess of about 2 tablespoons from the pot (discard excess grease). Add onion, bell pepper and garlic to pot and sauté until softened, about 8 minutes.

2. Cut off the kernels from two ears of corn and combine in a medium bowl with the cherry tomatoes, oregano and 2 cups of chicken broth. Puree mixture with an immersion blender until smooth (alternatively, combine ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth).

3. Add the pureed corn-tomato mixture, the remaining 2 cups of chicken broth and the chipotle chili powder to the pot with the onions. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Cut the corn kernels off the remaining two ears of corn, add the corn to the pot, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened, about 15-20 minutes.

4. Remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the cooked bacon, sour cream and half the fresh cilantro. Serve in large, shallow bowls topped with a little of the remaining cilantro, diced avocado and crumbled queso fresco.

Corn-Leek Soup

Earlier this year, I shared a recipe for a "punchier" potato-leek soup, which was my attempt to make a more flavorful version of the classic soup. Potato-leek soup is lovely, but unfortunately, it can be rather bland.

There's a fantastic solution available during the late summer: ditch the potatoes and replace them with corn. Hence, corn-leek soup, which is fantastic. Corn is naturally somewhat creamy too, so there's no need to add any dairy to this recipe, which is built with carrots, shallots, garlic and, of course, corn and leeks.

I'd intended to use vegetable broth in this, but I forgot to buy it, so I just used water. And you know what? I didn't miss the broth at all. There are so many flavorful vegetables in this soup that it makes its own broth. This soup was good both hot just after I made it as well as cold the next day.

Corn-Leek Soup

2-3 leeks
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 shallots, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 ears of corn, shucked
6 cups water
Salt, to taste (at least 1 tsp. recommended)
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
Smoked paprika, to taste

1. Remove the green leaves from the leaves, leave the root end intact and slice them in half length-wise. Rinse them with water, separating the layers, to wash away any grit. Chop the light green and white parts into 1/4-inch pieces.

2. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leeks, carrot, shallot and garlic and sauté until softened, about 10-12 minutes.

3. Cut the kernels from the corn cobs. Do not discard the cobs. Add the corn kernels, corn cobs, water, salt, cayenne pepper and freshly ground pepper to the pot. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes.

4. Turn off the heat. Remove and discard the corn cobs. Puree the soup with an immersion blender until smooth or, alternatively, puree in batches in a blender. Serve in shallow bowls sprinkled with chives and smoked paprika.

Related

Punchier Potato-Leek Soup

Corn Soup

Punchier Potato-Leek Soup: Enhancing a Classic with More Flavor

Soon spring produce will be arriving, and I'll be switching my focus to all those wonderful fresh flavors. I'm starting to see asparagus at the grocery store, but for now, we're still mostly looking at winter vegetables.

So it's a good time for one last hearty winter soup, and potato-leek soup seems perfect. It feels like a good soup for transitioning into spring: vegetable focused and not as heavy as many other winter soups.

Yet, when I made a batch of it recently, I was disappointed. I found it too lacking in flavor. Leeks are like onions but milder and potatoes are...potatoes. They are always mild. A little bay leaf, salt and pepper just wasn't enough to satisfy my craving for bolder flavors. Was it possible to create a potato-leek soup with a little more punch but without overwhelming these two key ingredients.

I threw the question out during a recent Washington Post Free Range on Food Chat and got a lot of great responses, such as adding herbs or other spices (a no-brainer), other vegetables (like watercress or mushrooms), curry powder (a great idea I'd like to try sometime) and ham or chicken. The last suggestion got me thinking about using bacon, which goes well with just about anything, but it always a welcome partner for potatoes and onion. I figured it would work nicely in this soup.

I learned the best way to prep leeks from New York Times writer Melissa Clark. First cut off the dark green part, then slice the leek in half through the root (don't cut the root off yet). Then clean the leeks under running water, separating the layers with your hands as needed. Because the root is still intact, the layers hold together, making the leek easier to clean. Shake off the water, then slice the leeks.

For maximum bacon flavor, I used Benton's hickory-smoked bacon, which I've mentioned before is my favorite. I only needed 1/3 of a pound (4 or 5 strips) to add some nice smoky and meaty undertones. Although I pureed the soup for a smooth texture, I kept the bacon out of the soup for that step, as I wanted it in larger pieces. A search for potato-leek soup recipes with bacon led me to a great one by Food Network Kitchen, aspects of which I used as the template for the recipe below.

But bacon alone wasn't enough. I wanted some tang, so I was intrigued by J. Kenji López-Alt's Serious Eats recipe, which calls for adding buttermilk in addition to cream. Most buttermilk I see at the grocery store is reduced-fat, but Whole Foods has whole cultured buttermilk. I decided to use a little bit more of that than López-Alt's recipe called for and skip the cream. For spice, I used freshly ground white pepper and just a little bit of chipotle pepper hot sauce, which added some additional smokiness.

This soup was exactly what I was looking for. It was still clearly potato-leek soup but with a more complex flavor rounded out with smoke, tang and spice.

Punchier Potato-Leek Soup
Elements adapted from recipes by Food Network Kitchen and J. Kenji López-Alt for Serious Eats

1/3 lb. hickory-smoked bacon, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 large leeks, cleaned and white and green parts sliced into 1/4-inch strips
2 russet potatoes (about 1 1/2 lb.), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 cup water
1 dried bay leaf
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground white pepper, to taste
1 1/4 cup whole cultured buttermilk
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp. Tabasco chipotle hot sauce (optional)
Freshly snipped chives

1. Cook the bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until brown and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate lined with paper towels. Drain off excess bacon fat, leaving about 1 tbsp. in the pot.

2. Add butter to pot and, when melted, add the garlic and leeks. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the potato, chicken stock, water and bay leaf and season with salt and white pepper. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes.

3. Remove the bay leaf. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. Alternatively, transfer the soup in batches to a blender and puree until smooth. Stir in the cooked bacon, buttermilk, nutmeg and (if desired) the hot sauce. Serve in bowls topped with a generous sprinkle of fresh chives.

Pho (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

The first lesson about pho: it's pronounced "fuh," as in rhymes with "duh," which is what you can say once you've mastered that and other people still pronounce it like "foe" (or perhaps "faux").

Pho is one of the great Asian noodle soups. Its boom in the D.C. area preceded the recent ramen craze. I first tasted it in the early '2000s at Nam Viet Pho 79 in Cleveland Park and have enjoyed it more recently from Pho 14 in my neighborhood (ever wondered why pho restaurants are numbered? Northern Virginia Magazine did a story on this). I love the interplay between the warm broth, the onions, the beef and the fresh garnishes.

A typical bowl of pho is made with a spicy broth, flat rice noodles (I like something that isn't too wide, resembling linguini), meat (beef or chicken often) and fresh garnishes (cilantro, scallions, bean sprouts, a lime wedge). That last part is what distinguishes it from ramen, which generally has all or almost all cooked ingredients.

I actually forgot about my bean sprouts and the soup was tasty without them. I think the vegetable garnishes should really be considered interchangeable, even the cilantro, if you're one of those people with a genetic aversion to it (yes, that some people think cilantro tastes "soapy" is a genetic thing).

Although you can make it with chicken, I prefer beef in pho. I used sirloin, since that's what this Food Network Kitchen recipe called for, but you may use other cuts. I've seen it with flank steak, brisket and eye of round roast. The beef should not be overcooked. I suggest aiming for medium rare.

Be sure to use the right spices for this. Star anise and cinnamon are essential for flavoring the broth. I've seen clove, coriander and fennel seed use in other recipes too. And please don't skip the fish sauce. Sure, it smells funny, but mixed in with the other ingredients it does its job to add just enough pungency to elevate the the broth without making it fishy. A warm bowl of soup like this is perfect for these nasty cold winter nights.

Pho (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)
Adapted from a recipe by Food Network Kitchen

8 oz. rice noodles
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
12 oz. sirloin steak
1 yellow onion, sliced
3 inches fresh ginger, peeled and sliced in half
3 cups low-sodium chicken or beef broth
3 cups water
5 star anise pods
1 cinnamon stick
2 tbsp. fish sauce
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped (optional, but I highly recommend it)
1 cup of bean sprouts (optional)
1 jalapeño pepper, sliced (optional)
lime wedges (optional)

1. Cook rice noodles according to package directions (do not overcook). Drain and set aside.

2. Heat vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Pierce sirloin all over with a fork to tenderize, then sear in the Dutch oven on both sides, cooking about 3-5 minutes per side. Set aside on a plate. Add the onion and ginger and sauté about 4 minutes. Then add the broth, water, star anise and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the fish sauce and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Discard the ginger, star anise and cinnamon stick. Thinly slice the meat and add to the soup.

3. Divide the noodles among 3 or 4 large bowls. Ladle a generous portion of broth with meat and onions into each bowl, then top with scallions and cilantro (and, if desired, jalapeño pepper slices, lime wedges and bean sprouts).

Cauliflower-Bacon Clam Chowder

Growing up in Portland, Oregon, we spent a fair amount of time at the beach. For people used to beaching in California, Florida or along the East Coast, the Oregon Coast is a very different experience. Forget crowded boardwalks, sun-batching on groomed sand and swimming in the ocean (it's far too cold without a wetsuit). When I tell people this, they seem mystified as to what one would do while spending a weekend there.

Plenty actually. Most obviously, the Oregon coast is stunningly beautiful, and a visit there should take advantage of that fact. Instead of being flat like much of the East Coast, the Oregon Coast is adjacent to a small mountain range--the Oregon Coast range--which shoots fingers of rock into the ocean at regular intervals, breaking the beaches into smaller pieces and introducing a wider variety of plants and animals into the area. Although many Oregon beaches are lined with the typical beach grass and shrubs, it's not uncommon to see fir forests nearby or even extending all the way to the water in some places.

All this scenic grandeur makes for great walks along the beach or in nearby parks. You can also sit inside your beach house and stare at the ocean between breaks in assembling jigsaw puzzles and drinking local microbrew. It's a relaxing, meditative experience, especially if it's cold out.

And cold it often is. Sometimes windy. Often rainy. So it's not surprising that a hearty warm soup like clam chowder is popular on the Oregon Coast. The best-known is from Mo's, a local chain that started in Newport, Oregon, but clam chowder is available in many other restaurants also. When I was in high school, we frequently got it from a small shop in the town of Rockaway Beach run by a mother-daughter team. Their chowder was so good. They served it with a slice of garlic toast, which made the perfect lunch.

The clam chowder I grew up with is the New England style: thick and creamy with clams, potato, onion and celery. And often bacon. Mo's recipe includes bacon, and my mother always made it with bacon. She often joked that it was "bacon chowder," since it contained far more bacon than clams. My mother made a thinner version of chowder than you'd get at restaurants, since she didn't like thickening it with cream and flour. While tasty, these ingredients pack on the calories.

I wanted to make a New England-style chowder--with bacon of course--that was thick and creamy but thickened with something other than cream and flour. I could have gone with potato, although that keeps the carbs high. Instead, I thought about using cauliflower. Low-carb dieters are familiar with cauliflower puree as a substitute for mashed potatoes. I wondered whether roasted and pureed cauliflower could thicken chowder while providing an additional welcome flavor.

Turns out, it works great as a substitute not just for the cream but also potatoes. The chowder still had plenty of body and flavor with the base of bacon, onion and celery. It doesn't hurt that I used really good bacon. The best bacon, actually: the hickory-smoked bacon from Benton's that I adore.

It just so happens that today is New England Clam Chowder Day. This cauliflower-bacon twist strikes me as just the ideal way to celebrate. Especially if you're lucky enough to be enjoying the day from the Oregon Coast.

Cauliflower-Bacon Clam Chowder

1 large head of cauliflower
2 tbsp. olive oil
Kosher salt
2 cups water
8 oz. thick-cut hickory-smoked bacon, cut into 1/4-inch wide strips
1 yellow onion, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 bay leaf
4-5 thyme sprigs
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Two 6 1/2 oz. cans of chopped clams, liquid reserved
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat oven to 450 F. Cut florets from cauliflower head and chop florets as needed to pieces about 1 1/2 to 2 inches. Place florets in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Toss to combine. Spread florets in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven until the florets have softened and are lightly browned around the edges, about 30-40 minutes, turning after 15 minutes. Allow to cool and refrigerate until ready to use (use within a day or two).

2. Combine the cauliflower florets with 2 cups of water and puree in a food processor or place in a steep-sided saucepan and puree with an immersion blender.

3. Heat a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until browned and crisp, about 8-10 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate. Drain off bacon fat in excess of about 2 tablespoons (leaving the 2 tablespoons in the pot). Add onion, celery and garlic and sauté until softened, about 8-10 minutes.

4. Add the crisped bacon, pureed cauliflower, chicken broth, bay leaf, thyme sprigs, pepper and liquid from canned clams to the pot, increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the chopped clams and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve soup in bowls topped with about a tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley.

Quick Black Bean Soup

Black Bean Soup is my favorite winter soup. It's something I've been making for over 20 years, having discovered the Silver Palate Cookbook recipe when I was a teenager learning how to cook.

Back then, I made the recipe faithfully, including using a full cup of olive oil for sautéing the 3 cups of diced onions (which, I'll agree with my mother now seemed a bit excessive). Today, I do a few things a little differently, such as using kielbasa instead of a ham bone (and a lot less oil). You can read that recipe here. It's a wonderful soup, but it takes overnight to soak the beans and about 2 hours of cooking time. That works great for the weekend, but it's a stretch for a typical weeknight.

As an alternative, I came up with this "quick" black bean soup recipe. It's similar to the Basic Black Bean Soup but cooks in a fraction of the time. In fact, from the moment I set the Dutch oven on the stove to the moment I turned it off and dished up the soup took just 35 minutes. That's not bad for a hearty, flavorful homemade bean soup.

Of course using canned beans is essential to the reduced cooking time. And yes, canned beans aren't as tasty as dried ones, but they aren't bad. I'm a big fan of the Goya brand, and the larger 28-oz. can is just right for this soup. And homemade soup with canned beans is still tastier than a not homemade canned soup, in my opinion (channeling Ana Gasteyer's Good Wife judge there). This soup is just as good if not better on the second day, so I recommend making enough for leftovers.

Quick Black Bean Soup

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
Salt or seasoned salt, to taste
1 smoked turkey kielbasa, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder (or more if you want it hotter)
28 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. dry sherry

1. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic. Season with salt and sauté until the onions have softened, about 6-8 minutes.

2. Add the kielbasa, stir to combine and cook another couple minutes. Add the cumin, oregano, paprika, chili powder, black beans, chicken stock and bay leaf. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Add the brown sugar and sherry and simmer another 5 minutes. Serve hot in bowls.

Related

Basic Black Bean Soup

Thanksgiving Leftover Turkey Posole

Consider the day after Thanksgiving. You're stuffed and you might not want to cook. But there are all these leftovers. Especially Turkey; especially if you roasted a whole one.

Soup is a common thing to make with leftover Thanksgiving turkey. But rather than something like turkey-noodle soup, I suggest instead turning that leftover meat into a spicy Southwestern posole.

We had posole a couple of times during our recent Southwest trip, the better of which was as a side to fajitas in Santa Fe's La Plazuela restaurant.

If you don't have leftover turkey, you can make this starting with raw meat (which I did, actually, given that I made this in late October). Either way, I think it would be a delicious soup.

I gave this posole some heat with ancho chili powder, which is hotter than the New Mexico chili powder I also added. Adjust the chili powder to your heat preference.

Turkey Posole
Adapted liberally from multiple other recipes

1 tbsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. black peppercorns
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 lb. boneless, skinless turkey thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes (or about 2 lb. leftover shredded roasted dark turkey meat)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Salt, to taste
1 tsp. ancho chili powder (or more, to taste)
1 tbsp. New Mexico chili powder (or more, to taste)
15 oz. can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
Two 15-oz. cans of hominy, drained and rinsed
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup shredded cheddar or jack cheese
4-5 corn tortillas, warmed

1. Heat a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and peppercorns and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and starting to brown, about 5-6 minutes. Allow to cool, then, using a spice grinder, grind to a coarse powder.

2. (Skip this step if you use already roasted turkey.) Heat 2 tbsp. vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the turkey cubes in batches, setting them aside in a bowl as they are browned.

3. Add 1 tbsp. olive oil to the Dutch oven, maintaining the medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and season with salt, to taste. Sauté until the vegetables have softened and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the ground spices, chili powders and turkey. Cook for about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, hominy and broth. Bring soup to a bowl, then reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Serve posole in bowls topped with a generous sprinkle of shredded cheese with tortillas on the side.

Other Recipes

Thanksgiving Central (all Thanksgiving recipes)

Thanksgiving Leftovers Tacos

Thanksgiving Leftovers Pizza

Apple-Potato Soup with Chicken-Apple Sausage and Parmesan Crumble

Apples and cheese make a great pair. If I'm in the mood for a light dinner, a sliced apple, a sharp cheese and a glass of wine--a bold white, like a chardonnay--makes a great meal. My dad always liked to eat apple pie with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese, and apple pie with cheese baked into the crust is good too.

That combination is the inspiration behind this apple soup, which gets a topping of what I'm calling "parmesan crumble," which is just crumbled frico, a homemade parmesan cracker.

Apples are commonly found in desserts and salads, but I love to find ways to work them into a main course. Soup is a perfect vehicle for apples, their tart sweetness makes a good counterpoint to something more savory, in this case potatoes and cheese.

Although already fully cooked, a I recommend browning the apple-chicken sausage in a frying pan to reheat it and add additional flavor.

Apples wend their way into this dish in two ways. The body of the soup contains Granny Smith apples, that common, very tart apple that works well in savory dishes like this. The chicken sausage also contains apple.

Frico, homemade parmesan crackers, give the soup a crunchy cheese topping.

Apple-Potato Soup with Chicken-Apple Sausage and Parmesan Crumble

2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 sweet onion, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 Yukon gold or russet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 large or 3 medium-size Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 tbsp. chopped fresh sage
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste (at least 2 pinches)
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
12 oz. chicken-apples sausage, cut into 1/4-inch thick rounds

Parmesan crumble:
1 oz. shredded parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1 tsp. flour
Fresh-ground black pepper to taste


1. Heat a Dutch oven or other large pot for soup over medium heat. Melt the butter, then add the onion, celery and garlic. Sauté until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the potato, stir to combine and cook another 5 minutes. Stir in the apple and sage and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cook another 5 minutes, then add the chicken broth and water. Increase heat and bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low to simmer for about 40-45 minutes until the potato and apple have softened.

2. While the soup simmers, make the parmesan crumble. Preheat oven to 375 F. Place a nonstick liner (like a Silpat) on a baking sheet. Combine cheese, flour and pepper and spoon onto the baking sheet into three evenly spaced mounds. Use a spatula or the back of the spoon to flatten the mounds into rounds of even thickness about 4 inches in diameter. Bake until golden, about 8-11 minutes. Allow to cool for a couple minutes and then very carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (be careful, they break really easily). Once cooled, crumble by hand into smaller pieces.

3. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth (alternatively, transfer in batches to a blender to puree).

4. Heat sausage in a medium frying pan over medium heat until lightly browned. Add to the soup and stir to combine. Taste the soup and adjust salt, pepper and nutmeg as desired. Serve soup in shallow bowls topped with a sprinkle of parmesan crumble.

Corn Chowder

Summer is coming to a close, which means markets--both the farmers variety and the typical grocery store--are loaded with fresh vegetables. One of the great ones I find is particularly good from our farmers market is sweet corn. The corn that New Morning Farm sells in my neighborhood market on Saturday mornings is juicy and sweet and pretty affordable too.

Although we usually enjoy it boiled on the cob, I've found a few other good uses for summer sweet corn. This chowder, for example, is a great way to enjoy is corny sweetness as a soup. This is a pretty simple recipe that uses potato to give the chowder body and onion, garlic and herbs for additional flavor.

Corn Chowder
Adapted from a recipe by Tyler Florence for Food Network

2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups low-sodium vegetable stock (if desired, you can make your own corn broth, which would be delicious in this dish)
2 cups heavy cream
2 medium-size potatoes, peeled and diced
6 ears of corn
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a Dutch oven or other large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and thyme and sauté until the vegetables have softened, about 8 to 10 minutes.

2. Dust the vegetables with the flour and stir to coat. Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Add the cream and the potatoes, increase heat to bring to a boil and boil the mixture for about 7 minutes until the potatoes break down.

3. Cut the kernels off the corn cobs and add the kernels to the soup, discarding the cobs. Season with salt and pepper and simmer until the corn is soft, about 10 to 12 minutes. Serve in shallow bowls garnished with fresh parsley.

Greek Salad as Tomato Soup

It's official. Momofuku is coming to D.C.! Finally, David Chang, who is from Northern Virginia after all, will make the nation's capital part of his food kingdom that includes a collection of notable restaurants in New York (Ko, Má Pêche, Ssäm Bar, Noodle Bar, Milk Bar--home of the famed Corn Cookie) and a few other cities (Toronto, Sydney), plus the Book & Dax cocktail bar and the totally hip food magazine, Lucky Peach.

I'm celebrating the impending arrival of Chang's cuisine by making this recipe that appeared recently in Food & Wine. If you're in the habit of making gazpacho around now when fresh tomatoes are at their peak, this alternative cold tomato soup might be a welcome way of changing up your cold-tomato-soup routine. Chang's idea was to reinvent Greek Salad as tomato soup. All the elements are there: cucumbers, onion, olives, feta cheese and, of course, tomatoes.

The soup is wonderfully colorful. Because the fresh tomatoes are pureed in a blender, they get a bit frothy and pink. I used sungold cherry tomatoes, adding a little yellow-orange to the color palette. I made a few small changes: instead of garnishing the soup with baby greens, I used a few small basil leaves. I also didn't have sherry vinegar on hand so I used white balsamic vinegar. And, for kicks, I used white pepper instead of black.

Greek Salad as Tomato Soup
Adapted from Tomato Soup with Feta, Olives and Cucumbers by David Chang for Food & Wine

6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
3/4 cup pitted Niçoise or mixed olives
2 tbsp. fresh oregano leaves
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar (this was a substitution for the sherry vinegar the original recipe called for)
Kosher salt, to taste
1 small cucumber (such as kirby), thinly sliced
1 tbsp. honey
5 ripe red tomatoes, chopped
Freshly ground white pepper
4 oz. sungold cherry tomatoes, halved
2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
Handful of small basil leaves

1. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, olives and oregano and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, about 7-9 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in both vinegars, season with salt, and allow to cool to room temperature (this step may be done ahead).

2. In a small bowl, toss the cucumber with 1/2 tbsp. of the honey and season with salt.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes, 1/2 tbsp. honey, 2 pinches of salt (or more/less to taste) and freshly ground white pepper to a blender and puree until smooth. Pour the soup into shallow bowls. Top with the onion-olive mixture, halved cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, feta and basil leaves.

Bacon Barley Kale Corn Mushroom Soup

This soup is kind of a mutt, but I love it anyway (mutts tend to be lovable, don't they?). In making it, I thought a little bit about corn chowder and tom kha tai soup, although the resulting product doesn't really resemble either. It's a nice blend of earthy and fresh flavors, well suited for these waning days of spring and summer starts to really hit.

Besides bringing together all these great flavors, I wanted a soup that would be a good vehicle for chervil from my herb garden. Chervil looks a lot like parsley, and I've read they are related, although I think chervil has a pretty different flavor--more floral and less sharp than parsley. Lacking chervil, which I've never been able to find in a grocery store or farmer's market (hence my desire to try growing it), you could substitute fresh parsley.

Fresh chervil.

Bacon Barley Kale Corn Mushroom Soup

1/2 pearled barley
6 oz. hickory-smoked bacon, cut into 1/4-inch strips (lardons)
1 sweet onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, smashed
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, stemmed and quartered
1 bunch of kale, stemmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tsp. dried thyme
1 dried bay leaf
2 cups fresh or frozen sweet corn kernels
1 tsp. arrowroot powder
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar (may substitute apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar, but not dark balsamic vinegar)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh chervil (may substitute parsley or other leafy green herb)

1. Bring 1 1/2 cups water to boil in a medium saucepan. Add barley, cover and reduce heat to simmer for 40 minutes. Remove lid and set aside.

2. Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until crisped. Remove bacon from pot with a slotted spoon and set aside. Remove any bacon fat from the pot in excess of about 2 tablespoons. Add the onion, carrots and garlic and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until browned, about 5-7 minutes. Add the kale and cook about 2-3 minutes until it begins to wilt. Add the chicken broth, thyme and bay leaf and increase heat to medium-high to bring to a boil. Add the corn, cooked bacon and cooked barley and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Turn off the heat.

3. Mix arrowroot powder with 1 tbsp. water to create a slurry then stir into the pot. Add the vinegar and cream and stir to combine. Serve in bowls topped with a sprinkle of fresh chervil.