Super Squash Soup

And one of the reasons the soup is so super because it's made in a traditional, Native American style, indigenous to a tribe in Massachusetts. The other reason is because it's delcious! Amy Traverso, who's the Senior Food Editor at Yankee Magazine and the host of Weekends with Yankee on most PBS New England TV stations, came by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about James Beard-award winner Sherri Pockett's recipe for butternut squash soup. Pockett is a member of the Wampanoag tribe and harkens back to her roots for this recipe. At the soup's essence, after bringing it to a boil, you simmer it until the liquid is produced by half. That way the squash's flavor really comes through!  

Ingredients

1 small butternut squash, about 2-1/2 pounds
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 onion, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups water (or chicken stock)
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, plus extra to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Milk (or water)
12 sage leaves
2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

In a medium-size pot over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Add onion, carrot, and celery and sauté 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add squash, water (or stock), salt, and pepper to taste, and bring to a boil. Simmer until vegetables are soft, 20 to 25 minutes. Pour soup into a blender, no more than halfway. Purée until smooth; set aside in a bowl while you purée the rest of the soup. Clean the pot, add puréed soup, and reheat. Thin with milk (or water) to desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

Melt remaining butter in a small frypan. Add sage leaves and cook, swirling the pan, until crispy, and butter has browned but not burned (about 2 minutes). Divide soup among four bowls. Drizzle with browned butter; garnish with goat cheese and sage.

An Essential French Onion Soup

 

After a hard day at work, the last thing you probably want to do is whip up a complex, gourmet soup. But the good news is that delicious soups, like French Onion, need not be so complex. Kat Ashmore, who worked with Martha Stewart on her TV show, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about her delicious French Onion Soup, sans oven-safe crocks. Kat told Tonia she takes a delicious baguette or some sourdough, places the cheese on the bread, and then cooks the bread and cheese together before placing it in the soup. Very easy, just as tasty as traditional French Onion and it takes less time too. What are you waiting for? Bon Appetite! Listen to the whole interview on Tonia's Kitchen, wherever you get your podcasts!

Not Your Normal Cabbage Soup

 

You might be forgiven for thinking Cabbage Soup is a fairly watery affair that lacks any real kind of flavor. But Michelle Braxton, who wrote the new cookbook Supper with Love is here to change that perception. She stopped by Tonia’s Kitchen to talk about her Cabbage and Lentil Soup. Michelle told Tonia she uses high quality, sautéed vegetables, along with delicious lentils so you won’t miss the beef. Michelle says she offers you enough leeway in all her recipes, so you can really make it your own. Case in point, a feature called Veganize It! Where she makes it easy to make any recipe vegan. Take a look, and go on a culinary adventure!

Soup, With Love

  

And that's because this chowder was made with a love and passion for food. Michelle Braxton, who wrote the new cookbook, Supper with Love (appropriate, right?) stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about the book and the inspiration behind the recipes. And this Smokey Salmon chowder, she told Tonia, comes right out of Seattle and her inspiring trips there. It's a cream-based chowder that includes baked salmon with paprika, along with potatoes, corn and capers. She says it's a hearty-soup that will definitely fill you up...and maybe cause you to want to visit the Space Needle! Listen to the whole interview on our podcast, Tonia's Kitchen. Wherever you get your podcasts.

A Silky Chicken...In a Soup

 

So much so, that this soup, if prepared in the traditional Chinese fashion, is actually cooked with the chicken head on. Natalie Keng, who wrote the new cookbook Egg Rolls and Sweet Tea, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about traditional Chinese foods, including the Whole Silky Black Chicken Soup. Natalie told Tonia it's something of a homage to the whole foods movement, since the chicken is pretty much intact when you make it. It's actually quite nutritious, with fewer calories and fat than more well known chicken soups. There's no question this is an exotic one, but there's also no doubt...it's the real deal when it comes to Chinese food.

• ▢40 g dried Chinese yam
• ▢20 g dried Codonopsis pilosula \
• ▢15 g dried goji berries 
• ▢10 g dried Astragalus propinquus \
• ▢10 g dried Polygonatum odoratum 
• ▢3 large slices ginger
• ▢13 cups water
• ▢2.5 pound whole black silkie chicken
• ▢salt (to taste)
  
  
• Add the dried ingredients, ginger, and water to a thick-bottomed soup pot or Dutch oven. Lower the chicken into the pot, feet side down.
• Bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, immediately reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 2 hours. Adjust the heat as necessary so the soup is simmering slowly. This slow cooking will give you a clear, consommé-like broth, and will prevent you from cooking off too much liquid. Skim any fat off the surface of the soup, and ladle the broth into bowls. Season the soup with salt to taste, right before enjoying.

Soup For the Fall Season

  

With the chilly days of fall finally here, soup season is in full swing. But Tonia's Kitchen wants to take you beyond the norms of the fall classics (chicken and tomato) and tell you about a soup that really sings. Samantha Ferraro, who wrote the cookbook, The Weeknight Mediterranean Kitchen, told Tonia about a delicious recipe for Cumin-scented squash and lentil soup. She says it's a creamy, delicious, nearly-luxurious soup for those fall nights, that really gives off a unique flavor. She starts by roasting the squash, then adding red lentils and a variety of spices.  Top it off with some crisy chickpeas, or, for a really exotic flavor...harisa sauce. That's a red pepper sauce that's very thick. Samantha says there's a recipe for that as well, which follow below

• 2 large red bell peppers
• 3 fresno peppers (serrano peppers may be substituted)
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon olive oil, plus more as needed
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• salt, as needed
• Preheat oven to broil or 550 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Place the bell peppers on the baking sheet. Wrap the garlic cloves in a small piece of foil and place on the baking sheet with the peppers. This will ensure that the garlic doesn't burn to quickly. 
  2

  Broil the peppers and garlic until the entire pepper is softened and you can see black char, about 10 to 12 minutes. Once done, remove the peppers from the oven and cover with another piece of foil and allow to cool enough to handle. This also helps make the outer charreed skin easier to remove. 

  3

  Once cool enough to touch, remove the skin, seeds and stems from the peppers and place the flesh in a food processor along with the roasted garlic cloves. 

  4

  Add the tomato paste, cumin, paprika, oil and lemon juice and zest to the food processor and pulse until there is a smooth yet coarse consistency. Taste for seasoning and add salt as needed. 

  5

  Pour the harissa into an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.

For the soup

• acorn squash
• ground cumin
• red lentils
• red onions
• paprika
• thyme
• turmeric
• vegetable stock
• Fresno chiles
• cooked chickpeas

Not Your Ordinary Cabbage Soup

 

You might be forgiven for thinking Cabbage Soup is a fairly watery affair that lacks any real kind of flavor. But Michelle Braxton, who wrote the new cookbook Supper with Love is here to change that perception. She stopped by Tonia’s Kitchen to talk about her Cabbage and Lentil Soup. Michelle told Tonia she uses high quality, sautéed vegetables, along with delicious lentils so you won’t miss the beef. Michelle says she offers you enough leeway in all her recipes, so you can really make it your own. Case in point, a feature called Veganize It! Where she makes it easy to make any recipe vegan. Take a look, and go on a culinary adventure!

On the Matter of Soup

 

You might not think a bakery would be the place to get a cup of delicious soup, but this is no ordinary bakery. Kneaders Bakery and Cafe, which is a small chain with locations in the Intermountain West is celebrating its 25th anniversary. To mark it, they've released a cookbook of some of their most celebrated dishes, among them, the Artichoke and Portabella Soup. Founder Colleen Worthington stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about the recipe, which she makes with sauteed vegetables and a cheese-based white sauce. Colleen told Tonia the soup checks all the boxes with it comes to flavor profiles, sweet, sour, bitter and salty.

South of the Border Soup

   

Today on Tonia's Kitchen, we're talking about Southern Latin-Style cooking...a different kind of fusion that combines the spice of South-of-the-Border dishes with the sauciness of American Southern cooking. And the chef who's doing the combining, stopped by to talk about some of her favorite.  Sandra Gutierrez told Tonia about her Chilled Avocado-Buttermilk Soup with Crab Salad Nachos.  This is a classic soup with a twist: refreshing, smooth, and sinfully delicious. Every spoonful is like a collision of textures in which buttery liquid meets crunchy chips and tender seafood. Sherry imparts depth of flavor; cayenne lends subtle spiciness that lingers on the tongue. The lime juice seasons this soup lightly without overpowering the flavor of the avocados. Chileans serve palta reina, an avocado filled with creamy salad (most often chicken or seafood), as a first course, and Sandra says she couldn't resist transforming this combination of ingredients into an enticing soup that is as easy to make as it is impressive to serve. For a stunning presentation, serve this soup well chilled in glasses.

For the soup

2 Hass avocados

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup buttermilk

1//4 cup dry sherry

1//4 cup minced onion

1 garlic clove, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 1//2 tablespoons lime juice, or to taste

For the crab salad

1 cup crabmeat (claw meat only), picked for shell fragments

1//4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoons lime juice

1 tablespoon minced white onion

2 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley (leaves and tender stems)

Pinch cayenne pepper

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the nachos

8 corn tortillas, quartered

1//2 cup vegetable oil

Halve and pit the avocados; scoop out the flesh with a spoon into a blender. Add the chicken broth, buttermilk, sherry, onions, and garlic; blend until smooth. Transfer the avocado soup to a nonreactive bowl. Season with salt, pepper, and lime juice; cover well with plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1 hour (or up to 6 hours).

Make the crab salad: in a medium bowl, combine the crabmeat, mayonnaise, lime juice, onions, and parsley, being careful not to break up the crab meat; add the cayenne and season with salt and pepper. Chill the salad until ready to serve.

Fry the tortilla chips: Fit a baking sheet with a metal cooling rack. In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat to 360˚. Working in batches, carefully add the tortilla pieces to the oil. Fry them, turning halfway through, until golden and crispy on both sides (2-3 minutes). Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried chips to the prepared cooling rack; sprinkle with salt.

To plate: ladle the soup into chilled bowls. Top each tortilla chip with crab salad and float one in every soup bowl; serve the rest on a platter. Serve immediately.

A Twist on Clam Chowder

It's really no surprise that New England is home to some of the best Clam Chowders in the world. And this recipe furthers the soup's reputation by spicing (or herbing) things up just a bit. Amy Traverso, who's Senior Food Editor at Yankee Magazine, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about a chowder recipe that uses oregano and dill. It comes by way of the Pelham House resort on Cape Cod. Chef Dan Cote came up with the idea and uses the herbs to great effect. Now, so can you!

Yield:

8 servings

Ingredients

1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for cooking water
8 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
3 tablespoons salted butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced
2 teaspoons dried dill
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 quart (four 8-ounce bottles) clam juice
2 cups chopped clam meat
2 cups light cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves
Chopped fresh dill, for garnish

Instructions

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil and add the potatoes. Cook until tender, 10 to 12 minutes, then drain and set aside. 

In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring often, until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon from the pot and set aside. Add the butter, onion, celery, dill, salt, and pepper and cook until the onion is translucent, about 6 minutes.

Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes. Add the clam juice 1 cup at a time, whisking after each addition. Add the potatoes, clams, any liquid from the clams, and the cream. Simmer until the clams are firm, the chowder has thickened, and the flavors have combined, 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if you’d like. Just before serving, add two-thirds of the cooked bacon and the oregano. Serve topped with a sprinkle of the reserved bacon and fresh dill.

A Smokey Soup, With Love

  

And that's because this chowder was made with a love and passion for food. Michelle Braxton, who wrote the new cookbook, Supper with Love (appropriate, right?) stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about the book and the inspiration behind the recipes. And this Smokey Salmon chowder, she told Tonia, comes right out of Seattle and her inspiring trips there. It's a cream-based chowder that includes baked salmon with paprika, along with potatoes, corn and capers. She says it's a hearty-soup that will definitely fill you up...and maybe cause you to want to visit the Space Needle! Listen to the whole interview on our podcast, Tonia's Kitchen. Wherever you get your podcasts.

A New Way to Avocado...Southern Style

   

Today on Tonia's Kitchen, we're talking about Southern Latin-Style cooking...a different kind of fusion that combines the spice of South-of-the-Border dishes with the sauciness of American Southern cooking. And the chef who's doing the combining, stopped by to talk about some of her favorite.  Sandra Gutierrez told Tonia about her Chilled Avocado-Buttermilk Soup with Crab Salad Nachos.  This is a classic soup with a twist: refreshing, smooth, and sinfully delicious. Every spoonful is like a collision of textures in which buttery liquid meets crunchy chips and tender seafood. Sherry imparts depth of flavor; cayenne lends subtle spiciness that lingers on the tongue. The lime juice seasons this soup lightly without overpowering the flavor of the avocados. Chileans serve palta reina, an avocado filled with creamy salad (most often chicken or seafood), as a first course, and Sandra says she couldn't resist transforming this combination of ingredients into an enticing soup that is as easy to make as it is impressive to serve. For a stunning presentation, serve this soup well chilled in glasses.

For the soup

2 Hass avocados

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup buttermilk

1//4 cup dry sherry

1//4 cup minced onion

1 garlic clove, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 1//2 tablespoons lime juice, or to taste

For the crab salad

1 cup crabmeat (claw meat only), picked for shell fragments

1//4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoons lime juice

1 tablespoon minced white onion

2 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley (leaves and tender stems)

Pinch cayenne pepper

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the nachos

8 corn tortillas, quartered

1//2 cup vegetable oil

Halve and pit the avocados; scoop out the flesh with a spoon into a blender. Add the chicken broth, buttermilk, sherry, onions, and garlic; blend until smooth. Transfer the avocado soup to a nonreactive bowl. Season with salt, pepper, and lime juice; cover well with plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1 hour (or up to 6 hours).

Make the crab salad: in a medium bowl, combine the crabmeat, mayonnaise, lime juice, onions, and parsley, being careful not to break up the crab meat; add the cayenne and season with salt and pepper. Chill the salad until ready to serve.

Fry the tortilla chips: Fit a baking sheet with a metal cooling rack. In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat to 360˚. Working in batches, carefully add the tortilla pieces to the oil. Fry them, turning halfway through, until golden and crispy on both sides (2-3 minutes). Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried chips to the prepared cooling rack; sprinkle with salt.

To plate: ladle the soup into chilled bowls. Top each tortilla chip with crab salad and float one in every soup bowl; serve the rest on a platter. Serve immediately.