Fall Recipes, Soups, Chefs Recipes, What Chefs Cook In The Fall, Autumn, Suzanne Goin, Suzanne Tracht, Chickpea Chestnut Soup, Kabocha Squash And Fennel Soup With Candied Pumpkin Seeds, Los Angeles, Sunday Suppers At Lucques, The Jar
What
Chefs’ recipes for the Fall season: soups.
Chefs’ Fall Soup Recipes
November 15, 2011
Chickpea Chestnut Soup
Recipe courtesy of chef Suzanne Tracht, Jar Restaurant, Los Angeles, CA
Yield
Serves 12
Ingredients
- 2 pounds dried chickpeas
- 1 pound chestnuts (packed shelled or fresh peeled)
- 2 pounds roasted tomatoes
- 1 leek, white part only, cleaned and chopped
- 4 celery stalks chopped
- 1 white onion peeled and chopped
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 dried arbol chili pepper (whole)
- 1 cup sherry wine
- ½ tablespoon coriander
- 2 bay leaves
- 10 sage leaves
- salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 quarts chicken stock
Directions
1) Soak chickpeas overnight and then drain.
2) Combine in soup pot at medium heat, leeks, celery, onion, garlic, arbol chili pepper, coriander, bay leaves, sage, and salt and pepper. Sauté until soft.
3) Add sherry and chicken stock and bring to boil.
4) Reduce heat to simmer and add chickpeas, chestnuts and roasted tomatoes.
5) Cook for an hour or until chickpeas are soft.
6) Let cool, blend in batches until smooth (optional: strain through china cap).
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Kabocha Squash & Fennel Soup With Candied Pumpkin Seeds
Recipe courtesy of chef Suzanne Goin from “Sunday Suppers at Lucques”
Kabocha Squash & Fennel Soup
Photo Credit: Shimon and Tammar Rothstein
Ingredients
Soup
- 2 pounds Kabocha squash
- 2 medium bulbs fennel
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups sliced onions
- 1 tablespoon thyme leaves
- 2 chiles de árbol
- 1 bay leaf
- 3/4 cup sherry
- 10 cups chicken or vegetable stock or water
- 1/4 cup crème fraîche
- Candied pumpkin seeds
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Candied Pumpkin Seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- Generous pinch each of ground cinnamon, paprika, and cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon honey
- Kosher salt
Directions
Soup
1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2) Cut the squash in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds. Place the squash cut side down on a cutting board, and use a sharp knife to remove the peel. Slice the squash into 1-inch-thick wedges.
3) Cut the fennel in half lengthwise and then into 1/2-inch-thick wedges. Toss the squash and fennel with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and some freshly ground black pepper. Place the vegetables flat on a baking sheet and roast about 35 minutes, until tender and slightly caramelized.
4) Meanwhile, toast the fennel seeds in a small pan over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes, until the seeds release their aroma and are lightly browned. Pound them coarsely in a mortar.
5) Heat a Dutch oven or soup pot over high heat for 2 minutes. Add the butter, and when it foams, add the onions, fennel seeds, thyme, chiles, bay leaf, 1 teaspoon salt, and a good amount of freshly ground black pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-high, and cook about 10 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are soft, translucent, and starting to color.
6) Add the squash and fennel, and stir to coat with the onions for a minute. Turn the heat back up to high and pour in the sherry. Let it reduce for a minute or two, and then add the stock and 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer 20 minutes.
7) Strain the soup in a colander set in a pot. Put a third of the solids into a blender with 1/2 cup of the broth (You will need to purée the soup in batches). Process at the lowest speed until the squash mixture is puréed. Add another 1/2 cup broth and then turn the speed up to high and pour in more liquid, a little at a time, until the soup has the consistency of heavy cream. Blend at least a minute on high speed, until the soup is completely smooth and very creamy.
8) Transfer to a container, and repeat with the rest of the ingredients. You may not need all the liquid. Taste for balance and seasoning.
9) Pour the soup into six bowls, spoon some crème fraîche in the center of each, and scatter the pumpkin seeds over the top. Or serve family-style in a tureen with the crème fraîche and pumpkin seeds on the side.
Candied Pumpkin Seeds
1) Toast the cumin seeds in a small pan over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes, until the seeds release their aroma and are lightly browned. Pound them coarsely in a mortar.
2) Melt the butter in the cumin pan over medium heat. Add the pumpkin seeds and sugar, then sprinkle the spices and a healthy pinch of salt over them. Toss the pumpkin seeds to coat them well with the butter, and cook a few minutes, until just after they begin to pop and color slightly.
3) Turn off the heat, and wait 30 seconds. Add the honey, tossing well to coat the pumpkin seeds. Spread on a plate and let them cool.
