A SUNNY SOUP ON A WINTRY DAY

Yesterday at this time, I was vowing to never cook again other than out of pure necessity, so bad were the stresses, interruptions and thwarting circumstances... but, I did manage to get a passable Brazilian Shrimp Curry on the table, and then came the delivery from Suncoast Organics and some intriguing Sunchokes beckoned...

Sunny Soup Ingredients

Butternut squash, and  an apple from last week;  some fresh ginger and a little coconut milk remaining from the curry, a chilly turn in the weather, and my taste buds were screaming: SOUP!!!

Sunchokes or Jerusalem Artichokes, as they are sometimes called, are a North American tuber which were introduced to Europe, mainly France and England in the 17th century. It is a sunflower tuber (girasole) thus the name "Jerusalem" and it resembles a cardoon, a relative of the artichoke.  Whatever the name, it is a humble root vegetable, only a little less ugly than celeriac, another of  my favorite veggies!

The gnarly knobs make peeling the veg difficult..I just cut off some of the smaller knobs, waste :( , I know but not much, and my time is so limited! You could probably cut them up after scrubbing the skin and use them in salad or as a garnish.

SUNNY SOUP
1 small onion, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
several inner celery ribs with leaves, chopped
3 cups cut butternut squash
1 apple, coarsely chopped
2 cups sunchokes, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon, chopped fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups broth, chicken or vegetable
oh, yes, 1/2 cup white wine if desired
3/4 cup coconut milk (optional)
Garnishes as described below

In a medium soup pot, melt the butter and heat the oil together. Add onion, shallot, celery, sunchokes and squash. Saute briefly until coated and then cover pot and "sweat" the veggies over low heat for 5-8 minutes. Uncover, add the apples and spices and pan roast them for another 5 minutes to develop flavors. Do not brown, you want fresh flavor, not caramelization.

Sunny  Colors!

Add a splash of white wine ( I don't know why, I always did this at the White Rainbow to my soups and they were always good, so I just do it out of habit..if you don't want wine, omit this) Let it evaporate and then add broth.

Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until veggies are really 

soft. Puree soup with a stick or regular blender. You can use the food processsor and make it "chunky" if you wish. A Portuguese woman showed me how to make "Caldo Verde" whisking the very soft potatoes in the soup and using a potato masher to "puree" it. Fancy gadgets sometime complicate things!

You can add coconut milk at this point if you wish.

Sunflower seeds toasted with chili would make a nice garnish
Swirl the coconut milk and garnish with poblano or other hot peppers and cilantro.

Having no nuts in the house, I sauteed shitakes with shallots in brown butter and garnished with fresh parsley.

 

Fresh, vibrant and different!! Enjoy!