Chow Who’s in the Mood for Soup?
posted by on November 27 at 16:20 PM
It used to be that you could go to Cafe Presse and get a $7 bowl of fairy-tale red tomato soup with two slabs of goat cheese floating on two slices of toasted baguette. Then tomatoes went out of season and Cafe Presse’s menu changed, and everyone who loved the tomato soup had to imagine what the replacement, a $7 pureed mushroom-and-pear soup, would taste like. The imagination failed to come up with something that seemed good, and no one ordered it. Then one day someone ordered it and was shocked at how good it was, how salty and un-pear-like, how perfect for winter. It’s served with a hard dollop of cold creme fraiche in the center that spreads outward, galaxy-like, as it gets warm.
Not bad, but I'll stick with the crock of Guinness Stew I've got waiting for me at home.
I had an amazing soup once at the Duck Soup Inn. I could not, for the life of me, figure out the principal ingredients - I thought perhaps it was squash, pumpkin, something like that. It was rich and creamy, savory and satisfying. I finally asked a waiter, who went and inquired in the kitchen. That too, was a pear soup. Knocked me for a loop; it did not taste at all like pears. It tasted like pure hedonistic comfort.
Yes! Sounds good. I had the four chowder sampler for lunch at the chowder place in the market: Classic New England Clam Chowder, Manhattan Chowder, Smoked Salmon Chowder, and Chorizo Oyster Chowder. I recommend them all even though it was a little on the salty side.
Its flavor is definitely excellent. Its texture is a little thin, though.
anybody know of good places for soup that don't have a dairy base?
That's all I do once the clocks change - make soup.
It's not that hard, really. The ingredients dictate the soup. So now, lots of mushrooms, squash, potatoes, leeks, carrots, beets, turnips, greens.
I prefer purees. I'll squirrel up my veg choppings in a zip loc in the frezzer till it's full. Roast a chicken, bone it up for stock. Makes a nice healthy howdeedoo for your friends.
Does it still come with goat cheese toasts? Because those were the BEST PART of the tomato soup. No joke.
@2: Duck Soup Inn is an amazing Northwest gem. Much of their goodness lies in the freshness of their offerings.
For a similar experience food-wise, head to Vashon and visit Gusto Girls. They pay the same sort of attention to fresh and local ingredients, often with stunning results.
And, it's on an island a lot closer than the San Juans. Tell the ladies I sent you and play a record when you visit the loo.
@5: Elliot's on the waterfront has an AMAZING non-dairy but creamy curry pumpkin soup in a coconut milk base (topped with scallops and portabella mushrooms) for $9 right now.
shut the fuck up about cafe presse. it sucks. tasting "SALTY" is not a good thing. you are so stupid, i want to punch you in the head.
I too wish y'all would stop pimping Cafe Presse (because I hate crowds at my neighborhood joint, yo), but I adore their pear and mushroom soup. Salty? Non!
I love soup. Everyday the little bookstore next to my work has a new soup. My favorite so far is the roasted red pepper...
The few times I've been to Presse their wines-by-the glass sucked. I won't go back for a while.
In the mean time - pear and mushroom soup:
Get a couple of ripe bosc pears, some shallots (or red onions in a pinch) heck even some leeks would do. If you want a little more body take some sliced boiling tomatoes too. Sautée this all in butter or olive oil (different but both good). Let it soften. Mash all of this gently with a fork.
Now add some boxed mushroom stock (Madison market sells three I think). Salt to taste and simmer with a bit of bay leaf (break it in five or six pieces - don't worry they will be easy to pull out - why do americans tend to be squeamis about good things that need to be removed from served fooe).
Finish it with a bit of creme fraiche (quite reasonable and quite good really from Trader Joe's - Bellwhether Farms.) mixed with a bit of spanish pimenton (bought at Spanish Table - everyone should own a small tin - cheap and orgasmic).
Serve with a nice dry Jurancon or other South-central french white (which Presses doesn't have becuase the are lame as some folks jesus supposedly cured when it comes to wine).
All the veggies and stock: Madison Market. Creme fraiche: Trader Joe's (but would buy it from Madison Market if they had it). Wine from Tarragona at 12th just N of Pine.
Voila soup and wine fit for a hard-working french peasant all relatively reasonably priced and within two blocks of home.
Presse can such my boudin!
Blast - that's potatoe-s not tomatoes - too much Granacha.
Amy Kate, that pumpkin soup at Elliot's is superb! It was better than the main course I had (halibut cheeks with artichoke hearts, capers and vermicelli...great ingredients, the halibut was tender, but the overall dish was waaaay too rich and oily).
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