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| Kristi |
My friend Kristi is something else. She lives in Dallas where she runs her own business finding “real people” for clients in Advertising and Marketing. She’s the best in the business so she’s in perpetual motion. She travels all over the place for her job but when she gets home, she loves to cook. One day last week, an email arrived from Kristi, heralding the arrival of Fall. As near as I can understand it, Fall is when the temperature in Dallas drops below 80 degrees for the first time since the previous April. But Kristi insists that when autumn’s in the air, she makes soup. And that’s what I did when her recipe hit my in-box. Kristi’s own invention, Harvest soup is a warming puree of carrots and leeks and onions and sweet potatoes. But what really sets it apart is Kristi’s use of Indian inflected spices—Cardamon, turmeric and cinnamon. There’s a little chili powder too –how could it come from Texas without it?
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| Add an open-faced sandwich and you’ve got dinner! |
I am going to print Kristi’s recipe verbatim. But I will confess that when I saw the mountain of sweet potatoes that the recipe called for, I doubled the quantity of spices. I loved the smell of this soup cooking away on the stove so I let it simmer considerably longer than Kristi called for. The result was that when I put the vegetables and the chicken stock they’d cooked in in the blender, I ended up with what was far closer to a puree than a soup. I brought it back to town and when I reheated four cups of it, I added two cups of Chicken stock. That made the soup the perfect consistency. I couldn’t find the radish sprouts Kristi recommended. I followed her suggestion and used sour cream. And I topped the soup with parsley for color. I did not serve the soup in miniature pumpkins as Kristi suggested. I put it in bowls and served it with Open Faced Prosciutto and Goat Cheese Sandwiches. The contrast of the sweet soup, the salty prosciutto and the tangy goat cheese was all we needed for a lovely light supper. Here’s Kristi’s recipe and her introduction to it:
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| Kristi’s Harvest Soup…before it’s pureed |
Ok…that time of year…FALL!!! All my best recipes are for this season……I love the warm, spicy, comforting aromas of Fall cooking…reminds me of being a child in the Northeast and looking forward to all the wonderful Fall holidays- Halloween, Thanksgiving… So wanted to share with you my all time fave Fall soup.
FALL SOUP (kids LOVE this soup too-just alter the chili pepper a bit)
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cardamom
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| A mountain of Sweet Potatoes convinced me to double the spices. |
6 sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1. Combine spices in a small bowl. In a medium saucepan, heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add leeks and onion; cook until translucent, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle with spices; add sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots. Stir well to combine.
2. Add chicken stock to the mixture in the saucepan, and simmer over low heat, partially covered, until vegetables are tender, about 40 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
3. Transfer soup to a blender, working in batches, if necessary, so as not to fill jar more than halfway; process until smooth. Return puree to saucepan; place over low heat until heated through. Serve hot; garnish each bowl with a handful of radish sprouts, if using.
I am going to try this recipe this weekend!I have been inspired to use up the lovely freezer bag of fresh pumpkin I was recently given and am now in the mood for Soup! And by the way, So. Calif. is at 87 degrees today – Fall weather! C: Thank you Monte and Kristi!
This is excellent Ana! I do add more chicken stock when it's cooked. I liked it a little less 'puree' and more soup. The spice mixture will fill your house with a wonderful aroma. Let me know what you think once you've made it. XOX M