Saveur: The New Comfort Food (6 page)
Read Saveur: The New Comfort Food Online
Authors: James Oseland
The recipe for this summer chowder comes from the Murphy family of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (their home is pictured during a late-summer party). Matriarch Eva Murphy, a home cook who harvests many of the ingredients for the soup from her own vegetable patch, scrapes sweet corn off the cob and thickens the soup by puréeing a little of the chowder and stirring it back into the pot.
8 ears fresh corn, shucked
8 strips bacon, chopped
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. minced fresh thyme
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 ribs celery, minced
1 medium yellow onion, minced
1 bay leaf
6 cups milk
3 medium new potatoes (about 1½ lbs.), peeled and cut into ½ -inch cubes Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil, for garnish
Serves 8
1. Working over a large bowl, slice the kernels off the corn cobs, scraping the cobs with the knife to extract the flavorful juices. Halve 5 of the bare corn cobs crosswise, discarding the rest. Set the corn and cobs aside.
2. Heat the bacon in a 6-qt. pot over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 12 minutes. Reserve 3 tbsp. bacon for a garnish, leaving the remaining bacon and fat in the pot. Add the butter, thyme, garlic, celery, onions, and bay leaf. Cover the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften, about 6 minutes. Add the reserved corn kernels and cobs, milk, and potatoes. Cover, bring the chowder to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes. Skim any foam from the surface of the soup.
3. Discard the cobs and bay leaf; transfer 1½ cups of the soup to a blender and purée. Stir the purée back into the chowder to thicken it. Season with salt and pepper and serve the soup garnished with the reserved bacon and basil.
COOKING NOTE
Here are two other methods for slicing corn kernels off the cob: Lay the cob horizontally on the cutting board to cut off the kernels. Or, firmly hold the cob vertically, resting the bottom on the cutting board, and slice off the kernels from the bottom half first, then turn the cob and hold the opposite end as you slice off the kernels from the other half.
Erbsensuppe
SAVEUR
editor Todd Coleman fell in love with this fragrant split pea soup as a child in Germany. The addition of a little flour gives it a smooth texture, while celery root adds an earthy note.
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 slices bacon, minced
1 large onion, minced
1 rib celery, minced
1 large carrot, peeled and minced
1 small celery root, peeled and minced Kosher salt, to taste
2 tbsp. flour
10 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
8 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 lb. green split peas, rinsed and drained
2 large smoked ham hocks (about 2 lbs. total) Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Serves 4
1. Put the oil and bacon into a 6-qt. pot and cook over medium-high heat until crisp, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel–lined plate; set aside. Add onions, celery, carrots, and celery root, season with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour; cook, stirring, for 3 minutes.
2. Tie the parsley, thyme, and bay leaves together with kitchen twine; add to the pot along with the peas, ham hocks, and 7 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until peas are very tender, about 1 hour. Remove from heat. Discard herbs. Transfer hocks to a plate and let cool; pull off and chop the meat; discard fat, skin, and bones. Stir meat into the soup, season with salt and pepper, and ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with reserved bacon.
The year my family moved to Germany, my dad booked us a bus trip into the Taunus Mountains, north of Frankfurt—an adventure that included dinner and the chance to chop down our own Christmas tree. The excursion did not begin auspiciously. Mom, Dad, my then three-year-old brother, Casey (that’s him on the left in the photo; I’m in the Superman pj’s), and I piled into the car, but when Dad turned the key, the engine wouldn’t start. We made it to the bus just as it was about to depart. Three hours later, we arrived at our destination. We had to trudge deep into the woods, hungry and cold, to find a worthy specimen. A dose of salvation arrived hours later when we stopped off at a guesthouse for dinner and were served erbsensuppe, a nourishing split pea soup. Each smoky spoonful warmed our bodies and revived our spirits.
—Todd Coleman
Soupe à l’Oignon
The first step to making this brasserie classic is slowly braising onions with sherry and butter until they are luxuriously soft and intensely flavorful. Rich veal stock and a browned and bubbly layer of Gruyère further enrich the luscious soup, a favorite at the Paris brasserie Au Pied de Cochon (pictured); this recipe is based on theirs. To make it, you’ll need six ovenproof ceramic bowls.
1 cup white wine
½ cup plus 3 tbsp. sherry
10 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. sugar
3 large yellow onions, thinly sliced Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
2 qts. beef or veal stock
12 ½ -inch-thick slices baguette
2 cloves garlic, smashed
6 cups grated Gruyère
2 cups finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tsp. minced flat-leaf parsley for garnish, optional
Serves 6
1. Heat the oven to 425°F. Combine the wine, ½ cup sherry, 8 tbsp. butter, sugar, onions, and salt and pepper in a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the onions just begin to brown, about 40 minutes. Cover casserole with foil and continue braising, stirring occasionally, until onions are caramelized, about 1 hour more. Set onions aside and keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, tie the parsley, thyme, and bay leaves together with kitchen twine to make a bouquet garni. Put the herb bundle and stock into a stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Remove and discard the bouquet garni. Stir in the remaining sherry and cook for 5 minutes more.
3. While the broth simmers, spread the baguette slices with the remaining butter. Toast in a skillet over medium heat, turning once, until golden, 5–7 minutes total. Rub the slices generously with the garlic cloves and set aside. Discard any remaining garlic.
4. Heat a broiler and place the rack 6 inches from the heating element. Arrange 6 heat-proof bowls on a foil-lined baking sheet, divide the onions and broth between the bowls, and stir together. Place 2 baguette slices in each bowl and top each with about 1 cup Gruyère and about 1/3 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano. Broil until the cheeses are browned and bubbly, about 4 minutes. Serve the soup garnished with minced parsley, if you like.
Before Paris’s famed Les Halles market moved out to the suburbs, the forts des Halles—strong men who worked through the night lugging meat and produce—made the nearby brasserie Au Pied de Cochon the wildest party in town. As Paris awoke and the market disgorged its workers, Au Pied de Cochon heaved with life; haulers and off-duty butchers (two of whom are pictured, in the restaurant in the 1950s) took their seats alongside Paris’s nocturnal creatures, who were only just winding up their revelries. Diners slurped oysters, dipped into bowls of the restaurant’s signature cheese-laden onion soup, and devoured pigs’ feet, another specialty, all of it accompanied by bottles of house beaujolais. The restaurant, which opened in 1946, is no longer such a raucous place, but across from the pedestrian walkways and souvenir shops that have replaced the market stalls of Les Halles, the brasserie’s neon sign still glows like a beacon to hungry passersby. And the onion soup is as good as ever.
—Jay Cheshes
