Leek Soup – Dina Avila, Photographer

I sat down with a bowl of this soup last night and thought of the possibilities. I ate it steaming with chunks of bacon and, I dare share, bacon fat still warm from the skillet, dimpled with homemade croutons. I thought about how it would be the perfect chilled summer picnic soup laced with a generous squeeze of lemon and infused with fresh mint leaves. I want to serve it to friends with chunks of roasted chicken on the side with extra croutons to pop in their mouths at will. Perhaps poured over cooked farro with a dollop of spicy harissa on top. I love soups like this. We have Amanda Hesser to thank for this soup. She found inspiration from the pages of Craig Claiborne and was kind enough to share with us in The Essential New York Times Cookbook.

I took a few liberties with Amanda’s recipe. Swapping out the onion for my ever-present shallots. The original recipe calls for curry powder which I surprisingly have none, but I had enough curry components to fib it satisfactorily. This is incredibly simple to throw together. The only time sapper is the cooking time. The zucchini simmers on the stove for a whopping 45 minutes, but that gives you time to make your croutons and perhaps file your nails.

I apologize for not being around, folks. Life has gotten beautifully busy with photography gigs and, as always, my blog is the first to suffer. I blame summertime a little bit, too. When it’s perpetually sunny, as it has been, I have a very small window of time to shoot in beautiful light. Right around 10 o’clock the sun comes around our building and bounces a horridly putrid light off of the artist warehouse across the alley from us and into our kitchen. Yes, I try to get up earlier, but, well, we know how that goes. Especially when you’re married to an incurable night owl whom you love spending time with. Even if he keeps you up until midnight. :)

I hope all is well with all of you and you’ve been having a lovely and relaxing summer!

Cheers!

Zucchini Soup with Tarragon Croutons

Adapted from the New York Times Essential Cookbook by Amanda Hesser.
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Consider shaking out the loose crumbs when making your croutons.
Not doing so could cause them cook faster than the large chunks and burn.
If you have curry powder on hand, by all means, use it. Just omit all of the spices
through chili powder, except for the ground ginger.

Ingredient:

5 Zucchini, cut into chunks
2-3 Shallots, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground sumac
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons raw long grain brown rice
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk or cream
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dried chive blossoms, tarragon, fresh mint, optional

For the croutons:

About three cups day old bread, cubed
3 tablespoons butter
Fresh tarragon, or herb of your choice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

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Stir the zucchini and all of the spices into a large pot.
Add the chicken broth and rice.
Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for 45 minutes.
Puree the cooked soup in your blender.
Add the milk and season with salt and pepper.
Serve warm or cold with croutons and a sprinkling of dried chive blossoms.

For the croutons:

Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet.
Dust with salt and pepper.
Place the bread chunks in the pan in a single layer.
Once the bread starts to brown, toss and brown the other side.
Add more chunks of butter as needed if the bread looks to be drying out in the pan.
Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.