Variations

The Book gave several options for creating other puréed soups, adding the following ingredients to a chicken broth base:
white beans, chopped fresh rosemary;
canned tomatoes, half-and-half, chopped fresh basil;
sautéed mushrooms, half-and-half;
black beans, fresh lime juice, cumin and cayenne.
I find the last one especially exciting and vibrant because of the inclusion of lime juice. [::yells offscreen:: “Oh, Brian, can we make that one soon?”][::B yells back:: “Ok sure no problem lets set it up!”]

Although all of the soups above are intended to be heated, I can see the tomato and the black bean ones as refreshing chilled alternatives on a hot summer’s day.

Personally, I believe I have made some exceptional puréed soups over the last thirty-five years. Three (oops, make that four) in particular stand out. The first was a cream of chicken and vegetable soup without a hint of cream in it. I used to poach a whole chicken and traditional veggies in stock. After cooling and defatting the stock, I’d add the meat from the chicken and the veggies to it, then blend. It was a wonderful soup to have in the winter. Definitely comfort food. I used to keep quite a quantity of it in the freezer, in individual bowls.

The second soup (also chicken, but in a completely different presentation) included an ingredient that wasn’t ripe enough the first time I made it. I combined cooked chicken with chopped avocado and whipping cream before blending. The only problem was that my avocado was still hard. Was that enough to deter me? Why, of course not! I was determined to bend that avocado to my will. I just cooked it until it softened enough so that I could chop and blend it. This was a luscious, cold soup. A little rich because of the whipping cream, but definitely a taste of luxury!

The third soup was wild cream of mushroom with the mushrooms being gathered during the walks my friends (of the spur-of-the-moment pizza experience) and I used to take in the Annex. Of course, they were amateur mycologists (mushroom experts). And, hey, I’m still here! I’ve made the soup many times over the decades, though I’ve only used store-bought ‘shrooms.

The fourth is not technically a puréed soup, but I figure there are enough ingredients that do get smushed up (hee, unprofessional but very descriptive cooking terminology) that I’m counting is as one. When I purchased my Oster Kitchen Centre in the mid 1970s, it came along with a terrific cookbook and the recipe for Gazpacho in it is the best I’ve ever had. Why? Because the recipe calls for the inclusion of not only red wine vinegar, but also red wine. And, of course, all of the other yummy chopped vegetables, along with black olives (the California kind). Nothing better on a horribly hot day.

And I can’t believe I nearly forgot the most sensational puréed soup I’ve ever made in my life. It was for one of Brian’s and my “Holiday Extravaganzas”. I believe this meal included Lobster Américaine (whose sauce was made of equal parts sherry, brandy, whisky and cream – but that’s another extraordinary tale). The soup was cream of asparagus. After cooking the asparagus until tender in water, I snapped off the tough ends (I’d kept them on during the cooking process for additional flavour), then forced the stalks through a sieve with a spoon. It took me Three Hours of manual labour but it was so worth it. In fact, I judged my soup to be superior to the one I’ve had at Opus Restaurant on Prince Arthur. Mine tasted like cold, silken velvet. Of course, the fact that I’d garnished it with a dollop of crème fraïche and caviar merely enhanced its already divine status.

So, you’ve read what The Book suggests and some of the soups I’ve made. Don’t be afraid to take a chance on ingredients and seasonings. You may just end up amazing yourself and your guests!

Returning to the squash soup, just to end this post, I believe this was an incredible way to enjoy squash. Between the ginger and nutmeg, along with the onion and apple, The Book’s authors get two thumbs up (or else scraping the bottom of the pot to get the very last drop), but only because of our variations!

And one final addition. Since writing the review, I’ve found it simply too unbearably hot to shop or cook or eat or…. So I’ve been tackling my small mountain of canned food (mmmm, spicy peanut sauce on tuna or on scrambled eggs or….). One of the cans was Wolfgang Puck’s Cream of Butternut Squash Soup. What a coincidence. Or not. Well, it’s safe to say that I judge our soup to be much better as the overwhelming taste of Mr. Puck’s commercial contribution was more of chicken than squash.