A Seriously Soupy Evening

Soup! It's a beautiful thing.  A big part of my Eastern European heritage, soup is indeed in my blood.  It's what I ate each day when I was a kid.  My family and I would sit down to our daily 3-course lunch, and we'd always have soup before the main course and dessert were served.  It's something my dad still can't live without, even after 21 years of living in the U.S.  Ahhh...soup.

So needless to say, when I received an invitation from a fellow blogger, Serena from the cleverly named, Seriously Soupy blog to celebrate her baby (as in blog of course) turning the big "1," I knew some great soup would be involved.  Bo came along, as she's often my food partner in crime, and we enjoyed a fun evening, brimming with all kinds of soupy activities.

The Venue:
Just as excited as I was to taste all the soups, I was also looking forward to checking out the party's venue, Jimmy's No. 43.  A well-known gastro-pub in the East Village, they carry a big selection of micro-brews, international as well as local wines, and some unique local food.  They hold food and drink pairings quite often, and I'm dying to check one of them out real soon. 

Serena's party was held in a private room towards the back of the main bar.  It was nice that the space was set up restaurant-style with a bunch of small tables, topped with a bowl of crusty bread and olive oil - in preparation for some serious soup consumption.  A small stage area in the front of the room served as the showcase for Serena's delectable creations.

The Soups:
And now on to the main show-stopper, which of course was the soup.  There were four kinds including Ribollita (Italian bread soup), butternut squash and carrot, roasted root vegetable and turkey stew and beef and cabbage stew.  A "mystery creation" also made a debut, which turned out to be parsnip apple soup, but I just didn't have any more room for it.

All four soups were absolutely delicious but these 2 stood out to me the most.

Beef and Cabbage Stew - Maybe it's the Eastern European in me, but I love my cabbage.  Not only was this soup hearty from the tender chunks of beef that just came apart, but it also had a tinge of sweetness from the cabbage.  Since it was so filling, it can very well substitute for a full meal - all you'll need to add is a big piece of crusty peasant bread.  Just soak it in there and you got yourself a make-shift Russian Ribollita. 

Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup - A close second in terms of flavor, this soup had it all - a hint of fall, sweetness and great texture.  It was nice to end Serena's soup tasting with this because in a way, it felt like dessert.  And since it wasn't too creamy, this soup was pretty light, giving it that bottomless quality.  Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it at home. 

Besides all the amazing eats at Serena's Soup Bash, she engaged us further by organizing fun soup games.  We took a pop quiz, which tested our knowledge on the history of soup (I failed miserably) as well as a team soup activity, during which we picked a random bunch of ingredients and had to figure out how they'd constitute a soup.  Each team picked a clever name for their soup and ours was complicated albeit catchy, Mrs. Ho's Super Yum-Yum Secret Sausage Soup.  Chew on that...*Gulp.* 

The Queens Cooking Divas

My friend Crystal who lives in Forest Hills organized a cooking club called the Cooking Divas. Our first meeting was today, which proved to not only be a fun but a learning experience. We, four women from Queens got together in a medium-for-New York City-sized kitchen and cooked our hineys off. The result was a delicious, healthful and a large three course meal. The recipes came from a plethora of sources including the Internet, Weight Watchers and from our imaginations.

Here's the yummyness that we produced--and consumed:

Butternut Squash Soup - This was Sue's idea and she executed it well. I believe that it came from Weight Watchers--and will only set you back 1 point if you're on the program. This soup is thick, healthy and filling. It contains tofu, which I thought was a unique touch that added heartiness. Enjoy the simple recipe below:

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 large (or 2 medium) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed

1 large (or 2 medium) onion, peeled and diced

1 or 2 garlic cloves, diced

1/2 package of tofu (firm, silken or low fat - just not flavored)

2 - 2 1/2 cups of fat free chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Nutmeg and cinnamon to taste

Directions:

Put the cut squash, garlic and onion in a large saucepan with the chicken stock and cook until the veggies are tender - about 20 minutes or so.

Do not drain. Add tofu and mix with immersion blender (or in a traditional stand up blender) until all is incorporated and the soup is smooth. Add spices and salt/pepper to taste.

The following two dishes came from two very good Food Network shows - Giada De Laurentiis' Everyday Italian and Giada at Home. I love her recipes because they're manageable and tasty.

Herbed Chicken with Spring Vegetables - Crystal chose this one and collaborated with Sue and Yana on the preparation. The final product was delicious and so juicy. Cooking the chicken in its skin added flavor and personality to a simple dish. My only complaint was that there were too many herbs under the skin--next time around, I'd cut down the herbs by half. The veggies were especially delicious and so tender--they were flavored beautifully by the juices of the chicken. Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it.

Couscous Cakes - I saw this dish last week while watching Giada at Home and it caught my eye. While I love couscous on its own, I was curious to try it in a "fried cake" form. We liked it very much and I even added dried cranberries to it. A criticism about the recipe is that it needed more of a binding element. Next time I think I'll use 2 eggs instead of one because the cakes were hard to form and they fell apart easily. Aside from that, we liked them. Here's the recipe.

Mango Salad - This was improvised with ingredients that we already had in the kitchen, adding freshness to our main course. The mango was firm yet sweet and juicy, complementing the chicken and couscous without being too overpowering.

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 mango, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

Dried cranberries, diced (optional)

1/4 of a medium onion, diced

A small glug of white wine

A medium glug of olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients in a medium bowl until well incorporated. You can serve this chilled or at room temperature.

Apple-Peach Crisp - Like the mango salad, this was also a product of our imagination. It was relatively healthy and used only a small amount of butter. One thing to add for next time would be to serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.

Ingredients (serves 4-5)

3 large apples, peeled, quartered and sliced (you can use any kind of apples that you like - we used Granny Smith and two types of red apples)

1 tbs of lemon zest

2 tbs of fresh lemon juice

2 ripe peaches, sliced

A handful of dried cranberries (optional)

A handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

A handful of light brown sugar and 1 more tbs for the topping

1 tbs of regular sugar

1/4 cup of rolled oats

A dash of ground cinnamon and a small sprinkling for the topping

1 tbs of unsalted butter, melted

1 - 2 tbs of all purpose flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine the apples, peaches, lemon zest, lemon juice, cranberries, chocolate chips, cinnamon, brown sugar, regular sugar and unsalted butter. Mix until incorporated--but do not overmix. Place the mixture in a greased, square glass or ceramic baking dish. Top with rolled oats and cinnamon. Then take the melted butter and combine it with flour to form crumbs--sprinkle those on top of the fruit and oat mixture. Top with more brown sugar and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the fruit juices are bubbling and the top is browned.

Citrus Champagne Punch - And what would a cooking party be without a cocktail? Crystal made this innovative punch, which turned out beautifully--refreshing, strong yet pleasantly deceiving. It's a great, girly drink, which I'd love to serve myself on a special occasion. Try it out here.

Hope that you've enjoyed these recipes. I'll be sure to report back about my second Queens Cooking Divas adventure.