Soups

Oyster Soup

A crowd pleaser, it is the heart of Christmas Day Open House. Multiply this simple recipe as needed.

2 medium onions, finely chopped

3 Tbsp. butter

4 Tbsp. flour

1 quart chicken broth

1 quart shucked oysters

1 pint light cream

Cook onions in butter in a heavy pot on very low heat until onions are soft. Add flour, broth, and oyster liquid. Blend and simmer until thickened. Add cream and oysters. Season with salt and white pepper. Heat gently and serve.

Ajo Blanco

Another of Francoise’s soups. Francoise really loves soup. We really love Francoise.

Old bread soaked in 2 cups of water

1 or 2 cloves of garlic

a small glass of olive oil

1 cup of almonds

a little salt and some vinegar to taste

Blend everything in a processor. Then sprinkle on top of each serving some diced melon, or diced apples, or grapes. Serve cold. This recipe makes about 4 servings.

Pistou

Anny took me to Provence in 1997 and it changed my life. On that trip we learned to make Pistou — the traditional vegetable soup of the region — the right way: drinking lots of Cotes du Rhone with friends, everyone chopping vegetables quickly before they get inebriated, and then watching the vegetables cook while finishing the bottle. Someone should make the basil pesto; prepared in a blender, it’s safe to make while the soup is cooking (no knives).

1 cup each of potatoes, string beans, kidney beans, peas, white beans, yellow squash, carrots, leeks, and tomatoes

1 cup of cooked, chopped smoked bacon

6 cloves of garlic

Herbes de Provence for seasoning (or thyme, rosemary, bay, and basil)

Serve the soup with Basil Pesto and a baguette.

Francoise’s Tomato Soup, or Salmorejo

It might be that Francoise is married to a Spanish Count and that gives her recipes a certain “Non se que.” Or it might simply be that this is the first person on the French side of the family who learned to cook. Francoise is Lou’s goddaughter. They went through World War Two together, she a baby, he a teenager. In any case, Anny loved Francoise’s recipes. Several of them are included in the family collection.

5 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1/2 loaf white bread, crust removed

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

1 tsp. sherry

1/4 cup olive oil

salt to taste

Serve chilled with toppings of your choosing: fresh parsley, crumbled bacon, diced cold ham, chopped hard-boiled eggs, or all the above.

Basil Pesto

1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

1/4 cup nuts (pine nuts, peanuts, any nuts)

3/4 cup parmesan cheese

3/4 cup olive oil

Toss everything in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Pea Spread

This is a pea soup recipe that, due to the farm catching on fire when Cherry was burning trash, turned into pea spread. Cherry read through the recipe and commented that it would have tasted better as soup. However, what she wrote was “I would have tasted better as soup” and that might be true as well.

2 ¼ cups dried split peas

2 quarts cold water

1 ½ pounds ham bone

2 onions, thinly sliced

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 pinch dried marjoram

3 stalks celery, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

1 potato, diced

In a large stock pot, cover peas with 2 quarts cold water and soak overnight. If a faster method is needed, simmer the peas gently for 2 minutes, then soak for l hour.

Once peas are soaked, add ham bone, onion, salt, pepper and marjoram. Cover, bring to boil and then simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove bone; cut off meat, dice and return meat to soup. Add celery, carrots and potatoes. Cook slowly, uncovered for 3 or 4 hours while putting out a grass fire, or until vegetables are tender.