BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE
One whiff of a savory aromatic soup and appetites come to attention. The steaming fragrance of a tempting soup is a prelude to the goodness to come. An inspired soup puts family & guests in a receptive mood for enjoying the rest of the menu. ~Louis P. De Gouy, The Soup Book (1949)
WINTER VELVET Soup again, to warm the cockles of your heart and your sweetheart’s. Probably most hot soup is consumed in the winter months, given the frigid temperatures on the other side of the welcome mat. As we return from our day, bundled in our warmest coats and gloves and scarves — noses nipped by the brisk, winter air — our bodies look forward to that pot of soup that awaits. It only has to be fired up before offering hot sustenance, a respite helping us unwind from whatever the day has thrown our way. Soon such pots of warmth will yield to the summer wonderfulness that doesn’t involve cooking all day. Until then, give me soup or take me out to dinner!
If you’ve never made soup before, you may be surprised at how easy it actually is.  Most of the heavy lifting is done by the stove, as the potful of water chugs along throughout half the day, simmering for all it’s worth. In the end it’s soup, the aromatic equivalent of having the tv on while you’re home, but without the annoying commercials. Or the annoying shows. And then, of course, there’s the payoff. Big payoff.
Pureed soups take a little more work than a vegetable soup, but didn’t you say there was someone to impress? On Valentine’s Day? This soup was selected for it’s ability to appeal to those who wouldn’t be making it themselves. If you’re going to cook for someone, cook something that they would not. Impressive quotient goes through the roof. If you’ve started it days in advance, you can take it slow and easy, making the broth one day, roasting the vegetables another (along with baking something else in the oven, as long as it’s on), and then putting the whole thing together on yet a third. And it can all be done in advance. And you can sample it beforehand, making any adjustments you feel necessary. And it gets better with each reheating.
This one vegetarian, rich from a concentrate of simmering vegetables added to hearty winter squash, sweetened with deeply caramelized onions and sweet potato, and dusted with nutmeg — fresh nutmeg if you’re really in love — is memorable, which is what we’re after.
A few implements will help you along: Put the bay & peppercorns in a spice infuser or, if you have none, just throw them into the pot. All will be strained in the end anyway to produce a thick, velvety smooth puree. A nutmeg grater of some sort will be required if you’re game for the fresh nutmeg, but they’re neither expensive nor hard to come by. It contains the spice gratings, and has a compartment for storing whole nutmegs.  You can use the fine surface of a standard grater if you have to. Not as neat, but such is life.
I do, however, strongly suggest a double boiler. You will be amazed at its usefulness for many things, one of which is to heat pureed soups and thick sauced from sticking and scorching on the bottom of conventional pans. Heating in a double boiler, you can abandon frequent stirring in favor of other, more pressing things on the night for which you are preparing.  Do get the fresh nutmeg. It’s aroma will permeate your kitchen and beyond, making it known to all that you’ve got fresh nutmeg. WINTER PUREE, WITH NUTMEG
PREPARATIONS Listed on Left Sidebar
