sue (11/17/82)
the following is an excerpt (without permission) from my very favorite (un)cook book - the BLUE STRAWBERY COOKBOOK - COOKING (BRILLIANTLY) WITHOUT RECIPES . The BLUE STRAWBERY is a famous restaurant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. THE CREAM SOUP Butter, leeks, and cream are the basis of any great cream soup. To that concoction it is possible to add any vegetable in the world - squash, asparagus, peas, onions, sweet potatoes, collard greens, and cabbage are just a few. For liquid, use white wine- or sherry, or rose, or even red- or a juice, or a salty stock. The leeks may also be shallots or white onions; you may leave them out altogether, but their addition gives an uncommon depth to soups that should not be missed. I use potato for a thickening agent, but this may also be interchanged with other thickeners. If you use flour, add it at the very beginning so it will pick up the taste of the soup - nothing is more disappointing than a floury- tasting soup. Whipping egg yolks into the hot soup just before you serve it will also thicken the mixture. Almost any pulpy vegetable - parsnip, carrot, potato, turnip, squash - may be used for thickening. And enough of any vegetable blended into a puree will serve as well, though in that case it's always good to add a spoon or two of flour or a couple of well beaten egg yolks for binding. If your soup does separate after you've blended it, simply blend it again, or whip it with a whisk, eggbeater, or fork. Spice your cream soup with whatever your imagination can conjure up - not only the usual green herbs and spices, but chocolate, ginger, saffron, orange concentrate, flavored brandies and liqueurs...anything you happen to have handy. Cooks differ on the time to add seasoning: some think you should add it in the beginning, others feel you should wait for the last fifteen minutes. The best idea is to add it whenever you please. After learning the basics, all you really have to do is put it all into the pot and cook it. The magic - the brilliance- comes in the understanding of what goes with what; and that, of course, is always determined by your own particular taste. Don't be afraid of that: your taste is there to be recognized and opened up to. We are so conditioned by the "how to" and "what should" schools that we never experiment; and it's in experimentation that the most exciting discoveries occur. For instance: Suppose you fried a couple of peeled sweet potatoes in about half a stick of butter with one or two sliced leeks until they all became limp. Put them into a blender, add a glass of dry white wine, and blend until it becomes smooth. Put it back into the pot, add cream or milk, a handful of chopped chives, comfortable amount of salt, some white pepper, some curry, and a shot of chocolate brandy. Then add a couple of handfuls of sliced fresh mushrooms and simmer the mixture, stirring often so that it doesn't become separated. When you feel the mushrooms are cooked, ladle the soup into serving sized baking bowls, top each with a slice of Swiss, Muenster, chedder or mozzarella cheese, and bake it in al moderate over until the cheese begins to crust. Serve piping hot. If you like, add a dab of sour cream on the top as you serve the soup. As soon as you announce it is a "Curried chocolate Brandy and Mushroom Sweet Potato Cream Soup", your audience will be so intrigued - or intimidated - that the rest of the meal is bound to be a success. Soup is like a well dressed lady. The cream is the woman, the leeks her shoes, the butter her stockings, the wine her petticoat, and the main ingredient her dress, the spices her perfume. Using this analogy, remember that overdressing is cheap, understatement alluring because it offers mystery. ... and the book continues on. I have tried the above soup - it is wonderful. And using his suggestions, I have made many wonderful soups, none of which i could repeat, because I create them on the spot. If anyone is interested in the book - which is unlike any cookbook I've ever seen - (I sat down and read it cover to cover like a novel), it is by James Haller, and is published by the Harvard Common Press. 1976 The address is The Common, Harvard, Mass. 01451 -- Sue