Artichoke Soup

Artichoke Soup Recipe

It was raining here in Los Angeles, and I felt like making soup since I had artichokes - they were going bad soon.

INGREDIENTS
The hearts from 5 large artichokes
7 Tbsp butter
1 medium size leek, white-and-light green part, sliced and rinsed
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup chopped shallots (or yellow onion, if shallots aren’t available) I used a mix of shallots & onions!
8 oz of Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
12 cups of vegetable or chicken stock (if cooking gluten-free, use gluten-free stock)
1/2 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs of parsley
1/4 teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
1/2 cup of cream
Salt to taste

METHOD
1 Prepare the artichoke hearts. Cut the artichokes lengthwise into quarters. With a small knife, remove the thistley choke part and discard. Cut away the leaves from the artichoke heart and reserve for steaming and eating later if desired (why waste perfectly good artichoke leaves?). Cut or peel away the tough outside skin of the stems and discard. When I made this dish I left an inch to two inches of stem with each of the hearts with no problem. Slice the hearts or chop to a quarter inch thickness.
2 In a large pot, melt half of the butter and cook the artichoke hearts, leek, garlic, and shallots on medium heat until tender but not brown. Add the potatoes and stock. Tie up the bay leaf, thyme, parsley, and peppercorns in cheesecloth and add to the pot. Increase heat to bring to a simmer, then lower heat and continue to simmer uncovered, 1 hour.
3 Remove and discard the herbs. Purée the soup and pass it through a fine strainer. When ready to serve, heat the soup and whisk in the remaining butter and the cream. Season with salt (I found none was needed) and serve.
Serves 8.




Click here to learn how to trim an artichoke 

I had all the ingredients the recipe called for.
I love that painting of onions & garlic.

Butter heating in the pan.

Leeks, shallots & onion cut up, before they go in the pan. 

Butter melted in my grandmother's pan - this is the pan I make soup in.

Shallots, onions, leeks & artichoke hearts getting cooked until they are tender not browned. 

Here is what shallots, onions, leeks & artichoke hearts look like while cooking.

 I made my own bags out of cheesecloth  for the herbs.

 
Here is the bag of herbs in the cooking process.

I used my handy hand mixer in the pot to puree the entire soup.

 Butter & cream

Artichoke in one of my bowls with parsley around it instead of flowers which I did not have. Be creative!

 
Here is the finished artichoke soup.
The soup was wonderful and great on a rainy cold day in Los Angeles.
Let me know how you liked the artichoke soup, dear readers.

Have a wonderful weekend!



Love,


Peggy




To see your vision come to life, email us about our design services at Peggy Braswell Design.

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

 

It has been cold & rainy here in Los Angeles. Amazing! 

 We almost never have both together. It almost never gets cold in Southern  CA.

Soup sounded so good. I think there is nothing better than a hot, steamy, bowl of soup on a cold and rainy day.

When I found this recipe for spicy pumpkin soup, I had to try this one; I had all the ingredients! 

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Recipe from Good Housekeeping magazine

Active time 25 minutes

Total time 50 minutes

Makes 6 appetizer servings

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion (8-10 oz.), chopped

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped

1 medium carrot (3 oz.), chopped

Salt

½ tsp. ground ginger

¼ tsp. ground cumin

¼ tsp. ground coriander

1 qt. chicken broth

¾ c. light coconut milk

1 can (15 oz.) pureed pumpkin

3 thick slices white bread, crusts removed, cut into ½” cubes (about 3 c.)

3 Tbsp. butter (no substitutions), cut up

Pinch cayenne (ground red)

Pepper

2 Tbsp. sour cream

12 Servings

Step 2: Use 8 quart sauce-pot, 3 Tbsp. olive oil, 2 medium onions (1 lb), 2 apples, 2 medium carrots (6 oz.), 3/4 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. ginger, 1/2 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. coriander. 

Step 3: 1 1/2 quarts broth, 1 can (15 oz.) coconut milk, 1 can (29 oz.) pumpkin. 

 Step 4: 5 slices of bread (about 5 c. cubes)

Step 5: 5 Tbsp. butter.

Step 6: 1/8 tsp. cayenne, 1/4 tsp. salt, 3 Tbsp. sour cream

20 Servings

  Step 2: Use 10 quart sauce-pot, 1/4 c. olive oil, 2 jumbo onions (2 lbs.), 3 apples, 1 lb. carrots, 1 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. coriander.

Step 3: 2 1/2 quarts broth, 2 1/2 c. coconut milk, 3 cans (15oz.), pumpkin.

Step 4: 8 slices bread (about 8 c. cubes).

Step 5: 1 stick butter.

Step 6: 1/8 tsp. cayenne, 3/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 c. sour cream.

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. In 5-quart sauce-pot, heat oil on medium. Add onion, apple, carrot, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook 10 to 15 minutes or until vegetables are just tender, stirring often. Stir in spices; cook 1 minute. 

3. Whisk broth, coconut milk, and pumpkin into pot. Heat to simmering on high. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes or until slightly reduced, stirring often.

4. Meanwhile, arrange bread on 18" by 12" jelly roll pan. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until crisp and golden, stirring once. Cool; transfer to medium bowl.

5. In 10" skillet, heat butter on medium 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown and fragrant, swirling pan. Drizzle butter over bread in bowl; toss to coat. (Cooled croutons can be stored in resealable bag up to 4 days at room temperature.)

6. To pot with soup, add cayenne and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Working in batches,  Return to pot; Heat on medium - low until hot. Serve with croutons and dollop of sour cream. 

 

 

 These are the ingredients-

This is a pot my grandmother used!

 Add onions, apples & carrots in the pot. 

Add 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Cook 10 to 15 minutes or until vegetables are just tender, stirring often.

  Stir in spices and cook 1 minute.

 Ginger, cumin & coriander

Whisk broth, coconut milk, and pumpkin into pot. 

 Heat to simmering on high. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes or until slightly reduced, stirring often.

Blend soup until smooth. I used my handy hand blender.

  Arrange bread on 18" by 12" jelly roll pan. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until crisp and golden, stirring once.(these were so much fun to make and to nibble on)

In 10" skillet, heat butter on medium 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown and fragrant, swirling pan. Drizzle butter over bread in bowl; toss to coat.

This was unusual and so yummy. 

I have made this twice, which is a record for me!

 I usually make something once then I am on to the next recipe... 

Enjoy dear readers-

Tell me what you think of the spiced pumpkin soup!

 

Have a warm weekend!

 

 

Love,

 

Peggy 

 

 

 

To see your vision come to life, email us about our design services at Peggy Braswell Design.