Two unusual soups

As cooks, we are always looking for something new to try. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes, and perhaps this is the most interesting part of creative cooking, is finding something that "sort of" works. Those are the dishes where you have to consider what else you are going to serve with the new dish, and that will determine whether it works or not.

I want to present two soups to you using vegetables that you may not have heard of, or if you have heard of them, you don't use them much. One is a soup of turnips and chestnuts, and the other is cardoon soup.

Let me start with cardoons. I am not at all sure I can do these justice via a written description. I suggest you go and do a google picture search for a cardoon. Wait until you see these sort of prehistoric plant. We don't know them in the United States, although they are well known in Italy and are in fact a critical ingredient in "bagna cauda," or "hot bath. In that dish, vegetables are cut , perhaps steamed, and then served with a "hot bath" of olive oil, anchovies, garlic and other goodies. You dip the veggies into the oil and then you eat them. The oil is hot enough to warm them, but not to fry them. It's a very interesting dish, and I recommend it.

But cardoons have a bitter flavor. OH MY, do they have a bitter flavor. I would describe them as a cross between artichoke and brussel sprout, and if that doesn't interest you or makes you feel ill, by all means, move on. If it intrigues you, read further.

If you have in fact done that picture search, the following will make sense. "Cardoon" in Italian is "cardone." "Cardo" is a thistle, and "one" at the end of the word, means "big" Does it make sense now? They are difficult to grown and come into season very late. I found them for the firs time this year today. ALL the foodies found them at the same time. Franca, my "source, didn't even have her sign up, or a price. But I got there first, and scored two bunches.

The leaves on the cardoon are inedible, and the exterior is so tough as to be inedible. So you are going to have a lot of waste. And they take a LONG time to cook. You have to boil them before you can do anything else with them. Sometimes, I cut them into smaller pieces, boil those, cool them, peel them ,and then dip them in a bread crumb batter. I pan fry them, and serve them with homemade, lemony mayonnaise. The contrast of the fatty, almost sweet taste of the mayonnaise and the bitterness and softness of the cardoon, contrasted with the crispy coating, is something that people really love.

Today, I used them for soup. This is a soup that needs a thickener. You could do the standard flour thickener, cooking flour with butter, and then combining it with the hot soup, but you could also use a starch, like I did. Okay, get set, this is gonna take some time.

You need about two pounds of cardoons. Strip the leaves and then cut the stems into about 2 inch pieces. Put them into a large pot, filled with water and the juice of a lemon (Cardoons darken very quickly without acid). Bring this pot to a boil, and simmer for five minutes. Then drain the cardoons.

If you tasted that water, you would be ill. It is NASTY. You've leached out most of the bitterness, but not all. Now you can start making soup.

Start by chopping two medium onions, and saute them in a tablespoon of butter and two of olive oil. When they go translucent, add the cardoons. You might also add a handful of chopped parsley. Also add a good sprinkle of coriander. Yup, coriander. You could use juniper berries too, if you liked. Add six cups of a combination of chicken stock and water. Meanwhile, in a separate pot, cook up two cups of rice. Use any kind you have.

Bring the cardoons to a boil and then cover the pot half way, lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes. When that is done, let the mix cool. Start putting the liquid and cardoons into a food processor and puree for a while. Then drain the stuff through a collander. You will get a very thin, greyish green soup. Take that and combine it with the rice, and puree it again.

If you let this soup sit, the rice will settle out, so stir it again before you stir it. Finally, melt two tablespoons of butter into the soup.

Like I said, these veggies are hard to find, and they're not for everyone, but if you're adventursome, give it a try.


Turnips and chestnuts both have an inherent sweetness to them, so you're going to get a sweeter soup here. And since you will roast the turnips, the sweetness will be increased. This soup is really a variation on the carrot fennel soup I wrote about. Get about ten medium sized turnips, and cut them into quarters. Turn them into a bowl with three tablespoons of olive oil and a teaspoon or so of salt. Stir them together, and then dump them on a baking sheet . Bake them at 475 for 20 minutes, stirring them every now and then.

While that's happening, open a vacuum jar of chestnuts (prepping chestnuts yourself is a pain in the neck. Not worth it). When I say "jar," I mean about a pound. Cook these in two tablespoons of butter until they begin to color.

When the turnips are finished (it will take longer than the chestnuts), combine them, and mix them with three cups of stock and three of water. Get out your food processor, and blend away. You are going to get a very thick, chunky soup that will thicken. Chestnuts are also a starch, so you're thickener is right there. Taste the soup, and add salt to it if you need it, as you probably will.

These are soups with very distinct identities. As your palette grows, you will pick things to go with them that seem right. For example, with the cardoon soup, I can well imagine a nice piece of grilled chicken, or something with spicy peppers in it. I would stay away from fennel type dishes. For the chestnut soup, it just seems to me that this is a starter for a meal that involves a big steak, and some carrots. But thats my take on it. As I say, these are very individualistic soups, and you ARE an individual. Build your own menu, and trust your taste