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Glorious Soups for Entertaining
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Glorious Soups for Entertaining in the media
Beverly N. Williams writes in the Newport News (Va.) Daily Press,
Feb. 19, 2003:
Curling up on the bed with a steaming cup of hot soup is one of my favorite things to do in the cold winter months. I've found it's a perfect way to chase away the chills and fill up my belly at the same time.
Sound inviting and delicious? Then you'll want to take a look at Glorious Soups for Entertaining, a cookbook by Colette Gouvion and Arlette Sirot. Originally published in France, it is now available in the United States....
Its 154 pages are full of relatively easy soups sure to please any palate. The first section is reserved for refreshing soups -- those that can be served hot or cold, like the Chilled cucumber soup on page 30. If you prefer something a little warmer, try the Avocado gazpacho soup on page 38.
There's even a soup recipe for melon lovers on page 33. It's called Melon soup with spices and ham and is made with cantaloupe or Charentais melon. Now, I've never had melon in soup. But this book offers plenty of surprising fruit-filled soup recipes like the Exotic fruit soup on page 126. So they should be fun to try in the summer.
In the chapter on elegant soups, you'll find soups fit for a king or queen. The Cream of lettuce soup with caviar recipe on page 50 certainly seems to fit that category, as does the one on page 52 for Pheasant consommé with chestnuts and quenelles.
Other recipes catching my eye were Beer soup and waffles on page 64, Red wine seafood soup on page 74, Nettle soup and snail fritters on page 82, and Fresh fruit minestrone on page 122.
Of course, no soup would be complete without bread or crackers. Knowing this, the authors have devoted an entire chapter to recipes for breads and a variety of oils. Some of the bread recipes are olive bread, red pepper bread, and paprika and cumin bread. If soup with cake is more your thing, there are even two different recipes for that.
The last section tells you everything you want to know about soup, a dish that Gouvion and Sirot hope to restore to its status as the "centerpiece of the meal."
Try this Beaufort cheese soup and croutons recipe if you like soup with a cheesy flair. The authors describe it as something that "will be loved by cheese amateurs and mountain lovers." It's prepared in the Savoy, France, style of fondue, but Gouvion and Sirot say their recipe is more original. They suggest using a large, heavy-bottomed pot, a soup tureen, a frying pan and a wooden spoon.
Beaufort cheese soup and croutons
Degree of difficulty: Average
Preparation time: 30 to 45 minutes
Serves 6
Ingredients:
4 tbsp. butter
1/3 cup flour
2 cups dry white wine
1½ quarts vegetable bouillon (made with bouillon cubes)
1 garlic clove, chopped
pepper, nutmeg and salt
5 oz. Beaufort cheese, shredded
2 egg yolks
4 tbsp. crème fraîche
2 oz. Beaufort cheese, small dice
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
In a heavy-bottomed pot, melt the butter, sprinkle with the flour, stir with a wooden spoon, and add the white wine and bouillon. Add the garlic, pepper, grated nutmeg and a little salt.
Bring to a boil while still stirring, and slowly add the shredded cheese. As soon as the cheese is melted, remove the pot from the heat.
Whisk the yolks with the crème fraîche and pour into a soup tureen. Ladle the very hot soup over it. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, add the diced Beaufort cheese, and serve hot with garlic-rubbed croutons, lightly browned in butter.
For hearty appetites, ham slices with a salad may be served.
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