A chilled seasonal soup for unseasonably hot weather: Green Garlic Vichyssoise

Green garlic, in farmers markets right now, teams with leeks, potatoes, butter and half & half to create a cool, creamy, delicately garlicky first course. Recipe (with substitutions) below.

When it comes to large, hardworking families with big personalities, Allium outdoes even the Baldwin brothers. More savory recipes than not put at least one of member of the Allium family to work—onions (yellow, Bermuda, pearl, etcetera), leeks, scallions, chives, garlic, shallots… And then there are the seasonal workers—ramps, scapes and the star of last weekend’s Logan Square Farmers Market, green garlic.

Green garlic is just what the name implies—garlic picked early, before the bulbs have formed into cloves. Originally the byproduct of farmers thinning their garlic crops, green garlic has come into its own as a seasonal treat found almost exclusively at farmers markets and roadside stands. Continue reading “A chilled seasonal soup for unseasonably hot weather: Green Garlic Vichyssoise”

Sweet, spicy, surprising: Strawberry Gazpacho

Strawberries, cucumber, cayenne pepper, chives and hot sauce blend into a sweet, tangy, spicy take on classic gazpacho in this quick no-cook first course. Recipe below.

strawberry-gazpacho2

It’s always nice to start a dinner party with an impressive little surprise, especially if it’s simple and can be made ahead of time. Marion takes over the kitchen this week with a lively Strawberry Gazpacho that delivers on all counts.

As you know if you read last week’s post, beautiful fragrant strawberries are starting to appear in the stores, and we are thinking about them a lot. This recipe came together in our heads from a lot of places. The first chives appearing in the backyard; a wonderful, mysteriously flavored gazpacho we had a while back at La Boca, the tapas restaurant in Santa Fe; a dessert soup of strawberries my sister and I once had at Le Petit Lutécia in Paris; and memories of little kid Julys picking wild strawberries in northern Michigan. Of course as kids, we did much more eating than actually picking these tiny, intense strawberry bits. Continue reading “Sweet, spicy, surprising: Strawberry Gazpacho”

A cool, surprising first course for Thanksgiving

Unexpected coldness adds an elegant surprise to Marion’s Sweet Potato Vichyssoise, our traditional Thanksgiving dinner first course.

Sweet Potato Vichyssoise

A BOWL OF THIS SOUP LOOKS LIKE A BEAUTIFUL HARVEST MOON GLOWING ON YOUR TABLE. The original of this recipe appeared in The Four Seasons Cookbook, still one of my most beloved cookbooks of all time. Elegant in design, full of inspiring, demanding recipes and gorgeous photos, it foreshadowed our current era of high-concept coffee table cookbooks. Continue reading “A cool, surprising first course for Thanksgiving”