Italian Vegetable Soup

Like most people Jerri and I enjoy a good soup, so I make quite a few of them. Recently, while I was chopping vegetables for the pot I began thinking about the word “soup.” Our word comes most directly into English from the French word “soupe,” which comes from the Latin word “suppa,” but the word is ultimately from Indo-European, which explains why the Germans, Norwegians and Danes make “Suppe,” the Swedes, “soppa,” while the Spanish and Portuguese make “sopa.” All these words can be traced back to the same ancient root.

For nearly as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by language. When I was a freshman in high school I joined the forensics club and eventually decided to compete in the original oratory category. Most students who chose this category wrote speeches about current events or problems. I decided to compose an oration about the English language.

With the help of Mrs. Wyant, my forensics coach, I did move on from the district level, but I didn’t win at the University of Wisconsin which hosted the state forensics competition. The most valuable comment I received from the judge was his observation that my hands turned purple. I remember that he suggested, “You might try moving them around.” I learned to relax and gesture occasionally while speaking.

Making soup is another way to keep your hands from turning purple, since soups almost always require chopping vegetables or meat. Most soups need to be stirred as well, which also keeps your hands moving.

You have to do a little chopping for this soup but it is quick and easy to make. You’ll be done in less than an hour, and the result is both nutritious and delicious.

IINGREDIENTS:

1 cup chopped onion
1/2 – 3/4 cup diced carrots
1/2 – 3/4 cup diced celery
1 1/2 – 2 cups chopped zucchini
1 T olive oil
1 quart chicken broth
2 large cloves garlic
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. salt
Generous grind of fresh black pepper
1 tsp. water
2 – 3 Roma tomatoes
1 can cannellini beans (about two cups)
2 – 3 cups kale
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

PROCEDURE:

Clean and chop the onion into a quarter-inch dice and the carrots and celery into a half-inch dice. Remove the paper from the garlic and mince it. Wash and remove the stem and blossom scar from the zucchini, divide it into quarters lengthwise, then chop it into quarter inch slices.

Put a tablespoon of olive oil into a three quart saucepan over moderate heat and add the vegetables, thyme, sage, salt and pepper. Stir for about two minutes to coat the vegetables with oil , then add a teaspoon of water, reduce the heat and cover the pan to steam the vegetables for six or seven minutes until they are tender.

Add the chicken broth and increase the heat. While the broth and vegetables are coming to a boil, wash and remove the stem scars from the tomatoes and chop them into a quarter-inch dice. Drain the beans, put half of them into a small bowl and mash them. Wash the kale and discard the large central ribs from the leaves. Roll three or four leaves at a time into bundles and cut the rolls into three-quarter-inch wide strips. Set the kale aside to add later.

Stir the tomatoes and beans into the cooked vegetables and bring the soup back to a boil. Cook for about two minutes. Stir the kale into the soup and cook for another two minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Serve with bread and offer grated Parmesan cheese as a garnish.

NOTES: There are several varieties of kale. Use any of them, including the decorative plants you might be able to steal from your spouse’s ornamental garden. You can also substitute baby spinach for the kale.

Pat’s White Chocolate Scones

Pat and her husband were hosting the coffee hour after the church service one morning several years ago. On the table were some scones with a bowl of yellow pudding next to them. Pat corrected my assumption about the pudding. “It’s lemon curd,” she told me, “and it’s good on top of the scones.”

It is a wonderful combination. I asked for the recipes and Pat obliged. When I asked where she got them, she told me that she could not remember but that it was a long time ago. She said that she and some friends get together regularly and bring foods to share. Her scones and lemon curd have been enjoyed here in New Richmond, up north at Telemark and other places where she and her friends have gathered.

I can believe that Pat’s scones are popular with her friends. This is an easy recipe that you need to try.

INGREDIENTS:

For the scones:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar plus extra for sprinkling
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 large egg
1/2 cup half & half or whole milk plus a little for brushing
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 square white chocolate or a half cup of white chocolate bits
1/2 cup fresh berries (optional)

PROCEDURE:

Preheat the oven to 375º and grease a baking sheet.

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Chop the butter into chunks and use a fork or pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour mixture until you have coarse crumbs about the size of small peas. Chop the white chocolate square into small pieces or use a half cup of white chocolate bits and mix them with the flour. If you are adding berries, stir them in at this time as well.

Beat an egg and stir it into the half and half along with the almond extract, then blend the liquid into the dry ingredients until they are barely moistened.

Roll or pat the dough to about three-fourths of an inch thick and cut triangle-shaped scones or just drop the dough onto the greased baking sheet. If you are dropping the scones, use your fingers to neaten them. Brush the scones with milk and sprinkle them lightly with sugar. Bake for fifteen to twenty minutes until the scones are lightly touched with brown.

Serve with lemon curd so guests can add an extra taste sensation to their scones.

For the lemon curd:

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 T corn syrup
3/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

PROCEDURE:

Cut the butter into chunks and set it aside in a bowl.

Whisk the sugar and eggs together in a saucepan over low heat. Add the syrup, lemon juice and butter to the pan and raise the heat to medium until the butter starts to melt, then reduce the heat to low. Keep stirring until the curd has thickened and continue cooking and stirring until it begins to steam. Do not let it boil. Remove the pan from the heat and stir for a half minute, then put the curd into a bowl for serving or seal it in jars for storage in the refrigerator.

NOTES: Pat told me that she usually uses fresh raspberries or blueberries in her scones. She also said that reconstituted lemon juice tastes fine in the curd.

When Pat brings scones for the coffee hour, they are always drop scones, and they disappear as fast as she can put them on the napkins. People in our church recognize a good thing when they see that Pat is serving her scones.