Zucchini and Rosemary Vichyssoise

My perpetual inability to grow zucchini grieves me.  Sure, I plant it, I plant LOTS of it.  And I get plants, BIG plants, some of them the size of a small Buick, but zucchini?  No.  Thank goodness it’s prolific elsewhere and always available, because I have a three-ring binder full of recipes for its use.  One of my favorite ways to use it is in soup.

A vichyssoise consists of four elements: onions/leeks, potatoes, cream, chicken stock.  That’s it.  Put that together in any reasonable combination and you have vichyssoise.  It can be served hot, cold, or room temperature.  I love it not only for its comfortingly smooth texture and light taste, but also for its ability to be turned into a wide range of flavored soups.

Vegetarians can substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock; vegans can do the same and completely eliminate the cream.  Almost any herb can be added to alter the flavor, and a wide variety of vegetables can be added as well.  I have made varieties of vichyssoise containing carrot, sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower (surprisingly rich and amazing with the addition of nutmeg), and zucchini.  The zucchini variety has graced many a St. Patrick’s Day table because of the beautiful green hue.  I’ve also found that it is a universal favorite, even the vegetable haters love this.  I serve mine with a slice of zucchini bread.  There is something about the slightly sweet and lightly savory that make this a fabulous combination.

Zucchini and Rosemary Vichyssoise

Adapted from Bon Appetit

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
4 cups chicken stock (homemade preferred)

1 large russet potato, peeled, diced

4 medium Melissa's organic zucchini, thinly sliced

¼ cup whole milk or cream

1 zucchini cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Croutons
Chopped green onions

Melt butter with oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Mix in garlic and rosemary. Add stock and potato; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add sliced zucchini; simmer until tender about 15 minutes. Working in batches, puree in blender. Season with salt and pepper; stir in milk or cream.

Cook cubed zucchini in saucepan of boiling salted water for 30 seconds. Drain. Rewarm soup over medium heat. Ladle into bowls. Top with zucchini and croutons. Sprinkle with green onions.


For more great zucchini recipes, I recommend this book:

This post is linked to:

On the Menu Monday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

What's Cooking Wednesday

Foodie Friday

Sunday's Best Party

Thanksgiving Countdown: Zucchini Vichyssoise

Served in "shooter" glasses, I top each one with a single homemade crouton and a flat-leafed parsley leaf from my garden.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  To me it means not just giving thanks for another year gracing the planet (and those of you who know me know that I haven't always been so certain that I'd make it to the next one), but spending time with family, having a delicious meal, and NO GIFTS!  It means the fragrant aroma of turkey roasting in the oven, a fire crackling in the living room fireplace while we enjoy our cocktails, and another in Franklin stove in the dining room where we'll enjoy our meal.  

I have been serving Thanksgiving dinner for the past 22 years.  I shudder to think that it's been that long, not because of all of the work that I've done, but because it means I'm that old!  I serve a formal dinner that I begin planning at the end of October, and I love every minute of the preparation.  I always begin with soup.  Generally I serve my much-requested Potato-Leek Soup, a recipe I concocted on my own, with a special ingredient that I will take with me to my grave.  Other years I've dabbled with Butternut Squash Bisque, Cream of Artichoke and Jerusalem Artichoke Soup (my personal favorite, perhaps because my husband makes it), and Zucchini Vichyssoise.  Since I grew both zucchini and leeks in my garden this year I've chosen the latter, and will serve it in shooter glasses -- a fun, practical way to serve soup when you have a crowd.

  This is Ina Garten's recipe and can be found in her wonderful cookbook Barefoot in Paris (2004).

Zucchini Vichyssoise

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon good olive oil

5 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (4 to 8 leeks)

4 cups chopped unpeeled white boiling potatoes (8 small)

3 cups chopped zucchini (2 zucchini)

1 1/2 quarts Homemade Chicken Stock, recipe follows, or canned broth

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Fresh chives or julienned zucchini, for garnish

Heat the butter and oil in a large stockpot, add the leeks, and saute over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, zucchini, chicken stock, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil; then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Cool for a few minutes and then process through a food mill fitted with the medium disc. Add the cream and season to taste. Serve either cold or hot, garnished with chopped chives and/or zucchini.

NOTE: This soup can be made ahead and frozen with excellent results.

This post is linked to:

Seasonal Sundays

Sunday's Best

Scallion Soup

As mentioned in yesterday's post, while at the farm stand I picked up five bunches of scallions in order to try a new recipe that I've been wondering about for some time, Scallion Soup, cookbook author Colman Andrews's variation on vichyssoise.

  

Today I made the soup, using my own homemade chicken stock from the freezer, the farm fresh scallions, and a medium-sized russet potato. It's really very easy to put together, the most tedious part is cleaning and thinly slicing the scallions. I sampled it both hot and cold and I think I like it better chilled.

                                            

The texture of the soup became thicker when chilled making it feel a bit heartier than when warm, and it also provided a better base for the scallion garnish, that kept sinking to the bottom of the warm soup. The taste was light, the flavor uniquely scallion, but my thought was that it could have benefited from one or two more potatoes. When push comes to shove I prefer a warm soup over a cold one and this just wasn't quite thick enough for me.

Will I make it again? Yes, I think I will, it would make an excellent soup for a springtime luncheon, but I'll add more potato, replace 1/2 cup of stock with white wine (added at the end), and a pinch of cayenne.

SCALLION SOUP

5 large bunches scallions

2 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 russet potato, peeled and thinly sliced

6 cups chicken stock

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Trim and thinly slice scallions; set aside 1/2 cup in a small bowl for garnish, and cover with plastic wrap.

2. Melt butter with olive oil in a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add scallions, and cook, stirring often, until soft but not browned, about 20 minutes. Add potatoes and chicken stock, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until potatoes begin to disintegrate, 35–40 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Allow soup to cool slightly; then purée in an electric blender or food processor until smooth. Stir in cream, mixing in thoroughly, and adjust seasonings. Serve hot or cold, garnished with reserved scallions.

This recipe was first published in Saveur in Issue #47

Lion's Head soup bowl: Sur la Table

Green underplate: Fiestaware

Green handled spoon: Fiesta flatware