Well friends, the night of swapping has come and gone here in The Ros.  I would like to say that it went off without a hitch, but there was one minor complication on my part.

This year CG and I decided to serve soup as well as swap it.  I made a spicy tortilla soup.  She made a white bean and mushroom soup.  We made these delicious delicacies the night before and just needed to reheat when guests arrive.  Me not really paying attention and already running around forgot about her soup on the burner... on high.  Let’s put it this way:  I burnt it so bad... we’re down a pot.

Attendance at this year’s swap had grown as well.  Last year we had roughly 20 people with 12 swappers.  This year, we upped it to almost 30 guests with 20 swappers, but some of them had to bow out at the last minute.  (Bird is still the only one not accounted for.  So next time any of you see him...  give him shit.)  But I was equally excited to have a few little ones at Castle Murforelli also.  Lincoln Olav and his pal Sir Ivan helped pick a soup or two.  So cheers to them.

The winner this year (meaning the first to be completely out) was due to my sister’s ‘Strawberry Soup.’  This cold soup has been brought up on allegations of not really being a soup by NPY.  When I did a post-party call with him the next day he complained and said that it wasn’t really soup and that it was mearly a milkshake that had been thawed.  (I don’t care what it was... it was good.)  :)

The competition was fierce this year around.  People were determined to get their soups.  (Lucky for CG and I - we had 12 soups between us.  Hey!  We both cooked a soup.  So why shouldn’t we be able to get 12?)

The swap of course was all done in about 20 minutes.  People were picking left and right.  First the strawberry soup.  Then NPY’s chili.  Then the Irish stew...  CG’s went early b/c it was packaged nicely.  (Eventually mine went. )  ‘Twas an excellent day for swapping.  I think all would agree.

There’s a full recap of all soups on the Soup Swap page.  Check back often b/c recipes will be updated as they come in.  I’m already planning next year’s.  Who’s in?  I’m shooting for 30 soups next year.

Cheers-
Murf

Click on the picture to be taken to our official SOUP SWAP PAGE.

LIFE IN THE ROS #11 - SOUP SWAP ’08 RECAP

15 Total Soups Swapped

_____________________

Black Eyed Pea, Sweet Potato, + Corn

Pear + Parsnip

African Peanut

Chicken Noodle

Lebanese Lental + Spinach

Split Pea With Ham Hocks

Plum Tomato + Corn Bisque

Strawberry Soup

Chicken Noodles (minus the noodles)

3 Bean + Ham Chili

Irish Stew

Butternut Squash

Butternut Squash w/ Brown Butter

Portugese Kale

Atomic Heat Chili

recipes below as they come in from my pals.

*PEAR + PARSNIP SOUP* (Christi Gorelli)

2 lbs parsnips, ends trimmed, peeled

1 medium red or sweet onion, peeled and quartered

2 cloves garlic, whole but not peeled

Sea salt & black pepper

1-2 Tbsp olive oil

1 large pear (or 2 medium), any variety, peeled and cubed

2 cups homemade chicken stock, or low-sodium store-bought

1-2 Tbsp minced fresh thyme (or parsley, marjoram, chives, or a

mixture), to

taste

1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place parsnips, onion and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet; season with salt, pepper and olive oil, and toss to coat. Roast for 30-40 minutes, or until vegetables are lightly browned. Remove pan from oven, and set aside for 10 minutes. Cut parsnips into chunks and put in a soup pot on the stove with onion, peeled garlic, pear, and chicken stock, plus water to almost cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook, uncovered, until the pear is tender (15 minutes). Add herbs; cook 5 minutes more. Use an immersion blender to purée the soup in the pot (or purée in batches in a blender). Add cream if you wish. Season with sea salt and lots of freshly-ground black pepper, to taste. Serve hot, garnished with snips of fresh herbs.

Make this vegetarian by substituting vegetable stock or water for the chicken stock. Serves 6.*

*Split Pea Soup with Ham Hocks* (Leslie + Tom Strolla)

Recipe courtesy Dave Lieberman

(http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_35636,00.html)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large onion, finely diced

2 celery stalks, finely diced

2 carrots, finely diced

1-pound bag split peas, rinsed and picked through

1 1/2 pound smoked ham hock

2 quarts chicken stock, water, or combination

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large saucepan, saute onion, celery and carrots over medium-high heat. Add peas and ham hock and cover with stock by a couple inches. Bring to a simmer and cook about 1 hour until soup is thick and peas have almost disintegrated but not quite. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Remove ham hock and let cool. Pull meat from ham hock bone and shred. Garnish with ham and pepper.

*Butternut Squash Soup* (Jessica Dasilva)

3 tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1" cubes

5 cups water

1 tbsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 can chickpeas (19 0z)

1 cinnamon stick

Heat olive oil in a large pot and add garlic and onion, sauté until onion is slightly translucent. Add squash pieces and enough water to cook the squash (usually about 5 cups of water), salt and pepper. Simmer the soup for about 20 minutes or until the squash is tender (a fork should be able to go through the squash easily). Add chickpeas and simmer for another 5 min. Blend soup using a hand blender or food processor until thick and smooth. Return soup to pot and add cinnamon stick, let the soup simmer for another 5 minutes with the cinnamon stick. Remove cinnamon stick and serve. Enjoy!

*Plum Tomato and Corn Bisque* (Julie + Tobin Shulman)

8 fresh plum tomatoes

4 ears corn

1/2 cup, plus 4 tsp sour cream

2 tbs Extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup minced onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small jalapeno chile, seeded and minced

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups chicken or pork stock

Pepper to taste

2 tbs fresh cilantro chopped

Peel tomatoes and chop coarsely.  Shuck corn, cut off kernels and reserve them. In a blender, combine tomatoes and 1/2 cup sour cream and process until liquid. Set aside.

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil under medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and Jalapeno and saute until tender, 3-4 minutes. Add the tomato/sour cream liquid and salt, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the corn and stir in the chicken/pork stock. Cover and simmer for 20 mins. Season with pepper. Ladle into bowls and garnish with sour cream and sprinkling of cilantro.

Serves 4.

*New Beige Portuguese Kale Soup* (Paula Dufresne)

1-2 lbs fresh or frozen kale

1 large onion

3 potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces

2 chourico or linguica, sliced

8 cups chicken or pork broth

1/4 cup olive oil

6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed/chopped

1 can cannoli beans

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 hot pepper, seeded

1/3 teaspoon paprika

season with salt & pepper to taste

Saute sliced chourico or linguica in 1/4 cup olive oil with onions and

chopped garlic. Do Not allow garlic to brown, so add last.  Sausage

does not need to cook long.  Add broth and simmer for 10 minutes.

Prepare the kale by rinsing thoroughly and tearing the leafy portions

from the stems.  Tear into bite-size pieces. Discard stems.

Add potatoes, kale, beans and spices and simmer for 30 mins.

Serve with portuguese rolls or chowder crackers.

*Lentil and Spinach Soup* (Christa Drew)

Serves: 4-6

Cooking time: 1 hour

1 ½ cups brown or green lentils, prepared & washed

7 cups water (might be good to try vegetable broth?)

2 cloves garlic crushed with 1 ½ teaspoons salt

¾ cup onion, chopped

½ cup olive oil

8 spinach leaves plus a few stalks, chopped finely (I used bags of baby spinach and did not chop up)

1 teaspoon cornflour/cornstarch (optional) (I used regular flour)

1 stalk of celery, chopped finely (I didn’t chop too finely)

Place the lentils in saucepan with 7 cups of water, bring to the boil. Cover and simmer until tender.  Brown the onions in oil. Add the chopped spinach and the garlic crushed with salt, and mix well. Saute slowly until the spinach becomes soft.  Bring the lentils back to the boil and add the celery and the sautéed mixture. Turn the heat to low and simmer slowly for 5 minutes. For a thin soup mix in the lemon juice and adjust salt to taste. For a thicker soup, mix the cornflour/cornstarch with the lemon juice before adding it to the cooked soup, then allow soup to simmer for a few minutes longer.

Christa’s notes: I really didn’t follow the recipe very closely in proportion or preparation. For lentils I used "Black Beluga Lentils" from Trader Joes. Otherwise they recommend spreading out dry lentils to find grit and then rinsing but they don’t recommend soaking the lentils.

These are forgiving ingredients and I would think adding carrots or diced potatoes might also be a nice addition. It might also be good to use vegetable broth instead of water. I added lots of fresh ground pepper and some “21 Seasoning Salute”, also found at Trader Joes.  Be creative. Have fun. ENJOY!

*African Peanut Soup* (Trinity Muller)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

2 large red bell peppers, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, with liquid

8 cups vegetable broth or stock

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon chili powder (optional)

2/3 cup extra crunchy peanut butter (Cook’s Note: be sure to use REAL peanut butter..none of that Jiff or Skippy crap.)

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

DIRECTIONS

   1. Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat. Cook onions and bell peppers until lightly browned and tender, stirring in garlic when almost done to prevent burning. Stir in tomatoes, vegetable stock, pepper, and chili powder. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

   2. Stir in rice, cover, and simmer another fifteen minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in peanut butter until well blended, and serve.

*Butternut Squash Soup with Brown Butter* (Geoff Pynn)

(Adapted from Thomas Keller's book 'Bouchon')

It really pays to use homemade vegetable stock.  It's easy to make and makes a huge difference in the outcome.  But if you can't or don't want to, just use water -- whatever you do, don't use boullion cubes or that horrible vegetable

soup base.

One 3-lb. butternut squash

2 Tablespoons neutral cooking oil

Salt and pepper

2 sage sprigs

1 cup thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts only

1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots

1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots

1/2 cup thinly sliced onions

6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

2 tablespoons honey

6 cups vegetable stock or water

1 bouquet garni: 2 parsley sprigs, 8 sage sprigs, 2 bay leaves, and 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns, all tied in cheesecloth or in a tea steeper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 350.  Line a small baking sheet with foil.

Cut the bulb end of the squash off, then cut in half.  Remove the seeds.  Brush the inside with half the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; put one sage sprig inside each.  Put them cut side down on the baking sheet and roast for

about an hour.

When they're tender, take the pieces of squash out of the oven and scoop out the flesh.  Set it aside; toss the skin and sage leaves.

Meanwhile, peel the skin from the uncooked neck of the squash, and cut the flesh into 1/2-inch pieces.

Put the rest of the oil (1 tablespoon) in a stockpot over medium-high heat.  Add the leeks, carrots, shallots, and onions, and cook for about six minutes, or until they're starting to soften.  Be careful not to brown them.  Add the

squash, garlic, 1 and a half teaspoons of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and cook for another three minutes.  Stir in the honey and cook for another three minutes.  Add the stock or water and the bouquet garni, bring to a simmer, and cook for another ten or fifteen minutes -- until you can easily cut through the squash with a paring knife.

Add the roasted squash and simmer for another half hour.  Remove from the heat and discard the bouquet garni.

Puree the soup in batches in a blender or food processor.  Strain it through a fine-mesh strainer.  Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.  At this point you can put the soup in the fridge if you want.

When you're ready to eat, reheat the soup over medium heat -- add more stock or water if it seems too thick.  Meanwhile, heat a small skillet over high heat. Add the butter when the skillet is hot, and swirl it around a bit.  Once the butter has stopped foaming, it will begin to brown.  When it's roughly the shade of a roasted almond and smells very nutty, pour it into the soup and stir.  Serve.

Some garnish suggestions: Finely chopped chives and a drizzle of olive oil. Freshly grated nutmeg. Crispy sage leaves: to make them, heat some neutral oil over high heat and add a handful of sage leaves when it's hot.  Once they stop bubbling (30 seconds or so), remove to paper towels and sprinkle with salt.

*Strawberry Soup* (Jennifer Murphy)

1 pint strawberries (cut)

-1 c. sugar

-2 scoops strawberry ice cream

-1 c. sour cream

-2 c. milk

-1 c. light cream

-1 c. orange juice

-Put the strawberries in the bowl (I blended them first because I'm too lazy to whisk them for that long)

-Combine all the rest of the ingredients, whisk until smooth- don't us a hand mixer or it will be too liquid-y

-Refrigerate

*3 Bean and Ham Chili* (Jill Libby)

1 Lg onion

2 tbs vegetable oil

1 green or yellow pepper

1- 16 oz can of kidney beans rinsed and drained

1- 15 oz can of pinto beans, drained

1- 15 oz can f black beans, drained

2- 14 1/2 cans of stewed tomatoes

1 cup chicken broth or stock 3/4 cup picante sauce

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

sprinkle shredded cheese

Cook onion in oil in lg saucepan or dutch oven until onion is tender but not brown.  Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer 10 minutes.  Garnish with shredded cheese.

**  This batch has baked ham for added flavor.  Half of the chicken broth was replaced by ham broth made from cooking the ham.  Feel free to leave out the ham for a vegetarian recipe.

*JackieB's Chicken Soup* (Jackie Bishop)

3 quarts water

1 package of chicken tenders (approx 2 lbs)

2 onions quartered

8 whole cloves

4 ribs celery (with or without leaves)

3 parsnip, peeled

3 cloves garlic

5 sprigs of dill (if fresh is not available, 1 tsp dried)

5 sprigs of parsley (if fresh is not available, 1 tsp dried)

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

3 knorr chicken (or vegetable) bouillon cubes

5 carrots chopped (use organic, if possible)

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

2/3 cup pastina

1. Add 3 quarts of water to large soup pot; rinse and place chicken tenders in pot; stud each onion quarter with whole clove, add them to pot with celery, parsnip, garlic, sprigs of dill and parsley, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours; skimming foam off top every half hour or as it collects. (peel and chop carrots during cook time; set aside)

2. Remove chicken tenders from pot; place in bowl, cover with foil and put in fridge.

3. With slotted spoon, scoop out and discard all vegetables, the 8 studded onion quarters, 3 garlic cloves, and fresh sprigs. Add 3 Knorr chicken bouillon cubes and bring to a boil uncovered, until the cubes are fully dissolved. Turn heat down to simmer and add chopped carrots, frozen peas, and pastina. Cook until tender.

4. Take chicken out of fridge; shred in bowl; add to pot and heat/simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Ready to serve.

[Recipe inspired by Marno's Chicken Noodle soup, The New Basics Cookbook, Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins]

CG’s beautifully packaged Pear + Parsnip

A Smattering of SOUP.

Sir Ivan + Lincoln Olav

Click here to read CG’s SS recap.

Click here to see more photos from SOUP SWAP ‘08

Soup Swap ’07 - Rhode Island