Rutabaga and Apple Bisque

Sometimes the best way to explore an unfamiliar ingredient is to pair it with those you already know well. A cross between cabbage and turnips, rutabagas are a curious, old-fashioned seeming root. Unless you like dirty-white, asymmetrical vegetables, they are short on aesthetic appeal. Once cooked, their starchy flesh blooms into its signature golden hue and a decidedly more potato-like fluff than any of their turnip cousins.

With sweet and bitter notes to their flavor profile (the dominance of either quality dependent upon growing conditions), rutabagas benefit from balancing agents, especially butter and cream. This subtle bisque makes deft use of rutabaga's silky texture along with many items available on market shelves right now. Try finishing it with chopped pastured bacon, slivers of raw arugula or Tuscan kale, or, for something truly decadent, picked Dungenness crab meat and a swirl of melted butter.

Serves 6

Ingredients

About 1-1/2 pounds rutabagas
2 tablespoons butter, plus more to finish
1 large leek, white part only, thinly sliced
2 tart apples, cored and sliced
1 small orange-fleshed sweet potato and/or 2 orange carrots, scrubbed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence
Sea salt
4 to 5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup half-and-half or milk
Freshly ground white pepper

1. Thickly peel the rutabagas and chop them into a rough dice. You should have about 4 cups.

2. Melt the butter in a soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the leek, apples, sweet potato, rutabagas, and herbes de Provence. Season with 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, add 1 cup of the stock, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the remaining 4 cups of stock, bring to a simmer, re-cover, and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes, depending on the size of the vegetable pieces.

3. Let the soup cool slightly, then puree in blender and return it to the pot. Add the half-and-half and heat through, but avoid bringing back to a simmer. Taste for salt and season with pepper. Stir in a little extra butter. The soup will be thick, creamy, and delicate. Serve hot.


Based on a recipe from Vegetable Literacy, by Deborah Madison.

Market 'Trick-Or-Treat' Soup

Although this is not how market shopper Lorinda Moholt presented this recipe to me, I couldn't resist giving it a Halloween spin. Think of it like this: you are dressed up as an adult, bag in hand, walking from booth to booth gathering treats (hopefully no tricks) from market vendors that you take home, lay out on the table, and gaze at in awe. The next day you binge on your goodies, chopping them up and turning them into this delicious soup. Coincidentally, it is also the perfect antidote to a candy hangover.

This isn't a traditional recipe with exact amounts or required ingredients. Rather, it offers open-ended advice for turning a wide variety of seasonal produce into an easy soup - one that proves good food does not have to be complicated. All recipes invite you to add your own spin; this one demands it, and then rewards you with the satisfaction of having created something of your own. Thanks to Lorinda for sharing her technique!

Serves as many as you want

1. Make a lovely pot of braised vegetables: garlic, leeks, diced carrots, savoy cabbage, celery, chopped kale or even collards, and any other vegetables waiting to be included. (To braise: cook chopped pieces on low heat in just enough broth to cover them, until they start to soften). Add sugar pumpkin or squash that has been well-cooked in the microwave (or standard oven), scooped out, and whirled in the food processor with some chicken broth.  

2. Season with salt and pepper, some curry and/or cumin and add more broth. If you have left over beans or frekkah (or farro, barley, rice, or lentils), put those in too. Simmer until cooked to your liking.

3. Just before supper, add a chopped up apple. Smile and serve, with a dollop of sour cream if you wish.


Recipe from market shopper, Lorinda Moholt.