National Soup Swap Day 2011 in Seattle!

Delicious fun was had by all! Thanks to Pam of Nerd's Eye View, with assistance from Bill, for the fine videography.

My soup inspiration this year came from 101cookbooks, via soupchick. To "sell" my humble soup, I offered a free loaf of Potato/Rye bread, freshly baked just two hours before the swap. I used the ABin5 recipe from the first book, seeding the crust with caraway, sesame and poppy seeds.

Rustic Cabbage Soup with Smoked Chicken Sausage

adapted from a recipe by Heidi Swanson, 101cookbooks.com

3 T extra virgin olive oil

2 t salt

5 lbs potatoes, cut in 1/2" cubes

3 lbs smoked chicken sausage, diced

3 onions, chopped

10 cloves garlic, minced

3 48-oz boxes of low sodium chicken broth

4 15-oz cans white beans, drained and rinsed

3 heads of cabbage, cored and sliced into 1/2" ribbons

Seasonings: bay leaf, thyme, fennel, salt, pepper

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Stir in the potatoes and salt, toss to coat with the oil, cover and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring a few times. Add the onion, garlic, sausage and herbs, sautéing for about 3 minutes. Add the broth and beans and simmer for 20 minutes, skimming any bean froth off the surface if necessary. Check to see if the potatoes are cooked, but still firm; if not, continue to simmer until they are. Stir in the cabbage until just wilted. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaf.

Serving suggestion: drizzle with more extra virgin olive oil and grated Parmesan cheese

Makes about 12 quarts

Seattle Souper Swap

It felt great to be back in the soupmaking saddle, as well as catch up with old swappers and meet new ones. That's me in the pink shirt sitting at the back window. See the paper bag? The one with the "FREE BREAD WITH EVERY QUART OF PINTO BEAN WITH MINT & PINE NUTS SOUP!" sign? Well, I'm not bragging but, okay, yes I am. My soup was the first to be picked and the first to run out! Using the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day method, I baked 8 boules earlier that day. The bread came out looking like I slaved for days -- only my friend Knox (the founder of Soup Swap and the one pointing at the screen in the photo) knew how easy it really was. I love the Soup Swap -- it's about homemade food, local folks, lots of creativity and now, a little bit of snake oil showmanship. I guess I'll have to work on my Vince Offer impersonation for the next swap. Read more about the Seattle Soup Swap at soupswap.com, Nerd's Eye View, and Beastmomma.

Here's the recipe I used for this year's soup:

Pinto Bean Soup with Mint & Pine Nuts
adapted from a recipe by Deborah Madison, Prodigy Guest Chefs Cookbook

32 oz. dried pinto beans
16 oz. dried lentils*
2 T vegetable or light olive oil
2 small onions, minced
1 T New Mexico ground red chile
8 c. vegetable broth*
10 c. water
Salt
2 c. soy creamer**
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1/3 c. chopped parsley
1/4 c. chopped scallions or chives
3 T. or more chopped mint*
1/3 c. pine nuts, toasted and finely chopped
1 can pinto beans*
2 cans garbanzo beans*

*Not in original recipe
**Half-and-half originally specified

1. Soak the dried pinto beans overnight; drain and rinse.
2. Transfer the beans to a pot, cover with fresh water, bring to a boil for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse.
3. Heat the oil in a large soup pot and sauté the onion and chile together briefly.
4. Add the beans, lentils, vegetable broth and water to the onion mixture. Bring to a boil, then simmer until beans are tender, about 40 minutes. Skim bean scum off as needed.
5. Season to taste with salt. Add more chile if desired. Continue cooking until beans are completely soft.
6. Purée half the beans with some cooking liquid in a blender. Stir the purée and creamer into the pot.
7. Drain and rinse the canned pinto and garbanzo beans before adding to the pot.
8. Stir in chopped herbs and pine nuts, reserving some for garnish if desired.

Yield: about 10 quarts of soup

Note: Response from Deborah Madison about the missing mint (1/29/08): This recipe comes from my book, The Savory Way (now out of print) and was titled Pinto Bean Soup with Mexican Cream and Pine Nuts. I interpreted it from a pueblo "recipe" and as such, it would probably be made with apple mint, but regular mint from the store (peppermint, not speamint) is fine as well.

National Soup Swap Day is coming!

Don't forget that Saturday, January 24th, is the third NATIONAL SOUP SWAP DAY. Make up six quart containers of your favorite soup, freeze 'em, bring 'em to your local soup swap event, and come home with six quarts of soup other swappers have made. Easy and delicious. Go to the SoupSwap website and see if there's an event happening near you. If not, vow to organize one. And you can do it anytime! I'm so proud to say a friend started the soup swap a few years ago right here in Seattle, and now it's gone nationwide. It's Soups Gone Wild! This year I made a soup based on a recipe attributed to Deborah Madison, called Pinto Bean Soup with Mint and Pine Nuts. It's funny but, wherever this recipe appears on the internet, the ingredient "Mint" is missing! So I improvised the quantity of mint and added some other things. It's pretty damn good for a vegan soup if I may say so, especially with a freshly baked mini boule... which, BTW, I am totally crazed on baking by using the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day method. Get the book, a bucket with a lid, some baking tiles and a peel and you're in business! I usually substitute some whole grain in the Basic Boule recipe and the bread is awesome to look at and to eat. I also just used the ABIFMAD method for mom's double super secret Portuguese Sweet Bread recipe and it worked splendidly for a pan of cinnamon rolls. I will try to take pictures next time before Jim's carb sonar (carb-nar?) kicks in.