Soups

Split Pea Soup

2 lamb shoulder chops (or a ham bone if you have one)

7 cups water
1 lb. split peas

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons salt (and more if needed when you do the final tasting)
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (added at the end)

Heat a pot with a heavy bottom and brown the lamb chops. Add half the water and bring to boil, then skim off as much scum as you can. Add the rest of the water and the peas, onions, carrots, and spices. Some scum still rises after you add the vegetables; you can skim that off, too. Bring the heat down enough to maintain a very slow simmer. Stir once in a while, scraping the bottom. After about an hour and a half the peas are getting mushy. Take the chops (or ham bone) out and separate the meat from the fat and bones. Cut the meat up in little pieces and return to the soup. Check the salt and add the mustard. (I find that taking out a ladleful of the soup into a bowl and beating the mustard in with a fork to mix it in well works better than adding it directly to the pot.)

Pumpkin Soup

Chicken or beef broth

Cooked, mashed pumpkin

Milk or cream

Snipped parsley or chives

Salt, pepper, dash nutmeg, pat of butter or sour cream

Combine all ingredients in a soup pot, using enough pumpkin and liquids to make a soup as thick as you like. Season to taste. Heat to boiling. Add butter or sour cream into bowls just before serving, and sprinkle herbs on top.
For a special effect, try serving in a large tureen carved out of a big pumpkin, or in individual bowls carved out of small pumpkins.

Fish or Clam Chowder

1/2 cup chopped scallion or yellow onion
2-3 potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup water or chicken broth or fish broth*

1 cup milk + abt. 2 tablespoons flour

1 more cup of milk, or as needed

1 cup cubed uncooked fish or two cans of chopped clams with the liquid
1/2 teaspoon salt (not needed if using chicken or fish broth)
1 tablespoon fresh dill, snipped
A little freshly ground black pepper
For extra credit: Use real fresh clams in their shells, scrubbed well, and steamed in a little bit of water, then added to the chowder with the steaming liquid if it's free of sand. Sometimes I remove some of the clams from the shells and just leave enough in their shells to make the chowder look "interesting".
* To make fish broth: When you slice gravlox off the skin, boil the skin with a little black pepper and a small chunk of onion. A cup of this gives the chowder some depth.

Saute the onion and potato in the butter until translucent. Add the water, cover, and let boil over medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are very tender. If using canned clams, put them in at this point with their liquid. Meanwhile, mix the flour and the first cup of milk well in a bowl and let stand to soften the flour, then beat again to make sure all lumps are gone. Add all at once to the pot and stir well to mix the water, flour and milk together. Raise the heat, let come to a boil, and simmer 2-3 minutes. Add milk if the chowder seems too thick. Add the fish or clams, bring to rapid boil, then turn the heat off and let stand, covered, for 5-10 minutes. - Note that when the uncooked fish is cut into cubes no more than 1/2 inch, it will get done during the five minutes that the pot is off heat and covered. Also, you can make clam chowder by using just canned clams or a combination of fish and canned clams. Best of all, of course, is using fresh clams. Adjust the liquids if using clams with their juice.

Borsht
Beef shank or lamb chops
Peeled and chopped-up onion, garlic, carrot, potato, cabbage, and fresh beets
Beef bouillon cube(s), dissolved in enough water that the bouillon doesn't taste too salty
One can pickled beets and their liquid - optional
4-5 whole allspice
A little finely chopped jalapeno for heat
Saute the meat in its own fat until brown, then add the vegetables and let simmer over low heat for several hours, until the meat falls off the bones. The beef shank takes longer; if you are in a hurry, use lamb chops. (Cut up the pickled beets and add to the soup with their liquid.) Remove the shank, take the meat off the bones and cut in smaller pieces; return to the soup. Season with black pepper and maybe a little bit of lemon juice. Serve with sour cream and dill or chives.
Vegetarian Version:
Peeled and chopped-up onion, garlic, carrot, potato, cabbage, and fresh beets
1-2 tablespoons butter
1-2 tablespoons flour
Beef bouillon cube(s), dissolved in enough water that the bouillon doesn't taste too salty
One can pickled beets and their liquid - optional
4-5 whole allspice
A little finely chopped jalapeno for heatSaute the vegetable in a little butter. Add the flour, stir well, and cook for about two minutes. Add the bouillon, bring to boil, then lower the heat to barely a simmer and cook for several hours, until the vegetables are soft and the soup a deep red. If you like your soup hot, add a little jalapeno.

Cabbage Soup
Lamb chops
Chopped-up onion and cabbage
Beef bouillon cube(s), dissolved in enough water that the bouillon doesn't taste too salty
4-5 whole allspice
Cook everything in the bouillon for about half an hour, or until the meat falls off the bones. Remove the chops, take the meat off the bones, cut up in smaller pieces, and return to the soup.

Summer Soup

4 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
Potatoes, carrots, peas (in the pod or frozen), cauliflower, cabbage (optional)

4 cups milk
1-2 tablespoons flour (or more if you want a thicker soup)
Spinach, dill, parsley, chives (or young onion greens)

Dash black or white pepper
Pat of butter

Boil the cut-up vegetables in the salted water for 10-15 minutes, or until just tender. (If using frozen peas, add later.) Add the flour to the cold milk and stir well to get rid of clumps. When the vegetables are tender, add the milk and flour mixture and bring to boil. Add the spinach and the peas (if using frozen) and simmer for a few minutes. Then add the rest of the greens, drop in a pat of butter, and let cool a few minutes before serving.

Matzo Ball Soup

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1/2 cup Matzo meal

1/4 teaspoon salt

Beat eggs and oil together with lowest speed of hand mixer until emulsified. Stir Matzo meal and salt in with wooden spoon. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Without stirring the batter again, scoop out small amounts of batter with a teaspoon and form into balls. Boil on high, uncovered, in salted water for 30 minutes. Place balls in a single layer in a shallow dish, cover with a towel, and reheat in chicken soup before serving.
To make the chicken soup, put a chicken in a large pot, cover with water, and bring to boil. Skim off scum, then add some salt, whole black or white peppercorns, onion, carrot, celery, etc., and cook the chicken until it's really boiled-out (four hours ought to do it). Add water if needed to keep the chicken covered. Strain, let the fat rise to the top, skim the fat off, and taste for seasoning. You can add some canned chicken broth. The flavor will be OK as long as you start with a real chicken. - It's best to make the soup the day before and refrigerate it, because then it's easy to remove the congealed fat.

For  a super simple chicken soup, buy a rotisserie chicken, cover it with water, cook for three or four hours (or more), strain, and cool. I like to keep some in the freezer at all times.

Zucchini Soup

3-5 zucchinis, depending on size, cut into cubes

2-3 small potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

6 cups broth (I use half chicken and half Italian porcini stock)

Salt and pepper to taste

A little sour ream

Chop the zucchinis and potatoes and put into a pot. Add the broth and cook until the vegetables are very tender, an hour or so. Puree with immersion blender until very smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top.


Blue Cheese Soup

1 1/2 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons flour

1/6 lb. blue cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup light cream

1 cup cooked, chopped broccoli

Salt and pepper to taste

Snipped parsley or chives

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour, mix well with a whisk, and cook a minute or two (do not let the flour turn brown). Add the broth all at once, whisking vigorously. Add the blue cheese and stir until it melts. Add the broccoli, check the seasoning, and heat to boiling. Off heat, add the cream, Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle with herbs.

Leek and Potato Soup

5-6 potatoes, peeled and sliced

3-4 leeks, washed and sliced

2 tablespoons butter

Chicken broth and/or water

Cream

Snipped chives

Boil the potatoes and leeks in enough chicken broth and/or water to cover, until both vegetables are soft. Puree the vegetables in a food processor with a little of the liquid. Return to the pot, add enough liquid to make a soup as thick as you like, and check the seasoning. Bring to boil; then, off heat, add the cream. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle with herbs.

Cioppino

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large green pepper, seeded and chopped

1/3 cup chopped parsley

1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce

1 can (1 lb. 12. oz.) tomatoes

1 cup dry red wine

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon dry basil

1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves

1 doz. fresh clams in shells

1 lb. medium raw shrimp

1 Dungeness crab, cleaned and cracked

This recipe is from the San Francisco Chronicle.
In a large kettle, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, green pepper, and parsley; cook, stirring often, until onion is soft. Stir in tomato sauce, tomatoes and their liquid, wine, bay, basil, and oregano. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes, or until slightly thickened. (Cool, cover, and chill if made ahead.)
Meanwhile, scrub clams to remove sand. Shell and devein shrimp. (Reheat broth if made ahead.) Add the clams, shrimp,and crab. Cover and simmer gently about 20 minutes, or until clams open and shrimp turn pink. Ladle broth and some of each shellfish into large soup bowls. Serve with French bread and a salad after. Serves about 6.