Meet New Recipe Contributor Janet Elsbach (First Recipe: Zucchini Soup)
Editor’s note: We’ve loved having Lisa Fielding of Secret Ingredients provide her recipes and entertain us with her adventures as a personal chef for the last couple of years. But she’s leaving that life behind to pursue her screenwriting career, and we wish her much success. I am very pleased, however, to introduce our new recipe contributor, Janet Elsbach, a Berkshires-based home cook, writer and writing teacher at Community Access to the Arts (CATA). Elsbach is the author of “Extra Helping: Recipes for Caring, Connecting and Building Community One Dish at a Time,” and it's clear that not only is she a talented cook, she is a fabulously witty writer. As she says in her blog, A Raisin & A Porpoise: "My chief interests in life include, but are not limited to: what we will have for dinner tonight; what we will have for dinner tomorrow; whether my children are rested, fed, encouraged and aware; getting out of the grocery store with as much dignity and as little plastic packaging material as possible; assessing the real chances that we the people will come to our senses in time to save the bees, the oceans and the last vestiges of true democracy; and the very powerful and inspiring ways all of these things connect." Amen to that, and welcome to Rural Intelligence, Janet.
Summer, squashed
I have heard it said that you should lock your car in this area in the summer just to foil the gardeners who troll for open cars where they can leave their excess zucchini. I have seen this happen, and maybe it is why I so rarely lock my car. I happen to love zucchini and its many cousins, the baseball zucchini and the yellow squashes and the patty pans — all of them. Even now, when the faucets are full-on open, I love them. How can you not love a plant that is so supremely efficient and easy to please that it can crank out an impressive harvest when all the plants around them are gasping from drought, bolting from heat, withering in the sun?
This magical soup capitalizes on zucchini's confounding ability to sweat large amounts of liquid in the presence of salt. As a summer refresher, chill it down and serve it neat or with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkling of fresh herbs, and the tart and spicy yogurt sauce that follows or a tiny dollop of crème fraiche. If you have the freezer space, sock a few quarts of this away for the produce doldrums of mid-winter, when a warm bowl of it served with a swirl of cream and a dash of curry powder is heaven.
If your zucchini payload is mostly on the young side (admittedly preferable), no special treatment is required. If they are a little more aged than that (still well worth using), use your judgment regarding peeling tough outer skin or discarding cottony centers, and try to work a few of the more tender specimens in with them to ensure that lovely jade color and brighter flavor.
Zucchini Soup
Serves 4, and easily doubles or triples
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
3 pounds zucchini or other summer squash (4-6 8” zucchini), chopped into 1-2" chunks
¼ cup white wine (Mirin, or Japanese rice wine, makes a nice alternative)
½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cups water
Dice the onion, and heat the olive oil in a large soup pot. Sauté the onion over low heat with the salt, stirring as necessary, until the onion is soft and not at all brown, about five minutes.
Add the squash to the onion along with the wine, lemon zest and a few twists of pepper, and give it all a good stir. Turn the heat up, and when the zucchini pieces are nicely coated and just beginning to soften, add the water. Bring this to a nice boil, lower the heat to a simmer, and cover the pot.
Cook, stirring a few times to ensure even heating, until the squash has given up a nice amount of liquid and is tender but still bright, maybe 10 minutes.
Now attack the pot with an immersion blender, and render yourself a nicely even, thick purée; a supremely smooth soup is your goal.
Super Savory Yogurt Sauce
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
About half a cup coarsely grated cucumber
1 heaping tablespoon Indian lemon pickle, very finely chopped
1-2 tablespoons fresh cilantro (or substitute fresh mint), finely chopped
Combine these ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Serve the soup warm or chilled with a little dollop of the cream on top, plus a drizzle of excellent olive oil and some chopped fresh chives and/or parsley.
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