Cooking With WCCO: Fall Soups
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – It's fall, and that means soup season is about to begin.
Chef Ashley Mendel from Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Minneapolis has three recipes for soup sure to warm your heart and your soul. On WCCO Mid-Morning, she demonstrated in the Cambria Kitchen how to make Butternut Squash Soup.
Recipes for two other soups are included at the bottom: Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon and Autumn Minestrone.
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Butternut Squash Soup with Prosciutto
Ingredients
4 medium butternut squash
6 tbsp. butter
Kosher salt and pepper
10 slices prosciutto
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
6 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
2 quarts chicken stock
2 tbsp. heavy cream
Directions
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Halve squash lengthwise and scrape out seeds. Set them on a large baking sheet with the cut sides facing up. Place a slice of butter in the center of each squash and season generously with salt and pepper.
Place prosciutto over the squash halves, then roast the squash for 45 to 50 minutes, or until tender.
Transfer the prosciutto to paper towels to drain. Crumble and set aside.
Scoop the squash out of the skins into a bowl.
In a large stockpot, heat olive oil. Add onion, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderately high heat, stirring until softened but not browned, about 6 minutes.
Add thyme sprigs and bay leaf.
Stir squash and stock into mixture and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently.
Reduce heat and simmer the soup for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Pick out and discard thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Working in batches, transfer the soup to a blender or food processor and puree until thick and creamy-smooth, about one minute per batch.
Transfer the soup to a clean saucepan. Stir in heavy cream and season with salt and pepper.
Garnish with prosciutto, serve and enjoy!
Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon
Recipe Courtesy of Le Cordon Bleu Alum Julia Child
Ingredients
1 six-oz. piece of bacon chunk
3 ½ tbsp. olive oil
3 lbs. lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, sliced
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp. flour
3 cups red wine, young and full-bodied (Options include: Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Burgundy)
3 ½ cups brown beef stock
1 tbsp. tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, mashed
½ tsp. thyme
1 bay leaf, crumbled
3 ½ tbsp. butter
Herb bouquet, including the following tied in a cheesecloth:
- 4 parsley sprigs
- ½ bay leaf
- ¼ tsp. thyme
1 lb. fresh mushrooms, quartered
Directions
Remove bacon rind and cut bacon into lardons, or sticks ¼ - inch thick and 1 ½ inches long.
Simmer rind and lardons for 10 minutes in sauté pan with 1 ½ quarts water. Drain and dry.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sauté lardons in one tbsp. of olive oil in a flameproof casserole dish over moderate heat for two-three minutes to brown lightly. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a separate dish.
Dry beef in paper towel.
Heat fat in casserole dish until nearly smoking then add a few pieces of beef at a time, sautéing until browned on all sides. Add to the lardons dish.
In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the excess fat.
Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with ½ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. pepper.
Sprinkle contents of casserole dish with flour and toss to lightly coat the beef lightly.
Heat casserole uncovered on center rack of preheated oven for four minutes.
Toss meat again and return to oven for four minutes, browning the flour and covering the meat with a light crust.
Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.
Stir in wine and just enough stock so that the meat is barely covered.
Add tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on stove.
Cover casserole and place on lower oven rack. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for three-four hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.
While beef is cooking, heat 1 ½ tbsp. butter with 1 ½ tbsp. olive oil in a skillet until bubbling.
Add onions and cook over moderate heat for about ten minutes, stirring to evenly brown.
Add ½ cup beef stock, herb bouquet and salt and pepper to taste to skillet.
Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.
Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat. As soon butter has begun to subside, add mushrooms.
Toss and shake pan for four to five minutes. As soon as mushrooms begin to lightly brown, remove from heat.
Once meat is tender, pour contents of casserole dish into a sieve set over a saucepan.
Wash out casserole dish, then return beef and lardons to dish. Distribute cooked onions and mushrooms on top.
Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for one-two minutes, skimming off additional fat as it rises. The result should be about 2 ½ cups sauce thick enough to lightly coat a spoon.
Note: If too thin, boil down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons stock.
Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer two-three minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.
Serve in casserole, or arrange stew on a platter surrounded by potatoes, noodles or rice, and decorated with parsley. Enjoy!
Autumn Minestrone
Ingredients
1 medium onion, cut into ½-inch pieces
2 stalks celery, sliced crosswise into ½-inch pieces
1 leek, rinsed and chopped
1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 can (35 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, lightly crushed
8 cups vegetable broth
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 zucchini, quartered and sliced
2 parsnips, peeled and chopped into 1- inch pieces
1½ bunches Swiss chard leaves, thinly sliced (about 6 cups)
2 cups cooked elbow or fusilli pasta
Directions
Heat enough water to fill the bottom of an 8-quart stockpot over medium high heat.
Add onion, celery, leeks, squash, parsnips and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes.
Add tomatoes and their juices, stock and beans. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to a simmer, and add zucchini, cooking until and cook until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
Stir in vinegar and Swiss chard and season with salt and pepper.
Ladle soup over cooked pasta and enjoy!
