Happily in the Soup

Chicken soup, potato soup, vegetable soup, split pea and bean soup, cream of tomato with a grilled cheese sandwich on the side.

These are among the many nourishing good soups that have seen America through hard economic times. They've also been there by the bowlful on sickbed trays for generations of children and sniffling adults.

Apparently, cooks are currently renewing their dedication to one-pot meals and hearty soups in these stressful political times. Recently, MSNBC reported that two types of books are flying off the shelves since the terrorist attacks: soup cookbooks and books about arts and crafts.

This culinary category is endlessly varied and supplies good nutrition for keeping up one's strength and resolve here on the homefront. Simply holding on to a warm crockery bowl of homemade soup, breathing in its aromatic steam and anticipating all the gustatory pleasure are synonymous with love of home, family, country.

Soup seems simple and sensible food for uncertain times.

As a cook chops vegetables, simmers broth and soaks dried beans for soup-making in a cozy modern kitchen, it would be wise to remember and mentally salute pioneers across this nation who kept iron kettles full of soup or stew simmering over open fires while they were busy clearing land, building towns, laying tracks and fighting wars on their home ground.

They had to use what ingredients they had, from bison to bivalves. In earlier times, soups had to be regional and seasonal.

Americans today are so lucky that we simply trek into any grocery for supplies, including passable canned broths, precut vegetables, canned minced clams, condensed soups to mix and match with fresh ingredients and fresh herbs when we didn't bother to plant a kitchen garden.

As for inspiration, one of the best-ever soup guides is a brand new publication: The Culinary Institute of America Book of Soups: 150 Recipes of Perfect Soups from Amazon.com. The book actually serves up 130 soup recipes from the kitchens and classrooms of the world-renowned school for chefs-in-training in Hyde Park, N.Y. There's also a branch campus, the Greystone, in Northern California. The schools' prestige continues to grow.

Contrary to what a home cook might think, these cooking professionals have not created a lot of complicated soup recipes calling for hard-to-find ingredients.

Oh, I've seen those recipes in other soup cookbooks this week, some calling for the elusive beef knuckles and shin bones, harissa (a Middle Eastern condiment), celery root, a poblano chile, fresh chestnuts from Italy, kabocha squash and other items not in kitchen cupboards or modest supermarkets. The Culinary Institute soup guide kindly offers fish substitutes for their chowder recipes, in case we don't have three dozen clams on hand. (This does imply the chefs would rather have us substitute diced cod for fresh clams, instead of using the dreaded chewy-rubberband canned clams.)

There are helpful chapters on making broths and soup accompaniments, such as Cheese and Walnut Icebox Crackers, Palmiers with Prosciutto, Sage Dumplings, harissa and pistou condiments from scratch.

And so to the recipes, some from the Institute's book, some from Sargento Foods, cheesemaker, one from the Ohio State Fair.

Acorn Squash Soup

Ingredients:

2 large acorn squash
2 Tbs. butter
1 small onion, chopped
one 14.5-oz. can chicken broth
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
four 3" pieces Italian or sourdough bread, toasted
4 slices Swiss cheese

Preparation:

Place whole squash on paper towel in microwave. Cook on high for five minutes (piercing not necessary). Turn each over, then continue microwaving for four minutes until squash are barely tender when pierced with knife. Let stand five minutes.

Meanwhile, melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat and sauté onion. Cut squash in half, scoop out seedy portion and keep shells intact but carefully scoop out flesh. Add pulp to onion and cook a bit. Add broth, nutmeg, cayenne and salt. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 10 minutes. Purée in blender or processor. Reheat soup. Arrange squash shells in ovenproof bowls; place on baking sheet. Fill squash with hot soup and top with toast and cheese. Broil five inches from heat for three minutes.

Yield: 4 servings

Alsatian Cabbage Soup

Ingredients:

2 slices of bacon, diced
1 Tbs. bacon drippings
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 medium green cabbage, thinly sliced
2 carrots, shredded coarsely
1/4 cup of dry white wine
1 tsp. of fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp. of dried thyme
6 cups of chicken broth
1/2 tsp. milled black pepper
thinly peeled slices of apple
4 Tbs. crumbled blue cheese

Preparation:

Fry bacon in skillet until crisp. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Heat drippings in Dutch oven and sauté onion. Add cabbage, carrots, wine and thyme; cover and cook over medium heat, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Add broth, then bring to boil. Add pepper. Ladle into bowls and float apple slices on top. Garnish with bacon bits and blue cheese.

Yield: 6 servings

Split Pea Soup

Ingredients:

4 bacon strips, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery rib, diced
1 leek, white and light green part diced
6 cups chicken broth
2 yellow or white potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 lb. split green or yellow peas or lentils
1 ham hock
cheesecloth sachet: bay leaf, whole clove, garlic clove, 5 peppercorns
salt to taste
milled pepper
1 cup croutons

Preparation:

Cook bacon in soup pot until crisp. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Pour off all but three tablespoons of drippings. Add onion, carrot, celery and leek, stirring well. Cover pot and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender and translucent for six to eight minutes. Add broth, potatoes, peas and ham. Bring to simmering and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Add the sachet and simmer until split peas are soft--about 30 minutes. Skim soup as needed.

Discard sachet. Remove ham hock and cool, then cut ham off bone and dice. Strain soup through a sieve, reserving liquid. Purée the solids, returning them to the pot. Add enough of the liquid to achieve a thick consistency. Blend well. Stir in the ham and bacon. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with croutons.

Yield: 8 servings

Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2-/2 cups milk
1 cup beer or water
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
croutons, optional

Preparation:

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Stir in milk, beer, Worcestershire, mustard, salt and pepper. Heat to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often. Stir in cheese until melted. Garnish with croutons. (Stir in salsa, bacon bits, cilantro for Tex-Mex taste.)

Yield: 4 servings

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)