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White Turnip Soup w/ Morels


babyluck

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I made the base for the soup this weekend (from Soup of the Day by Lydie Marshall) -- just braised white turnips, potato & onion cooked in chicken broth & pureed. Will be finished tonight with chopped morels and a reduction of their soaking liquid.

I've never to my knowledge tasted a morel before. I can guess what it will taste like, but I'm still having trouble coming up with a good salad to go with it. It's just a simple weeknight meal -- soup, bread/cheese/spreads, and salad. I will most likely use what I have in the house: lots of salad vegetables, nearly any kind of vinegar, a good selection of oils, all manner of citrus fruits, figs, a tomato, leftover steak, pâté de foie gras, hard salami w/ black pepper, a baguette, porter-laced cheddar, regular extra sharp cheddar, goat gouda... Any ideas?

And to drink? I could always pop into the liquor store on the way home -- they have some gourmet items and a nice cheese selection, in case my larder isn't up to snuff, but I won't have time for the grocery store -- my morels still have to soak.

Queen of Grilled Cheese

NJ, USA

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The soup sound good!

I would think a light salad would be nice with such a rich-sounding dish and the accompanying chheses/meats. Maybe Boston lettuce with handfuls of minced fresh herbs (dill, chervil, basil,marjoram, chives, tarragon, parsley) dressed with a lemon vinaigrette? I would stick with a fairly simple salad with clear flavor.

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The soup sounds wonderful. I love turnips!

Morels are the best mushroom I've ever eaten in my life, but unfortunately I haven't had any fresh ones since I was a kid and we'd find them after a rainy day. I haven't cooked with the dry ones much at all.

I would also do a light baby greens salad but with the figs and something crunchy like toasted walnuts. The dressing maybe could have a bite to it like try a red wine vinegrette, but instead of using dijon, add a little wasabi paste. (or you could use a bit of both).

Along with your bread and cheese...When's dinner?!

JANE

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I made my first soup from this book (which is a joy to read) this weekend -- Potage Crecy. Very good. Also got to make my favorite, Celery Root Bisque from an old Bon Appetit -- not on epicurious but it's posted in the forum there. My signature soup. I love fall!

Jon: Right. I thought the pâté would match well, but as you guessed it comes out of the fridge every day when I get home anyway, till it's gone.

mixmaster: No fresh herbs today. Lemon is good, though.

Jane: Yes! I was hoping to work in the figs somehow. Should I just halve them, or do something fancier? They are nice ripe black ones. The wasabi idea is interesting playing off the turnips.

I don't really like walnuts -- how about hazelnuts? Or almonds, pine nuts, pecans? I have some leftover candied pecans from the Harvey Wallbanger salad I invented last weekend, but I think that might be bizarre, especially if I go for the wasabi.

P.S. I keep thinking Gruyere for the cheese or my favorite Etivaz, or a different goat cheese (the goat gouda is a little blah) but I've got so much cheese in the house I can't rationalize getting more. Either help me rationalize or tell me that one of my cheeses will work -- maybe the blahness of the goat cheese would be good against other strong flavors?

Wine?

Queen of Grilled Cheese

NJ, USA

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Yers, any nuts would do. I love the candied pecan idea (because I love sugar and anything sweet in a salad!)

Maybe if you added some scallion or thinly sliced vidalia it would be a nice contrast.

The figs-just plain I think, sliced any way

Or, if you feel like getting really fancy,maybe some thinly sliced deep fried turnip slices(or any root veg).

I love any kind of cheese on any kind of bread.

How abt garlic olive oil rubbed baguette slices sprinkled with grated grueyere and thrown under the broiler?

Edited by Janedujour (log)

JANE

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Yers, any nuts would do. I love the candied pecan idea (because I love sugar and anything sweet in a salad!)

Maybe if you added some scallion or thinly sliced vidalia it would be a nice contrast.

The figs-just plain I think, sliced any way

Or, if you feel like getting really fancy,maybe some  thinly sliced deep fried turnip slices(or any root veg).

I love any kind of cheese on any kind of bread.

How abt garlic olive oil rubbed baguette slices sprinkled with grated grueyere and thrown under the broiler?

OK. I'm in love with the wasabi idea. I'll just dip a pecan in the dressing to test the weirdness factor. It could be really good, who knows! I will try the hazelnuts, too. I would definitely add crispy fried onion and turnip in the future but not tonight -- I plan to put the morels in to soak, play some Playstation2, and then make the salad while the liquid is reducing. Besides, Mr. Babyluck, who is on a d**t, complains that I always have to caramelize, candy or deepfry my salad garnishes. Some oniony component is called for in the salad, I know -- I'll have to think on that. I usually add minced shallot to the dressing because I don't eat raw sliced onion (I am sounding really picky here but at this point you know 2 out of the 3 things I don't care for: 1-walnuts, 2-raw onion, and #3 is mayo).

I agree about the bread & cheese. I would estimate that at least 35% of the food I've consumed in my life falls into one of those 2 groups. Come to think of it, the cheddar might work in a different way with the turnips, but the porter-laced stuff is a disappointment, though visually the most beautiful cheese I've ever seen.

For the wine, all signs point to an Oregon Pinot Noir. Any objections? Specific recommendations?

Queen of Grilled Cheese

NJ, USA

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Hi Babyluck:

That is so funny about Mr. B being on a diet. So is my husband! Off and on and off and etc etc. I.E. He'll say he's off carbs so I can't make any of my favorite quick starches like PASTA, couscous, polenta , etc etc., then around 10:00 pm, he'll devour 1/2 box of chips(yuk)ahoy, or another of my son's treats!! And red meat or anything resembling an organ?? forget it!

He thinks my tastes in food are so wierd, but he also love my cooking(when it's normal stuff!)

I'm sure you're cooking by now. Have a great dinner!

Oh yeah, about the wine. I haven't a clue since I haven't had any in many moons. I decided if I wanted to live past 30, I'd better quit! For me it was a wise decision, but probably put some liquor stores out of business!

Ciao!

JANE

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Hi Babyluck:

That is so funny about Mr. B being on a diet. So is my husband! Off and on and off and  etc etc. I.E. He'll say he's off carbs so I can't make any of my favorite quick starches like PASTA, couscous, polenta , etc etc., then around 10:00 pm, he'll devour 1/2 box of chips(yuk)ahoy, or another of my son's treats!! And red meat or anything resembling an organ?? forget it!

He thinks my tastes in food are so wierd, but he also love my cooking(when it's normal stuff!)

I'm sure you're cooking by now. Have a great dinner!

Oh yeah, about the wine. I haven't a clue since I haven't had any in many moons. I decided if I wanted to live past 30, I'd better quit! For me it was a wise decision, but probably put some liquor stores out of business!

Ciao!

Hell, no. When you wrote this thread I was still at work, manically putting together Fedexes that I had put off doing all day while perusing egullet. You can't leave earlier than 6 in my workplace; it's considered strange. Actually, most of the time I'm swamped until 7:30; it's just a slow stretch.

Mr. Babyluck is the same way. He rolls his eyes at my rich but balanced meals, and ends up eating chips and salsa all night. Right now he is on the couch eating Tomato Pretz. He loved the meal, though. I made a red wine vinaigrette with wasabi just like you suggested, with EVOO (misplaced the walnut oil -- how could that happen? Did I put it in the freezer, or maybe the medicine cabinet? You never know.). Over "Parisian" bagged salad with slivered black figs and the candied pecans. Wow. Take note of that salad. Mr. Babyluck said "you could make real money with that salad."

I did get a Pinot Noir from Oregon -- Patricia Green 2001. The selection was a little bare and obviously everyone dug the 88 pointer for $10 less than the one I bought. I think it should have been earthier but it was delicious and paired pretty well with everything.

The soup was really good. I think it could have been mellower and richer. Should have let the veggies brown more. The morels added a wonderful aroma -- it was orgasmic smelling the soaking liquid reduce -- but they had very little flavor on their own. Makes me think I'm really missing something having dried. My bio teacher in West Virginia invited me to go morel hunting with him, but then he touched my leg. If he hadn't done that I would have gone in a second. Some of my classmates went to a barbecue at his house and he speared fish right in front of them in the stream running through his backyard, then cooked them on the grill.

Thank you for the great salad suggestion -- it really made the meal.

Edited by babyluck (log)

Queen of Grilled Cheese

NJ, USA

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I'm so glad your meal turned out great!

Pardon my stupidity but what is a bagged salad? Oh, and I figured out that EVOO is extra virgin olive oil (duh!)

The morel flavor must have been a great addition to the soup. Y'know I think I'll try a version of that with parsnips which I love! Especially roasted ones-yum! How about a roasted parsnip, potato, onion puree maybe

with a garnish of (seeded rye bread) garlicky croutons!

We should get paid!

I worked late yesterday too (12-8). today is 9-5. Along with an hour commute(CT) I get home late often. Last night I made fluffy scrambled eggs and sauteed portobellos on the side and a mesclun salad with that wasabe dressing. All that talk: I had too!

I'm going to look for that cookbook you mentioned.

Your story about the professor is hilarious! Did he also invite you to his pad to see his "spore prints"?

Haha!

I've gotta get some work done!

JANE

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Bagged salad is the kind that comes in a bag at the grocery store. I'm sure it's an egullet no-no, but hell, for those of us who work late, it's either that or no salad sometimes. And buying a whole head or bunch of each kind of green doesn't work for two people -- it goes bad before we finish it. Personally, I am very thankful for its existence.

I forgot to mention that I did incorporate lemon into the dressing per mixmaster. It needed something so I tried some lemon zest -- perfect. And the baguette, pâté and goat Gouda were great alongside.

There were croutons (plain) suggested with the recipe but I didn't bother. Pumpernickel or limpa croutons would be delicious too.

Queen of Grilled Cheese

NJ, USA

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Oh! I thought bagged was some culinary term I hadn't heard! Yes, I do that too, the bags of assorted baby greens etc. The organic ones are good. A little pricy though.

I've got some arugula coming up in my little herb garden. This is my third batch. I hope it gets to a decent size before a freeze comes in. I also planted three kinds of basil, sage, rosemary, greek oregano, parsley, and cilantro (which of course went to seed ages ago). The dog decided to take a nap on my dill in June, so he killed it, but he smelled better!

Whatever we don't use, I'll try to dry like I did last year. About 4 years ago I planted three mint plants, apple mint, pineapple mint, and spearmint. We have now transplanted them everywhere around our house and, being a weed, the keep multiplying and are now the size of bushes!! I love the smell and according to my husband they're a good natural bug deterrent.

We don't use any pesticides and try to be as environmenatlly friendly as possible. My husband is a bit extreme sometimes. Is it better to use tons of soap and water to wash an empty olive oil bottle out to go to recycling, or is it a waste of water and should I throw the damn thing out? Y'know?

Like you said earlier, I love fall too. All the great squashes and pumpkins. I have a GREAT recipe for pumpkin soup that you will love It's cooked right in the pumpkin!

JANE

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