A Feastof Soup

I'm not a lover of cold New England weather.  Mid-Spring will always be my favorite time of year, but there is something to be said for those beginning days of fall when the air just begins to chill, and the smell of damp or burning autumn leaves hangs in the air.  It's when the cooking side of me kicks in.

I'm a good cook who enjoys it, but now that my husband (a phenomenal cook and a stay at home Dad) does most of it, I prefer not having to think about it as much.  Until this time of year that is.  When the chill sets in so does the desire for foods that will warm my family on the inside and fill them with the feeling of home that I remember from cold Sunday's when my Mom would make a big Sunday meal. While I still enjoy a good roast, or poultry (especially now with our convection oven!) I can always count on soup to find my thrill.

Soup is easy, yet so many people avoid it.  A few years ago I figured out the secret: anything goes!  Let the cold wind owl and shake the windows in their sills,  let the light drop from the sky too early, if you have a really good bowl of soup it simply feels like part of the adventure.  Add a glass of wine, and the warmth will really settle in.

I do not meaure.  I "feel" my way through the addition of ingredients and smell my way through the spices based on what goes in.  Tonight, I have started by sauteing the following:

all Fresh -
Leeks (are phenomenal!)
Red onion
celery
garlic
shallots
sliced portabello mushrooms
carrots
fresh chile pepper
brussell sprouts

Once all of those ingredients begin to soften up a tad, I ad a bit of the pre-made Kitchen Basics (no salt) soup base.  Then I start layering in my spices.  Tonight it was salish, fresh ground pepper, coriander, oregano, sage, thyme, chives, cumin, bay leaf and dried porchini mushrooms.

Once those have melded and the smell was right, I added in the remaining carton of soup stock, about 8 cups of boiling spring water and diced up chicken thighs.  Chicken thighs, even you haven't tried them, give soup the best deep flavor.  And the longer you can simmer the soup, the better it becomes.

The light has faded in our dining room, the clouds are under lit in the most incredible mauve tones and the air has stilled.  The soup simmers ready for ladling into bowls.

Happy Sunday evening.  May your week be easy on your brain.