September 7-10 Soup weather at last!

First of all-- we are closed this Monday for Labor Day.

Willow Mountain Mushroom's Portabells

Finally! The weather has calmed down a bit and one can once again confront a bowl of soup. I have those gorgeous portabella mushrooms from Willow Mountain Mushrooms and plan a portabella & brie bisque. A bisque is usually thickened with pureed rice instead of flour--so it is gluten free. The portabellas, as I mentioned last week, were the freshest I have ever seen. This week I'll saute them in butter and olive oil and a touch of white wine ( the alcohol evaporates out during cooking). The brie is a very mild cheese that melts nicely. There will be sauteed onions and garlic plus a touch of parsley and tarragon (from my garden). Simple pure pleasure. This is a thick creamy soup with a light cheese flavor- but not gloppy cheesy. Served with crackers and roasted red pepper tapenade. My tepanade is a concoction of chopped black olives, roasted red peppers, garlic, capers, olive oil and lemon juice. It often includes anchovies-- but not this batch.   Oh Yum!

I am surveying for your favorite soups. I am not using canned or powdered bases. Everything is from scratch. So speak up and get your favorite in the line-up. NO MSG!!!!!!

The sandwich--Grilled Black Forest ham and cheddar. This is a grilled sandwich. Your choice of bread and dressing. I am adding a cranberry horseradish sauce to dressing the line-up for your pleasure.  Served with seasonal fruit salad-- which right now is cantaloupe with blueberries.

The salad--Spinach salad with bacon, hard boiled egg (real farm eggs), red onion, mushroom, tomato, roasted red pepper &; grated mozzarella with glazed pecans and a sweet and sour hot bacon dressing. Served with crackers and roasted red pepper tapenade.

Good news for quesadilla fans! One of our most popular items has been the chicken quesadilla. I am increasing the size of the tortilla-- so you'll get a bigger serving. 10" instead of 8". You math wizards-- tell me how much larger that is-- keeping in mind it is a circle. Let's see-- you increase the diameter by 25%...you still get guacamole, salsa and sour cream on the side. Price remains the same. Double the chicken for $1 more.

Are you having an office meeting? Call in the day before and we'll have everybody's order ready to cart off right on time. We LOVE LOVE LOVE having office orders. Call in the day ahead and we'll even throw in free batch of cookies.

The umbrellas are in and many diners took advantage of the lovely weather and shady tables. I absolutely love to look out of my cooking spot and see happy diners enjoying the courtyard, good food and each other's company. It is totally ok to linger as long as other diners are not awaiting tables.

The community table is now available for those who wish to add company while dining.

Because it is outdoor dining, it is also pet friendly. If you bring along your dog all I ask is that you are considerate of others and have your pet leashed and under your control. I have been a dog owner for most of my life and know how seldom pets are welcome in dining areas. Need water? --no problem. Our itty bitty birdbath is just the right height.

Summer Vegetable Soup with shrimp and Lemon

I wish I could have shown you the 10 cups of veggies that went into 4 cups of homemade chicken broth to make this luscious soup. But, alas, my hands got ahead of my brain and I erased them off my card reader before I got them downloaded. Suffice it to say, this is a VERY veggie laden soup.

It has fresh tomatoes, red pepper, onion, garlic, corn, zucchini, red skinned potato, parsley, basil and cilantro as well as shrimp and lemon juice.

This recipe is from Fine Cooking's Fresh- 350 recipes that celebrate the seasons. I was astounded by the ratio of veggies to broth. I mean there was a mountain of them.

As usual, I made my own chicken broth, so it is msg free and quite simple. However, the first night I thought the soup lacked punch. The flavors were too separated and nothing had a strong influence. Day 2, though, wow! The flavors had married and the herbs were more prominent, too. I don't think the shrimp(and I love shrimp) added much and next time would probably use wood-fire grilled chicken in its place.

I expect this will be a regular on the summer soup rotation with a veggie only version, as well. I'll serve it with my whole wheat cornbread. Get ready!!!!

Silken Corn Soup with Roasted Red Pepper Coulis and Mexicana Crema

This recipe came from Fine Cooking's Fresh--350 Recipes that Celebrate the Seasons.

I adore fresh corn and am most likey to eat it raw straight off the cob. I was afraid this recipe might lack dimension and be too single-flavor flat. NOT a problem! The flavor itself is rich but as you stir in the roasted red pepper coulis the flavor dimensions explode. FYI- the coulis is simply a mixture of roasted red peppers (yes, I prepare my own), fresh garlic, olive oil, sea salt, balsamic vinegar, red-wine vinegar, black pepper and cayenne blended to create a thick sauce. I added the Mexican Crema because I like it- but vegans could easily skip that part without losing much.

The soup itself uses a broth created using corn cobs (stripped of kernels) plus a lot of fresh basil, thyme and a bay leaf. That is strained and the resulting broth is used to cook the kernels. The fresh kernels plus the juice from the corn are combined with onion and garlic sauteed in fresh butter. After the corn is cooked in the stock it is all put into a blender and pureed. Smooth as silk!

I remember when we lived in Florida learning that the Seminole Indians considered the juice from corn as nectar from the Creator. It is called Sofkee. It was treated with reverence and celebrated. I agree that it is one of the most glorious flavors and often overlooked.

My next issue will show you the brushetta I paired with the soup. Yummmmmm!!!!