French Fridays with Dorie: Christine’s simple party soups

Dorie Greenspan's Asparagus, red pepper and broccoli soups on eatlivetravelwrite.comWell thankfully for everyone involved, I am not (unlike last week) making this week’s French Fridays with Dorie dish in my still-jetlagged fog  (uh huh, that thing they say about the older you get the longer it takes you to recover from jetlag is true. Boo.) Nope, I made this week’s recipe (a trio of asparagus, red pepper and broccoli soups, p 62) on Christmas Eve for a light-ish dinner in the heat of a Sydney summer. They were perfect and festive.

Oh and did I mention simple? These soups contain broth (I used chicken) and the vegetables -asparagus (with a little zucchini for colour), red pepper and broccoli (again, with the zucchini) – cooked down for about 15 minutes then blitzed (I used an immersion blender). Knowing Dorie’s penchant for thinner soups, I used my discretion with the liquid portion to make a thicker soup than Dorie probably likes but that worked well for us.

Asparagus, red pepper and broccoli soups on eatlivetravelwrite.comI found these to be a revelation – so very simple (2-3 ingredients, not counting pepper/ salt), so tasty and so fast! It will certainly make me think twice about throwing out a wrinkly pepper – and you don’t even need proper stock – according to Dorie, many home cooks in France use stock cubes. So don’t throw away those “on the verge” veggies – make soup! A GREAT intention for 2014, right?

 

French Fridays with Dorie participants do not publish the recipes on our blogs, rather we prefer if you purchase Around My French Table for yourselves which you can do here on Amazon or Amazon Canada. Or for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository. Go on, treat yourself then join us here!

 

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48 thoughts on “French Fridays with Dorie: Christine’s simple party soups”

  1. I use vegetarian vegetable cubes in place of actual stock all the time, honestly. I suppose I never really saw the harm. haha. They look gorgeous!

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  2. I took away the same lesson this week. These recipes were a great reminder that even when you think there’s nothing to eat, there probably is.

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  3. I didn’t mind as much the thinness of the soup this time around, especially since it seems these were meant to be sipped from regular drink ware.

    The golden holly placemat/napkin is so pretty!

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  4. Yes, I loved these too. They were just so simple. I was surprised at the flavor. I know some people have said the soups were bland, but I didn’t find that to be the case. Just loved the simplicity! Perfect colors for Christmas.

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  5. I was one of the tasters – I can confirm they were very tasty and, surprisingly for such small servings, quite filling. Come home more often, Mardi.

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  6. Your soups are gorgeous! I think you are right and soup is the answer to those on the verge veggies. Hope you are getting over the jetlag!

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  7. I used my immersion blender as well (it was a gift from Nana years ago) and was reminded how much I do like that gadget. I am not sure why I was so surprised at how easy this recipe was but it really did strike me as some sort of revelation. And an excellent example of how “not fussy” French cooking can be. SImple, thrifty and delicious. Yum.

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  8. The secret to liking this soup, Mardi, may be in ‘the weather outside your kitchen window.’ Your Post brought that to mind. My red pepper soup, three ways, was delicious. If I ever do it again, I will only do the red pepper-raspberry variation which is outstanding. (I also thickened it up because of Diane’s warning. I didn’t remember that Dorie prefers liquify. My point is, I’m getting to it, that it was 73 degrees here in Calli the day that I made it. I think you and I were the only Dorista’s not suffering from Polar Vortex (Susan and Alice didn’t participate). Like you, I also thought the technique was great. I have no problem with a boullion but I used boxed. Welcome home.

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  9. Mardi I’m glad you enjoyed the soups! They colors make a lovely Christmas presentations. I wish I could have liked them. Something just did not work for me!

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