Chilled Blackberry Soup
After three weeks on the road with COOKING KNOW-HOW, Bruce and I have learned that our book is all about versatility. We showed up at several cooking events where they were not able to procure this or that ingredient. With a book like this one, it's no problem: we found a good substitute, plugged it into the charted recipe, and off we went to create a different but no less satisfying dish.
You know, that's what home cooking should be: dinner on the table with what you have/can find/want. I remember teaching a cooking class several years ago in the Bay Area and another cookbook author had just been at the school before us. She insisted on only 18% gluten flour for her recipes. When none was to be had, the school happily called around to find the requisite flour. Unfortunately, none could be found in the entire Bay Area. So the class had to be delayed one hour while the author put her head down and sipped a cup of tea to soothe her jangled nerves.
Anyway, one of the best received recipes from our trip was the chilled fruit soup, a simple treat for a summer day when the fruit's juicy and the days are warm. At one event, I saw a person take away a big cup of it to sip it later in the afternoon.
The other day, we were craving it again so went to the supermarket in Great Barrington. Yes, there were plums and apricots--but the blackberries were on a good sale. And voila: a chilled blackberry soup with a green salad for dinner. Perfect summer bliss.
Here's how it went. We brought 4 cups water, about 2 pounds blackberries, one 4-inch cinnamon stick, 4 whole cloves, 2 allspice berries, and 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg to a simmer in a large pot over high heat. We reduce the heat to medium and stirred occasionally until the blackberries broke down, about 10 minutes.
We removed and discarded the cinnamon stick, cloves, and allspice berries. Then we scooped out the blackberries (as we could because they were turning to pulp), put them in the canister of a large blender, and brought the remaining liquid in the pot to a full boil over medium-high heat, letting it reduce by about half, about 5 minutes.
One of my pet peeves is dredging little spices like cloves out of a large pot. To solve the problem, we put them in this giant infuser from OXO, sort of like a big tea ball, and used it as the spoon to stir the soup. When we needed to remove those spices, it was a snap--they were all already in the ball.
OK, once the liquid has boiled down by half, we poured it into the blender and added 1/2 cup red wine, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup sour cream. We blended it up (taking off the center knob and covering the lid with a clean kitchen towel to prevent eruptions), set the canister in the fridge, and let it chill down.
Here it is on the dining room table in shot glasses, ready to go for dinner. What a treat: fresh and flavorful. I can also imagine it without the spices we used but with some fresh thyme and/or some red pepper flakes for a kick. Or with 1/4 cup port, rather than the wine. Or with crème fraîche, rather than the sour cream. Honestly, the versions are endless--as we proved after three weeks on the road.
Mark Scarbrough | Posted on Friday, May 29, 2009 at 9:21AM 
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Reader Comments (2)
Gawd, that fruit soup you made at your Draeger's class was the bomb! I wanted seconds! And thirds, too.
For seconds and thirds, you'll just have to come across the country to rural, rural, rural Connecticut.