Five Soups for the First Day of Fall

Fall starts today, and I've been thinking about comfort food, which I've decided means two different things.

One is what I want when I feel rotten. Soft, warm, not much heat, something I can eat one-handed from the couch. The other is what I want when it's chilly out and I'm glad to put on wool socks and a big sweater. If I'm having a truly bad day, the answer is usually a frozen pizza that I doctor up until it's delicious. On a cold evening it's soup every time. I'm a big fan of soup in all its forms.

Here's a collection of soup-er recipes to get your fall started right.

Creamy Saffron Leek and Potato Soup

Leeks and Yukon potatoes simmered with a big pinch of Saffron and then puréed smooth, which takes about thirty-five minutes and one pot. The saffron turns it a deep yellow and tastes mellow and a little buttery against the sweet leeks. The recipe calls for two cups of white wine, but more stock will do the job if you'd rather skip it. Salted kettle chips go on top. It sounds weird, and it's delicious.

Chicken Noodle Soup with Egg Noodles

This is the closest one to what I grew up eating. Poultry Rub covers the sage, marjoram, and thyme you'd otherwise be chopping, and a half teaspoon of Turmeric gives the broth that yellow color from childhood. Bone-in chicken breasts poach in the pot, then you pull them out, shred them with two forks, and stir them back in with the egg noodles. A squeeze of lemon at the end. Forty-five minutes, one pot, and the leftovers get better in the fridge.

Pho-Nominal Chicken Soup

When I lived in Seattle and felt under the weather, I'd get pho takeout and order an extra quart of broth on the side, just to sip on. Pho-Nominal Broth is how I do that at home. One packet simmers in two quarts of whatever stock you have on hand for thirty minutes, then you strain the spices out and you've got broth for a full pot of pho or for a mug on the couch. You taste the Star Anise and Black Cardamom first, with Porcini underneath for savory depth and a handful of warm spices behind that.

That habit turned into a dinner I make all the time now. I simmer boneless pork ribs in beef broth with star anise, dried chiles, and a lot of fresh ginger, then add broccoli florets, thinly sliced onion, and chopped garlic, and pour all of it over vermicelli rice noodles. It takes a while, and almost none of that is work. I'm a brothy noodle slurper at heart.

Hot and Sour Soup

This one takes real knife work, so save it for a day when chopping sounds good. You julienne pork tenderloin, soaked dried black mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and tofu, and once all of that is ready the soup comes together in about ten minutes. The heat comes from ground White Peppercorn, with India Red Chile Flake for a little more, and the sour from rice wine vinegar. A beaten egg goes in at the very end in ribbons.

The vinegar and the white pepper are why I make it. Some days I don't want anything mild at all. I want ginger and chiles and garlic and something I can actually taste through a stuffy nose. A friend of mine used to make what he called "sick soup," which was onions, garlic, and shiitake mushrooms in broth and nothing else, spicy enough that you felt it in your whole face. It was delicious.

Pickle Soup

Dill pickles, pickle juice, Yukon potatoes, and carrots, with sour cream stirred in at the end to make it creamy. Elliott Bay Seasoning brings paprika, celery seed, bay leaf, and a little cardamom and clove. Thirty minutes, one pot, no blender. If you like pickles, this is your soup.

Happy fall! I hope there's a warm bowl of soup in your future.

 - Aubrey