Soup Week.... continues!

Last night was the french onion soup and goat cheese tarts. The goat cheese tarts (I technically made tartlettes....) were very good, the french onion soup? Even dressed up with a slice of sourdough bread and much gruyere, it was only okay. I've made better-- the Mom's version is better. But hey, soup week is a learning experience right? Tonight we're working on the Rosemary White Bean soup. I have already departed from the recipe slightly, after our experience with the Corn Chowder.

My time in cooking class at Cornell taught me that the key to any soup is mire poix. Ina starts off the soup recipe with onions only, I, instead included carrots and celery. I thought this would help to give the soup a bit more flavor. I also used canned cannellini beans instead of dried (in order to cut down prep time). Finally, I also added to the soup a touch of cream (as everything is better with cream...), a bit of grated Parmesan (same goes for cheese as with cream) and a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar (I keep the balsamic vinegar people in business). Instead of using a food mill I popped the soup in my trusty blender (One of these days I'll get the immersion kind...) and the Husband claimed it was the best soup of soup week so far.

Also, if you're looking to recreate soup week at home, don't forget that the official bowl of soup week is Emile Henry's red lionhead soup bowl. Happy souping!