Chapter 4 — Soups

We’re down to 14 days until At Home by Steve Poses: A Caterer’s Guide to Cooking & Entertaining ships from Kentucky. That means 14 of 19 chapters still to preview.

Section 2 is all about Getting the Meal Started. It includes three chapters. Chapter 4 — Soups offers thirteen delicious soup recipes plus a spread about Mastering Soup Purees. Chapter 5 is Tossed Salads & Dressings. Chapter 6 features Composed First Courses — cold and room temperature recipes meant to be arranged, ideally on individual plates.

You may have noticed that our recipes are presented in a somewhat unconventional way. I always objected to the standard presentation of listing recipes in the order of the recipe steps when you have to do things to ingredients before you even get to the steps. In a kitchen we do all of the chopping, dicing, etc. in advance of starting the actual cooking or assembly and I think that way makes the most sense. So, our ingredient list always starts with those ingredients that have implicit steps like chopping, etc. In addition, the ingredient is presented in boldface so that it is easy to scan an ingredient list. Finally, in the recipe steps the first time you use and ingredient, the ingredient is presented in boldface. I think it’s just a smarter way to present a recipe.

So, what follows is a recipe, note — today it’s a bottom note. Bottom notes are occur occasionally throughout the book and are autobiographical. Then, of course, there’s a Pascal Lemaitre illustration.

Gingered Butternut Squash Bisque
A bit of fresh ginger and five-spice powder enhance the natural sweetness of that hourglass shaped fall staple, butternut squash. Serve in an acorn squash bowl for a stunning presentation.
do ahead Soup can be made up to four days ahead, stored in the refrigerator and reheated.
2 medium butternut squash, halved and seeded
11⁄2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger, divided
2 cups finely chopped onion
1⁄2 cup finely chopped celery
3⁄4 cup finely chopped carrot
1⁄4 cup olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons five-spice powder
11⁄2 quarts vegetable broth
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon white pepper
1⁄2 cup heavy cream

1 Preheat oven to 350º.
2 Place squash on a baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon ginger, 2 tablespoons oil and the five-spice powder. Rub squash with spice mixture. Roast squash in oven until tender, about 30-45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
3 In a large skillet, heat remaining oil. Add onion, celery, carrot and remaining ginger and cook until vegetables are soft, about 10-12 minutes.
4 Scrape squash from skin and transfer flesh to blender jar. Working in batches, combine with cooked vegetables and vegetable broth and blend until smooth. Transfer blended mixture to a large soup pot.
5 Season mixture with salt and white pepper. Over a moderate flame, bring soup to a simmer, then stir in cream. Serve in warmed bowls.
serves 6-8

View more recipes from At Home.

A Frog Is Born
On the evening of April 4, 1973, my little Frog was born. It would be years before I’d actually place a sign on the building. Instead, we were “the place on 16th Street with all the plants in the front window.” Highlights of Frog’s opening-night menu included onion soup, calf’s liver with mustard sauce and rack of lamb lifted from La Panetière. Our paella and canneloni recipes came from a Time-Life cookbook. My mother made a batch of her stuffed cabbage. The wine list included bottles of Mateus and Mouton Cadet, plus several selections by the glass—a Philadelphia first. On other nights we offered quiche, brochette of beef and Thai chicken curry, a blend of spices and French béchamel. It was the birth of what became known as fusion. By today’s standards, it wasn’t much. But served by energetic kids anxious to please, the food at Frog, and the restaurant itself, was something new, a soldier on the front lines of a restaurant revolution. Versions of Frog would appear in cities across America.

This is Pascal’s illustration for Mexican Clam Chowder.

Tomorrow: I am going to skip ahead to Chapter 10– Braises, Casserole & One-Dish Entrees — so that I can share my recipe for Holiday-Ready Brisket in plenty of time to plan for your Rosh Hashana.

Looking ahead – Sunday we will pick-up our countdown order with Chapter 5 – Tossed Salads and feature our recipe for Fatoush – our chopped version of the traditional Middle Eastern tomato and cucumber salad with a wonderful dressing of lemon, mint and olive oil.

If you purchase a book between now and the end of the month you will receive a signed, numbered first edition. Books will never be available in bookstores. You can buy it now in our online shop. Who knows, one day that may be a collector’s item and you’ll be able to sell it on eBay for big bucks! When you buy the book, you will receive access to our At Home Online. And just wait until you see that!

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Thank you.

Steve

Remembering Ted Kennedy

We all mourn the passing of Ted Kennedy – a enduring champion of social justice.

This is a “bottom note” from At Home by Steve Poses that offers a glimpse of Ted Kennedy’s sense of humor.

Ethel Kennedy’s on the Phone

Catering was not yet our public face. Named for our two flagship restaurants, Frog Commissary Catering was a small operation housed in a kitchen adjacent to the bakery on The Commissary’s second floor. Don had moved from Frog host to catering account manager, and we had a designated chef, but catering existed in the shadows of our two landmarks. Our administrative functions were housed in a cramped room in an office building across the street from The Commissary. One morning a coworker announced that Ethel Kennedy was on the phone. More than any figure, her murdered husband was the progenitor of my political values. What was Ethel Kennedy doing calling me? Mrs. Kennedy’s son Joe was marrying a Philadelphian, and she needed a caterer for the rehearsal dinner. This lead to a visit to Hickory Hill, the Kennedy family home in Virginia outside Washington, D.C., to plan the dinner. At the time, Mrs Kennedy was embroiled in a dispute with another caterer. As the rehearsal dinner drew to a close, I listened to Ted Kennedy toast “the caterer” (me) who, he joked, “would be hearing from Ethel’s lawyer in the morning.”

Note: The Corn Cakes recipe planned for today has been postponed until tomorrow.

Pepper Roulette — Pimientos de Padron

This “bottom note” about discovering Pimientos de Padron is from At Home by Steve Poses: A Caterer’s Guide to Cooking & Entertaining. There are more than 100 “bottom notes” that, added together, tell a story about me starting in “My Mother’s Kitchen” and running through this year. The book and its companion website will be available at the end of September. You can buy the book and access to At Home Online right now and receive a signed first edition.

Pimientos de Padron in Madrid

Just when you think you’ve tasted it all, there always seems to be something new to discover in the wide world of food. Christina was winding down her 20-year rein managing the artistic and business affairs of Mikhail Baryshnikov. We joined Misha’s summer tour in Madrid where Misha was initiating a new duet with Ana Laguna — choreographed by Luguna’s husband, Swedish choreographer Mats Ek. We dined well over several Madrid days, but it was at Casa Alberto on calle Huertes, near Plaza de Santa Ana that we discovered pimientos de padron. Sitting on Casa Alberto’s zinc-lined bar was a platter of thumb-sized green peppers, shriveled and glistening from their recent bath in hot olive oil. Eating them — you just hold the stem and bite the flesh — is culinary roulette because most have an intensely green flavor but every now and again you get a fiery burst of capsicum heat. We washed them down with a chilled glass of modestly sweet local vermouth served on tap. When we returned from Madrid I tracked down a US source and ordered several pounds as a free treat for our Frog at The Yard patrons.

Casa Alberto, Huertas 18, near Plaza de las Cortes & Huertas, Madrid

Illustration by Pascal Lemaitre.

Pimientos de Padron

Pimientos de Padron are currently available online from La Tienda and Happy Quail Farms. Order now for Labor Day and they will be the hit out your backyard outing. To eat, just hold a pepper by the stem and bite off the pepper. Most are quite mild with a little bite. Occasionally you get a hot pepper — but not at all unpleasantly hot.

Do ahead Garlic may be chopped ahead, but saute peppers just before ready to serve.

2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

1 pound pimientoes de padron

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons salt, sea salt preferred but otherwise kosher salt

1. In a large saute pan heat oil until hot, but not smoking. Add peppers and garlic, tossing frequently until peppers are wilted and slightly wrinkled. Off heat and add salt. Serve immediately.

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Thank you.

Steve

Frog’s Front Window 36 Years Ago

Thirty six years ago I was inside a little storefront at 264 South 16th Street in Philadelphia, with hammer and nail, readying my new little Frog restaurant. The large front window was uncovered, but for the rectangle of brown paper on which I would write notes updating the neighborhood on our slow but steady progress toward opening day.

Today I sit at a keyboard. In just three days a very large data file will be transferred to an unseen printer in Kentucky, arranged by an unseen company in Texas. In parallel, some folks in Pakistan – yes, Pakistan – get ready to transform data from our print-friendly Quark file to data base-friendly comma delineated files for an upcoming “data dump” by our web developer. At the end of September it all comes together. Opening day.

We live in an amazing world. Change is a constant. Exciting. Sometimes unsettling.

But here’s what stays the same. Thirty-six years ago it was my plan to use delicious food to bring people together. It’s exactly the same today. With my  new book, At Home by Steve Poses: A Caterer’s Guide to Cooking & Entertaining it is my plan to use delicious food to bring people together. Not in my little storefront restaurant, but in your home. I’m still here and I believe I can help.

In order for this all to work, I will also need your help. Before you actually have the book and companion website, the most important thing you can do is spread the word.

If you enjoyed this blog, please pass it along to friends and family.

To subscribe, they can just click here.

Thank you.

Steve

Built to Cook

In 1961, as a high school sophomore, I went out for my Yonkers, New York Roosevelt High School cross country team. Cross country requires running as fast as you can over vast distances. Running fall cross country was an unofficial prerequisite for making winter’s basketball team — the ultimate goal to which I aspired.

Weeks into intra-squad competition, I was consistently coming in second to last. Not happy with this result, I found it acceptable. However, as the weeks ground on, the fellow I was consistently besting started to close the gap between us. Faced with the pride-shattering prospect of finishing dead last, I quit.

I just wasn’t built to run cross country. I was built to cook.

Illustration by my friend Pascal Lemaitre from At Home by Steve Poses: A Caterer’s Guide to Cooking & Entertaining.

Next up: A Greenmarket Lunch At Home with Pascal, Manou & Maelle

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Thank you.

Julie & Julia and Me

As a student at the University of Pennsylvania  in the 1960’s, the two most influential and enduring books that I read were Jane Jacob’s Death and Life of Great American Cities and Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1. (See my post  from July 28th to read more about Jacobs and how she links directly to my new book and website.)

Along with countless millions of Americans, Julia Child taught me how to cook. More than any other recipe of the scores that I made, it was her recipe for ratatouille that I remember best. Why  ratatouille?  It was because that was where I first learned that vegetables have integrity and that vegetables can marry.

Ratatouille is a garlic-laden blend of summer’s bounty of eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and summer squash. But the blend can only occur after each vegetable is cooked separately and lovingly – respecting each vegetable’s individual integrity. Only then may they be combined and married. Never again would a vegetable simply be a vegetable.

You can preview my recipe — Ratatouille: Homage to Julia Child — from my new book, At Home by Steve Poses: A Caterer’s Guide to Cooking & Entertaining, at our website.

With today’s opening of the Meryl Streep and Amy Adam’s Julie & Julia, we celebrate Julia Child.  But I celebrate Julia every day I pick-up a chef’s knife and start cooking.