Soup was on the menu in every restaurant I've worked. In several, it was spelled soup du jour but it was still soup: clam chowder and lentil at Sound Food, albondigas at the Border Grill, Swiss onion and Thai pork dumpling at City Restaurant, crab gumbo at the Dahlia. I never cared much for cold soup—it seems a conflict of interest. Soup conjures up snowsuit kids stomping in from the cold for lunch or men in Levis sitting on the tailgate of a Chevy truck pouring hot soup from a Thermos.

Soup making skills secured my first kitchen job in Los Angeles. In August, 1982 Bob took a job with a small software company in Santa Monica and moved down from Vashon. I followed in September and, as our rent quadrupled, lost no time finding a job. We lived in Westwood near UCLA, an area packed with people who didn't cook but loved to eat.

I made the rounds in Westwood Village with resume in hand and late one rainy afternoon I hesitated for a long time at the elegant entrance of Stratton's—a brick Tudor building with a gated courtyard. I dripped into the lobby, asked to see the chef, and followed the maitre' d to the bar.

Courtyard outside Stratton's, now part of the Geffen Playhouse. Picture from Flikr—name of photographer not given.



Dennis (tall, dark, and handsome) sprawled on a stool, cigarette in mouth (Dennis smoked wherever he wanted) and drink in hand. He ignored my damp resume and asked, "What can you do?"

"I can cook, I can't bake, I always show up, and I don't do drugs."

"Sounds good, go make soup for tonight."

"What kind?"

"You tell me."

"Chicken vegetable ?"

"No."

"Lentil?"

"No."

"Tomato?"

"Yes. Follow Lenart, he'll give you some whites to wear."

My first lesson in big city restaurants: always make cream soups, they hold up better during service. Anyways, I made the soup, got the job, and started down that particular path.

Some months later, Dennis, Linda (the diminutive but spunky night chef), and I were recalling my trial by fire. Linda said, "You were lucky—he poured my first soup into the garbage." 

Dennis said, "No you both were lucky. I once worked for a German chef who, if he didn't like your soup, would pour it out on the floor and leave the room."

There's always someone worse.

So here are a few soups. Thanks to Lara for requesting a tomato soup recipe—this is your basic restaurant version. Milliken/Feniger added the Pernod touch.

Tomato Soup

Trim fennel, discarding stem. Thinly slice stalks.

Melt butter over moderate heat in large stockpot or Dutch oven. Add onions and cook with salt and pepper until soft, about 10 minutes. Add fennel, reduce heat to low, cook additional ten minutes.

Add Pernod and reduce liquid by half. Add tomatoes and chicken stock. Reduce to simmer and cook, covered about 20 minutes.

Puree in a blender until smooth. Return to pot and add cream and half and half. Bring to a boil, simmer 5 minutes, remove from heat. Add Tabasco.

Fennel bulb and Pernod are optional. I usually don’t have either so almost always make the soup without. Good quality canned tomatoes are preferred, but I often use regular old grocery store Hunt's. The imported Italian ones are the best but cost plenty more—San Marzano or Muir Glen are both good brands.

Heavy cream and half and half make for a silky delicious soup, but you can substitute less caloric milk for part of the dairy or leave it out and use only stock. Thin to your preference.

Restaurants make many variations on this method for soup of the day, substituting any other vegetable: broccoli, mushroom, spinach, asparagus, potato/leek, squash, beet, carrot, etc.

City Restaurant ashtray, slipped into a pocket. Picture from the blog "100 Miles".
 


Thai Pork Dumpling Soup

Cilantro Pesto:
• 1 bunch chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoons palm or brown sugar
Puree ingredients in blender until smooth.

• ½ # shitake or woodear mushrooms, cleaned and julienne. If using dried, soak until soft, then remove woody stem and slice.

 Pork Dumplings:
• 1 # ground pork
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
 
Combine ingredients and form into 1 inch meatballs.

Soak rice noodles 15 minutes in warm water then drain. Either break noodles into manageable pieces before you soak, or after soaking, cut into pieces with scissors and reserve. 

Brown meatballs, remove from pan. 

Add shitake mushrooms to pan, sauté until soft and remove.

Add the drained, cut noodles to pan, brown, and remove.

Add chicken stock to pan, bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer.

Add meat balls, cook 10 minutes. Add mushrooms and noodles, cook 10 minutes.

Reserving some pesto for garnish, stir remainder of pesto into stock/meatball/noodle/mushroom mixture. Serve with dollop of cilantro pesto and thinly sliced green onions.

This Swiss Onion Soup is a Susan Feniger recipe. I once made it to serve for lunch at City Restaurant and decided (on the sly) to deglaze the pan with wine after sauteing the onions. Susan walked along the line before service, tasting everything as she always did, tried the soup, looked at me and said, "Why did you deglaze the pan with wine? This is Swiss onion soup not French onion soup."

Busted—she has amazing tongue buds

Swiss Onion Soup

1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper

4 slices day old white bread or 1/2 loaf French bread, crusts removed

5 cups milk
1/2 # Swiss or gruyere cheese, diced

Melt butter over moderate heat in a Dutch oven. Cook onions with salt and pepper until soft but not colored, 15 minutes.

Cut the bread into medium dice and add to the pot. Stir constantly for five minutes or until the bread absorbs the butter.

Add milk and bring to boil. Add cheese, stir, and reduce to simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.

P.S. I still like the soup better if you deglaze the pan with white wine after you saute the onions.

Dahlia Lounge




Crab Gumbo

• 2 diced carrots
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 2 onions, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 2 sliced leeks
• 1 potato, diced

• 2 T. garlic
• 2 t. thyme
• 1 t. oregano
• 1 t. basil
• 2 t. paprika
• 1 t. cayenne
• 1 t. dry mustard

• 1 can diced-in-juice tomatoes
• 4 cups chicken stock

Brown Roux:
½ c. oil 
½ c. flour
Heat oil until smoking, add flour. Have ingredients and utensils lined up before you start. This is a dangerous process, and the chances of getting “lava” burns are extreme, so take care. When the oil is hot, add flour and start whisking. The goal of a dark brown roux will probably take 5-10 minutes to achieve. Roux can be made ahead.

Gumbo:
Sauté vegetables, herbs, and spices in oil. Add garlic—sauté.

Add tomatos and simmer for ten minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil, turn down to simmer.

Add brown roux, a spoon at a time until desired thickness is achieved. Let simmer for 45 minutes. Add cleaned crab before serving and garnish with red pepper rouille.