Sour Soup for My Mom

A RECENT PHONE CONVERSATION WITH MY MOTHER:

Mom: I want to try that sorrel soup you wrote about on your blog.

Tea: I've made it for you before.

Mom: but I've never had it with the mushrooms.

Tea: I dunno, I probably won't make it again for a while. It's pretty rich with all that cream.

Mom: then make it without the cream.

Tea: huh?

Mom: yeah, and without the chicken stock either.

Tea is silent, about to say no. She then remembers this is the woman who gave birth to her, after 36 hours of labor.

Tea: okay, I'll see what I can do.

So here you are, a cream-less, vegetarian version of sorrel soup for my mother. This one is pretty sour, 'cause that's how the lady likes it.

And I promise that my next post will be about something other than soup!



LEMON SORREL SOUP

This soup borrows a bit from avgoleomo, the Greek lemon and rice soup that is a long time favorite of mine. I didn't add rice, but it would be good. Here I've retained the mushrooms, as per mom's request, but lost the cream (which I didn't miss at all in the end) and used a vegetable stock instead of the chicken, as my mom is a vegetarian.

For the vegetable stock I used a recent recipe off Creampuffs in Venice, a delightful blog out of Toronto written by the charming Ivonne. If you haven't yet discovered her, I highly recommend a visit (she has a gorgeous photo of the stock ingredients prepped and ready to go). This recipe orginated from A Beautiful Bowl of Soup, by Paulette Mitchell (one of the few soup cookbooks not already in my collection). I was happy with the stock, which was rich and flavorful, though mine came out a bit sweet. This might be because the carrots and parsnips I used were organic and fairly sweet. You might want to taste your veggies before they go in the pot and use less of these two if you find them on sweet side.

1 tbs butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped into a small dice
2 cups mushrooms, stems removed and cut into small cubes
1 tbs all purpose flour
4 cups vegetable stock
3 egg yolks
1/4 to 1/2 cup lemon juice (start with 1/4 and add to taste—my stock was so sweet that I used the full 1/2 cup)
1/4 tsp lemon zest
2 cups fresh sorrel, washed and dried and cut into 1/2 inch ribbons

Put the vegetable stock into a small pot and bring to a boil.

In a larger soup pot, melt the butter and add the onions, stirring until the onions begin to turn limp (don't allow them to brown). After 2-3 minutes, add the mushrooms and continue to stir. When the mushrooms have softened, but not become soggy, sprinkle in 1 tbs flour and continue to stir gently. Allow to cook another 2 minutes.

Slowly begin to add the boiling stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring between additions. When all the stock has been added, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and allow soup to simmer.

Stir together the lemon juice and egg yolks. Taking 1 cup of the soup, slowly drizzle it into the lemon-egg mixture, stirring slowly. When this is incorporated and the lemon-egg mixture has warmed slightly, slowly pour the mixture back into the soup, in a small stream, stirring to blend. Add lemon zest and stir. Add the sorrel, stirring it into the soup. Keep warm until serving, but don't allow to boil or the eggs will curdle.

And if you've got a big lemon-head coming over, like my mom, you can garnish with more lemon zest. This makes two servings, for you and your favorite lemon-head.