Curry Carrot Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Curry Carrot Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Every family in India claims to have their own personal “curry” or spice mix.  I have one, too, which uses spices that are readily available in the United States.  I like the sweet flavor in my curry combination that does not have any sugar.

You will need an immersion blender to make this soup.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-2 tablespoons butter

-1 large, peeled, and chopped onion

-1 tablespoon cinnamon

-1 teaspoon dry ginger

-1 teaspoon turmeric

-2 cups peeled and chopped carrots

-1 (12-ounce) can chicken broth

-32 ounces water

-1 cup cream

Steps:

1-Sauté onions, cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric in olive oil and butter for 5 minutes in a soup pot.

2-Add carrots, chicken broth, and water to the soup pot. 

3-Bring soup to a boil and let boil for 30 minutes.

4-Insert an immersion blender and purée the soup until it is smooth.

5-Add cream and serve.

Serve with your favorite toast.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Fish-Tomato Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Fish-Tomato Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Frozen, unbreaded fish fillets can be used to make this soup.  If the fish is half thawed, it is easier to cut it into cubes.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-1 large, peeled, and chopped onion

-1 teaspoon dry garlic

-4 unbreaded, frozen fish fillets cut into cubes

-1 (12-ounce) can diced tomatoes

-1 cup macaroni pasta

-2 tablespoons tomato paste

-8 cups water

-1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Steps:

1-Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes in a soup pot.

2-Add fish cubes, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, macaroni pasta, and water.

3-Bring soup to a boil and let boil for 30 minutes.  Pasta should be mushy not al dente.

Serve with garlic bread.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France


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Yellow Lentil Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Yellow Lentil Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

On our monthly outings to the Detroit suburbs from downtown Detroit (Michigan), my mother and I would often go to Dearborn for Syrian-Lebanese food.

One of my favorite foods was a yellow lentil soup that was less spicy than an Indian dal and more liquid.  The name of the soup was shorbat ads, which I ate with warm pita slices.

You will need a crockpot and an immersion blender to make this recipe.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 cup yellow lentils

-8 cups water for soaking

-8 cups water for cooking + more as needed

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 large, peeled, and chopped onion

-1 teaspoon dry garlic

-1 (12-ounce) can chicken stock

-32 ounces water

-1/2 cup lemon juice

-olive oil and paprika to garnish the soup

Steps:

1-Soak lentils overnight in 8 cups water.  Lentils sometimes double in size.  The next day, rinse and drain lentils.  Set aside.

2-Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes in a skillet.

3-Add lentils, chicken stock, water, and onion mixture to crock pot.  Turn heat to high and cook for 10 hours.

4-When the lentils are soft, turn the heat off and let the soup cool.  Insert the immersion blender and purée lentils till smooth.

5-Reheat soup.  Stir in lemon juice and top with olive oil and paprika.

Serve with warm pita bread (pocket bread).

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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Goulash Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Goulash Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Goulash is a Hungarian Chili Con Carne without pinto beans.  Goulash is made minus the pinto beans, but with the addition of sour cream and paprika.  I ate lots of Hungarian food growing up when I ate lunch at Detroit’s Hungarian bar-restaurants with my mother’s Hungarian friends.

During the Cold War Era, eating at Eastern European restaurants was an act of supporting liberation movements in Eastern Europe.  These restaurants were all outlets for bilingual newspapers with news of what was happening in the Soviet Union and their country.  I read all that I could and could not believe these agricultural countries had people waiting in lines for groceries.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 pound hamburger meat with fat

-1 large chopped onion

-2 (12-ounce) cans diced tomatoes

-1 cup sour cream

-2 tablespoons paprika from Szeged

Steps:

1-Brown hamburger meat with onions.  No pink should remain in the meat.

2-Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes to the meat.  Mix and cook for 15 minutes.

3-Add sour cream and paprika and cook for 10 minutes.

Serve with Italian red wine like Valpolicella and bread with sesame seeds.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Tomato-Egg Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Tomato-Egg Soup Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Chef Lee’s Restaurant in Marina (California) used to do a Tomato-Egg Flower soup in the 1990s that I loved as a starter.  I recreated something similar at home that does not use the same ingredients and is more Italian than anything else.  It retains the nutritious egg in the recipe though.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 (12-ounce) can chicken broth

-8 cups water

-2 tablespoons tomato paste

-1 cup macaroni pasta

-2 beaten eggs

-1 tablespoon oregano

Steps:

1-Place chicken broth, water, tomato paste, and pasta in a soup pot.

2-Bring soup to a boil and let boil for 30 minutes.

3-Remove soup from heat.  Mix in beaten eggs and oregano till they form threads.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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