Recipe for Sunday Soup

There are two food related reasons as to why I love the cold weather.  Simply put, it's braising and soup.  Braising is a favorite of every passionate cook as it's simple and of course very tasty.  But soups are my favorite thing to make, as I really enjoy creating intense, flavorful broths and bases and carefully choosing a few key garnishes to round them out. 

In my opinion, the best soup I make is what I now just call Sunday Soup.  I've made this at a foodie event in the past and it seemed to be a hit.  It was inspired by a Malaysian dish I love called Green Curry Ayam.  As with most things I do, I recall some of the key flavors and ingredients and end up just riffing off of it based on what I like to eat.  My Sunday Soup is made from a smoked ham hock stock and infused with curry, garlic, ginger, lemon and lime rind, chilis and coconut milk.  I then add seared merguez sausage, blanched broccolini and steam mussels right in the broth.  The result is an intense soup filled with lots of little goodies, but the star of the show is the broth.  Aromatic and intense, it has become my Sunday comfort food.

My recipe follows........

Recipe serves two people with some leftovers, which is a good thing.

Shopping List

About 20 fresh mussels
1/2 lb of merguez sausage

extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 can coconut milk
3 smoked ham hocks
1 bunch broccolini
1 hot red chili or just get some sriracha)
1 clove garlic
1 small nugget of fresh ginger
1 jar ground curry powder
1 lime
1 lemon

1 carrot

1 celery stalk

fresh rosemary optional

1 small white onion

Make the Ham Hock Broth

Chop one carrot, celery stalk and half of the onion into a rough dice. Have your rosemary and ham hocks out and ready. In a large pot, add a glug of olive oil and turn heat to medium. After two minutes, add the vegetables and a pinch of salt to pot. Let sweat (not brown) for three minutes, until barely soft. Add all of your ham hocks to the pot. Immediately add cold water to cover the ham hocks by about an inch.

It’s important to let the liquid barely simmer, not boil. Check the heat consistently. Let the stock simmer for about 30 – 40 minutes, uncovered.  Strain through a fine mesh strainer and reserve.  This is not a fatty stock, but let it rest and skim any fat off the top. I make large batches of this and freeze it for future use.

Brown the Merguez Sausage

Place a small pot on medium heat. After two minutes, add the sausage to the dry pan. Let brown for about 3 minutes on one side, flip for the other side and cook another 3 minutes. Take the sausage out of the pan and set aside. It should be medium rare, as you'll add it back to the soup and finish cooking it there. Reserve the pot you browned this in, as you'll use it later.

Blanch the Broccolini

Chop the bottom half of the broccolini stems off and discard. Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add the broccolini and cook for about 2 minutes – they should be firm and al dente. Take out of the pan and set aside.  Sometimes I just saute it rather than blanching, as it is relitively thin to begin with.  I sauteed it in the picture below but recommend blanching.

Make the Soup
Drain the fat from the the same pot in which you made the sausage but keep the browned bits at the bottom.  This is critical.  Add a small glug of olive oil and then the other half of chopped onion, 2 cloves chopped garlic, one tablespoon finely chopped ginger and peeled rinds from a lemon and lime (use a vegetable peeler.  don't get much of the white on the rind as it is bitter).  Add a pinch of chopped chili (or a squirt of sriracha) and two pinches of ground curry.  After a minute of sauteing, add about 3 cups of ham hock stock and one cup (half can) coconut milk. Add a few sprigs of rosemary to the liquid and bring to simmer. Mix thoroughly.

 

Make the Mussels, Finish the Dish

Bring the liquid to a boil with lid on.  When the soup is very hot, add the mussels and put a lid on the pot. Let steam for about 1 minute, or until they are open.

Chop your sausage into large chunks and mix into into the soup to finish cooking. Add the broccolini as well. After a minute or so, ladle the soup into large bowls, distributing the ingredients evenly. Serve with a bowl for discarding mussel shells. Make sure to have some bread ready for the soup.

Comments

[Al]

Sounds great- how are the ham hocks for eating afterwards?

[joe]

delicious, al. i used the leftover hocks as part of a brussel sprouts dish recently.

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