Alkmaarse kaassoep (Alkmaar cheese soup)

From our Sinterklaas Avond dinner last night. To stick with tradition, and the ethnic traditional, we serve a meal of Dutch foods, which it turns out aren't bad, just boring: Alkmaarse kassoep (cheese soup), Huzarensalade (Hussar's salad), Gestoofde Runderlappen (Dutch stewed/spiced beef), Boerenkool met aardappel (kale and potatoes), and Windmill cookies (which I have yet to make, but there's a recipe on epicurious) to finish things off. The soup is my favorite.

Alkmaarse kaassoep (Alkmaar cheese soup)

Origin: Classic Dutch Cooking
Yield: serves 4
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Ethnicity: Dutch

Ingredients:
  ● 3 tbsp butter
  ● 1 onion, chopped
  ● 1/2 cup flour
  ● 5 cups milk
  ● 1-1/4 cups mature (sharp) Gouda
  ● 1 small celeriac
  ● salt
  ● toast (croutons)

Directions:
1. Melt the butter in a pan. Add the onion and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until softened.
2. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, then gradually stir in the milk.
3. Continue to cook, stirring, until slightly thickened. Add 1/2 cup of the grated Gouda and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, peel and finely dice the celeriac, then cook in a pan of boiling water, for about 10 minutes, until softened.
4. Drain the celeriac and add to the soup with the remaining cheese.
5. Season to taste with salt, ladle into warm soup bowls and garnish with chives. Serve immediately with toast or croutons.

Some variations I've seen online:
• Add more cheese, less milk
• Color with powdered saffron, thicken with pureed potatoes, flavor with 1/2 tsp crushed caraway seeds.
• Top the soup with a cheese crust made from a mixture of three crushed rusks, 1-3/4 cups grated Gouda and a pinch of milk paprika sprinkled over top. The pan should then be placed under a preheated broiler until the crust is a golden brown.

Pea Soup with Mushroom Cream Sauce

This is a Taste of Home recipe. I know a lot of people will be turned off by the green-ness of it, but it's brilliant spring hue is exactly what drew me to it in the first place. I love fresh green things to eat, and we've been waiting so long, and will wait still longer thanks to a sluggish season, for that baby green. So I created it for the dinner table. It was good, but I don't care how many times they tout it as a main course, I think it got a little monotonous that way and would be better as a beautiful, and yummy, side dish. Additionally, I don't think it had enough protein as written so I added about the cannellini beans.

Pea Soup with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Yield: 6 Servings
Prep Time: 25 min
Cooking Time: 15 min

Ingredients:
  ● 1/2 lb. sliced baby portobello mushrooms, divided
  ● 1 tbsp. butter
  ● 1/4 cup chopped onion
  ● 1 garlic clove, minced
  ● 1/2 cup half-and-half cream
  ● 3 tbsp. sherry or reduced-sodium chicken broth
  ● 1 tbsp. minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  ● 3/4 tsp. salt, divided
  ● 5 cups fresh or frozen peas, divided
  ● 2 cups cannellini beans (or one can)
  ● 3-1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
  ● 2 tbsp. lemon juice
  ● 4-1/2 tsp. minced fresh basil or 1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil

Directions:
Set aside 3 tablespoons mushrooms for garnish. In a large skillet, sauté remaining mushrooms in butter until tender.

Add onion and garlic to skillet; sauté until tender. Stir in the cream, sherry, thyme and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Cool slightly. Transfer to a bowl and cream with stick blender.

In a large pot, combine 4-1/2 cups peas, cannellini beans, chicken broth and remaining salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until peas are tender (about 5 minutes). Stir in lemon juice and basil and heat through. Use stick blender to soupify.

Serve hot and topped with mushroom and cream sauce (we mixed our cream sauce in). Garnish with reserved mushrooms and remaining peas.

Nutrition Facts (from Taste of Home, not including cannellini beans): 3/4 cup soup with 2 tablespoons sauce equals 169 calories, 5 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 15 mg cholesterol, 612 mg sodium, 22 g carbohydrate, 7 g fiber, 10 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1-1/2 starch, 1 fat.

Butternut squash soup

I thought Jon, the resident pumpkin lover, would scream travesty when I made soup out of butternut squash instead of its orange relative, but actually I think he liked this one better. I know I did. It's just enough sweet and just enough spicy. Of course you can make it sweeter by using more cream or spicier by using more ginger (and I've heard of people adding curry, too).

Butternut Squash Soup

Origin: Alton Brown
Yield: 4 servings
Cooking Time: 40 min
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:
  ● 6 cups (about 2 large squash) seeded 2-inch wide chunks butternut squash
  ● Melted butter, for brushing
  ● 1 tbsp. kosher salt, plus 1 teaspoon
  ● 1 tsp. freshly ground white pepper, plus 1/2 teaspoon
  ● 3 cups vegetable stock
  ● 4 tbsp. honey
  ● 1 tsp. minced ginger
  ● 4 oz. heavy cream
  ● 1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Brush the flesh of the squash with a little butter and season with 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper. On a sheet pan lay the squash flesh side up. Roast for about 30 to 35 minutes or until the flesh is nice and soft.

Scoop the flesh from the skin into a pot and add the stock, honey, and ginger. Bring to a simmer and puree using a stick blender. Stir in the heavy cream and return to a low simmer. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. I failed to actually measure the heavy cream and ginger but I'm pretty sure I added more of both, particularly of the ginger, than is called for. In any case, this soup was delicious.