The past few weeks I’ve felt a bit like Soup & Bread might as well still be on hiatus. After the hustle of November and December, simply hanging around at the Hideout and having some soup seemed a bit slack. Shouldn’t we be driving 6 hours in the rain to get there? Shouldn’t we be chasing down UPS trucks? Live-tweeting?

Well. After the first two weeks of soup, and then a little break, I’m happy to report we are back in full frenzied effect, both at the Hideout this Wednesday and out in the wider world.

Yesterday I taught my first-ever cooking class, as part of the Chicago Cultural Center’s World Kitchen program. It went pretty well — especially as I had locked myself out of the house the night prior and was underslept as a result. Going in I was a little nervous, but it turned out to be a blast.  There were a few culinary newbies in the group — one woman confessed she had never used a cheese grater before — but overall the level of expertise was such that when I say I “taught” the class, what I really mean is I “stood around and yakked while 26 others made soup.”

At the end, we had a feast, Soup & Bread style. On the menu: Anastasia’s kale, kielbasa, and tortellini soup; Marah’s New England clam chowder; the Hearty Boys’ tomato-fennel bisque; Mana’s green curried butternut squash soup, Inspiration Kitchens’ sweet potato soup; and the ever-popular Peanuts O’Toole, which World Kitchen director Judith Dunbar Hines profiled in her Sun-Times column a few weeks back. To sop it all up we also threw together some buttermilk-cheddar muffins, some Parmesan-cheddar-thyme gougeres, and a few loaves of suprisingly successful vegan bread. I met some great people, sold some books, and got a filling lunch to boot. Many thanks to Judith and the rest of the World Kitchen staff for the opportunity!

Looking ahead, February offers a jam-packed slate of soup nights, plus some more extra credit activities.

On Sunday, February 5, we’ll be setting up shop at the Logan Square Farmers Market, indoors at the Congress Theater from 10 am to 2 pm. We’ll have cookbooks for sale, and other merch as well. Books are scarce right now (we’ll have more in a month) so get ‘em while you can!

Then, on Thursday, February 9, I’ll give a free talk at Quimby’s. Have you ever wanted to ask a question during Soup & Bread, only to find me incoherent and covered in beer? Well this is your lucky day. I’ll talk about the evolution of Soup & Bread and the twisted path of the Soup & Bread Cookbook, and dish up some soup as well. So civilized!

The Quimby’s event serves as a warmup for a February 12 event out west, way west, at the stupendous Elliott Bay Book Company in my hometown of Seattle. I’ll discuss the book, and Soup & Bread in general, and we’ll have a soup tasting with offerings from Soup Swap guru Knox Gardner and the bookstore’s own cafe, where once upon a time, in my late teens, I toiled behind the espresso machine. Donations will be accepted to benefit Capitol Hill’s Jewish Family Service food bank. I have been talking with events coordinator Karen Allman about this for a few months now, and I am already so excited – and not just because my mother already has two dozen people lined up to attend. Elliott Bay is truly one of the last great independent bookstores, and while it’s moved from the Pioneer Square digs of my days in the cafe, I feel very much like I am headed home.

Later that same night, we’ll celebrate the return of Soup & Bread: Seattle in epic form at SoDo’s Radar Hair and Records. Radar co-owner Johnny Samra made soup for our event last year at the Funhouse (he’s up there on the left) and now he and ace Seattle soup wrangler Suzie Strait have teamed up to stage a Soup & Bread to benefit Johnny’s wife and business partner, Betsy Hansen, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. It’s all still coming together, but so far we’ve got a half-dozen soups and the promise of a reunion show by Seattle’s late, lamented Coconut Coolouts. All proceeds will benefit the Betsy Hansen Cancer Fund — and as soon as I’ve got more info it’s all yours.

Then, it’s back to Chicago in time for a February 17 gig on  the Interview Show, the (almost-) monthly “live talk show” at the Hideout hosted by the dryly hilarious Mark Bazer. I’m a little anxious about this one as well. Who will my costars be? Tavi? Charlie Trotter? I can only dream.

That’s it for now, but plans are also afoot to take Soup & Bread to Lawrence, KS, and Kansas City, MO. And possibly Austin. Maybe Pittsburgh? Keep your eye on the calendar, and if you want to see Soup & Bread in your town, let’s talk!

Hello!

As you may have noticed, we took a brief hiatus this week – so that the Hideout could play host to the super-sold-out and super soup-free Chicago installment of Portlandia: The Tour. But that was this week. Now, Fred and Carrie have moved on, winter is finally here, and we’re looking ahead to next Wednesday.

On the soup team:

Anna Heerwagen and Ethan Fischer from Green Grocer Chicago

Chris Turner from the Butcher and Larder

Dancer and writer Maggie Kast

Luthier – and Tangleweed bassist – Paul Wargaski (that’s his matzoh ball soup up there, from last year)

Painter/printmaker/stationer Mollie Green, of La Familia Green

and Grete Wood

With DJs Brian Case, Matt Clark, and Jeremy Lemos. Also: Bread from La Farine! All proceeds benefit the Howard Area Community Center.

See you next week! We miss you.

From Melissa Crockett
Serves 16

How can you resist a recipe when the first ingredient on the list is “one rotisserie chicken”? Melissa, another Milwaukee cook, is a massage therapist by day, and appears to own a collection of sweet vintage aprons. I didn’t get a decent photo of her cheesey chili – one good for a hearty winter meal – but here’s a cute pic of the cook, center, flanked by her friends Kate and Tyan. Thanks ladies!

Ingredients
1 rotisserie chicken
6 cans White Northern beans
2 medium white onions, chopped
4 tablespoons garlic
8 ounces (2 cans) chopped mild green chilies
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves
1 habenero (wear gloves when chopping!!)
6 cups chicken stock
4 cups grated Monterey Jack Cheese
sour cream
chopped fresh cilantro
fresh lime wedge

Preparation
Remove chicken from bones and shred into chunks. Saute onions and garlic with a little olive oil until translucent. Add chicken, chiles, and spices to taste. Then add beans and stock. Bring pot to a boil, then lower heat to simmer stirring often for … an hour? When chili is done add grated Monterey Jack cheese and stir until it melts.

Ladle into bowls, add toppings of choice, grab a chunk of crusty bread, and enjoy!

From Wen-Tyan Soo
Serves 12-16

Not to play into Wisconsin stereotypes, but our Milwaukee Soup & Bread at the Sugar Maple was marked by an abundance of hearty bean- and sausage-oriented soups. Tyan, one of a trio of bubbly friends who all participated, produced this spicy, almost chililike concoction.

Ingredients
1 medium onion
2 links spicy chorizo
1 12-ounce can of crushed tomatoes or 1 bottle salsa
1 20-ounce can black beans
1 20-ounce can black refried beans
1 quart beef stock
1 cup cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons pepper
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
2 chipotles in adobo sauce, minced
1 container creme fraiche or sour cream
1 avocado, sliced
1 lime, cut into wedges

Preparation
Dice and saute the onion in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. At the same time, in another pot, take the chorizo out of the casing and saute with no oil, breaking it apart. After onions are lightly browned, take chorizo out with slotted spoon to leave oil and add to onions. Add garlic and saute. Add tomatoes. Rinse black beans and add. Drain oil from refried beans and add. Add beef stock, cilantro, cumin, and pepper, then add 1 chipotle, minced fine. Bring all to a boil then turn down to simmer for half an hour.

To make the chipotle creme fraiche, mince the second chipotle and add 1 tablespoon sauce from can and mix with small container creme fraiche or sour cream.

You can serve on its own, or over rice to make a full meal out of it. Garnish with avocado slices, limes and creme fraiche. Ole!

From Jimmy’s No. 43
Serves many, many people

Here’s another soup from Littlefield – albeit one that went unphotographed. So in lieu of a soup shot, here’s our gorgeous lineup of cooks again: Raquel, Cathy, Dave, and Caroline, with foxy Alexis, from Jimmy’s No. 43, at the far end. She’s another repeat cook, having ladled up a creamy onion soup at the Bell House in 2010. She turned up this year with a pot of this massively flavorful concoction, and wasn’t afraid to wash it down with a shot of tequila.

Ingredients
Stock:
2 pounds slab bacon
2 gallons chicken stock
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
3 onions, peeled and sliced
1 head garlic, smashed
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
½ bunch thyme
½ bunch tarragon
1 tablespoon juniper
6 bay leaves
1 sprig rosemary

Preparation

Place in stock pot and simmer for 2 ½ hours:

Remove bacon, reserve, chill, and cut into lardons for garnish. Set aside. Strain stock and reserve.

Ingredients
Soup:
½ cup bacon fat
3 carrots, peeled, halved and sliced into thin half moons
3 onions, peeled quartered and sliced thinly
15 cloves garlic, sliced thinly against the grain
3 cups white wine
2  pounds diced ham
1 pound beer sausage, sliced on bias
all the reserved stock
salt and pepper to taste
3 heads Savoy cabbage, stemmed and cut in large dice

Preparation
Saute bacon fat, carrots, onion, and garlic in stock pot until just soft. Add wine, ham, sausage, and reserved stock. Season to taste and return to a simmer. Add cabbage. Simmer and adjust seasoning, then COOL AND STORE!!!

To serve: Reheat, then add five lardons per serving and sprinkle each bowl with 5-6 tarragon leaves and a teaspoon of chives. Serve with bread or a crostini drizzled with olive oil and garlic.

From Helen Rosner

Serves 4-6

Good morning! We’re starting off the roundup of recipes from the road with this simple-yet-bracing recipe for carrot soup, courtesy of Saveur web editor Helen Rosner, who’s been a Soup & Bread stalwart from, if not day one, pretty darn early on. Helen’s recipe for tangy chicken tortilla soup, which she brought to our 2010 event at the Bell House, can be found on page 42 of the Soup & Bread Cookbook. She prepared a big crock of this recipe for our November 16 Soup & Bread at Littlefield, in Brooklyn. Note that the spice measurements are merely suggestions. “I highly, highly recommend a heavy hand with the spices,” she says. “The carrots are so sweet and mild that it’s the heat that really makes this; plus the lemon yogurt is so cooling that you can go higher on the dial with the spiciness than you might think.”

Thank you, Helen!

Ingredients

For the soup:
1 thick slice of good white bread (like sourdough or ciabatta)
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped, plus 5 whole cloves
1 pound carrots, scrubbed but not peeled, chopped into even pieces
1 1/2 cups white wine
1/2 cup dry vermouth
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon hot paprika

For the lemon-yogurt drizzle:
1 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
juice of 1 lemon

Preparation
Tear the bread into small pieces and combine it with the milk in a small bowl. Set aside.

Melt the butter over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed pot. Add the onions and chopped garlic and cook gently until the onions are just barely becoming translucent, and the garlic is barely browned. Add the carrots and cook until carrots are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Pour in wine, vermouth, and 3 cups of water, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the carrots are soft but not mushy, about 10 minutes.

Remove soup from heat and add the bread and milk, and the 5 whole cloves garlic. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender or food processor. (It’s more efficient, but dirties more pots, to strain the solids out from the soup and just puree those, and then reincorporate the broth to the ensuing warm carrot smoothie.) Stir in the spices, tasting to adjust the flavor.

In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt and lemon juice. Serve soup drizzled with the yogurt mixture.