What Tom Cooked

Charlie Trotter’s Ginger-Infused Egg Drop Soup with Poached Chicken

Ginger-Infused Egg Drop Soup with Poached Chicken

4 chicken thighs

1 T olive oil

Sauté 2 min/side

1 onion chopped

1 carrot chopped

1 celery chopped

8-10 min

1/4 C ginger chopped

2 minutes

2 Qts chicken stock

Cover, med-low 30-40 min
Remove chicken and cut into small pcs
Strain and defat

—————— can remove and finish later

Simmer stock

1/2 C lemon thyme

Simmer 3 min
Strain
Season
Simmer med-low

1 egg lightly beaten

Add to soup and stir

——————

Center chicken in bowl
Ladle soup

Scallions - top

From: Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home

Braised Leek Soup with Sautéed Oyster Mushrooms

From: Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home

The pictures look terrible for many reasons, but the only one I’ll mention is that these were taken with seconds, because the first serving was so good.

Also, it was suggested that skipping the mushrooms would still make an incredible soup.

Braised Leek Soup with Sautéed Oyster Mushrooms

3 leeks, white and 2” green, sliced in half

5 C chicken stock

2 sprigs rosemary

Cover and simmer 25 minutes
Chop leeks into bite sized pcs

3 T butter

Purée 2/3 of leeks, stock and butter until smooth
Strain, return to pan
Season
Reserve chopped leeks for garnish

——————

1 shallot, minced

1 T butter

Heat 2 min

1.5 C Oyster mushrooms

Sauté 7-10 min
Season

——————

Plate mush in wide bowl
Top w leeks
Surround w soup

Olive oil drizzle

Chives - top

Saffron Mussels w Spinach and fresh Fettuccine

From Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home.

Charlie Trotter’s Ginger-Melon Soup w Citrus Granite

This is a great recipe to test out your new Vitamix 5200. With only two ingredients in the soup, it seems like a no brainer. However, it’s important that you make the citrus granite (which is just a fancy word for ice). The soup, while flavorful, doesn’t stand up on its own. It’s too subtle.

There is a great documentary on Netflix about the groundbreaking work done by Charlie Trotter - titled “Love, Charlie”; it’s an important survey of how we went from fine dining meaning French to now meaning Fine Dining in America.

Ginger-Melon Soup

2 small or 1 large honeydew melon, flesh cut into 1-2’ chunks

1/4 C candied ginger, coarsely chopped (see note)

Purée in blender until smooth
Strain through a chinois / strainer / cheesecloth

Citrus Granite

1 grapefruit

2 oranges

2 lemons

1 lime

1/4 C simple syrup

Juice all the fruit into a metal 8x8 pan (or similar)
Freeze, scraping the surface with a fork every 10-15 minutes until completely frozen

Assembly

Place a scoop of granite in center of a shallow bowl
Carefully pour soup around the granite
Garnish with mint or citrus zest if desired

Notes:

Add a 1/4 C water to the melon if it doesn’t blend right away
Use 2 T of preserved ginger if you can’t find candied ginger. Mix 1/4 C of julienned ginger into 1/2 C water and 1/2 C sugar. Simmer 10 minutes. Drain and repeat 2 more times with refreshed water and sugar.

Adapted from: Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home