AS the seasons change, it's out with flip-flops and in with sturdy oxfords. Out with tick checks; in with scarves. Out with strawberries, cherries and sunflowers; in with apples, pears and parsnips. And, finally, out with frozen lemonade on the boardwalk, and in with soups. Not just any soups -- but fragrant, simmered-all-day soups, with rich stocks that start with a triumvirate of bones, aromatics and thyme, the soups with aromas and flavors that can turn a house into a home, or a restaurant into a destination. Here are 10 destinations to such great soups. All are culled from a year's worth of restaurant reviewing in the Garden State. We judged soups first by taste. We also considered ethnicity and geographic diversity, because there is comfort to be found in a bowl of Israeli Chicken Soup as well as Thai Hot and Sour, in Denville as well as Edison, and in New American as well as Korean. Enjoy this virtual meal. Then, send us e-mail messages with
nominations for your favorite restaurant soups (njdine@nytimes.com). Our
spoons are poised. Karla Cook and David Corcoran Truffled
Mushroom Soup Edward Walsh works his way through many a mushroom in his kitchen. Like any other chef, he knows to use everything. So, the mushroom stems become an unsubtle soup, a fragrant broth studded with irregularly shaped dice, nearly a call of the wild. The details: Sauté chopped mushroom stems in olive oil, then add mushroom stock, salt and pepper and simmer, allowing the soup to reduce. Sauté portobello mushrooms, then purée them and add to the soup base, along with salt and pepper. Then add cream, and garnish with a crown of sautéed oyster and shiitake mushrooms and a splash of truffle oil. Verve, 18 East Main Street, Somerville, (908) 707-8655.
Carlos Rodriguez credits a friend with the original recipe for this hearty mix of textures and tastes. But he says he made it better by adding portobello and porcini mushrooms and red wine. ''Beautiful flavor!'' Mr. Rodriguez said. ''It's not puréed, so you can feel the crunchy little barley.'' The details: Toast barley in the oven, then boil it in water to al dente. Meanwhile, sauté diced onions and mushrooms in oil until tender, then add the wine and beef broth (or vegetable if you like) and the barley and water. Simmer for about 25 minutes, then garnish with enoki mushrooms. Ristorante da Benito, 222 Galloping Hill Road, Union, (908)964-5850.
Jim Haurey honed his soup-making skills at the Ryland Inn in Whitehouse, and he displays his ability with a beautifully orange fish soup of extraordinary depth. Mr. Haurey, chef de cuisine, builds layers of flavor over hours and hours. The details: Slowly simmer chopped shallots, garlic, salt and pepper in olive oil until they're falling apart. Add rough-chopped fennel, salt and pepper and continue the slow cooking until it's falling apart. Add chopped heirloom tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook until the mixture resembles a purée. Add dry white wine, a bit of saffron, a homemade fish stock, bay leaves, a touch of anise, toasted and crushed fennel seed, and more salt and pepper and cook until the alcohol evaporates. Add cod and cook just until it begins to flake. Purée. Sieve. Garnish with a bit of lobster, a fresh crouton and rouille (typically a sauce of garlic, chile peppers, bread crumbs, olive oil and fish stock). Dining Room, Hilton hotel, 41 JFK Parkway, Short Hills,
(973)379-0100. Compassion for a sick employee first moved Joel Scheinzeit to the stockpot and the creation of this artistic version of the mom's cure-all. But its simple roasted flavor and abundance of chicken landed it on his menu. The details: Make a stock with meaty bones, onions, carrots, celery, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper and let it simmer for most of the afternoon. Strain the stock, reserving the bits of meat and carrot. Chop the carrots, shred the chicken and simmer the soup, adding fresh dill at the end (that's what makes it Israeli, Mr. Scheinzeit says). Sauté cubes of French bread in clarified butter, then dust croutons with fresh rosemary, sage, thyme and oregano. Add to soup as garnish, along with minced scallion and fine dice of red and yellow peppers. Joel's Malibu Kitchen, 14 Oak Street, Ridgewood, (201)493-9477. Every night, Saro Ramasamy's husband, Palaniappa Nanjappan, arrives at their restaurant in Princeton and starts his dinner with a bowl of tender, spice-laden aatukal (leg of lamb) soup. Because it is his favorite, Ms. Ramasamy allows him the pleasure of reciting its preparation. The details: In a large pan, place lamb, chopped red onions, celery sticks and water, then simmer for three hours. Add chopped garlic, black pepper, tomato, salt and more water and set it to a slow simmer and leave it overnight. In the morning, adjust seasonings. Separate the bones from the broth and meat. Make a gravy with yogurt, toasted cashew nuts, chopped onions, black pepper and curry leaves and blend; stir into soup. Garnish with curry leaves and cilantro. Kalluri Corner, 235 Nassau Street, Princeton, (609)688-8923. For such a simple name, Nancy Huang's soup is a piece of work. It is a soup that first requires a trip to the Asian market and then the assemblage of a homemade stock of water and flakes shaved off a chunk of dried bonito. After that, it's just the everyday miracle of steaming fresh shrimp, squid and vegetables to the peak of their flavor -- in a covered teapot. The details: Make dashi with shaved bonito, dried tangleweed and boiling water. Strain and reserve. Add to teapot fresh shrimp, scallop or squid, shiitake mushrooms and a small piece of fish cake. Fill teapot about three-fourths full with dashi, then add sake, light soy sauce and a dot of Yuzu sauce. Steam, covered for 15 minutes. Garnish with scallions and a lime wedge. Midori, 3130 State Route 10, Denville, (973)537-8588. Christopher Wood knows how to pull vivid flavor from a pepper, and he does it regularly with what he calls a straightforward soup that stars sweet red bells and a cloisonné of chanterelles. ''Soup is one of my favorite things to make,'' the chef said. ''It's about creating levels of flavor.'' The details: Roast quartered red peppers with salt, pepper and olive oil. In the meantime, sauté garlic, shallots and onions, as well as celery and leeks. Add fresh thyme and sauté until fragrant. Add peppers and allow the flavors to meld, then deglaze with Harvey's Bristol Cream, some honey and Tabasco, and reduce it by half. Then, add heavy cream and rich chicken stock and slowly bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes, purée and strain, then return to a second boil. Garnish with a blend of chanterelles, garlic, shallots, salt and pepper, a bit of sherry and a touch of chicken stock as well as snipped chives and chive oil. Panico's, 103 Church Street, New Brunswick, (732) 545-6100. Jagmohan Singh has his own ideas about Thai food, but he sticks to tradition for this delectable classic. Clear and spicy, aromatically shrimpy, the broth of his nearly magical elixir called Tom Yam Kung holds typical Thai flavorings. The details: Make a shrimp stock with heads and skins, plus lemongrass, scallions and galangal. Strain and then add to the broth lemongrass, lime leaves, chile peppers and galangal, lime juice, hot chili sauce and straw mushrooms. Add shrimp and cook just until shrimp turn pink, then add shrimp paste, lime juice and cilantro. Royal Orchid, 370 East Windsor Town Plaza (Route 130), East Windsor,
(609) 448-2300. Extracting the secrets to Joe Clyde's fabulous tomato bisque is as slow as watching tomatoes ripen. Eventually he lets slip one secret in one interview, then another sometime later. But then he has been working on this soup for 20 years. ''It's nothing really special,'' he said. ''It's a decent soup.'' The details, thus far: Instead of stock, Mr. Clyde cooks good Italian pear tomatoes with ''a couple other ingredients'' in tomato juice with a little sugar. He brings it to a boil and cooks it for 10, maybe 15 minutes, then turns it off. At some point that remains a mystery, there is the addition of sautéed onions, cream, dill and salt and pepper. Sergeantsville Inn, 601 Rosemont-Ringoes Road, Sergeantsville,
(609)397-3700. If there is a beef soup that could cure a cold, it is this one, with its peppery, garlicky broth and glass noodles plus an abundance of shredded beef and sprouts. You can feel yourself healing with every bite. Meensu Choi serves the Yuke-Jaong in a casserole, with more pepper flakes available for those in need. The details: Mrs. Choi builds a beef stock with bones and beef, onion, scallions, garlic and ginger, covers the whole of it with water, then lets it simmer all day. In the afternoon, she cooks steak in the broth for a couple of hours, then shreds it. In the meantime, she soaks the noodles in water to soften them and seasons the beef with red pepper flakes and garlic -- maybe some sesame oil. In a stockpot, she adds the beef, some sprouts, salt, scallions and noodles and broth, and then brings the mixture to a simmer and adds egg and a scallion garnish. WooJeon Restaurant, 411 U.S. 1, Edison, (732) 572-6100. |