The Times-Picayune
Sometimes it takes a village to track down old recipes
A reader recently wrote looking for a vegetarian eggplant soup with cilantro and parsley, but no tomatoes, and the option of adding shrimp. Then she wrote again: “Dear Judy, its time for me to own up to my failing memory. This recipe I am sending you is the one I was looking for. I remembered I gave it to a friend that I don’t see very often, and I emailed her and she sent me a copy.
Take eggplants from your garden and make cream of eggplant soup this Fall.
“Once I received the recipe, a clearer memory started returning …I remember now when I first made the soup, I bought cilantro instead of parsley by mistake, but decided to use it anyway. It was very strong in the soup, and I wanted to remember not to make that mistake again. My mind must have omitted the tomatoes because the quantity wasn’t very large.
“Its funny how the mind works. I made a couple of notations on the recipe in red, but everything else is how it appeared in the paper.”
Not to worry. Very few people have perfect memories. I sure don’t. And I can tell you from experience that very few people remember the exact name of a recipe.
This is why I always ask those seeking lost recipes to describe the ingredients — or anything else they can remember. If the name of a dish was printed in the paper as, for instance, Bourbon Pecan Pound Cake, it may be remembered Pecan Bourbon Pound Cake, Pecan Pound Cake, Bourbon Pound Cake, etc
Finding recipes is not an exact science. As in all things, the more we communicate, the more successful we will be.
The recipe in question is in chef John Folse’s “The Encyclopedia of Cajun Creole Cooking.” Folse suggests adding a teaspoon of curry powder, if desired, or julienned andouille and fresh crab or shrimp.
“I made this recipe as is and it was good, ” our correspondent says. “I added shrimp another time and it was great.”
Cream of Eggplant Soup
Makes 12 servings
- 2 to 3 medium eggplants, peeled and diced (about 13 to 14 cups)
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cups diced onions
- 2 cups diced celery
- 1 cup diced bell peppers
- 1/4 cup minced garlic
- 1/4 cup diced tomatoes (or 1 small tomato, almost a cup)
- 1 cup flour
- 2-1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup sliced green onions
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- salt and white pepper to taste
In a 2-gallon stockpot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Stir in eggplant, onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic and tomatoes. Saute 5 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are wilted. Whisk in flour, stirring constantly until a white roux is achieved. Add chicken stock, one ladle at a time, stirring constantly. Bring to a low boil and cook 30 minutes. Stir in cream, green onions and parsley. Cook 10 additional minutes. Season to taste with salt and white pepper.
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VISKO’S SHRIMP AND CRABMEAT SALAD: Two helpful readers sent their copycat versions of Visko’s Shrimp and Crabmeat Salad after the recipe was requested.
Y.M. found the real deal in the 1982 cookbook, “The Restaurants of New Orleans” by Roy F. Guste Jr. Thank you so much, Y!
Visko’s Shrimp and Crabmeat Salad
Makes 6 servings
Shrimp and Crabmeat Dressing:
- 1/2 cup prepared blue cheese dressing (available in groceries)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- Salad
- 1 head iceberg lettuce
- 1/2 pound boiled, peeled shrimp
- 1/2 pound lump crabmeat
- Salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 12 cherry tomatoes for garnish
Make the dressing by blending blue cheese dressing and mayonnaise together until smooth.
Wash lettuce; reserve 6 outer leaves to line salad bowls. Shred or dice remainder of lettuce.
Coarsely chop shrimp and mix with crabmeat. Combine the seafood mixture in an equal amount (approximately 3 cups) shredded lettuce. Mix in 1/2 cup to 1 cup of the dressing. Season mixture with salt and pepper.
Line 6 salad bowls with the 6 reserved lettuce leaves, and fill each leaf with 1/2 cup of salad. Garnish the salad with cherry tomatoes and serve.
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ANOTHER WAY TO PRESERVE BIRD’S-EYES: Culinarian Maureen Detweiler writes, “In the 1950s my grandfather grew bird’s-eye peppers in between my grandmother’s rose bushes in their garden on Flamingo Street in Lake Vista. He would pick them when they were red and pack them into bottles. He filled some of the bottles with vinegar to make hot sauce and some with sherry to be used on turtle soup.”
Hot sherry! I bet that was good in turtle soup. Thanks, Maureen.
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SPEAKING OF SOUP: Frequent contributor B.C.R. writes that he found a soup recipe recently in the Williams-Sonoma catalog, but he modified it quite a bit.
“I was not interested in deep frying some rosemary for a garnish, and thought their technique was unduly complicated, ” he notes. “I also had a half pound of seasoning ham.
“I recently read Michael Pollan’s ‘In Defense of Food, ‘ and agree with his premise that good health requires eating a variety of foods. He gives an example that among greens, each species has a unique nutritional matrix, and that eating as many types as you can over time is beneficial. Same with beans, making this soup a nice Monday alternative to you know what! Especially with cooler weather coming.”
Thank you, B.! We will enjoy this any day of the week, as well. Whatever you call them — garbanzo, ceci or chickpeas — these beans are flavorful, nutritious and inexpensive.
Pasta e Ceci Soup
Makes 4 to 6 servings
- 1-1/4 cups dried chickpeas
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, peeled and finely diced
- 2 to 3 carrots, peeled and finely diced
- 8 ounces seasoning ham, finely diced, optional,
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (15-1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with liquid
- 6 cups water
- 1/2 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 good grind of black pepper
- Salt
- 1/2 pound tubetti pasta, or 1-1/2 cups ditalini
- Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Soak chickpeas overnight in water to cover. Drain and rinse the soaked beans.
Heat olive oil in a large soup pot. Saute onions, carrots and seasoning ham until the onion turns translucent. Add garlic and saute a minute or so, until fragrant.
Add tomatoes, water, seasoning, bay leaf and pepper to the pot, along with the drained and rinsed beans. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for an hour or so, until the beans are tender. Remove the bay leaf. Add salt and taste for seasoning.
Place about 3 ladlefuls of the soup into a blender, then carefully puree. Pour the pureed portion back into the pot, stir well, and continue to simmer over very low heat.
In the meantime, cook pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until quite al dente. It should be firmer than pasta you would immediately sauce and serve.
Drain the nearly cooked pasta, then add it to the soup pot and continue to slowly simmer until the pasta is fully cooked.
Pass cheese when serving.
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CALVIN’S CHICKEN SALAD: P.C. asked me for the recipe for Calvin’s Chicken Salad from Calvin’s Bocage Market in Baton Rouge. It’s one of their well-known specialties. One source says the owner, Calvin Lindsly, makes it himself at 5:30 in the morning.
One source, reporting multiple tastings, believes the secret ingredient in the chicken salad is cream cheese
Send information or observations if you have any.
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Check out the archive of Times-Picayune recipes at Nola.com/food
Exchange Alley seeks to rebuild recipe collections. Send requests (described as fully as possible) or recipes (along with a phone number, your name and where you live) via e-mail with ALLEY in the subject line to: [email protected]. Send mail to: EXCHANGE ALLEY, Food section, The Times-Picayune, 3800 Howard Ave., New Orleans, La. 70125-1429.
