Cream of Trinity Soup

To download a copy of the recipe for Cream of Trinity Soup, click HERE.

When the French settled into Louisiana, they brought their famous mirepoix, a mix of celery, onions and carrots that formed a reliable base for a wide range of soups and sauces. Over time, that venerable combination evolved into the celery, onions and green bell pepper blend that serves a similar purpose in Cajun-Creole cooking and that has come to be known throughout Louisiana as the Holy Trinity.

Most Louisiana dishes using the Holy Trinity involve a long, slow cooking process that breaks down the celery, onions and peppers until they are more like seasoning than vegetables. Other vegetables are then added.

This week’s recipe, for Cream of Trinity Soup, involves a much shorter cooking process that allows the celery, onions and peppers to be the dish’s main vegetables that shine as a very flavorful combination in their own right. Some of the cooked vegetables are pureed into the soup liquid, and some are mixed into the soup as is. A third layer of texture is added by garnishing the soup with a bit of the Trinity vegetables, fine-diced and uncooked.

For good measure, we’ll also use bacon – turkey bacon, in this case – both as part of the soup filling and as one of the items pureed into the soup liquid, thereby ensuring the bacon’s goodness is part of the very DNA of the creamy liquid.

Also worth noting: by using fat-free half-and-half to replace the cream normally used in soups of this kind, we make the soup low fat and guilt-free. (In general, I’ve found fat-free half-and-half to be a very valuable asset when making creamy dishes low-fat. It’s definitely an item to include in your low-fat tool box.)

This recipe makes 2 quarts of soup.

We’ll start by sautéing the vegetables.

Heat 1 Tbsp butter substitute and 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add 2 minced garlic cloves and cook till aromatic, another 30 seconds to one minute.

Place 4 cups of thin-chopped celery (about 1/8”); 2 cups of chopped onion, and 2 cups of chopped green pepper in the pot. (If you’re using sliced mushrooms, add 8 ounces of them now also.) Sauté until the onions are translucent and the remaining vegetables are soft but not mushy.

Set the cooked vegetables aside in a separate bowl.

Next comes our soup base.

Reduce the heat to low. Add ¼ cup of butter substitute. When it has melted, add 6 Tbsp of all-purpose flour and mix to form a roux. Cook till golden, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Add 1 quart of vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring till the liquid has thickened, for about 10 minutes.

Add a pinch of red pepper flakes; ½ tsp dried thyme; ½ tsp dried oregano; and ½ tsp dried rosemary. Add 1/3 cup of uncooked white rice and simmer until the rice is softened, about 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Add half of the cooked vegetables, and 1-1/2 ounces of cooked, fine-diced bacon.

Add 2 cups of fat-free half-and-half, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each ¼ cup is incorporated before adding the next.

Using an immersion blender, puree the vegetables till smooth.

Add the remaining cooked vegetables and another 1-1/2 ounces of cooked bacon cut into ½” square pieces. Add salt and pepper to taste.

All that's left is to dish it up!

Serve in bowls, garnished with a drizzle of olive oil and some uncooked, fine-diced celery, onion and green pepper. (For great accompaniments, be sure to add some good bread and a fresh salad!)

To download a copy of the recipe for Cream of Trinity Soup, click HERE.

You’re all set for the chilly weather. Bring on the fall!

Thanks for visiting this site. Please come back next week for another great-tasting, home cooked recipe! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)

Big Fun on the (Jersey) Bayou

While “jambalaya” can refer to a Hank Williams song, or to a famous racehorse, today’s recipe offering has nothing to do with either country music or, thankfully, horse flesh. Instead, it's my version of the classic Louisiana dish whose origins date back to the 1700's. (This is according to the web site of the annual Jambalaya Festival in Gonzales, Louisiana.) If you haven’t yet been fortunate enough to become familiar with jambalaya, it’s a delicious mixture of meats (usually a fish and either poultry or red meat), combined with vegetables and heavily seasoned rice. Depending on what part of Louisiana the version you’re eating originated in, it may or may not include tomatoes.

The Catfish and Sausage Jambalaya recipe below varies from the most stringently traditional jambalayas in a number of ways. (I suppose this is to be expected when a Jersey guy cooks a dish so dear to southern hearts.) First, for the meats this version uses sausage, which is a little unusual but not unheard of, and catfish (rather than shrimp or oysters) which, as far as I know, is completely unheard of but that is easy to use and I feel works well. (If you can't get catfish, swai is an excellent substitute.) Next, the four parts – catfish, sausage, vegetables, and rice mixture – are cooked separately and combined at the end. (This is common among northerners making jambalaya, but, admittedly, is something no self-respecting Louisiana native would ever do.) Finally – and perhaps predictably to anyone who follows Kissing the Cook - the famed trinity of celery, onions and peppers is joined by mushrooms. (Feel free to leave the mushrooms out if you don't like them.)

One final note before we start: as with other recipes, my personal preference is to use a grille pan to cook the fish, sausage and vegetables, but any cooking method you’re comfortable with will do just as well.

To make 4 meal-size servings, begin by preparing the rice mixture as follows:

Into a medium saucepan, put 1 cup of uncooked brown rice; 1-1/2 teaspoons of butter substitute; 2 cups of low fat, low sodium chicken broth; a 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes; 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, 1 bay leaf; ½ teaspoon of dried oregano; ½ teaspoon of chopped thyme; 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt; ½ teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper; and a pinch of cayenne pepper for mild spiciness. (Use ¼ teaspoon of cayenne for a more spicy taste.) Bring just to a boil, then simmer over medium heat until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is fluffy. When the rice is done, add 1/2 tablespoon of dried parsley.

Most of the cooking of the meats and vegetables can be done while the rice is cooking.

Begin heating a grill pan, brush 1 to 1-1/4 pounds of catfish fillets on both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine 1 cup of chopped onion, 1 chopped green bell pepper, 1 chopped red bell pepper, 2 chopped stalks of celery, 8 ounces of sliced mushrooms, and 2 chopped garlic cloves. Toss the vegetable mix with just enough oil to coat lightly.

Grill the fillets (about 4 minutes per side), and then ¾ pound of turkey-sausage meat (removed from the skin and divided into bite-size chunks). Finally, grill the vegetables until they're done and tender but still just a bit crisp.

Cut the catfish into bite-size pieces. Then combine the catfish and sausage with the vegetables and finished rice, and serve.

All you need now is a pick guitar and a filled fruit jar, and you're all set!

Want a notebook-ready, cookbook-style version of this recipe? Let me know in a comment or a note and I'll get it right out to you.

See you next week! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)