Suitable in any season, soup is healthy comfort in a bowl

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - What's more soothing than something simmering on the stove for hours at a time and saturating the air with the fragrant smells of vegetables?

It's hard to top homemade soup _ practically the definition of comfort, the meaning of love.

"I think that psychologically, there's an unconscious connection to infancy, to the feeling that you received this warm liquid nutrition from your mom and you didn't even need to chew it," says food historian Francine Segan. "It really reminds you of that wonderful comfort that needs no fork, knife or teeth."

Soup dates back to the beginning of cooking, when people noticed fat and other nutrients falling off meat being roasted over an open fire, Segan says. Archaeologists have discovered vessels dating back to prehistoric times, capable of holding water, meat and fibrous root vegetables that would soften during boiling.

"(Soup) reaches across every culture and every time period," Segan says. "You see it everywhere - the Mayans, the Native Americans, the Japanese, the Chinese, in Africa - all cultures, all time periods have some form of soup."

Soup became a staple of the European diet during the Dark Ages, according to Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat's "History of Food" (Blackwell Publishing, $32.95, 824 pages). It started as a slice of bread at the bottom of a bowl with broth or soup poured on top _ hence the word "soup," which comes from "sop" or "sup," the book says.

Daniel Pont, chef and owner of Sacramento's La Bonne Soupe Cafe, grew up in France eating soup daily for lunch and dinner, always made from the vegetables in his mother's garden.

"If you don't have soup, how are you going to get all your vitamins? Americans don't eat enough vegetables," he says, decrying problems caused by a lack of fiber in the typical U.S. diet. "People shouldn't be in line at the pharmacy; they should be in line here."

Just before 7 a.m. on weekdays, the smell of boiling onions and leeks wafts from the cheery downtown Sacramento, Calif., lunch spot as Pont prepares his four daily soups. He starts with his French onion soup, then moves on to a vegetable soup. Then he makes two other soups from whatever vegetables looked fresh that morning at the Raley's near his home in Natomas, Calif. It could be pumpkin, cauliflower or bok choy. Perhaps it's asparagus, mushrooms or corn.

"Everybody in my family ... nobody died before turning 90 years old," says Pont, 70, who used to own La Maison, a respected white-tablecloth establishment in Castro Valley, Calif., before semi-retiring to Sacramento. "Whether it's soup or not, I don't know, but I think it has a lot to do with it."

Pont sometimes sells out of his soups, which he purees in a hand-cranked food mill. Diners who miss out (usually after noon) still line up for his made-to-order sandwiches such as brie and prosciutto, braised pork, or smoked salmon with balsamic creme fraîche. They also come for his lilting French-accented English and tidbits of wisdom, such as the two most important things in life: the food in your stomach and the shoes on your feet, he says.

While many cultures have soup year-round with every meal, it is most recognized in the United States when the weather turns cold, says Carolyn Kumpe, chef at East Bay Restaurant Supply, which offers cooking classes to the public, including one on soups.

"When the cooler autumn temperatures settle in, soup makes a perfect meal," Kumpe says. "It warms the body from the inside out."

Soup also has the power to reach into the past, to bring back memories of our childhoods and the people in them.

Cris McKone, a cooking instructor at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, nursed childhood colds by slurping her mother's homemade chicken soup. She continues the tradition with her own kids _ making them chicken soup thickened with miniature pasta.

And good soup starts with a homemade stock, McKone says.

"People think it's some big mystery, but it's easy to do. Just use a package of chicken wings because of the high proportion of bones to meat," she says.

"A good soup is as good as the stock that you use to make it."

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TIPS FOR GOOD SOUP FROM CAROLYN KUMPE, CHEF AT EAST BAY RESTAURANT SUPPLY:

1. Start with an unsalted homemade stock.

2. Pick fresh, ripe and seasonal ingredients like those at a local farmers market.

3. Thicken soups by adding a handful of uncooked pasta or polenta. You may also puree part of the soup and then add it back into the rest to create a chunky-style soup.

4. First, saute vegetables in unsalted butter, a fruity olive oil or a combination of both.

5. If you are using canned beans, be sure to rinse them first.

6. Fresh herbs enliven soup in both color and taste.

7. Layer flavors by finishing soup with a dollop of creme fraîche, pesto, grated cheese, roughly chopped herbs, diced prosciutto or croutons.

8. Immersion blenders make pureeing easy since you can puree in the soup pot. Try an old-fashioned food mill for a rustic, country-style texture.

9. A stainless steel or enamel-coated heavy-bottom soup pot is best for soups. Aluminum and cast iron can react to acidic ingredients and alter a soup's flavor and color.

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ROASTED GARLIC AND BLUE CHEESE BISQUE

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves 6

Recipe by Cris McKone, cooking instructor at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil

30 whole cloves garlic (about 3 heads), peeled

ľ cup dry sherry

˝ cup brandy

5 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced

1 quart chicken stock

2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco

2 cups heavy whipping cream

6 ounces Gorgonzola or other blue cheese

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped chives

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the whole garlic cloves to the pan, decrease the heat to low, and cook until cloves are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Carefully add the sherry and brandy, increase the heat to high, and reduce the liquid by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the diced potatoes and chicken stock, and cook until the potatoes are tender.

Transfer the soup to a large bowl and puree in batches in a blender, then return the soup to the pan. Add the hot pepper sauce and cream, and cook over low heat until the cream almost comes to a boil. Whisk about 4 ounces of the cheese into the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into soup bowls, garnish with the remaining Gorgonzola and chives, and serve hot.

Per serving: 577 cal.; 13 g pro.; 32 g carb.; 38 g fat (25 sat., 11 monounsat., 2 polyunsat.); 132 mg chol.; 862 mg sod.; 2 g fiber; 5 g sugar; 59 percent calories from fat.

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CHICKEN STOCK

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 3 hours, 15 minutes

Makes 3-4 quarts

Recipe by Carolyn Kumpe, chef at East Bay Restaurant Supply.

INGREDIENTS

1 4-pound chicken or 4 pounds of chicken necks, wings and feet

1 large onion, peeled

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 large carrots, peeled

2 ribs of celery with leaves

2 leeks, both white and green part trimmed and rinsed

1 bay leaf

4 peppercorns

3 sprigs of thyme or Italian parsley

INSTRUCTIONS

In a 12-quart stock pot, place chicken and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, skimming any foam that rises to the surface. Turn down the heat and simmer.

When the foam and impurities cease rising, add the vegetables and herbs. Simmer for a minimum of 3 hours.

Strain, reserving the stock. Discard the chicken and vegetables. Cool and refrigerate or freeze.

Per serving: All values negligible.

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POTAGE CRECY OR FRENCH CARROT SOUP

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 35 minutes

Serves 6

Recipe by Daniel Pont, chef-owner of La Bonne Soupe Cafe.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 pounds carrots, thinly sliced

8 cups of water, vegetable stock or chicken stock

3 tablespoons of heavy cream or creme fraîche

Salt and pepper

Chervil or parsley leaves for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add onion and cook until tender but not colored. Add carrots and stir to coat with butter. Add water or stock, and add a pinch of salt. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and cook until very tender.

Puree in a food mill and return to the saucepan. Add cream. Season to taste.

Garnish with chervil or parsley and serve hot.

Per serving: 171 cal.; 6 g pro.; 18 g carb.; 9 g fat (6 sat., 2 monounsat., 1 polyunsat.); 26 mg chol.; 298 mg sod.; 3 g fiber; 10 g sugar; 47 percent calories from fat.

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© 2008, The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.).