Soup

The fall weather has inspired me to try some new soups. 


I recently enjoyed a delicious lobster bisque from Costco.  Excellent.


Yesterday I made a tasty Tarragon Broccoli Soup:

1/2 c. diced onions
2 t. olive oil
1 clove garlic
3 c. chicken stock
2 c. chopped broccoli florets
1 small red potato, peeled and diced
2 T. minced fresh parsley
1/2 t. dried tarragon
salt and pepper
1/4 c.  sour cream

Saute onions in oil for 5 minutes over medium heat, until tender.  Add garlic and stir for another 1 minute.
Add stock, broccoli, potato, parsley and tarragon.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then simmer over medium heat  for 10-15 minutes until vegetables are tender, adding some salt and pepper to taste while cooking.  Remove from heat and add sour cream.
Serves 4


The sour cream makes this soup so nice.  It is a nice cross between brothy and creamy.  Just right.

Walnut Oil

For Christmas I treated myself to a can of walnut oil (hazelnut oil, too, but haven't tried that yet.)

On Christmas Day we tried a simple vinagrette from the La Tourangelle website (www.latourangelle.com):

Tarragon Walnut Vinagrette

Mix 1/4 c. shallots (we used scallions)
3 T. white wine vinegar
4 T. chopped fresh tarragon (we used 2 T. dried)
1 t. dijon mustard
7 T. walnut oil
salt and pepper


This was a dressing much better on salad than with bread, although Rebecca thought the tarragon taste was too much. I thought it was very good. The walnut oil has a wonderful scent, and although the tarragon scent and taste were very strong, you could still taste the nutty flavor of the oil.