Sunday Oct 30, 2022

Soup & Bread with Crescent Dragonwagon

We are ever-so-lucky to have the delightful and irrepressible Crescent Dragonwagon back with us to talk about another of her wonderful books out in a new edition. This time it’s Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread, a Country Inn Cookbook. Raghavan Iyer says, “Soup and bread in her capable hands create all the right magic for the body and soul,” and that her “recipes sing with flavor.” Below Crescent shares one of her readers’ favorites (as mentioned in this episode), just in time for autumn

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For nearly two decades, Dairy Hollow House—an inn and restaurant tucked into the Ozark Mountain resort town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas—welcomed guests from all over the world. The inn offered sparkling fresh, innovative “nouveau’zarks” cuisine, contemporary interpretations of local traditional cooking. Although now closed, you can still enjoy the satisfying dishes in the 30th anniversary edition of Crescent’s magical book.

 

Greek Lentil and Spinach Soup with Lemon

Makes 4-6 servings

Serve this with couscous salad, a plate of sliced feta and olives, some baba ghanoush with whole-wheat pita, and fresh pineapple and Medjool dates for dessert.

  • 1 lb brown or large green lentils, rinsed and picked over
  • 10 cups vegetable broth or water
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
  • 2 tsp whole coriander seeds
  • 1½ tsp cumin seeds
  • 2½ tsp dried oregano
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 medium Yukon gold, russet or red potatoes (1¼ lbs), scrubbed, cut into ½-inch dice
  • 10 oz baby spinach, chopped
  • 1 small butternut squash (1 lb), peeled, seeded, cut into ½-inch dice (about 3 cups)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 ribs celery, with leaves, sliced
  • 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp kosher salt, or more to taste
  • ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
  • 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2 lemons

Directions:

  1. In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, combine the lentils, stock or water, jalapeño, coriander, cumin, oregano, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer, partially covered, about 30 minutes, until the lentils are tender.
  2. Add the potatoes, spinach and butternut squash, re-cover and cook another 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes and squash are tender.
  3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion, and cook, stirring, until it starts to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the celery and garlic and cook, stirring often, until they soften, 3 minutes. Add the mixture to the soup, deglazing the skillet with a little soup liquid and adding the deglaze contents back to the soup pot. Add the salt and pepper, taste, and add more if needed. Pick out and discard the bay leaves.
  4. Thinly slice one of the lemons and cut the other into wedges. Just before serving, stir the lemon juice into the soup. Serve the soup hot, with a lemon slice floating atop each bowl. Pass lemon wedges at the table.

CRESCENT’S LINKS:

Women Beyond a Certain Age is an award-winning weekly podcast with Denise Vivaldo. She brings her own lively, humorous, and experienced viewpoint to the topics she discusses with her guests. The podcast covers wide-ranging subjects of importance to older women.

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