December 2014
Story & Select Photos by Gail G. Collins
As the cold creeps in, it’s time for winter warmers. Soup is a top pick for nutrition, variety and comfort reasons. Dietary standards urge us to eat eight servings of veg daily, and blending them into a soup helps us to reach that goal. And when pureed, it also fools the finicky eater. Tossing leftovers and the odd vegetables into the slow cooker clears out the fridge and creates one-of-a-kind meals. Then, add lean protein and beans for extra fiber and cook them in the pot to retain the ingredients’ full potential.
Squash, tomatoes and even surplus mashed potatoes or a hunk of cheese can enhance texture, creaminess, vibrancy and dense nutrients. Also, bowls of broth hydrate in heated atmospheres. It’s hard to go wrong with soup, and the best is homemade. But if you’re headed out, try some of Flagstaff’s best soups. Dinner is served.
Josephine’s Modern American Bistro creates daily specials, like most eateries here. The ingredients don’t have to be complicated, but they should boast quality. This kitchen combined garlic, cremini mushrooms, glazed with Chablis and slowly simmered with cream. Thick, sustaining spoonsful revealed the rubble of blitzed fungus for a nice bite and broth, delivering an earthy overall result. Such a dish is the ideal starter. Did you know that when diners eat soup before a meal, they consume 20-percent fewer calories? Dip the ladle.
Charly’s Pub & Grill encourages guests to order the posole. The Mexican classic is served in a fluffy, home-style, crisped flour tortilla with which to snap off and scoop your soup. Tender hunks of pork, hominy and green chile in a clear broth is topped with a salad that includes cilantro, tomatoes, olives and cheese. The dish combines the crunch of summer with the satisfaction of soup, offering year-round appeal. Guests often ask for posole for breakfast with a fried egg atop. Now, there’s an idea.
Cuveé 928 Wine Bar and Restaurant, as you might expect, can pair a wine with their daily soup offering. Their pumpkin-based and spiced soup bumped it up a notch with pork belly, green chile, garlic and ginger, topped with oil and powdered truffle, plus citrus balsamic reduction. The thick, creamy squash with chunks of mushroom and meat presented a mouthful of harvest flavors. Then, slide over a glass of Rioja, Marques de Riscal “Proximo” from Spain to elevate the experience. The dry, dusty red is satisfying sipping.
Coppa Café is a secret in a strip mall with its coffered ceiling, well-loved and mismatched furniture and reminiscent presence of Nona. Owner chefs Brian and Paola Konefal divide the kitchen tasks as: she does pastry; he does savory. All of the soups are pureed, vegetarian and use no cream, creating dietetically approachable choices. They are soothing and surprising—both traditional and new. The minestrone was a creamy blend with fresh taste, enhanced by the roasted tomato compote and drizzle of coriander olive oil. The potato and apple saffron soup was silky with sweetness, dotted with lemon oil and chives for an aromatic bowl. Sop up every drop with the chewy bread roll.
Mountain Oasis International Restaurant whips up three soups daily—vegetarian, vegan and meaty. Owner chef Linda Kouragian suggested the highly requested pumpkin. “Everything that’s in a pumpkin pie and more is in that soup,” she said. The pureed pumpkin is a good consistency with floating flecks of spice throughout, but digging in the spoon brought up tidbits of onion. She’d once been prodded to reveal the recipe to the LA Times, but the ingredient list remains close to the vest. She begins with a mirepoix—onions, celery and carrots—adding cream and butter for a richer mixture.
Buster’s Restaurant and Bar is in its 31st year, and with Jon Schulman’s local love attitude, it’s easy to see why. All of the dishes are prepped on the premises—no frozen products—which allows his seafood chowder to shine on a Friday. “People who know the difference come here,” he said simply. Buster’s offers three soups daily, but a steady stream of guests come for the French onion. The beef stock is made from bones, which takes half a day. People ask for the recipe, and Schulman gives it out, but no one has the time or patience to make it. Add a cartload of caramelized onion and toast topped with a generous roof of flash-fired Swiss cheese to complete the classic. Bust through the crust for hearty broth swimming with ribbons of onion. It doesn’t disappoint.
NAMLM Gail G. Collins