Book Feast Pt. 1: Watercress Soup

And here 'tis at last, the long-anticipated Watercress Soup recipe!

First you need a little background information. Last year, when I was away at college, I planned to have a huge feast with my family when I returned home for Christmas break. Moreover, I determined that I would have the feast on January 3, which is JRR Tolkien's birthday.

Out of respect for the master of words, I further decided that my feast would be based on literature itself. That is, I would take recipes based on foods mentioned in books that all my family could recognize, and then serve them in one enormous meal fit for a bookworm!

Ultimately, this is what I did. I cooked all the courses on my own--which was exhausting but one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life, absolute madness--and searched books for mentions of food.

First course, naturally, was a delectable soup. I absolutely adore soup. And the soup to end all soups is, of course, the beautiful 'chicken and garlic and watercress soup' which plays such an important part in the beautiful story "The Tale of Despereaux".

This is the soup that Chiaroscuro pined for in the darkness of the dungeon, the soup that was so good it healed his broken heart (sort of). The soup that the Queen loved so much, the King outlawed it when she died. The soup that gave Despereaux courage and that Cook broke the law to brew. And it was the soup that everyone enjoyed when the story at last found its happy ending.

Now, it is also a soup that you can enjoy. Quite simple, and every bit as delicious as the soup you've dreamed about ever since reading Kate DiCamillo's novel. It has the chicken stock, it has the garlic, it has the watercress. This recipe is based upon one which I found on the internet, but I modified it a lot, and am very pleased with the result.

Watercress Soup

‘“Yes,” said Cook. “That is soup that you are smelling. The princess, not that you would know or care, is missing, bless her goodhearted self. And times are terrible. And when times are terrible, soup is the answer. Don’t it smell like the answer?”'

-The Tale of Despereaux

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter

4 cups sliced onions

4 cups sliced potatoes

8 cups chicken stock

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 bunches of watercress, thoroughly washed and coarsely chopped

3 or 4 cloves of garlic, minced (NOTE: I think this is how much I used. I improvised at the time of cooking once I realized the recipe had no garlic in it! Anyway, just put in how much you think would be good.)

Procedure:

In a large saucepan with a lid, melt the butter over low heat. Stir in onions, cover, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft but not brown. Stir in potatoes, stock, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover pan, and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes. Add watercress for last 5 minutes of simmering. Serve while hot!

. . . And that's it! Easy! The original recipe called for you to add milk, cream everything in a blender, and then chill. Pah! Keep it with all the ingredients whole, don't add milk, and serve hot. Seriously.

To further whet your appetites, here's a (fuzzy) photo of the

 finished soup. And please realize the above recipe serves A LOT of people. It fed my family of . . . nine. Nine who were old enough to eat the soup, anyway. So just adjust the recipe to fit your needs.

Happy chefing!

Next Recipe: Pasta Puttanesca