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Hello The Jewish Table Readers!
I’ve got a delicious soup recipe for you, that would be a wonderful addition to your Rosh Hashanah table (or any dinner in September or early October). But first:
TONIGHT! The Jewish Table x Portico Cookbook Club
I’m so looking forward to cooking stuffed tomatoes from PORTICO and chatting with you this evening, Wednesday, Sept 13 at 7:30pm EST. If you already expressed interest in joining, you should have received the Zoom link in an email. If you didn’t get it, or would still like to join, let me know in the comments before 5pm EST today, and I’ll send you the link.
The Jewish Table x PORTICO Cookbook Club is open to paid newsletter subscribers only. But if you upgrade to a paid subscription today, you can definitely join in tonight—just give me a holler!
Orange and Red Soup
Sometime shortly after July 4th, I noticed the creep towards pumpkin spice season beginning. Call me basic, but I live for autumn’s apple picking, cozy boots and scrunchy socks, leaf-crunching vibes. But if we rush too quickly into #sweaterszn, we miss out on the beauty of the moment we are in right now—Late Summer Meets Early Fall.
You know what I’m talking about:
Farmer’s market hauls that include both eggplants and root veggies.
The dwindling (but still kicking!) cherry tomato plant on the terrace.
Mornings that require sweaters and uncomfortably warm afternoons.
A pile of sandy-bottomed buckets and water shoes still crowding the foyer from a not-too-long-ago trip to the beach.
Sunflowers half as tall as the houses they are planted next to.
That first urge for hot coffee after a summer of iced.
A building sense of anticipation as we get ready to mark a New Year.
The urgent, but also centering, wail of the shofar.
Yellow jackets. So many buzzing yellow jackets.
In celebration of the moment of transition, I offer you this Orange and Red Soup. It is riff of the Orange Soup (Marak Katom) in The Jewish Cookbook. Marak katom, which literally translates from Hebrew as “orange soup” refers not to juicy citrus, but to the soup’s bright color. Most versions of marak katom are made with some combination of butternut squash, carrots, and/or sweet potatoes, giving the pottage a sunset hue and silky richness.
My Orange and Red Soup still looks rather orange, but includes a secret extra ingredient in homage to the changing seasons. (Psst. It’s tomatoes.) As it turns out, the acidity of summery red tomatoes plays rather nicely with the hearty fall vegetables. I spice the soup with fresh ginger and warm cinnamon, which both evoke fall, but also add curry powder for brightness. All that flavor with a little zip of lime zest and juice added at the table equals a perfect transitional soup that celebrates both where we’ve been and where we are headed.
In her recent Dinner: A Love Story newsletter, the inimitable Jenny Rosenstrach shared another of my favorite summer-meets-fall recipes: the Chicken with Peppers (Pollo con Peperoni) from PORTICO.
If you are still on the lookout for a Rosh Hashanah main dish, turn to page 222 of PORTICO, or go snag the recipe over on Dinner: A Love Story. (Thanks Jenny!)
Meanwhile, you can find the Orange and Red Soup recipe below. Whether you are hosting a vegetarian Rosh Hashanah dinner (or need a chicken soup alternative for the vegetarians at your table), or want to tuck this recipe away for a Shabbat or weeknight dinner in the next month or so, I have a feeling you will love it.
Orange and Red Soup
This hearty soup is rich and filling, so serve it in smaller portions—a little goes a long way.
Serves 6-8
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