Friday 25 September 2020

Pecan Soup

Mr P. and I did the backpacking thing years ago.  We started in Greece, travelled through Europe and Britain, and ended up staying with a friend in her Philadelphia home for a few months.  We were her pet Aussies, you could say :-)  'Yes, we speak English at home; yes we have a democracy, okay yes, we sound like we come from Boston ....'  As a going away present, she gave me a book called The American Table by Ronald Johnson - over 400 recipes of American regional cooking. 

    I have often made Ronald's Shaker cornbread, and have finally (after how many years?) got around to making this pecan soup recipe.  I was inspired by seeing former food blogger Tiffin Fiona's photo on Facebook of fresh pecans from the farm.  Phew, now there's a sentence ...  I ordered a one kilo bag of pecan pieces, fresh and nutty, unlike the raggedy old things you buy in the supermarkets.  They were perfect for this soup.  (Ronald suggests buying new-crop nuts and keeping them in the freezer for later.)


© Sherry's Pickings         


an ancient edition :-)


Serves 4-6:


ingredients:


2 tbs butter

2 tbs flour

1 cup (250 mL) chicken stock, heated

3 cups (750 mL) milk, scalded - i.e. just brought to boiling

1 generous cup (115g.) fresh pecans - I used 125 grams

a biiiig pinch of sea salt flakes

a dash or six of Tabasco sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 egg yolks

1 cup (250 mL) thickened cream

sour cream for serving - optional


Method:


Melt the butter in a large saucepan, stir in the flour and keep stirring for a few minutes over medium heat

Tip in the stock and milk all together, and stir for a few minutes till it starts to thicken

Now pour half this milky mixture into a food processor or blender, chuck in the pecans and blitz - you want a nice, grainy consistency

Tip this back into the saucepan, give it a good stir and simmer without a lid for 30 minutes - check and stir a few times

Now add the salt, Tabasco and Worcester, and simmer for another ten minutes

Whisk the egg yolks into the cream, take the saucepan off the stove and then whisk the eggy cream into the soup

Warm it gently for a few minutes back on the heat

Serve with sour cream if using - we didn't as we thought it was creamy enough:-)

Check for seasoning - you may want to add a bit more salt, and maybe a wee bit of black pepper


  

ingredients gathered


in go the stock and milk


half the milky mixture plus the pecans get blitzed


simmer for 30 minutes

whisk the egg yolks into the cream


pour the eggy cream into the soup


and enjoy this creamy, nutty soup



artwork © Sherry's Pickings


40 comments:

  1. I have lived here forever, and in the south where pecans are plentiful and have never heard of pecan soup. When the nuts start to fall I am going to ask my SIL if I can come to their farm and gather some to try this.

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  2. I want some! As a kid I had lots of peanut soup and I miss the nuttiness and creaminess of it. This is definitely right up my alley. Thanks for sharing this great soup recipe, Sherry.

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    1. thanks angie. it is a most delicate and creamy soup.

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  3. I'm with Anne above: I've never heard of pecan soup, which sounds almost painfully rich with egg, nuts, cream. I would also assume it's southern, as that's where the pecan trees grow. I'll await your discoveries of yet more unknown (to Americans) American recipes from that book.

    be well... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. Ronald's book has been in print for nearly 40 years so someone must like it! the book i mean:)

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  4. I've never heard of pecan soup but it sounds delicious. All my favorite ingredients!

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    1. ok i give up. nobody knows this soup, so ronald is definitely making it up:-)

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  5. Golly! I haven't had pecan soup in decades, and I've never made it. Had it a couple of times when we lived in Texas. This recipe looks terrific -- thanks.

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    1. i'm glad somebody has heard of it KR! it is a lovely delicate soup; a great little starter to a meal.

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  6. What a lovely book cover! That soup looks super nice. If pecan was accessible here, I would definitely give it a try. Also, your travel story made me miss traveling so much!

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    1. hi unknown
      isn't it a lovely cover? i fear travel will be a long time coming...

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  7. What a interesting soup! Never heard of anything like it, although I have made soup with walnuts!

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    1. hi judee
      such an interesting and different soup. so delicate.

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  8. I am an American living in Michigan and I've never heard of this soup. Must be a Southern recipe like from Mississippi where pecan trees grow.

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    1. hi judi
      yes i do believe it's a southern US recipe!

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  9. I have never heard of pecan soup but now I want some in the worst way! Don't know if you know this - but Arizona has a big pecan industry, so I will be making it with local pecans. Can't wait to try this Sherry!

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    1. hi david
      nope i didn't know that about arizona and pecans:) Go for it, my friend.

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    2. We were just out for a walk on one of the canyons south of us and drove through miles and miles of pecan orchards. None of the stands were open yet but I got their online store information. I’m ordering and can’t wait!

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  10. I've made a similar almond soup and it's delicious! Haha I never thought that we sounded like we came from Boston but it's quite possible we do!

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    1. they kept asking us to say 'car'. bostonians drop the r sound at the end like we do.

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  11. I have heard of hickory soup, only because it is a local American Indian staple where i live. But never pecan soup. Only pecan butter (which is outrageously good and I used it to make a chocolate pecan mousse once!). Anyway, fascinating. I’ve never heard of Ronald, but then, I don’t know everything!!!

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    1. mm that choc pecan mousse sounds wonderful. on your blog? this book is ancient so Ronald has probably passed on to the kitchen in the sky...

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  12. I've always thought it would be fun to backpack across Europe! In another lifetime, I could've seen myself doing that. Oh, the things you must have seen! This is the first I've heard of pecan soup, and I am really intrigued. I do love pecans, but I've never blitzed them into a soup before. Also, I laughed out loud at your "a dash or six" of Tabasco. :-)

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    1. hi david
      i think another few dashes would have gone down well:) we love a bit of heat in this house. glad i could give you a laugh, my friend.

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  13. Fatty but not greasy! I love this dish so much! One bowl is never enough for me!

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    1. really dennis? I'm surprised you know of it, as so many people haven't heard of it.

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  14. Sherry, I grew up in Pecan country (Texas) and have fond memories of my granny making pecan soup. She would shell and pick the fresh pecans that we picked up from around the trees. Then she would grind them in a hand grinder she had and make the soup. It was served with homemade sweet cornbread. She also made a sweet potato and pecan soup that was very good. We don't get fresh pecans here and the old ones you can get are too bloody expensive. Thanks for the memories...

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    1. wow that's great to know pecan soup really is a 'thing', Ron. sweet potato and pecans - mm sounds interesting too. Lots of other fun recipes in this book...

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  15. This is something new to me but it looks so creamy good! Keeping this recipe to make it in the future.

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    1. thanks raymund. it is very soothing and delicate on the stomach.

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  16. Wow, I'm hearing this pecan soup for the first time, Great way to include nuts in your diet. My kids don't like to eat pecans, let me try making this soup, it looks so creamy and good, thank you posting a great recipe, sherry!

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    1. hi aarthi
      yes it is creamy and delicate. a good way to get some nuts into you:)

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  17. Serendipity- I was thinking about making this soup to begin a special dinner this weekend, and because I'm at work and my cookbooks are at home and this book isn't yet indexed at Eat Your Books, I googled "Ronald Johnson pecan soup" and found your blog! We are lucky enough to have friends who grow pecans in Oklahoma, and they send us some every year, which we keep in the freezer.

    I found this book at a library sale about ten years ago and love it, and I've located two of his others, Company Fare and Simple Fare, both very good. Unfortunately Johnson has indeed left this life. He was a poet and an interesting character.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Johnson_(poet)



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    1. hi there julie
      thanks for dropping by my blog. i'm glad someone has heard of ronald! so you've made this soup before? such an interesting fellow he must have been. i noticed you have never added a post to your own blog??

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    2. I've never made the soup, but I'm planning to tomorrow. We're having rack of lamb for a belated anniversary dinner and I thought a cup of it would make a nice starter. I've liked everything I've cooked from Ronald's books so far!

      Sadly I've been far too disorganized to blog- I admire everyone who does. Maybe once I get about 20 other things on the to-do list done....

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    3. that's great. yes blogging is actually a pretty hefty time hogger! a blog post takes hours and hours when you think about the cooking and the writing and the photos etc...

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    4. The soup was delicious! Very rich and creamy, so a cup was plenty. My husband roasted the lamb, and I made brussels sprouts with lardons from Amanda Hesser's The Cook and the Gardener and Nigella Lawson's bread-sauce-flavored potato gratin. I'd thought about making dessert, but we were all too full.

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    5. you're right - it is very rich! your meal sounds delicious. i love brussels sprouts! and thank heavens so does hubby.

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