Artichoke Soup

Artichoke Soup

Many years ago, when my husband and I were first married we took a trip to New Orleans with good friends of ours, T.K. and Laurie. It rained most of the trip, but that didn’t stop us from having a great time and seeing all the sites. One of my favorite memories was from a lunch that we enjoyed one afternoon. Laurie had read about a restaurant in a travel book and wanted to give it a try it. We had arrived a little early and the chef/owner had the back door open while receiving deliveries. When we peeked in, the chef welcomed us in, even though the restaurant wasn’t open for lunch yet. He was beyond friendly and surprised to hear that we had heard about his restaurant in a book. The four of us enjoyed wonderful Cajun specialties and still talk about the experience over 37 years later.

His wife who was the hostess, came over with a cookbook that they had published, and my friend Laurie purchased the book. One of the recipes in the book was this artichoke soup.  I wish we could remember the name of the restaurant and the chef that created the recipe but unfortunately none of us can, and Laurie no longer has the cookbook. We can only remember the enjoyable meal and fun experience we had.  

Artichoke Soup

• 8-9 cups of chicken broth
• 2 onions chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic chopped
• 2 cans of artichoke hearts drained and halved
• 1 stick of butter
• small hand full of vermicelli
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 2 teaspoons basil
• Pinch of thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste
• *2 tablespoons of flour (to make the roux)

Steps

Cover the bottom of the pot with olive oil and melt one stick of butter into the oil. Sauté the onions until clear then add the garlic and the artichoke hearts. Simmer all a bit then add the roux. After the mixture is smooth add the broth.

The Roux

Dissolve the 2 tablespoons of flour into ½ cup of COLD water. Make sure to mix well then add to the butter, onion olive oil mixture and stir until smooth before you add the broth.

Cook for about 30 minutes then add just a handful of thin vermicelli and cook around 10 minutes longer.

The original recipe suggested adding oysters in place of the vermicelli. This creates more of a Cajun flair. I haven’t ever given that a try, but I will say I’ve had always compliments whenever I serve this soup with the vermicelli and I’ve been making it for years.

Recently text my friend Laurie, that I was making the soup. She wanted to make the soup too, however she didn’t have the artichokes. I’m not sure that’s possible I told her. However, she is a fabulous cook and had ripe tomatoes on hand. Using tomatoes as her main ingredient she sent me a picture and it looked delicious! When you put garlic, onions, and butter together with a little olive oil there is no telling the possibilities. I guess the moral of this story is to be adventurous in the kitchen.