For the ninth year in a row, my plans to eat at the bistro Black Trumpet in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, have been thwarted. My family gathers in York, Maine, every year for the Fourth of July, and the restaurant has been on my list for years. Sometimes it’s lack of a baby sitter, while other years it’s been a pandemic that’s kept me away.
This year their June menu offered a chilled hakurei turnip soup with curry oil, radishes and cherries that got in my head like a catchy song that won’t go away until I play it. Not only did it sound extremely delicious, but everything was basically already in my fridge.
Hakurei turnips and radishes have been coming in the CSA for the past few weeks, and I have been enjoying cherries along with all the other stone fruits of the season. Curry oil had to be something I could make, I convinced myself.
The dish was marked vegetarian on the menu, but I did call the restaurant to see if there was dairy in the soup. Yes, the kind hostess told me, it’s made with creme fraiche. My husband was annoyed that I phoned, saying I misrepresented myself as a journalist to steal their recipe. But this wasn’t about an article, I argued, this was about soup!
I had a large shallot I first sauteed in lots of butter, then I added the garlic. The light green of a leek would also do the trick, because I wanted something with less bite than an onion. Next came the prepped turnips. I used a Yukon Gold potato to thicken the broth. I used water and mushroom Better Than Bouillion for my stock, although a boxed or homemade stock would also work. After I cooked the soup, I let it cool before adding the creme fraiche.
Googling around led me to several curry oil recipes, and I chose the one that didn’t need an overnight in the fridge. The oil and curry cooked in a small metal bowl in my toaster oven while I cooked the soup. I prepped the radishes and cherries while the soup cooked on my stovetop until my cherry pitter broke.
The results were delicious: The soup was soft and subtle, cherries and radishes played off each other, while the taste of curry lingered in my mouth. It was also stunning to look at. I hope you’ll consider making it, especially if restaurants are still not safe for you to visit.
Ingredients
4 baseball-sized turnips (about 3½ cups), peeled and cut into half-inch pieces
1 large 2 small Yukon Gold potatoes (about ½ cup), peeled and cut into the same size as the turnips
One quarter cup shallot, or else the light-green section of a leek
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tablespoons butter
Kosher salt
Extra virgin olive oil
4 cups stock
One quarter cup creme fraiche
15 cherries, pitted and quartered
4 radishes, diced
For the curry oil
4 teaspoons curry
One half-cup peanut or vegetable oil
Directions
First, prep the curry oil:
Preheat oven to 300F.
In a very small metal bowl or measuring cup, combine curry powder with oil. Set on baking sheet and cook in lower third of oven for 40 minutes. Cool on rack for 30 minutes.
Line a small strainer with several layers of cheesecloth. Strain oil into glass jar. Flavored oil keeps, covered loosely and refrigerated at all times, 1 month.
Next, make the soup:
In a medium saucepan, melt butter over a medium flame. Add the chopped shallot and a pinch of kosher salt, and saute until softened and transparent, about 12 minutes. At the 10 minute mark, add the garlic.
Once the shallot is softened, add the turnips, potato and another pinch of salt, and stir until the vegetables are coated in the buttery shallots.
Add stock. Bring to boil, then turn down to simmer, until turnip and potato have softened, about 25 minutes. Prep your radishes and cherries during this time.
Test the turnip by poking it with a fork. It will slide through when fully cooked. Turn off heat and move soup off the burner. Wait until the soup has cooled down considerably before adding the creme fraiche. Process until smooth in a blender or with an immersion blender.
To chill the soup, we placed ours in an ice bath — a bowl of cold water full of ice cubes — and put it all in the fridge.
Once the soup has chilled, ladle soup into soup bowls, generously drizzle the curry oil, and add equal portions of radishes and cherries to the bowl.
Molly Parr lives in Florence with her husband and two young daughters. She’s been writing her food blog, Cheap Beets, since 2010. Send questions or comments to molly.parr@gmail.com.