Shadows Restaurant Soup

Shadows Restaurant, offering "continental" (German/Swiss) and traditional American cuisine, was a beloved establishment owned by Dave Rasmussen, 1960s SFO cocktail bar concessionaire. The San Mateo location was at 213 2nd Ave. near Ellsworth (until recently, Ben Tre Vietnamese Homestyle, and now Daeho Kalbijjim & Beef Soup). The San Francisco location was 1349 Montgomery Street, next to the Filbert Steps on Telegraph Hill. That location reopened in 1996 as Dalla Torre Ristorante e Bar, then closed in 2006 and is now a private residence.

(Recipe lightly edited from http://www.stphilipsbrevard.org/recipes/german_lentil_soup.pdf.)

Ingredients:

• 1 ¹⁄₂ cups dried lentils
• 4 oz. thinly sliced bacon, cut into small squares
• 1 lg. or 2 med. onions, finely chopped
• 2-3 med. carrots, small dice
• 6 stalks celery, small dice
• 3-6 cloves garlic, to taste, minced
• 1 lg. or 2 med. waxy-type potatoes, peeled and cut into ¹⁄₄" dice
• 2 whole cloves (place with bay leaves in cheese-cloth bundle)
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 quarts turkey stock^*
• 2 Tbsp. Amore-brand tomato paste^**
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 ¹⁄₂ cup garlic sausage (kiełbasa or Polish), cut into ¹⁄₈" thin slices
• 2 leeks, white portions only, sliced thin
• 1 tsp. salt
• Plenty of freshly ground pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Soak lentils in 1 quart of the stock overnight in the refrigerator. (They will double in bulk.)

In a stock pot, sauté bacon until it is partially crisp, then add onions, carrots, and celery. When vegetables are tender, add garlic and sauté 2-3 minutes longer. Add lentils soaked in stock, remaining stock, potatoes, cloves, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, until the lentils are tender (probably an hour or two; you be the judge), stirring occasionally. You may have to add some water, if it becomes too thick. Skim off the scum that develops on top, from time to time. Remove spice packet. Place about half of the soup stock in a blender and purée, then add back to the pot. (This will make for a smoother soup.)

Add tomato paste, vinegar, garlic sausage, leeks, salt, and pepper. Cook until leeks are tender, about ¹⁄₂ hour. Adjust seasoning to taste. You may wish to skim off any fat that cooks out of the sausage.

Cook's Notes:

^*Do not substitute chicken stock. Turkey stock may be available at specialty markets, or find & use "Better Than Bouillon Turkey Base" (8 oz. jar, concentrate paste).

^**Amore-brand concentrated tomato paste comes as a 2-pack of 4.5 oz. tubes packaged in a box, and provides more-intense tomato flavour and avoids the metallic taste canned paste sometimes brings. Kept refrigerated after opening, the paste will keep for quite a few weeks. This product of Italy may be available in higher-end stores, or can be ordered off the Internet.

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Collected and re-published at http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/recipes/shadow-soup.html by Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> on Sept. 20, 2022. Individual recipes are free from copyright. Share and enjoy!

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