Three-Day Summer Soup

Start by taking those bags of bones out of your freezer. Maybe you’ve got a couple gallon ziplocs, one with a bone from a picnic ham, some bones from steaks and pork chops and lamb shanks you’ve saved, another with a chicken or duck carcass and some turkey drumsticks. Put them in a good-sized pot, maybe eight or ten quarts. Add a couple bay leaves, some fenugreek, black pepper, cumin, sage, thyme. Fill it about three quarters of the way up with water. Put the cover on and keep it at a low boil for three hours or so. You’ll lose some water; that’s fine.

Once it’s got a nice, savory flavor, take it off the heat and let it cool. Use another big pot and a fine wire mesh strainer to get everything out of the liquid. Throw all the solid stuff away and put the strained broth in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, skim all the fat off the top: it’ll be easy when it’s cold.

After you’ve skimmed off the fat, cut up four or five carrots, an onion, and five or six stalks of celery. Add with water to the broth until that big pot is three-quarters full again. Put on a low boil for an hour and a half to two hours, until all the vegetables are soft and their more aromatic flavors have nicely tempered the richness of the bone broth. Again, it’s OK — ideal, in fact — to lose some of the liquid to evaporation.

Strain the broth again, discarding the cooked vegetables and keeping only the pure liquid — maybe half a pot or so at this point, maybe a little less. Look in your cupboard and see what kind of canned tomatoes you’ve got. I found a small can of nice tomato paste and a big can of generic tomato sauce, and they worked fine. I had also put in a little too much celery and onion, so I compensated by adding a can of beef broth. Put in some more water until the pot is about two-thirds full.

Add spices. As you’ll see in a bit, I was going for something a little bit like gazpacho, but with the barest hint of cocktail sauce: cumin, dried chipotle chili powder, black pepper, dried wasabi powder, a little more fenugreek. I didn’t have any cilantro, but if I had, it would have replaced some of the celery. A couple shots of Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce (I like the golden habanero kind, since it’s less vinegary than Tabasco) might be nice. Simmer for half an hour or so, until the flavors start to mix.

While you’re simmering the broth, hard-boil two eggs and finely dice four or five cloves of garlic. Dice the boiled eggs and mash them together with the garlic and a tablespoon of olive oil. Make sure you taste the soup while you’re doing this, since putting the egg mixture in will be your last chance to add spices: it should have a nice, subtle kick to it that takes a few moments to register on your tongue. If necessary, add some cayenne, wasabi, hot curry powder, or whatever you like to the mashed mixture of eggs, garlic, and olive oil. Take the soup off the heat and add the egg mixture while it’s still warm. Stir until it dissolves: the egg yolks will give the soup some nice body, and will help disperse the flavors of the garlic and spices.

While the soup starts to cool, thaw two pounds of frozen, pre-cooked shelled shrimp in a colander under cold running water for five minutes. If the tails are still on, it’s good to take them off. Put the shrimp into the soup, stir, and put the pot in the fridge overnight again.

About three hours before you’re ready to serve the soup, use a potato peeler to peel two cucumbers and slice them finely. Put the cucumber slices into the soup and stir. The soup keeps well for the most part — it should last four or five days in the refrigerator — but know that the cucumbers will get soggy, so it’s best to eat it as soon as possible.

I know it’s really a summer dish at heart, but I’ve just seen the first tiny bits of green on some of the trees this week, so call me a little eager. Serve chilled, and enjoy.