Many Great Soups Have Great Roots

Do you ever walk through a supermarket’s produce counter midwinter and feel like a pioneer? The cupboard is almost bare.

The bins are filled with potatoes, rutabagas (which I’ve never heard of anyone eating, even in January), parsnips, onions, carrots and turnips - those sturdy root vegetables that nothing could kill.

There are two ways to regard the situation. One is to give in to precious tomatoes imported from Mexico and other sunny climes, or to deny the season with Chilean peaches. You pay a higher price and the taste isn’t what you’d get in July, but you will have variety.

The second is to accept the offerings with grace and some creativity. Winter ingredients have their own charms just waiting to be discovered. What they lack in delicacy, they make up for in sweetness.

Turnip, Carrot and Potato Soup hardly describes the delicious flavor of the three root vegetables simmered together. The vegetables are cooked, pureed and mixed with half and half, ginger, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, orange juice and maple syrup. The result is hot, spicy and mellow.

To complete the meal prepare a batch of Cornmeal-Cheese Biscuits. Served hot from the oven with a little butter and a bowl of soup, this beats out-of-season raspberries any day.

Turnip, Carrot And Potato Soup

1 tablespoon butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 medium garlic clove, minced

1 small to medium turnip, peeled and diced

1 small red potato, peeled and diced

1 cup sliced carrots (2 large)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup half and half

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1 teaspoon maple syrup

Salt, pepper

Melt butter in medium pan. Add onions and garlic and saute until tender and golden, about 5 minutes. Add turnip, potato, carrots and broth. Cook over medium heat until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. Strain solids into blender container. Reserve broth.

Add half and half, ginger, cayenne and cinnamon to vegetables in blender and puree until smooth. Return puree to broth. Stir in orange juice and maple syrup and simmer 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Yield: 2 entree servings.

Cornmeal-Cheese Biscuits

2/3 cup flour

1/3 cup cornmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup quattro fromaggi cheese (see Note)

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup milk

Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, salt and pepper in bowl or bowl of food processor. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly (use two knives if doing by hand, or with on/off bursts of food processor). Reserve 4 teaspoons cheese and stir in remaining cheese along with egg and milk. (Dough will be sticky.)

Turn dough out onto lightly floured board and knead 10 times. Pat out -inch thick. Cut with 3-inch cutter, making 4 biscuits. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon cheese over each biscuit. Bake at 400 degrees until biscuits are nicely browned, about 15 minutes. (Biscuits will not stay fresh more than a few hours, but can be frozen.)

Yield: 4 biscuits.

Note: This cheese is available in most supermarkets. If not, use a blend of at least two of the following: shredded mozzarella, Romano, Parmesan and fontina cheeses. If using mozzarella, use an equal proportion of a more assertive cheese.

ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: Bev Bennett is food editor of the Chicago Sun-Times and author of four cookbooks.