Tag Archives: soup

Soured on the Kitchen

Somehow, I had two lemon halves, plus a wedge, in the fridge. I knew about one of the halves, but when I went digging for it, I suddenly realized I had a second. That was kind of embarrassing, because it meant I’d cut open a whole new lemon when I needed a half and had a half ready to go.

A close up of two half lemons and a lemon wedge in a plastic container. To their left is a baggie of carrots.

This is kind of the story of my kitchen functioning right now. It’s low. Very low. Some of it is the recuperating I’ve previously mentioned and some is the fact that occasionally I sleep for more than 10 hours in a night. Unfortunately, some is just a complete lack of want to do things in the kitchen.

Bill and I both get this way sometimes.… Continue reading →

Food Links for a Monday

Almost 10 years ago, the oldest known cookbook written (in 1866) by a free black woman was unearthed at University of Michigan. The next oldest Black cookbook that historians know of wasn’t published for another fifteen years, in 1881. That historical rareness, it turns out, isn’t merely an artifact of earlier times. It’s the norm; very few cookbooks written by black authors have been published over the years. Making the past two months (Sept and Oct) “anomalous” in having six cookbooks released by black women in that time. This link is an interesting one that discusses such history in greater depth, and touches on current reality, including mentioning my perennial favorite, Angela Davis of Kitchenista Diaries.

“Ecosystems all around the world are warming up due to global climate change, says Pershing, but the Gulf of Maine is ahead of the curve.… Continue reading →

Redo Two!

Okay, we’ve probably actually redone this particular recipe, the White Bean and Spinach Soup from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, seven or eight times.

However, I think this is only the second time I’ve posted about a replication. The first time, found here, is about the garnishes Katzen calls for (and how they were no good). This time, I want to discuss freezing the soup.

Basically, it doesn’t freeze well. Most of it does, but the greens do not. I’m not really sure why they don’t, since I expected it to freeze well. However, the freeze and reheat cycle leaves them disintegrating and not terribly palatable. I’m sure this isn’t a microwave issue, simply because reheating the following day is fine.

This makes a pretty sizable recipe, though, so I’ve been considering ways in which it could be changed to freeze better.… Continue reading →

Redo!

We just made the “White Bean and Spinach soup”:http://www.metacookbook.com/archives/15-7-White-Bean-and-Spinach-Soup.html from early June again today.

I decided to make it again because I realized we had everything on hand (even though I swore we wouldn’t use canned beans again), and it’d be fast. It wasn’t as fast as I thought it would be, but it was still pretty fast and tasty.

It wasn’t as good as last time. I blame, partially, that I forgot to add the salt right away. It didn’t really have as much time to marry the flavors together.

Finally, we did have nutmeg and cheese on hand for garnishing this time. Totally not worth it. The nutmeg added an extremely odd note to the dish, especially on the occasions I got a strong mouthful of it.… Continue reading →

[12] Escarole, White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup

Cover of Cooking for Two: 120 Recipes for Every Day and Those Special Nights by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough

Right now, you’re probably saying “wait, didn’t they already make this once? 13 entries and they can’t keep from repeating?” Well, WE CAN’T HEAR YOU, YOUR MICROPHONE ISN’T ON.

I mean, ah… Not exactly. This is a recipe out of a different book. Last time we used spinach instead of escarole, and this one has roasted garlic in it! What isn’t better with roasted garlic1?

Natasha made this dinner, but I’m typing it up for her.

h2. Ingredients

3 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 T olive oil

2 oz pancetta, finely chopped

1 sm onion, finely chopped

1 small head escarole (~12 oz), cored, shredded and washed, but not dried

14.5 oz can of chicken stock (we used home-made!)

1/4 t rubbed sage (we used whole, kind of chopped up.… Continue reading →