Some friends invited me over to watch "Secretariat" this weekend, so I suggested we do dinner and the movie Sunday evening, and I'll bring soup. They thought that sounded great. So when I met CS for breakfast Saturday morning, I brought my soup cookbooks and we looked through The Glorious Soups and Stews of Italy: Seasonal Soups and Stews--Italian Style! that my dad had given me for Christmas several years ago. She thought the Cream of Asparagus Soup with Pearled Barley sounded good, and so did I; but it was in "Chapter 4 Primavera: Recipes for Spring," so I said we'll look forward to having that one in a few months. We looked through "Chapter 3 Inverno: Recipes for Winter" and picked one that sounded yummy and doable: Minestra Di Pasta Grattata (Grated Pasta Soup). Looked like simple ingredients--beef broth and pasta--and sounded pretty easy, so I thought I'd just swing by the grocery store on my way home to get the ingredients.
I felt kind of silly taking my cookbook into the store, but turned out to be a good thing I had it. Upon closer reading, I saw it said "A rich homemade beef broth is essential to the integrity of this soup," and it directed me to "Sostanzioso Brodo di Manzo" (Rich Roasted Beef Broth) on p. 25. I already have sea salt and extra-virgin olive oil, and I had no trouble finding the carrots, celery, fresh baby bella mushrooms, large yellow onions, and fresh thyme. I don't like cloves, and since it didn't say they're "essential to the integrity of the flavor," I decided it would be fine without those. That left 2 1/2 pounds of boneless stewing beef such as chuck, cut into 3-in pieces, and 2 1/2 pounds of beef marrowbones. I went to the meat counter and the nice butcher showed me the chuck beef for stew they had but it was cut in 1" cubes. He had boneless chuck that wasn't cut and said he would be glad to cut it, but was I sure I wanted 3" pieces? I showed him the recipe in the cookbook, and he said, OK, sure enough, that's what it says, and he went to cut it for me. Meanwhile, the other nice young man working at the meat counter took me to show me where the marrowbones were in the meatcase, and I picked out a couple of packages that totaled about 2 1/4 pounds instead of 2 1/2 and hoped that would suffice.
The opening paragraph of this soup recipe says "Pasta grattato is a clever way to enjoy homemade pasta without a lot of work; you simply grate pieces of dough on the large holes of a box grater to create little shavings." (Note to self: check when I get home to see if I have a box grater. I don't think I do, but for some reason, I'm thinking I may have used one once, but maybe that was at someone else's house.) The recipe then tells how to make the Pasta Grattata: "Mix and knead the pasta dough as directed in the recipe...." Recipe? What recipe? I can't just buy pasta dough? Sheesh. OK. I see over in the left-hand column where it says 1 batch of Pasta all'Uovo (p. 31), so I turn to that page and find a whole other recipe for Pasta all'Uovo (Fresh Egg Pasta Dough). I know I have sea salt and extra-virgin olive oil, and I'm pretty sure I have a little thing of nutmeg (I'm not gonna care that it's not freshly grated). It calls for 3 extra-large eggs, but they don't come in a carton of six, and I'll never use a dozen XL eggs, so I just get a carton of a half-dozen large eggs and wonder if 4 large eggs would be equivalent to 3 extra-large ones, or if I should just use 3 large ones. I pick up a bag of unbleached all-purpose flour and search fruitlessly for semolina flour. It only calls for 1 tablespoon (plus some more to sprinkle on the work surface), but it seems to be important for making pasta. I read the packages of all the different types of flour and don't see any that say they can be used instead of semolina, or used in pasta. Remembering that my dad had found a section in my cookbook that provided info. about pancetta and prosciutto, I look to see if it says anything about semolina. Sure enough, it says it's a pale yellow flour made from durum (hard) wheat. So, I pick up a little bag of Organic Whole Wheat flour and hope that will work, even though it doesn't say anything about being made from durum.
When I got home, I looked in my cabinets for a box grater, and I didn't have one, so I started a shopping list. I then skimmed over the pasta dough recipe, and it said "...set up your pasta machine with the rollers on the widest setting...." Wait--what pasta machine? I don't have a pasta machine. And besides, I thought the dough was just to be grated, not put through a machine. I asked a couple of friends, CS and BS, if they had one I could borrow, but neither did. I looked on K-mart on-line, and they have a couple of electric ones on sale...for $139.99 and $143.99. That would be an expensive pot of soup. They also have a hand-cranked one for $29.99. Muuuuuch better. I went in to work Saturday afternoon and then went to our women's basketball game (which we won, yay!), so I swung by K-mart on my way home but they said they don't carry any in the store. So, I checked Hy-Vee, no; Wal-greens, no; CVS, no. I very rarely shop at Walmart, but as a last resort, I went there. They didn't have a pasta machine, but they do have quite the variety of small kitchen appliances, including a beef jerkey maker kit and at least 101 different kinds of George Foreman Grills. You'd think ol' George could branch out a little and make a pasta maker....
When I got home I put a cooking 911 post out to my Macomb facebook peeps to see if anyone had a pasta maker I could borrow, and within 30 minutes, my colleague and friend, DV, came through and said, "Are you talking about the cranky thing you keep putting the dough through to make it thinner and then it cuts it into long noodles? If so, we've got one and you are welcome to borrow it!" Schew. Now I don't have to pick out a different recipe and start all over w/ the grocery shopping, etc. for tomorrow's dinner!
I Googled substitutions for semolina flour, and found the following list:
Kamut Flour
Spelt Flour
All-Purpose Flour (However, it is not nearly as good for making pasta. Pasta made from all-purpose flour should be cooked in lots of water and served while hot to avoid a mushy dish.)
Rice Flour (However, the pasta made from rice flour has a distinct rice flavor.)
Amaranth Flour
Quinoa Flour
Garbanzo Flour (Garbanzo flour is also labeled as gram flour.)
Hmmmm. No Whole Wheat Flour. Guess that means I'll have to take it back to the store Sunday and hope they carry one of the above so I can make the exchange. I need to go back to the store, anyway, because I forgot to get some freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving. I did, however, remember to get a box grater while I was out looking for a pasta maker. I also recalled that a strainer was on my kitchen utensils to be purchased list from Week 4, so I picked up three different sized strainers--a 3", a 5" and an 8"--while I was at it. (When I got home and went to put them away in the drawer, I discovered I had a 3" one already--which, it turns out, I bought in Week 4, but that was 7 years ago, and I've never used it since.) Oh, well, maybe I'll need both, or donate one to the kitchen at work.
Ok, so upon further reading of the pasta dough recipe, I realized I should have read the ENTIRE recipe first, before beginning cooking or even doing any of the shopping: "Purists maintain that truly good, tender pasta dough cannot be made in a food processor, but I disagree. Once you make this dough, you'll see why. This recipe is easy to follow and works every time....To mix the dough, put the all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon of semolina flour, salt, and nutmeg in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade." Yup, that's right. I DON'T HAVE A FOOD PROCESSOR (except my magic squisher, which doesn't have a work bowl). Breathe. Read on. "Knead the (dough) briefly on the work surface. Then, using a rolling pin..." Rolling pin. Hmmm. I've certainly used one before, but I can't recall if I have one of my own, or if I'm just thinking about when I was little and helped my mom make pie dough and Christmas cookies. A search of my kitchen drawers and cabinets confirms that it's the latter.....And, looking back at the beef broth recipe, I now see that it says: "Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, skimming any foam that forms on the surface with a skimmer." Skimmer. Hmmm. Nope, I know I don't have one of those. "...Strain the broth through a colander lined with cheesecloth..." Cheesecloth. Hmmm. Where's my shopping list?
And NOW (at 11:30 Sat. night) I see something that makes my heart sink: "...simmer very gently, uncovered, skimming the surface as necesary for the first hour or so, for 5 hours..." Wait. I have church at 10:30 a.m., followed by lunch and the Annual Meeting, so I was planning to run to the store after and go by D & CV's to borrow their pasta maker, and start cooking around 2:00. Keep reading: "...Let cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until well chilled...." OK, so what time's dinner? 10:00 p.m.? Seriously.
Not finished reading--there's some fine print I hadn't seen earlier: Makes 6 to 8 first-course servings. First course? Hmmm. My friends are making salad and bread. I'm bringing the main course. Or, so I thought. Oh, good--there's a Cook's Note at the end of the Beef Broth recipe: "Resourceful Italians often serve the meat and vegetables, drizzled with good olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper, as a light second course to a broth-based soup." Schew. Good thing I'm a resourceful Italian. I'm providing the entree, which consists of two (apparently light) courses: soup; and meat and vegetables. Hope my friends aren't very hungry, 'cause it's gonna be a late, light dinner.
"To Do" list for Sunday morning BEFORE church:
--get all ingredients and utensils out and ready
--prep the veggies
--Kmart for food processor, rolling pin, skimmer, and cheesecloth
--Hy-Vee for flour and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese;
--D and C's house to borrow pasta maker
--Video store to rent "Secretariat"
Sunday morning I only got the first three things on my list done before church, so I slipped out about 5 minutes before the service was over and ran to the grocery store. As I rushed down the flour aisle, I happened to see a whole huge section of specialty flours across from the regular flour which I hadn't noticed yesterday. And right there it was--the Semolina Flour nearly jumped off the shelf and into my oh-so-happy waiting arms. Got the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and some cheesecloth (which I hadn't found that at K-mart), and made it back to church just in time for the start of the lunch. I could only stay for the first half hour of the meeting, though, or I'd never have time to get the soup made. Swung by D & C's, and he gave me a brief but thorough lesson in how to use the pasta maker. Stopped by the movie rental store and picked up "Secretariat" and was home and ready to cook by 1:15.
"Arrange the (meat and veggies) in a large roasting pan." Hmmm. When I went to get out my pan, I realized it's a broiler pan, and I had a sinking feeling that wasn't the same thing as a roasting pan (which a quick Google search confirmed). At the same time, it occurred to me that my 5 qt. pot (Dutch oven) wasn't going to be big enough to hold 5 qts. of water plus all the meat and veggies. Ok. Breathe. Don't cry. I arranged most of the meat and veggies in the broiler pan and the rest in a brownie pan, put them in the oven, and ran back to Kmart to get a large roasting pan and a 12 qt. cooking pot. When I got back home, I washed the roasting pan and transferred all the meat and veggies into it. However, the celery and carrots were already mushy and somewhat burned from being in the brownie pan, so I picked out and threw away the mushy burned celery and carrots and cut up more and put in to replace them. All fixed.
I had to figure out what to do about the time, though. The soup started to simmer at 2:15, and it was supposed to simmer on medium or medium low for 5 hours, then cool to room temperature, then be refrigerated until well-chilled, then be brought to a boil and reheated for 15-20 minutes. I estimated if I did all that, dinner really would be served at 10 p.m. I decided it would cook faster on medium, plus the label on my new pot said "faster cooking," so maybe 4 hours would be OK. I talked to CS, and she said DG was making bread from the dough I'd given her for Christmas, and she was going to have it ready at 5:00 and wanted to serve it warm. We decided the three of them should go ahead and watch the movie on Direct TV, and I would watch it (the DVD I'd rented) on my computer as I cooked and made the pasta. They could have some bread and appetizers to tide them over till I got there at 6:30, and I'd bring some more appetizers for us to have while the soup cooled and was reheated.
While the broth cooked, I got the pasta maker all set up, washed and assembled my new food processor, and started making the dough. Now, remember, I'm working from THREE recipes here: the primary Grated Pasta Soup one; and the beef broth one; and the pasta dough one. Once I got the dough kneaded and was ready to tackle putting it through the pasta machine, I happened to turn from the dough recipe to the main soup recipe, and I read: "Mix and knead the pasta dough as directed in the recipe, but do not roll it out after it has rested. Instead....Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the dough...." What? So, I don't get to use the pasta maker at all? At this point, I sat down and carefully re-read all three recipes. Sure enough. Just as the name of the soup says, it's grated, not run through a machine.
I got the pasta dough made just fine (except for the part where I cut my hand on the grater--did I mention I sliced my left index finger and right middle finger with the carrot peeler earlier?), and the soup was cooking nicely. I started to gather my cookware, utensils, and food to take out to my friends' house where we were having dinner, and I couldn't find the Parmigiano-Reggiano I'd bought at the grocery store this morning. So, I jumped in the car and rushed back to Hy-Vee to get another wedge of that, along with some grape tomatoes and spinach dip to go with the carrots and celery I was going to take for appetizers. I finished watching "Secretariat" just in time to load the car and head to my friends' house. (Wonderful movie, by the way.)
I got there at 6:30, and while they finished watching the movie, I fixed them a plate of veggies and dip (they'd already had some crackers and cheese and grapes) and started getting the soup cooled. We all gathered in the kitchen and visited while I got the soup chilled and re-heated, and dinner was served at 8 p.m. (Yes, I put the soup in the freezer instead of the fridge to speed up that process.) The salad and bread were delicious, and everyone seemed to like my soup and the "second course" (served simultaneously) of meat and cooked veggies. There was nothing light about the meal--it was very filling. DG had made pumpkin muffins for us that looked yummy, but no one had room for dessert, so we each took a couple to go. I just now had one for a bedtime snack, and it was delicious.
Biggest lesson learned this week: I need to read thoroughly--not skim or glance through--the entire recipe (and any additional sub-recipes) and make sure I understand the entire scope and have ALL the ingredients and supplies, including cookware and utensils, before I start. Also, I learned I should ask someone who works at the store if I can't find something--the clerk could have shown me the other section of shelves of flour the first time I was there if I'd asked instead of just thinking they didn't carry the semolina when I couldn't find it. And, I learned a lot about cooking utensils, cookware, how to make pasta dough, and how to set up a pasta maker, though I didn't actually get to use it, so I can't yet say I've learned how to make pasta. D & C said they hadn't used their cranky pasta maker in about six years, so maybe they won't be needing it anytime soon and will let me hang on to it till I get a chance to use it in another recipe that calls for homemade pasta! (~:
I'm too tired tonight to look for a suitable quote for this week; so, for now, I'll share this one from the Intro. of "The Soup Diaries":
“Do you have a kinder, more adaptable friend in the food world than soup? Who soothes you when you are ill? Who refuses to leave you when you are impoverished and stretches its resources to give a hearty sustenance and cheer? Who warms you in the winter and cools you in the summer? Yet who also is capable of doing honor to your richest table and impressing your most demanding guests? Soup does its loyal best, no matter what undignified conditions are imposed upon it. You don't catch steak hanging around when you're poor and sick, do you?” ~Judith Martin (Miss Manners)
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Week 15: The Soup Diaries Redux!
The first weekend of December (2010), some friends, KO and KV, and I made a fun roadtrip to see our friend JT and her art work that was on display in a coffee house in her town, and on our way home we stopped to do some Christmas shopping and pick up some things we each needed. I bought myself a new "Cooks 5-in-1 Power Blender" to replace my magic squisher that had died last summer. (It was on sale, and I could have gotten an additional rebate, but I forgot about it until I found the rebate form a week after it had expired.) So, now, I'll be able to fix that Gazpacho come summer!
Last week, I started thinking about reviving "The Soup Diaries" and got excited about starting to cook soup again and having friends over for dinner, and maybe even cooking some to take to friends when they're sick. I also decided
“The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt
“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming – “WOW – What a Ride!” ~Author Unknown
“Keep trying. Stay humble, Trust your instincts. Most importantly, act. When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” ~Yogi Berra
Last week, I started thinking about reviving "The Soup Diaries" and got excited about starting to cook soup again and having friends over for dinner, and maybe even cooking some to take to friends when they're sick. I also decided
“The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt
“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming – “WOW – What a Ride!” ~Author Unknown
“Keep trying. Stay humble, Trust your instincts. Most importantly, act. When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” ~Yogi Berra
Week 14: NutriSystem; & Don't give up on me
In January of 2008, I joined the NutriSystem meal plan program because my doctor had told me I needed to lose about 20 pounds to be at a healthier weight. I love, love, LOVE the program and have been on it for three years now. I lost about 15 pounds in the first year or so, but I eat out a lot with friends during golf season between April and September and don't follow the progam like I should (plus I have a weakness for and snack too often on Gummy Savers, Trail Mix, and Creamy Jif peanut butter), so I've since gained about 10 of those pounds back. But I love the convenience of having 28 meals (including dessert) delivered to my doorstep every month (I just buy veggies, fruit, dairy and a few other foods), and I can have breakfast, lunch or dinner (including several yummy soups!) zapped in the microwave in 60 seconds or less! And I really like the taste of the food I order.
On June 12, 2010, My friend ES sent me an e-mail message with a recipe for Gazpacho and said he had seen on Facebook that I'm cooking again (brownies) and he thought I might enjoy the soup as it's a great accompaniment to sandwiches and chips on a hot day.
I replied:
"Oh, no... I still don't cook! I have 3 staples that I can and do make/bake/fix on a regular basis: brownies, pasta salad (Suddenly Salad), and Ebleskievers (for breakfast). (My friend CS) saw my Soup cookbook on my kitchen counter (where it still lives) recently and asked me what ever happened to The Soup Diaries, and I said it seems it was a passing phase. She's hoping I'll get back into that one of these days. Never say never. This recipe does sound kind of good, thanks, though I don't care for peppers (either bell or jalapeno) and onions, so can it be made w/o them, or can something be substituted for those? I also don't have a blender or food processor --my (magic squisher) died a couple of weeks ago. I only ever used it to make smoothies, but I used it a lot for those and finally wore out (broke) the blade attachment part on the base. Went to Walgreens to get a new one last weekend but they were out. I'll let you know when I get a new one and if I try this out. Did you tell (JO, who had given me the Soup cookbook and is a phenomenal cook) I baked brownies and took them over to welcome my new neighbor, and was she duly impressed and proud of me? You don't need to share the rest of this with her--she'll be appalled."
I didn't get a response back, and I'm sure they both think I'm hopeless....
"If I fall short
If I don't make the grade
If your expectations aren't met in me today
There's always tomorrow, or tomorrow night...
Sooner or later I know I'll get it right
On June 12, 2010, My friend ES sent me an e-mail message with a recipe for Gazpacho and said he had seen on Facebook that I'm cooking again (brownies) and he thought I might enjoy the soup as it's a great accompaniment to sandwiches and chips on a hot day.
I replied:
"Oh, no... I still don't cook! I have 3 staples that I can and do make/bake/fix on a regular basis: brownies, pasta salad (Suddenly Salad), and Ebleskievers (for breakfast). (My friend CS) saw my Soup cookbook on my kitchen counter (where it still lives) recently and asked me what ever happened to The Soup Diaries, and I said it seems it was a passing phase. She's hoping I'll get back into that one of these days. Never say never. This recipe does sound kind of good, thanks, though I don't care for peppers (either bell or jalapeno) and onions, so can it be made w/o them, or can something be substituted for those? I also don't have a blender or food processor --my (magic squisher) died a couple of weeks ago. I only ever used it to make smoothies, but I used it a lot for those and finally wore out (broke) the blade attachment part on the base. Went to Walgreens to get a new one last weekend but they were out. I'll let you know when I get a new one and if I try this out. Did you tell (JO, who had given me the Soup cookbook and is a phenomenal cook) I baked brownies and took them over to welcome my new neighbor, and was she duly impressed and proud of me? You don't need to share the rest of this with her--she'll be appalled."
I didn't get a response back, and I'm sure they both think I'm hopeless....
"If I fall short
If I don't make the grade
If your expectations aren't met in me today
There's always tomorrow, or tomorrow night...
Sooner or later I know I'll get it right
Please don't give up on me
Oh please don't give up on me..."
Oh please don't give up on me..."
~Solomon Burke
Weeks 12 & 13: Two & three years later...
January 1, 2007
Dear Mom and Dad,
Happy New Year!
I just spent an hour or so reading through the Italian Soup book (The Glorious Soups and Stews of Italy, by Domenica Marchetti) you gave me for Christmas, and it's wonderful. Expect the Soup Diaries part due sometime soon...
Kiss, kiss...Love, Janine
========================
December 2007
On my Christmas list was a set of soup bowls and a soup dish. Dad searched high and low to find something he thought would suit me, and he found a perfect set of dishes for me, including six soup bowls, that have an ocean scene painted on them (complete with a lighthouse that looks like the Cape Hatteras LH where I vacation with friends every year). I was soooooo excited to start using them. But not so much to start cooking soup again just yet.
Turns out, they work well as cereal and salad bowls. For now.
"And if you could read my heart
Then you'd know without exception
It was all with the best of intentions"
~Travis Tritt
========================
December 2007
On my Christmas list was a set of soup bowls and a soup dish. Dad searched high and low to find something he thought would suit me, and he found a perfect set of dishes for me, including six soup bowls, that have an ocean scene painted on them (complete with a lighthouse that looks like the Cape Hatteras LH where I vacation with friends every year). I was soooooo excited to start using them. But not so much to start cooking soup again just yet.
Turns out, they work well as cereal and salad bowls. For now.
"And if you could read my heart
Then you'd know without exception
It was all with the best of intentions"
Week 11: Tomato Soup Redux (it looks like the picture this time!)
While I was grocery shopping this weekend on Saturday afternoon, I picked up two pounds of “very ripe red tomatoes” so I could make my tomato soup. I paid attention to how much larger and smaller tomatoes weigh (about ½ pound for a large and ¼ pound small). I also stocked up on Chicken Stock, as well as canned whole peeled tomatoes so I’ll have them on hand should the spirit move me to fix tomato soup sometime when I don’t have fresh tomatoes.
Sunday was another bitterly cold winter day, and I was so glad I had all the ingredients for my tomato soup (or so I thought) so I could make it for lunch. I dipped the tomatoes in boiling water and peeled the skins off, ate the skins as an appetizer, and put the tomatoes in my magic squisher without seeding them, despite the recipe’s instructions to do so. I’ve never used the larger blender/juicer part before, so I learned how to use that, and it’s really cool. It eliminates the need for a separate chopper, strainer, juicer, etc. I just dropped in the tomatoes, added the Chicken Stock, sea salt (which I was glad I had this time), and coarsely crushed black pepper. After pureeing it in my magic squisher, I transferred it to the saucepan and heated it without boiling.
The recipe said “season to taste,” but I put too much pepper in before I tasted it, and it was a bit more spicy than I would have preferred. I didn’t realize until I’d started making it that I forgot to pick up a lemon or any lemon juice at the store, so I wasn’t able to serve it with shredded zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice, which was an optional serving suggestion. Nonetheless, it was quite tasty topped with chives. It wasn’t as frothy as it was the first time I made it, and it was a brighter, prettier color of red this time, too.
I heated some up and fixed a nice side salad to have with it for dinner Sunday evening, and I’m looking forward to having the rest for lunch and dinner sometime this week.
"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." ~Randy Pausch
"...progress is often accompanied by the willingness...to take risks."
~from Arkansas School for Math and Science Philosophy Statement
Sunday was another bitterly cold winter day, and I was so glad I had all the ingredients for my tomato soup (or so I thought) so I could make it for lunch. I dipped the tomatoes in boiling water and peeled the skins off, ate the skins as an appetizer, and put the tomatoes in my magic squisher without seeding them, despite the recipe’s instructions to do so. I’ve never used the larger blender/juicer part before, so I learned how to use that, and it’s really cool. It eliminates the need for a separate chopper, strainer, juicer, etc. I just dropped in the tomatoes, added the Chicken Stock, sea salt (which I was glad I had this time), and coarsely crushed black pepper. After pureeing it in my magic squisher, I transferred it to the saucepan and heated it without boiling.
The recipe said “season to taste,” but I put too much pepper in before I tasted it, and it was a bit more spicy than I would have preferred. I didn’t realize until I’d started making it that I forgot to pick up a lemon or any lemon juice at the store, so I wasn’t able to serve it with shredded zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice, which was an optional serving suggestion. Nonetheless, it was quite tasty topped with chives. It wasn’t as frothy as it was the first time I made it, and it was a brighter, prettier color of red this time, too.
I heated some up and fixed a nice side salad to have with it for dinner Sunday evening, and I’m looking forward to having the rest for lunch and dinner sometime this week.
"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." ~Randy Pausch
"...progress is often accompanied by the willingness...to take risks."
~from Arkansas School for Math and Science Philosophy Statement
Week 10: Avgolemono (Greek egg and lemon soup)
I woke up this morning and thought how good a nice hot bowl of soup would be for lunch today. It is a bitterly cold weekend with the highs only in the low teens, so I haven’t felt much like going out of the house. I fixed a tomato, cheese and ham omelet in my magic squisher for breakfast, then I curled up in my favorite chair with my soup cookbook and started thumbing through it wondering if by chance I could find anything that I could make with what few food items I have in my fridge and pantry.
Most of the soups call for numerous ingredients that I don’t have, but I did come across the tomato soup recipe that I had made last year and I thought I had what I needed for that. Then I realized that what I first read as 2 very ripe red tomatoes actually said 2 lb., and I only had about 5 small tomatoes, which, I was pretty sure, wasn’t 2 lbs. (Note to self, add a kitchen scale to my list of items I need to buy.)
Just as I was about to give up, I found Avgolemono: Greek egg and lemon soup. I didn’t have exactly what it called for, but I figured I could improvise and come pretty close. It called for long-grain rice, and all I had was a box of long grain and wild rice, so I just separated out the wild rice (which, I found, was easy to do because it separated itself when I washed and drained it in my little strainer to remove the starch). It called for 1½ quarts of chicken stock, and I only had a 1-quart box. However, I did have some chicken bouillon cubes, so I boiled two of those in two cups of water and added that to the stock, which worked well. It called for grated zest and freshly squeezed juice of two large unwaxed lemons, and I only had one medium sized lemon but I also had just enough lemon juice from concentrate to equal one lemon. So, I combined the whole lemon and the concentrate in my magic squisher, and in less than 10 seconds I had grated zest and freshly squeezed juice which I added to the eggs that I'd whisked in my magic squisher in 4 seconds. It then called for a large handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped. I knew I had some sort of green leafy herb in my refrigerator from about three weeks ago when I had made the minestrone soup, and I recalled that the same thing happened last year and determined it was indeed parsley. I took a large handful and tossed it in my magic squisher, and in 6 seconds it was finely chopped and ready to sprinkle on the soup.
Like the tomato soup I made last year, which didn’t look at all like the bright red soup in the picture in the cookbook, the Avgolemono didn’t look anything like the bright yellow soup in the picture. It was a sort of pale yellow, with an almost light brownish tint. I wasn’t at all sure how it would taste. But, after I made a small salad with a couple of Greek olives on the side, I sat down and held my breath as I took my first sup of the soup. It was delicious! I don’t know what anyone else would think, but I liked it and was amazed and pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted.
"Just because fate doesn't deal you the right cards, it doesn't mean you should give up. It just means you have to play the cards you get to their maximum potential." ~Les Brown
Most of the soups call for numerous ingredients that I don’t have, but I did come across the tomato soup recipe that I had made last year and I thought I had what I needed for that. Then I realized that what I first read as 2 very ripe red tomatoes actually said 2 lb., and I only had about 5 small tomatoes, which, I was pretty sure, wasn’t 2 lbs. (Note to self, add a kitchen scale to my list of items I need to buy.)
Just as I was about to give up, I found Avgolemono: Greek egg and lemon soup. I didn’t have exactly what it called for, but I figured I could improvise and come pretty close. It called for long-grain rice, and all I had was a box of long grain and wild rice, so I just separated out the wild rice (which, I found, was easy to do because it separated itself when I washed and drained it in my little strainer to remove the starch). It called for 1½ quarts of chicken stock, and I only had a 1-quart box. However, I did have some chicken bouillon cubes, so I boiled two of those in two cups of water and added that to the stock, which worked well. It called for grated zest and freshly squeezed juice of two large unwaxed lemons, and I only had one medium sized lemon but I also had just enough lemon juice from concentrate to equal one lemon. So, I combined the whole lemon and the concentrate in my magic squisher, and in less than 10 seconds I had grated zest and freshly squeezed juice which I added to the eggs that I'd whisked in my magic squisher in 4 seconds. It then called for a large handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped. I knew I had some sort of green leafy herb in my refrigerator from about three weeks ago when I had made the minestrone soup, and I recalled that the same thing happened last year and determined it was indeed parsley. I took a large handful and tossed it in my magic squisher, and in 6 seconds it was finely chopped and ready to sprinkle on the soup.
Like the tomato soup I made last year, which didn’t look at all like the bright red soup in the picture in the cookbook, the Avgolemono didn’t look anything like the bright yellow soup in the picture. It was a sort of pale yellow, with an almost light brownish tint. I wasn’t at all sure how it would taste. But, after I made a small salad with a couple of Greek olives on the side, I sat down and held my breath as I took my first sup of the soup. It was delicious! I don’t know what anyone else would think, but I liked it and was amazed and pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted.
"Just because fate doesn't deal you the right cards, it doesn't mean you should give up. It just means you have to play the cards you get to their maximum potential." ~Les Brown
Week 9: Minestrone (big soup) Redux
My parents and grandfather were here for several days at Christmas (2004), so I offered to make them my minestrone soup. At first, Mom was lukewarm to the idea because, she said, she doesn’t much care for minestrone, or any tomato-based soup. When I told her mine doesn’t have a tomato base, she was interested and willing to give it a try. My Soup cookbook says, “There are as many versions of minestrone (big soup) as there are regions of Italy—and Italian grandmothers….” and it goes on to describe some of the variations. Dad said he makes his with a tomato base, but he, too, was interested in trying mine.
So, off I went to HyVee on Sunday afternoon with my list of ingredients. Dad had pointed out that my Soup cookbook has a section in the back that defines and discusses several terms, including the interchangeability of pancetta, prosciutto, bacon and ham. Mom doesn’t care for prosciutto, so I used bacon this time instead. Again, I was confused about the shelled peas, and I mistakenly bought dried peas instead of fresh or frozen. Mom said they might work ok if I soaked them long enough, so I followed the quick soak instructions on the package. I wanted to make sure I left myself plenty of time this time to prepare all of the vegetables and ingredients, so I started peeling and chopping around 3:30 in the afternoon and planned to eat around 6:00. Mom had gone to take a nap, and Dad finally did after I shooed him out of the kitchen because I wanted to show him that I could do this myself. I did ask for his advice and expert opinion a couple of times (including how to avoid crying when chopping an onion—which I had chopped in 9 seconds in my magic squisher), but for the most part I did fine and had it ready to put on the table by 5:00. I let it simmer while we made a salad and warmed a loaf of Italian bread, and we sat down to eat at 5:30. Aside from the peas, which had not soaked long enough and were still hard, it was delicious. Mom and Dad both liked it and were very complimentary. They also were impressed that our small-town grocery store had items like Italian risotto rice.
The next day, when I asked Mom what she wanted to do for lunch, she said she was looking forward to having some more of my minestrone soup, so that’s what we did. Even my grandfather, who isn’t big on soups, had some and enjoyed it. It really is a yummy, hearty, filling, and healthy meal. After my family left the next day, I put what was left of the soup in some of my new storage containers and had it for lunch or dinner for the rest of the week.
“There are as many versions of minestrone (big soup) as there are regions of Italy—and Italian grandmothers….” ~Elsa Petersen-Schepelern, in Soup
So, off I went to HyVee on Sunday afternoon with my list of ingredients. Dad had pointed out that my Soup cookbook has a section in the back that defines and discusses several terms, including the interchangeability of pancetta, prosciutto, bacon and ham. Mom doesn’t care for prosciutto, so I used bacon this time instead. Again, I was confused about the shelled peas, and I mistakenly bought dried peas instead of fresh or frozen. Mom said they might work ok if I soaked them long enough, so I followed the quick soak instructions on the package. I wanted to make sure I left myself plenty of time this time to prepare all of the vegetables and ingredients, so I started peeling and chopping around 3:30 in the afternoon and planned to eat around 6:00. Mom had gone to take a nap, and Dad finally did after I shooed him out of the kitchen because I wanted to show him that I could do this myself. I did ask for his advice and expert opinion a couple of times (including how to avoid crying when chopping an onion—which I had chopped in 9 seconds in my magic squisher), but for the most part I did fine and had it ready to put on the table by 5:00. I let it simmer while we made a salad and warmed a loaf of Italian bread, and we sat down to eat at 5:30. Aside from the peas, which had not soaked long enough and were still hard, it was delicious. Mom and Dad both liked it and were very complimentary. They also were impressed that our small-town grocery store had items like Italian risotto rice.
The next day, when I asked Mom what she wanted to do for lunch, she said she was looking forward to having some more of my minestrone soup, so that’s what we did. Even my grandfather, who isn’t big on soups, had some and enjoyed it. It really is a yummy, hearty, filling, and healthy meal. After my family left the next day, I put what was left of the soup in some of my new storage containers and had it for lunch or dinner for the rest of the week.
“There are as many versions of minestrone (big soup) as there are regions of Italy—and Italian grandmothers….” ~Elsa Petersen-Schepelern, in Soup
Week 8: Ten Months Later; & My Magic Squisher
Well, spring, summer and fall came and went with no cooking of soup. Now that winter’s here, it’s time to get back to it.
I didn’t do a lot of reading and learning about cooking during the past year, either. I tried to grow tomatoes in my garden last summer, but without much success. I had a few, but just enough to use on a salad every once in a while--certainly not enough to do any canning. I forgot to pick up some sea salt when I was at the beach in May, so my friend CS brought some back for me when she was out there in October. I had meant to look for soup bowls at the kitchen stores when I was at the beach in May and again in December, and at our local kitchen store here in town, but I forgot. I also didn’t think to put them on my Christmas list, so I still don’t have any soup bowls. And I still need a larger strainer. I did buy some storage containers this fall.
My favorite new kitchen toy, though, is my “Magic Bullet,” which I saw on TV this fall and ordered right away. (I don’t like the violent connotation of “bullet,” though, so I call it my Magic Squisher.) It’s a compact, high-speed, versatile, labor-saving, countertop appliance that peels, chops, mixes, blends, whips, whisks, grinds, juices, grates and more—everything from chopped onions and minced garlic to light and creamy chocolate mousse--in 10 seconds or less. I’ve been using it to make fruit smoothies, tomato salsa, scrambled eggs, and omelets, and I’m looking forward to using it for my soups.
"Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence
Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance
Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence
Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance."~Yoko Ono, Season of Glass
I didn’t do a lot of reading and learning about cooking during the past year, either. I tried to grow tomatoes in my garden last summer, but without much success. I had a few, but just enough to use on a salad every once in a while--certainly not enough to do any canning. I forgot to pick up some sea salt when I was at the beach in May, so my friend CS brought some back for me when she was out there in October. I had meant to look for soup bowls at the kitchen stores when I was at the beach in May and again in December, and at our local kitchen store here in town, but I forgot. I also didn’t think to put them on my Christmas list, so I still don’t have any soup bowls. And I still need a larger strainer. I did buy some storage containers this fall.
My favorite new kitchen toy, though, is my “Magic Bullet,” which I saw on TV this fall and ordered right away. (I don’t like the violent connotation of “bullet,” though, so I call it my Magic Squisher.) It’s a compact, high-speed, versatile, labor-saving, countertop appliance that peels, chops, mixes, blends, whips, whisks, grinds, juices, grates and more—everything from chopped onions and minced garlic to light and creamy chocolate mousse--in 10 seconds or less. I’ve been using it to make fruit smoothies, tomato salsa, scrambled eggs, and omelets, and I’m looking forward to using it for my soups.
"Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence
Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance
Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence
Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance."~Yoko Ono, Season of Glass
Week 7: Chicken Soup for the Sick Friend’s Soul and Health
I didn’t get to the Asian grocery store this week, but I did find a Clear Japanese Soup, a Japanese Miso Soup, and a Chinese Egg Drop Soup in my Soup cookbook that I want to make sometime.
I also want to learn how to make Italian Wedding Soup, so I searched on-line for a recipe and learned a bit about my heritage and ancestral language in the process. According to About.com’s Italian Cuisine with Kyle Phillips, “Tuscans don't serve a specific soup at weddings (but) I found a discussion of minestra maritata in Jeannne Caròla Francesconi's La Cucina Napoletana and realized the dish has nothing to do with the happy day -- wedding soup is a mistranslation. To say two things go well together in Italian, one can say si sposono bene (they're well married) -- or, more to the south, that they're maritati, i.e., married. The combination of greens and meat in a clear broth certainly does work well and deserves to be called maritata -- no wedding involved.” I haven’t fixed it yet, but I did buy some “acini di pepe” pasta to use in it when the time comes.
I also learned there are more than 300 types of pasta, with nearly four times as many names for them. For example, I bought a box of pasta this week called “Rings,” and I learned—when I was browsing on-line pasta sites--that small pasta rings used for soup are named “anelli” or “aniline.” I cooked them and added them to some (gasp!) canned tomato basil soup (which I’ve had in my cupboard since before Christmas, so I couldn’t let it go to waste) that I made one day this week.
Several weeks ago, I noted I had come across several recipes that called for sea salt, and I didn’t know what that was. This week, I learned what it is. In the March 2004 issue of “Real Simple” magazine, there’s an article titled “Salt of the Earth: Your mother’s pantry staple does global duty—as a condiment, a cleaning aid, and more.” It shows pictures of bowls of Kosher Salt, Crystalline Sea Salt, Flaked Sea Salt, Fleur De Sel (a special occasion table salt), Rock Salt, and Pickling Salt, and under each photo it tells what to use it for, its origin, texture, and where to buy it and for how much.
In this same issue of “Real Simple,” there’s also an article titled “Tomatoes: In the Can,” which shows pictures and has descriptions of red, ripe and ready to use tomatoes in six different ways: whole, crushed, puree, chopped, sauce, and paste. It also compares seven different brands of canned tomatoes and offers guidelines for choosing and using canned tomatoes. Unfortunately, the article doesn’t talk about how to can your own, so I’ll have to learn about that another time.
My friend CS has been really sick this past week with severe asthma and allergies that started turning into bronchitis. It’s been difficult for her to talk, so she e-mailed me and asked if there’s any chance I “know how to make a good Jewish Mother Chicken Soup (or any other ‘get well’ variety, i.e., simple and bland) to get me better?” My Soup cookbook has a recipe for Indonesian Chicken Noodle Soup, but there’s nothing bland about that. My box of chicken stock has a recipe for Easy Chicken Tortellini Soup, so I took parts of both of these recipes and came up with my own Chicken Soup for the Sick Friend’s Soul and Health. Another huge success! Not only was it delicious, she said it did the trick and made her all better!
New experiences this week included poaching chicken pieces and preparing zucchini by finely slicing diagonally with a vegetable peeler. Truth be told, not only have I never before poached chicken, I’ve never done anything to chicken but eat it when someone else has fixed it. My Soup cookbook said to bring the stock to a boil, add the chicken pieces, reduce the heat, and poach gently until tender. I bought some boneless, skinless Free Range chicken breasts, chopped them up, and put them in the boiling chicken stock; then I added the sliced zucchini and the “acini di pepe” pasta which I had decided would be good in this, and let everyone season their own soup to taste with salt, pepper, dill weed and basil. It was a hit!
"Scientists say they have confirmed what grandmothers have known for centuries -- that chicken soup is good for colds....Some researchers have suggested...perhaps the steam from the soup, or the chicken fat, may play a role in soothing inflamed airways. (Dr. Stephen) Rennard said this was possible. He also said there could be a 'TLC'...factor. 'If you know somebody prepared soup for you by hand, that might have an effect.'"
I also want to learn how to make Italian Wedding Soup, so I searched on-line for a recipe and learned a bit about my heritage and ancestral language in the process. According to About.com’s Italian Cuisine with Kyle Phillips, “Tuscans don't serve a specific soup at weddings (but) I found a discussion of minestra maritata in Jeannne Caròla Francesconi's La Cucina Napoletana and realized the dish has nothing to do with the happy day -- wedding soup is a mistranslation. To say two things go well together in Italian, one can say si sposono bene (they're well married) -- or, more to the south, that they're maritati, i.e., married. The combination of greens and meat in a clear broth certainly does work well and deserves to be called maritata -- no wedding involved.” I haven’t fixed it yet, but I did buy some “acini di pepe” pasta to use in it when the time comes.
I also learned there are more than 300 types of pasta, with nearly four times as many names for them. For example, I bought a box of pasta this week called “Rings,” and I learned—when I was browsing on-line pasta sites--that small pasta rings used for soup are named “anelli” or “aniline.” I cooked them and added them to some (gasp!) canned tomato basil soup (which I’ve had in my cupboard since before Christmas, so I couldn’t let it go to waste) that I made one day this week.
Several weeks ago, I noted I had come across several recipes that called for sea salt, and I didn’t know what that was. This week, I learned what it is. In the March 2004 issue of “Real Simple” magazine, there’s an article titled “Salt of the Earth: Your mother’s pantry staple does global duty—as a condiment, a cleaning aid, and more.” It shows pictures of bowls of Kosher Salt, Crystalline Sea Salt, Flaked Sea Salt, Fleur De Sel (a special occasion table salt), Rock Salt, and Pickling Salt, and under each photo it tells what to use it for, its origin, texture, and where to buy it and for how much.
In this same issue of “Real Simple,” there’s also an article titled “Tomatoes: In the Can,” which shows pictures and has descriptions of red, ripe and ready to use tomatoes in six different ways: whole, crushed, puree, chopped, sauce, and paste. It also compares seven different brands of canned tomatoes and offers guidelines for choosing and using canned tomatoes. Unfortunately, the article doesn’t talk about how to can your own, so I’ll have to learn about that another time.
My friend CS has been really sick this past week with severe asthma and allergies that started turning into bronchitis. It’s been difficult for her to talk, so she e-mailed me and asked if there’s any chance I “know how to make a good Jewish Mother Chicken Soup (or any other ‘get well’ variety, i.e., simple and bland) to get me better?” My Soup cookbook has a recipe for Indonesian Chicken Noodle Soup, but there’s nothing bland about that. My box of chicken stock has a recipe for Easy Chicken Tortellini Soup, so I took parts of both of these recipes and came up with my own Chicken Soup for the Sick Friend’s Soul and Health. Another huge success! Not only was it delicious, she said it did the trick and made her all better!
New experiences this week included poaching chicken pieces and preparing zucchini by finely slicing diagonally with a vegetable peeler. Truth be told, not only have I never before poached chicken, I’ve never done anything to chicken but eat it when someone else has fixed it. My Soup cookbook said to bring the stock to a boil, add the chicken pieces, reduce the heat, and poach gently until tender. I bought some boneless, skinless Free Range chicken breasts, chopped them up, and put them in the boiling chicken stock; then I added the sliced zucchini and the “acini di pepe” pasta which I had decided would be good in this, and let everyone season their own soup to taste with salt, pepper, dill weed and basil. It was a hit!
"Scientists say they have confirmed what grandmothers have known for centuries -- that chicken soup is good for colds....Some researchers have suggested...perhaps the steam from the soup, or the chicken fat, may play a role in soothing inflamed airways. (Dr. Stephen) Rennard said this was possible. He also said there could be a 'TLC'...factor. 'If you know somebody prepared soup for you by hand, that might have an effect.'"
Week 6: New Cookware!
This week I was going to a potluck dinner for the cast and crew of a production we did at work, and I got all excited thinking I could make soup to take. But then the hosts said they were providing lasagna, spaghetti and fried chicken, and everyone else just needed to bring a salad, side dish, or dessert to share. So, no soup this week.
The good news, however, is that when I ran in to the grocery store for five minutes to pick up something to take to the potluck dinner, I happened to notice a big box on the bottom shelf in the baking aisle near the cooking utensils, plastic storage containers, cookie sheets, etc. The box was a 7-piece cookware set, and it was GREEN! There was only one box--no other type, no other color, just one box of heavy-duty, nice and sturdy, Teflon-coated cookware, and it was just what I wanted! It's called Magnifica by Rondine (made in Italy--"Good Looks & Great Performance"), and it includes a 1 qt. covered saucepan, a 2 qt. covered saucepan, a 5 qt. Dutch oven, and a 10" open fry pan (Dutch oven cover fits fry pan). The covers are glass (oddly, they have "Made in France" embossed on them) with black handles that match the black handles on the pots and pans. I was so excited that I couldn't wait to get home from the dinner so I could unpack them and put them on my stove. They look beautiful in my kitchen! Haven't used them yet, but they look great. My dad was glad to hear I’d found what I wanted--he’s been looking all over for a set for me for two and a half months, and he’s seen nothing but black, gray, or stainless steel. My mom was glad to hear that my favorite grocery store came through for me—she said they may not have all of the ingredients I need for my soups, but at least they had my pots and pans.
I hear there’s a new International Grocery Store coming to town soon, so I’ll have to check it out once it’s built and opens. I don’t know what kinds of foods it’s going to carry, but I’m hoping it will have some good Italian selections. I haven’t yet been to the Asian market that we have, but I hear they have a good variety of Asian foods and ingredients. Maybe I’ll find an Asian soup recipe and investigate that for next week.
"Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." ~Nathaniel Hawthorne
The good news, however, is that when I ran in to the grocery store for five minutes to pick up something to take to the potluck dinner, I happened to notice a big box on the bottom shelf in the baking aisle near the cooking utensils, plastic storage containers, cookie sheets, etc. The box was a 7-piece cookware set, and it was GREEN! There was only one box--no other type, no other color, just one box of heavy-duty, nice and sturdy, Teflon-coated cookware, and it was just what I wanted! It's called Magnifica by Rondine (made in Italy--"Good Looks & Great Performance"), and it includes a 1 qt. covered saucepan, a 2 qt. covered saucepan, a 5 qt. Dutch oven, and a 10" open fry pan (Dutch oven cover fits fry pan). The covers are glass (oddly, they have "Made in France" embossed on them) with black handles that match the black handles on the pots and pans. I was so excited that I couldn't wait to get home from the dinner so I could unpack them and put them on my stove. They look beautiful in my kitchen! Haven't used them yet, but they look great. My dad was glad to hear I’d found what I wanted--he’s been looking all over for a set for me for two and a half months, and he’s seen nothing but black, gray, or stainless steel. My mom was glad to hear that my favorite grocery store came through for me—she said they may not have all of the ingredients I need for my soups, but at least they had my pots and pans.
I hear there’s a new International Grocery Store coming to town soon, so I’ll have to check it out once it’s built and opens. I don’t know what kinds of foods it’s going to carry, but I’m hoping it will have some good Italian selections. I haven’t yet been to the Asian market that we have, but I hear they have a good variety of Asian foods and ingredients. Maybe I’ll find an Asian soup recipe and investigate that for next week.
"Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." ~Nathaniel Hawthorne
Week 5: Cream of Mushroom Soup; & I can no longer say I don’t cook
I can no longer say I don’t cook, and my friend CS can no longer say she doesn’t like soup. I’m not a great cook, and she doesn’t like all soups, but I’m finding that I do ok, and she’s finding there are some soups that are ok. And some that are really, really good—like the Cream of Mushroom soup I made last Sunday.
I made my grocery list and went shopping on Saturday. I found everything I needed except crème frasche. But the recipe said I could use sour cream instead, so that’s what I did. I thought I had fresh parsley in my fridge, so I didn’t buy any, but when I got home and looked at it, I wasn’t sure that’s what it was. I thought it might be basil or something else, but CS (who enjoys cooking and knows about these things) identified it as parsley, so I used it and it was good. I later realized it was left over from three weeks earlier when I had made Minestrone, so I’m not sure how “fresh” it was. But it seemed fine. The only other thing mentioned in the recipe that I don’t have is a food processor, but it said I could use a blender, so that’s what I did. I’ve added a food processor to my list of things to buy sooner or later, along with new cookware, soup bowls, a large strainer and storage containers.
The recipe was unclear and slightly confusing in a couple of places (it wasn’t just me—I read it out loud several times and CS agreed with me that it was unclear); nonetheless, I figured out what I needed to do, and it turned out great. We each had two bowls full, and I had enough left for my lunch the next day and dinner the following day.
New experiences this week included buying and preparing dried porcini mushrooms, large portabella mushrooms, and making a brown roux.
"You get whatever accomplishment you are willing to declare." ~Georgia O'Keefe
I made my grocery list and went shopping on Saturday. I found everything I needed except crème frasche. But the recipe said I could use sour cream instead, so that’s what I did. I thought I had fresh parsley in my fridge, so I didn’t buy any, but when I got home and looked at it, I wasn’t sure that’s what it was. I thought it might be basil or something else, but CS (who enjoys cooking and knows about these things) identified it as parsley, so I used it and it was good. I later realized it was left over from three weeks earlier when I had made Minestrone, so I’m not sure how “fresh” it was. But it seemed fine. The only other thing mentioned in the recipe that I don’t have is a food processor, but it said I could use a blender, so that’s what I did. I’ve added a food processor to my list of things to buy sooner or later, along with new cookware, soup bowls, a large strainer and storage containers.
The recipe was unclear and slightly confusing in a couple of places (it wasn’t just me—I read it out loud several times and CS agreed with me that it was unclear); nonetheless, I figured out what I needed to do, and it turned out great. We each had two bowls full, and I had enough left for my lunch the next day and dinner the following day.
New experiences this week included buying and preparing dried porcini mushrooms, large portabella mushrooms, and making a brown roux.
"You get whatever accomplishment you are willing to declare." ~Georgia O'Keefe
Week 4: Tomato Soup; & Kitchen Utensils
This week, I made a relatively simple tomato soup recipe from my Soup cookbook on Sunday, and I must say it was nice to come home from work on Monday at 8 p.m. and know that was in my refrigerator and just needed to be heated up. I learned how to peel the skins off tomatoes by dipping them for about 10 seconds in boiling water, and I again was instructed to “seed” the tomatoes and discard the skins and seeds. There must be some good use for tomato skins and seeds, but, since I haven’t yet learned what that is, I just ate them so they didn’t go to waste. Although my soup turned out pretty good, I’m not sure it’s supposed to be as frothy as it is. It also looks nothing like the bright red soup in the cookbook photo. Mine looks more like a creamy tomato soup. I think my tomatoes were too yellow/orange. Maybe it will be better this summer when I can use homegrown tomatoes fresh out of my garden. Now I guess I’ll have to learn how to can tomatoes so I can have fresh homegrown tomatoes all winter long.
I have started making a list of kitchen utensils and things I need to buy if I’m going to do this right.
I need to find a good quality set of cookware to replace the hodge-podge of pots and pans I’ve collected over the years. My dad looked high and low for just the right set for me for Christmas, but he couldn’t find the color du jour (green) that I had requested, so he said to let him know when I find what I want. I’m still looking, but green apparently already is passé, so I probably should just go with a classic silver stainless steel set.
My gravy ladle always worked fine for dipping soup made from a can, but this week I finally broke down and bought a soup ladle. I’ve never made enough soup to need a real soup ladle before, but it’s amazing how much better a soup ladle works when serving soup out of a deep pot.
I also bought a small hand-held strainer; but I think I need to get a large one, as a colander—despite being synonymous according to my word processing dictionary and thesaurus—doesn’t really do the same thing.
For now, my cereal bowls suffice for soup; but, I’ve put soup bowls on my list and I’ve started shopping on the Internet and in catalogues for just the right ones.
Next on my list are storage containers. If I’m going to make a big batch of soup on the weekend, I guess I need storage containers to keep it in the freezer so I can enjoy it for the next few weeks. Otherwise, either I’ll have to eat nothing but soup for every meal for a week, or it will go bad in the fridge (though I don’t think tomato soup will smell as bad as ones with cabbage). My dad asked if I’ve learned that Arm and Hammer baking soda will keep my refrigerator from smelling bad. I replied that I’ve kept a box of Arm and Hammer baking soda in my fridge for 20 years (well, not the same box—I do know enough to change it every few months), often when there’s little else in my fridge but that box. The box that’s currently in there has an expiration date of 9/6/05, but I don’t know how long it’s been in there, so maybe it’s past its refrigerator due date. I’ll add that to my list of things to buy for next week.
"Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along." ~George Herbert
I have started making a list of kitchen utensils and things I need to buy if I’m going to do this right.
I need to find a good quality set of cookware to replace the hodge-podge of pots and pans I’ve collected over the years. My dad looked high and low for just the right set for me for Christmas, but he couldn’t find the color du jour (green) that I had requested, so he said to let him know when I find what I want. I’m still looking, but green apparently already is passé, so I probably should just go with a classic silver stainless steel set.
My gravy ladle always worked fine for dipping soup made from a can, but this week I finally broke down and bought a soup ladle. I’ve never made enough soup to need a real soup ladle before, but it’s amazing how much better a soup ladle works when serving soup out of a deep pot.
I also bought a small hand-held strainer; but I think I need to get a large one, as a colander—despite being synonymous according to my word processing dictionary and thesaurus—doesn’t really do the same thing.
For now, my cereal bowls suffice for soup; but, I’ve put soup bowls on my list and I’ve started shopping on the Internet and in catalogues for just the right ones.
Next on my list are storage containers. If I’m going to make a big batch of soup on the weekend, I guess I need storage containers to keep it in the freezer so I can enjoy it for the next few weeks. Otherwise, either I’ll have to eat nothing but soup for every meal for a week, or it will go bad in the fridge (though I don’t think tomato soup will smell as bad as ones with cabbage). My dad asked if I’ve learned that Arm and Hammer baking soda will keep my refrigerator from smelling bad. I replied that I’ve kept a box of Arm and Hammer baking soda in my fridge for 20 years (well, not the same box—I do know enough to change it every few months), often when there’s little else in my fridge but that box. The box that’s currently in there has an expiration date of 9/6/05, but I don’t know how long it’s been in there, so maybe it’s past its refrigerator due date. I’ll add that to my list of things to buy for next week.
"Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along." ~George Herbert
Week 3: Learning about soup, and how to improvise, experiment, and play around
I was going to make a simple tomato soup from my new Soup cookbook this past weekend with the ingredients I had bought last weekend, but when I went to get them out Sunday afternoon I discovered I had used half of the tomatoes I’d need in salads throughout the week. It was too cold to go out to the grocery store, so I didn’t make any soup this week. I've decided that, even if I don’t fix soup every week, I'll try to learn something about soup every week. This week, I learned a lot.
First of all, I learned that not making the whole recipe from scratch is OK. Most of my friends and family with whom I've consulted--or who have offered unsolicited but welcome advice--say they hardly ever make stock or soak beans, and that there's nothing wrong with buying stock, or or using canned beans, or using canned clams instead of fresh clams, or using garlic powder or salt instead of fresh garlic. Oh, and I learned that those whole garlics I wrote about last week are called “garlic bulbs” which, if I were more of a gardener (I’m just learning about gardening, too), I would have realized, as I do--now that you mention it--see the resemblance to flower bulbs.
Then I learned that it’s true, but not as simple as it seems, what my great, great aunt always said: “If you can read, you can cook.” My dad always told me that when I was growing up, and it seems like common sense that all you have to do is read and follow the recipe. But it’s more complicated than it seems. First of all, you have to know what the cooking terms mean and what the ingredients are, and where to find them. Then you have to know what to substitute for various ingredients if you can’t find or don’t like what it calls for (who knew cilantro and parsley are in the same family and thus exchangeable?!). I read the recipe and it didn't tell me what to use if I didn't have this or that. Back to my great, great aunt’s hypothesis, I know there are books and magazines--and now Web sites--where I can go to read and learn about these things, so I guess she’s right after all. But still, it’s more than just being able to read and follow a recipe.
I’m learning that cooking is both an art and a science, and although I don’t have either the intuition or experience to know how to do so, I need to learn how to “improvise, experiment, and play around.” It seems to me that, as with any other skill, one has to learn the fundamentals first; then, once one masters the basics, one can begin to experiment. However, it also seems to me that it would help if one had some innate creativity and talent to begin with, and I have none. This is not entirely unlike when I tried to learn how to play the clarinet and the piano—I learned how to read music and how to play the notes; but I just didn’t have the God-given talent to make beautiful music. Maybe if I’d had more patience and discipline I would have practiced more and become more proficient, but I lacked the motivation, interest and desire to do so. Until recently, I lacked the motivation, interest and desire to cook; but, now that I have those, maybe the patience and discipline will follow, and I’ll learn to cook delicious food. Maybe. Time will tell.
I learned that although cooking a batch of soup may take a couple of hours one day, the soup can make a quick, easy and yummy lunch or dinner for several days and, when stored properly, even longer. I also learned that when not stored properly, minestrone will go bad, and the cabbage will make your fridge stink the rest of the week.
Finally, I’m learning that I have more of an interest in what’s in dishes at restaurants, and I’m thinking maybe I can create the dishes myself. Tonight we went to the local Chinese restaurant and I ordered a sizzling rice soup and found myself paying more attention to the ingredients than I ever would have before. Of course, as the nice waiter, NS, pointed out, he could tell me what the ingredients are, but not the proportions, and the stock is a secret recipe. Nonetheless, if I improvise, experiment, and play around, maybe I can come up with something almost as good!
"Learning is an active process. We learn by doing. Only knowledge that is used sticks in your mind." Dale Carnegie
First of all, I learned that not making the whole recipe from scratch is OK. Most of my friends and family with whom I've consulted--or who have offered unsolicited but welcome advice--say they hardly ever make stock or soak beans, and that there's nothing wrong with buying stock, or or using canned beans, or using canned clams instead of fresh clams, or using garlic powder or salt instead of fresh garlic. Oh, and I learned that those whole garlics I wrote about last week are called “garlic bulbs” which, if I were more of a gardener (I’m just learning about gardening, too), I would have realized, as I do--now that you mention it--see the resemblance to flower bulbs.
Then I learned that it’s true, but not as simple as it seems, what my great, great aunt always said: “If you can read, you can cook.” My dad always told me that when I was growing up, and it seems like common sense that all you have to do is read and follow the recipe. But it’s more complicated than it seems. First of all, you have to know what the cooking terms mean and what the ingredients are, and where to find them. Then you have to know what to substitute for various ingredients if you can’t find or don’t like what it calls for (who knew cilantro and parsley are in the same family and thus exchangeable?!). I read the recipe and it didn't tell me what to use if I didn't have this or that. Back to my great, great aunt’s hypothesis, I know there are books and magazines--and now Web sites--where I can go to read and learn about these things, so I guess she’s right after all. But still, it’s more than just being able to read and follow a recipe.
I’m learning that cooking is both an art and a science, and although I don’t have either the intuition or experience to know how to do so, I need to learn how to “improvise, experiment, and play around.” It seems to me that, as with any other skill, one has to learn the fundamentals first; then, once one masters the basics, one can begin to experiment. However, it also seems to me that it would help if one had some innate creativity and talent to begin with, and I have none. This is not entirely unlike when I tried to learn how to play the clarinet and the piano—I learned how to read music and how to play the notes; but I just didn’t have the God-given talent to make beautiful music. Maybe if I’d had more patience and discipline I would have practiced more and become more proficient, but I lacked the motivation, interest and desire to do so. Until recently, I lacked the motivation, interest and desire to cook; but, now that I have those, maybe the patience and discipline will follow, and I’ll learn to cook delicious food. Maybe. Time will tell.
I learned that although cooking a batch of soup may take a couple of hours one day, the soup can make a quick, easy and yummy lunch or dinner for several days and, when stored properly, even longer. I also learned that when not stored properly, minestrone will go bad, and the cabbage will make your fridge stink the rest of the week.
Finally, I’m learning that I have more of an interest in what’s in dishes at restaurants, and I’m thinking maybe I can create the dishes myself. Tonight we went to the local Chinese restaurant and I ordered a sizzling rice soup and found myself paying more attention to the ingredients than I ever would have before. Of course, as the nice waiter, NS, pointed out, he could tell me what the ingredients are, but not the proportions, and the stock is a secret recipe. Nonetheless, if I improvise, experiment, and play around, maybe I can come up with something almost as good!
"Learning is an active process. We learn by doing. Only knowledge that is used sticks in your mind." Dale Carnegie
Week 2: I did it! I really did it! And they liked it! They really liked it!
On Wednesday evening at Bowling League, I was telling my friends BH and MB about my soup misadventure, and I invited them over for Sunday supper if they’d be willing to let me try again and cook some soup for them. They were planning on going out of town for part of the weekend but said they’d call me when they knew whether or not they’d be back by Sunday evening. On Friday, as I was discussing with my staff plans for Monday when we were going to be having our staff retreat at my house, I offered to cook soup for lunch, and they thought that would be great. I was thinking maybe I’d fix two different kinds in case not everyone (about a dozen people) liked one or the other—maybe a minestrone and a tomato soup. I figured I’d have plenty of time to shop and cook on Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday, I heard from BH and she said she and MB were looking forward to coming to supper on Sunday. I had found a recipe that I wanted to try, but when I talked to my friend CS, she said why not just make a double batch of the minestrone that I was going to cook for Monday and have some of it Sunday night, so I decided that made more sense. The minestrone recipe calls for dried cannelloni beans which, it says, have to be soaked overnight, so I was going to go grocery shopping Saturday so I could soak the beans that night. But there was a note at the end of the recipe that said, “If you would like to use canned beans, do so...." That’s all I needed—with permission to use canned beans, the grocery shopping could wait till Sunday.
I made a list of all the ingredients I’d need for the minestrone and the tomato soup, and off to HyVee I went early Sunday afternoon. The first dilemma I had was that in the recipe book, in the list of ingredients, it called for prosciutto, but nowhere in the cooking directions part did it say anything about prosciutto. One of the first things it told me to do in the directions is to “put the pancetta, garlic and parsley in a large saucepan…,” though pancetta was not in the list of ingredients. So, I looked these up on my Internet cooking terms Web site, and though it didn’t say these terms are interchangeable, I gathered that prosciutto is a type of ham (from Italy), and pancetta is a particular part of the prosciutto, so I figured it meant the same thing. When I got to the store, I asked the woman in the deli for prosciutto and forgot to say anything about pancetta, so I hoped I was getting the right thing. Otherwise, I only had trouble finding two of the ingredients: sea salt and shelled peas. Of all the different kinds of salt I found, the only one that sounded anything like sea salt was seasoned salt, and I wondered if maybe “sea” is an abbreviation for “seasoned.” It’s not. I looked it up on the Web when I got home. (My new cell phone has the capacity to connect to the Internet, and I’m wondering if I should pay for that service so I can “look it up” while I’m in the store instead of having to wait till I get home.) The recipe called for fresh or frozen shelled peas, but I couldn’t find anything anywhere that said “shelled” peas. I asked a colleague, AW, and his wife, who were in the frozen food aisle, what it means when it says “shelled peas”—and they said something about maybe using regular peas, or snow peas, or black-eyed peas or navy beans when they make soup. I just went with the regular frozen peas.
I got home from the grocery store two hours before my dinner guests were to arrive, so I thought I had plenty of time to fix the minestrone and have it ready by the time they got here. I had read through the recipe and added up the times it takes to cook and simmer various ingredients, and it came to about 45 minutes, not counting the time it would take to cut up the celery, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, etc., which I figured couldn’t take all that long. As I put the prosciutto/ pancetta and parsley in the saucepan and began to sauté it, I suddenly realized that I wasn’t sure what a garlic clove was, and I was supposed to use two of them, crushed. Actually, four, since I was doubling the recipe. I had bought two packages of fresh garlic, which comes with two in a package. As I took one out, I debated whether the whole thing is a clove, or whether a clove is some small part of it. As I rinsed it off, it sort of pealed like an onion, and I cut the dirty brown end off, and it sort of fell apart into what I surmised might be little cloves. Unsure, I decided it would be better to use two (four) of the little pieces than both (all four) of the whole big garlics that came in the package, just to be safe. (I later found out I had made the right decision when I asked BH and MB upon their arrival.)
By now I was wondering if my Internet web site, which I don’t have time to go connect to every time I have a question while I’m cooking (unless I pay for DSL service, which may be worth it), has a 1-800-ASK-COOK help-line affiliated with it. If so, I might as well just dial it when I start cooking and stay on the line, because I have LOTS of questions. For example: “2 (4) large potatoes, cubed and rinsed.” Do I peel the potatoes? I’ve heard the skin is the best part because that’s where the vitamins are, so I decided to leave it on. “3 (6) carrots, cubed.” Do I peel the carrots? I remember peeling many a carrot when I was little, and I don’t recall either of my parents (both of whom, by the way, are wonderful cooks, and neither of whom, I must say, is to blame for my heretofore lack of interest in and experience with cooking) ever fixing anything with carrots without peeling them, so I peeled them.” 3 (6) tomatoes, halved, seeded and chopped.” How and why do I seed a tomato? I got creative and used my apple slicer to slice the tomatoes, then I used a spoon to scoop out the seeds as best I could before I chopped them up. What do I do with the seeds? I love them, so I ate them.
I was putting all of these ingredients in the pot as I did whatever I was supposed to do to them; but, before I knew it, it was time for my guests to arrive, and I hadn’t even gotten all of the ingredients sliced, diced, crushed, ground, chopped…let alone had they cooked for 45 minutes. But it was probably for the best, because I was at a point in the recipe that I really needed help. When they arrived I fixed them drinks (I didn’t have any hors d’oeuvres ready because I had thought I’d be ready to put dinner on the table when they got here), and I asked them some questions. Despite being nearly 10 years older than I am, B said she doesn’t know a whole lot more about cooking than I do. Fortunately, M is a good cook and was able to answer all of my questions. After reassuring me that I had done the right thing with the cloves, she answered my remaining questions in turn: no, the zucchini doesn’t need to be peeled; you slice cabbage like you slice lettuce (which she then had to show me—my lettuce comes ready-to-eat in a bag, pre-shredded and all); and, finally, as I began to panic about the rice, wondering if I was supposed to have cooked it separately and then add it to the pot, she assured me that no, I could just pour it from the box into the soup where it would cook just fine.
By now, they’d been there about a half hour, and B asked if I had any crackers and cheese, which, fortunately, I did and was able to whip out some tasty appetizers. (Lesson learned: always have some appetizers or hors d’oeuvres ready.) The soup was almost ready, so I put the Italian bread in the oven, finished setting the table, and dinner was served. As they took their first bites, they both raved and marveled that this was my first (successful) attempt to cook soup, and they said it was delicious. They said they were genuinely impressed and weren’t just saying that to make me feel good, which I appreciated because I wanted them to be honest since I was going to be serving the same thing to a dozen people the next day, and if it was awful I needed to know.
After the soup cooled, I put it in the refrigerator and realized there was more than enough for a dozen people the next day, and I thought it was a pretty safe bet that everyone would like minestrone (unless anyone was a vegetarian, which we had discussed earlier and couldn’t think of anyone who was), so I decided not to make the tomato soup after all. As it turned out, one person is a vegetarian, but she doesn’t like tomato soup so that wouldn’t have made any difference anyway. What I should have done was fix one batch of the minestrone without prosciutto. Another lesson learned. Fortunately, she had her own soup at home, so she ran home to get it when it came time to heat the soup for lunch. I felt awful, but she was very gracious about it and it worked out fine. Everyone else really seemed to enjoy the soup, and I felt a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in knowing that I can do it, and I’m not completely hopeless!
"I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen." - Frank Lloyd Wright
On Saturday, I heard from BH and she said she and MB were looking forward to coming to supper on Sunday. I had found a recipe that I wanted to try, but when I talked to my friend CS, she said why not just make a double batch of the minestrone that I was going to cook for Monday and have some of it Sunday night, so I decided that made more sense. The minestrone recipe calls for dried cannelloni beans which, it says, have to be soaked overnight, so I was going to go grocery shopping Saturday so I could soak the beans that night. But there was a note at the end of the recipe that said, “If you would like to use canned beans, do so...." That’s all I needed—with permission to use canned beans, the grocery shopping could wait till Sunday.
I made a list of all the ingredients I’d need for the minestrone and the tomato soup, and off to HyVee I went early Sunday afternoon. The first dilemma I had was that in the recipe book, in the list of ingredients, it called for prosciutto, but nowhere in the cooking directions part did it say anything about prosciutto. One of the first things it told me to do in the directions is to “put the pancetta, garlic and parsley in a large saucepan…,” though pancetta was not in the list of ingredients. So, I looked these up on my Internet cooking terms Web site, and though it didn’t say these terms are interchangeable, I gathered that prosciutto is a type of ham (from Italy), and pancetta is a particular part of the prosciutto, so I figured it meant the same thing. When I got to the store, I asked the woman in the deli for prosciutto and forgot to say anything about pancetta, so I hoped I was getting the right thing. Otherwise, I only had trouble finding two of the ingredients: sea salt and shelled peas. Of all the different kinds of salt I found, the only one that sounded anything like sea salt was seasoned salt, and I wondered if maybe “sea” is an abbreviation for “seasoned.” It’s not. I looked it up on the Web when I got home. (My new cell phone has the capacity to connect to the Internet, and I’m wondering if I should pay for that service so I can “look it up” while I’m in the store instead of having to wait till I get home.) The recipe called for fresh or frozen shelled peas, but I couldn’t find anything anywhere that said “shelled” peas. I asked a colleague, AW, and his wife, who were in the frozen food aisle, what it means when it says “shelled peas”—and they said something about maybe using regular peas, or snow peas, or black-eyed peas or navy beans when they make soup. I just went with the regular frozen peas.
I got home from the grocery store two hours before my dinner guests were to arrive, so I thought I had plenty of time to fix the minestrone and have it ready by the time they got here. I had read through the recipe and added up the times it takes to cook and simmer various ingredients, and it came to about 45 minutes, not counting the time it would take to cut up the celery, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, etc., which I figured couldn’t take all that long. As I put the prosciutto/ pancetta and parsley in the saucepan and began to sauté it, I suddenly realized that I wasn’t sure what a garlic clove was, and I was supposed to use two of them, crushed. Actually, four, since I was doubling the recipe. I had bought two packages of fresh garlic, which comes with two in a package. As I took one out, I debated whether the whole thing is a clove, or whether a clove is some small part of it. As I rinsed it off, it sort of pealed like an onion, and I cut the dirty brown end off, and it sort of fell apart into what I surmised might be little cloves. Unsure, I decided it would be better to use two (four) of the little pieces than both (all four) of the whole big garlics that came in the package, just to be safe. (I later found out I had made the right decision when I asked BH and MB upon their arrival.)
By now I was wondering if my Internet web site, which I don’t have time to go connect to every time I have a question while I’m cooking (unless I pay for DSL service, which may be worth it), has a 1-800-ASK-COOK help-line affiliated with it. If so, I might as well just dial it when I start cooking and stay on the line, because I have LOTS of questions. For example: “2 (4) large potatoes, cubed and rinsed.” Do I peel the potatoes? I’ve heard the skin is the best part because that’s where the vitamins are, so I decided to leave it on. “3 (6) carrots, cubed.” Do I peel the carrots? I remember peeling many a carrot when I was little, and I don’t recall either of my parents (both of whom, by the way, are wonderful cooks, and neither of whom, I must say, is to blame for my heretofore lack of interest in and experience with cooking) ever fixing anything with carrots without peeling them, so I peeled them.” 3 (6) tomatoes, halved, seeded and chopped.” How and why do I seed a tomato? I got creative and used my apple slicer to slice the tomatoes, then I used a spoon to scoop out the seeds as best I could before I chopped them up. What do I do with the seeds? I love them, so I ate them.
I was putting all of these ingredients in the pot as I did whatever I was supposed to do to them; but, before I knew it, it was time for my guests to arrive, and I hadn’t even gotten all of the ingredients sliced, diced, crushed, ground, chopped…let alone had they cooked for 45 minutes. But it was probably for the best, because I was at a point in the recipe that I really needed help. When they arrived I fixed them drinks (I didn’t have any hors d’oeuvres ready because I had thought I’d be ready to put dinner on the table when they got here), and I asked them some questions. Despite being nearly 10 years older than I am, B said she doesn’t know a whole lot more about cooking than I do. Fortunately, M is a good cook and was able to answer all of my questions. After reassuring me that I had done the right thing with the cloves, she answered my remaining questions in turn: no, the zucchini doesn’t need to be peeled; you slice cabbage like you slice lettuce (which she then had to show me—my lettuce comes ready-to-eat in a bag, pre-shredded and all); and, finally, as I began to panic about the rice, wondering if I was supposed to have cooked it separately and then add it to the pot, she assured me that no, I could just pour it from the box into the soup where it would cook just fine.
By now, they’d been there about a half hour, and B asked if I had any crackers and cheese, which, fortunately, I did and was able to whip out some tasty appetizers. (Lesson learned: always have some appetizers or hors d’oeuvres ready.) The soup was almost ready, so I put the Italian bread in the oven, finished setting the table, and dinner was served. As they took their first bites, they both raved and marveled that this was my first (successful) attempt to cook soup, and they said it was delicious. They said they were genuinely impressed and weren’t just saying that to make me feel good, which I appreciated because I wanted them to be honest since I was going to be serving the same thing to a dozen people the next day, and if it was awful I needed to know.
After the soup cooled, I put it in the refrigerator and realized there was more than enough for a dozen people the next day, and I thought it was a pretty safe bet that everyone would like minestrone (unless anyone was a vegetarian, which we had discussed earlier and couldn’t think of anyone who was), so I decided not to make the tomato soup after all. As it turned out, one person is a vegetarian, but she doesn’t like tomato soup so that wouldn’t have made any difference anyway. What I should have done was fix one batch of the minestrone without prosciutto. Another lesson learned. Fortunately, she had her own soup at home, so she ran home to get it when it came time to heat the soup for lunch. I felt awful, but she was very gracious about it and it worked out fine. Everyone else really seemed to enjoy the soup, and I felt a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in knowing that I can do it, and I’m not completely hopeless!
"I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen." - Frank Lloyd Wright
Week 1: I tried. I really tried. But I failed. I really failed.
Spent a couple of hours last weekend reading through all 35 soup recipes in the book, and found about 15 that my good friend and occasional dining companion, CS, (who claimed not to be big on soup) and I both thought sounded good. Of the other 20 or so, about half are ones I thought sounded pretty good, so I’ll either make those for myself or for other friends (should I, and they, be so brave).
CS and I had dinner plans for Tuesday, and we picked grilled salmon noodle soup for our first soup adventure. However, as we looked at the recipe again the other night and talked about going to the Asian market to buy the necessary ingredients, she decided she’d rather have New England Clam Chowder. Unlike the salmon soup, which the book claimed “can be on the table in about 8 minutes—30 if you’re chatting and enjoying yourself over a glass of wine,” I could tell the clam chowder was going to be a two-night endeavor. So, I made a list of all the ingredients I’d need, and off I went to HyVee after work on Monday so I could make the fish stock and begin preparing the soup a night ahead of time.
After finding the onions, celery, carrots, fresh thyme, and flat leaf parsley in aisle 1, I ran into a friend, GP, who helped me find the leeks in the same aisle. To my great relief, she also strongly encouraged me to buy fish stock (which she said I’d find in the canned soup aisle) instead of trying to make it from scratch my first time out. She recounted having made it herself from scratch, but said I might be better off not trying to do that my first time. To my dismay, however, I found only beef and chicken stock in the canned soup aisle; so, I resumed my search for stock ingredients. After picking up safflower oil, bay leaves, and cracked black pepper, I headed for the seafood counter where I saw shrimp, oysters, salmon, catfish—BUT NO CLAMS! I asked the nice young man behind the counter if he had any clams, and he checked in the back but there were no clams to be found. How can I make clam chowder with no clams? Just then GP came up to the seafood counter, as did another acquaintance, KQ, and both advised me as to possible options: I could make salmon soup (but I didn’t have my salmon soup recipe with me and I couldn’t remember all the ingredients I’d need for that), or I could use oysters or muscles instead of clams (yuck), or I could make catfish soup (again, yuck, and also no recipe). Then WGJ came over and tried in his ever-so-supportive way to be of assistance—why not just use canned clams (but my grocery list called for “quahog clams in the shell”, not canned clams). Why, he wondered, was I trying something so difficult if this was the first time I’d ever tried to make soup? Because that’s what my friend wanted, and I didn’t want to let her down.
As I returned to aisle 1 and began to put the vegetables and other ingredients back where I found them, I called CS, nearly in tears, and told her there were no clams to be had for her clam chowder. Not to worry, she said—just pick up a couple of steaks and we’ll throw them on the grill. We’ll try the soup again next time—either with a simpler one, or on a Saturday or Sunday night when we have more time to shop and prepare a more complex dish.
"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape." - Michael McGriffy, M.D.
CS and I had dinner plans for Tuesday, and we picked grilled salmon noodle soup for our first soup adventure. However, as we looked at the recipe again the other night and talked about going to the Asian market to buy the necessary ingredients, she decided she’d rather have New England Clam Chowder. Unlike the salmon soup, which the book claimed “can be on the table in about 8 minutes—30 if you’re chatting and enjoying yourself over a glass of wine,” I could tell the clam chowder was going to be a two-night endeavor. So, I made a list of all the ingredients I’d need, and off I went to HyVee after work on Monday so I could make the fish stock and begin preparing the soup a night ahead of time.
After finding the onions, celery, carrots, fresh thyme, and flat leaf parsley in aisle 1, I ran into a friend, GP, who helped me find the leeks in the same aisle. To my great relief, she also strongly encouraged me to buy fish stock (which she said I’d find in the canned soup aisle) instead of trying to make it from scratch my first time out. She recounted having made it herself from scratch, but said I might be better off not trying to do that my first time. To my dismay, however, I found only beef and chicken stock in the canned soup aisle; so, I resumed my search for stock ingredients. After picking up safflower oil, bay leaves, and cracked black pepper, I headed for the seafood counter where I saw shrimp, oysters, salmon, catfish—BUT NO CLAMS! I asked the nice young man behind the counter if he had any clams, and he checked in the back but there were no clams to be found. How can I make clam chowder with no clams? Just then GP came up to the seafood counter, as did another acquaintance, KQ, and both advised me as to possible options: I could make salmon soup (but I didn’t have my salmon soup recipe with me and I couldn’t remember all the ingredients I’d need for that), or I could use oysters or muscles instead of clams (yuck), or I could make catfish soup (again, yuck, and also no recipe). Then WGJ came over and tried in his ever-so-supportive way to be of assistance—why not just use canned clams (but my grocery list called for “quahog clams in the shell”, not canned clams). Why, he wondered, was I trying something so difficult if this was the first time I’d ever tried to make soup? Because that’s what my friend wanted, and I didn’t want to let her down.
As I returned to aisle 1 and began to put the vegetables and other ingredients back where I found them, I called CS, nearly in tears, and told her there were no clams to be had for her clam chowder. Not to worry, she said—just pick up a couple of steaks and we’ll throw them on the grill. We’ll try the soup again next time—either with a simpler one, or on a Saturday or Sunday night when we have more time to shop and prepare a more complex dish.
"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape." - Michael McGriffy, M.D.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Introduction
After making it through my first 20 or so years of adulthood without owning a cookbook, I was delighted to get a Soup cookbook from friends JO & ES for Christmas 2003 when I was 40 years old. Since I don’t cook, I’ve never had any need for a food pantry; so, my first task was to clear off two shelves in my kitty pantry so I could stock soup ingredients. My second task was to bookmark a Website where I could look up cooking terms I didn’t know like “blanch” & “parboil.”
I began writing "The Soup Diaries" in January 2004, and I wrote the last entry in January 2005. I didn't date the entries, but all were written during that one-year period. This was before the widespread popularity and use of facebook, and before I was aware of the existence of blogs. I shared my “Diaries” with only a handful of family and friends via e-mail at the time.
I recently shared the initial installments of "The Soup Diaries" with my facebook friends, and several people have encouraged me to share them with a wider audience via a blog. As one friend put it, "Think of how many other non-cooks you'd be helping!" I'd never thought of it that way--I've been so worried about what people who are good cooks would think that I haven't thought about how my (mis)adventures might help other non-cooks like myself. I don't know how many people will find them helpful, but I hope those who read them will enjoy them. I'm not generally known for being funny, but some people who've read these have found them to be, at times anyway, mildly amusing. So, if you decide to follow me, thanks; and I hope you'll laugh with--and not at--me as I share my earlier entries and add new ones as I embark on my new adventures!
“Do you have a kinder, more adaptable friend in the food world than soup? Who soothes you when you are ill? Who refuses to leave you when you are impoverished and stretches its resources to give a hearty sustenance and cheer? Who warms you in the winter and cools you in the summer? Yet who also is capable of doing honor to your richest table and impressing your most demanding guests? Soup does its loyal best, no matter what undignified conditions are imposed upon it. You don't catch steak hanging around when you're poor and sick, do you?” ~Judith Martin (Miss Manners)
“Do you have a kinder, more adaptable friend in the food world than soup? Who soothes you when you are ill? Who refuses to leave you when you are impoverished and stretches its resources to give a hearty sustenance and cheer? Who warms you in the winter and cools you in the summer? Yet who also is capable of doing honor to your richest table and impressing your most demanding guests? Soup does its loyal best, no matter what undignified conditions are imposed upon it. You don't catch steak hanging around when you're poor and sick, do you?” ~Judith Martin (Miss Manners)
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