I would have named this recipe tom yum soup, since the popular Thai dish is certainly its inspiration. But it’s missing a few crucial — and difficult to find — ingredients, and prepared rather on the fly instead of slow-simmered. It wouldn’t seem quite right to purists of Thai cuisine. It is, however, absolutely right to those looking to quench their appetite for something a little exotic, restorative and refreshing, and you don’t have much time.
If the fashion sensibility “peasant chic” were translated to food, this would be a runway highlight. It’s a melange of the penniless pantry, but manages to come out vibrant with flavor, and chock full of nutrition. A little funky, offbeat, and very magenta (is that an “in” color?), it’s what I call making the best of the least — and the cheapest — ingredients. It’s also filling enough for a one-dish dinner alone, but plop in a poached egg and … Read More
Rather than watering it down with milk and cream, or confusing its flavor with a tomato-laden broth, this soup is all about broccoli, from its florets to its stems to its leaves. You’ll get a big burst of the broccoli with each spoonful of the stuff, and that’s a somewhat new way to experience a vegetable that’s been around (and has been disdained, in many cases) for all our lives. It starts out with roasting the pieces to concentrate their … Read More
Most of my favorite soups have “peasant” origins. From the poorest “peas porridge” to simple black bean, reheated ribollita to wintermelon and stock, this humble fare reminds me that you don’t have to simmer a whole great number of specific things to come away with a really great soup. Especially if your ingredients are great on their own.
If you had to name two things that go brilliantly when thrown together in a pot, especially when you’re at the shore in the last throes of summer, you might not immediately pick clam and tomatoes. Lobster and corn might come to mind, with potatoes a tagalong or alternate. But it’s the first combo that I’d go with from now on. It was the basis of the best soup I’ve had in a while, just in time for chillier nights.
We have a new champ of the Food Obstructions, and a winning recipe that I hope everyone cooks up real soon. But first, a big, fat thank-you from Karol, David and myself to everyone who came, ate, and cooked. Together, we raised almost $600 for Just Food, the nonprofit promoting access to fresh, good food for all residents of NYC. It seems that definitely includes us, because what was even more impressive about Sunday was the smorgasbord of delicious, summery … Read More
Yeah, they’re navy beans, so what? I didn’t have lentils on hand. But I still wanted to make something spicy with curry seasonings, filling in just a few slurps, delicious, and did I mention, cheap? Any bean, please. And for that matter, anything else that was in the cupboards, too. This happened to include some pickled red peppers from last summer’s harvest, parsley and shallots, and a lemon bursting with juice. Which brings me to a very tentative naming situation: … Read More
There’s squash soup, and then there’s squash soup without milk or cream. You could say I’m making an exaggeration by placing such a disparity between the two sister soups, but then I’ve never had a dairy-less version of squash soup until I made it at home. That is, if you don’t count the “butter” inherent in the squash’s name.
Today marks a sad day. I usually never let good produce go to waste, but after coming home and inspecting the three miniature squashes I had left out on a decorative platter on the coffee table, as a decorative touch to the room, I discovered that I had overestimated their coffee table life. They were no longer firm and heavy, but sickly hollow-feeling, and the acorn squash’s lizard-green skin was a bit wrinkled, with one spot of mold on the … Read More
I do love a good fool. Not the kind that walks on two legs (or tries to), but a gag, a practical joke, and especially when it has to do with food. Like translucent off-white cubes of soft-cooked celeriac instead of tofu bobbing in an otherwise traditional miso soup. It’s a culinary deception, and I think it’s in fair form because the soup is still uniquely delicious, despite it all.