More on Soup

I've been on a soup kick lately. I just had the groundnut soup at Temple of Zeus at Cornell, and it was fabulous! Of course, I love cilantro, and so that definitely helps because the broth of this soup has a strong cilantro finish.

Luckily the Temple of Zeus has many recipes, including groundnut, on its website, so I can try to reproduce this at home. However, I will have to scale the recipe down because the recipe is in commercial quantities! As much as I love soup, 5 gallons is a bit much! Also, it had too many bell peppers for my liking. I am going to try these quantities at first and then work on adjusting to taste for next time.

2 TBSP Canola Oil
1 chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1 C (uncooked)rice
salt
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 can peeled tomatoes, crushed
1 can tomato juice
1 TBSP peanut butter
1 tsp sugar
1 TBSP lime juice
chopped fresh cilantro
chopped scallions

cook rice in rice cooker. saute onions in oil, add garlic and garam masala. Add celery and bell peppers. Add tomatoes and tomato juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer the vegetables until they begin to get tender. Add cooked rice. Add lime juice, peanut butter, sugar and cilantro. Adjust the seasonings.

Follow up on minestrone, beef bourginion & the Omnivore's Hundred...

I did make the minestrone, and it was EXCELLENT! I will eventually upload a picture. Today I spent 2+ hours making a beef bourginion from Elise's blog, and I have to say I was slightly disappointed. It was good, but for all of the work it took, not excellent.

I saw a list of 100 things that every omnivore should eat linked from Clothilde's blog, and thought I would see how many I have actually had, here goes...
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

minestrone without stock???

I am hoping to make this Mark Bittman recipe this weekend, since I have most of the ingredients on hand. Normally I wouldn't try to make a soup without using stock, but this one sounds worth trying.

Late Summer Minestrone

Time: 45 to 60 minutes

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots, cut into 1/2-inch dice

2 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 cup fresh corn (about two ears)

1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup cored, chopped tomato (canned is fine; include juice)

1/2 cup chopped basil leaves, more for garnish

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving, optional.

1. Put 3 tablespoons oil in a large, deep saucepan or casserole over medium-high heat. When hot, add onion, carrots and zucchini. Cook, stirring, until onion softens and vegetables begin to caramelize, 10 minutes or so.

2. Add corn and beans; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for a minute or two, then add 6 cups water and tomato; bring to a boil, then adjust heat so mixture bubbles gently. Cook, stirring every now and then, until vegetables are fairly soft and tomatoes broken up, about 15 minutes.

3. Add 1/2 cup basil and adjust heat once again so mixture simmers. Cook until all vegetables are very tender, 5 to 15 minutes longer. Taste and adjust seasoning, drizzle with remaining olive oil, and serve, passing basil and cheese at table.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Things to try in Ithaca

While procrastinating from my reading today, I started to assemble a list of things that I want to try in Ithaca. Tops on the list right now are:

Tofu Kan (from Ithaca Tofu @ GreenStar Market)
Evans Farm butter & milk (@ GreenStar Market)
a banh mi from Cà Phê House

We're trying not to eat out too much, but so far we've had great meals at Aladdin's as well as a Taste of Thai.