Chickens Soup

I know. It doesn't have to do with Chicken and Rice soup but it is a good photo series.

Okay. First thing is first and that is the WINNER OF THE FIRST MONDAY SOUP HAIKU CONTEST.

This person is someone who is no stranger to poetry. From his first published poems in Folio to beautiful free style raps in car rides, I can't think of anyone who deserves it more.

Ladies and gentlemen, lets give a big hand to Mr. Ziggeh Karp for this quietly powerful master piece:

There comes a time when

everyone must choose, chicken

noodle or chowder?

Sadly, Alayna and I didn't snap any shots of this soup but Alayna did do an incredible job of sending me so many chicken soup cartoons in a row that I began to wonder if she has a chicken soup cartoon fetish thing.

Anyhoot, here she is: Chicken and Rice Soup. It was good. A nice mix of light but filling. This is a soup everyone likes and everyone should master. So get your chicken friends out of the coop and start ringing some necks.

To-Do!

In a side pot, cook 1 cup of rice (white or brown... or even fancy wild rice!) according to instructions

In your soup pot, dice about 6 cloves of garlic and an onion

and sautee in olive oil

(add a few shakes of hot pepper if you are cold and stuffy and feel the need to be revived)

Add chopped carrots (either 3 real carrots or a handful and a half of baby)

and a head or two of broccoli, also chopped

Add a small box of baby bella/cremini mushrooms and/or shitake

(and, if you still have those dried porcinis laying around, you could soak some of those and put in the broth and I think it would be delicious)

Once things are almost all the way soft, add two whole tomatoes, chopped,

and lower the temperature to simmer covered

In a separate covered pan, cook 2-3 boneless/skinless chicken thigh (or breast) cut into bite-sized pieces in olive oil with salt and pepper

When the rice is done cooking add it to the soup pot,

cover everything with chicken broth and bring up the heat

Once the chicken is cooked through, add it to the soup pot

and put in more broth if needed.

Bring to a light boil, and then take the temperature back down

Add a handful and a half of fresh parsley and voila!

Chicken soup for the soul.

Sausage Soup

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Writing a soup blog when I'm at work is a lot more dodgy than I thought. But it's Thursday and I know the people... i.e. Alayna... is freaking out that there is no new soup to look at. Though there is a new Friday's Dinners! which also doubles as Sunday Brunch.

There is a lot to say here. One: This is a nice Italian-esq. comfort soup. Very similar to Italian Wedding soup, Ryan. Alayna was in the mood for it because she is freaking out- so are most of the Suffolk apartment ladies. As the lease is ending and cha-cha-changes are a-happening. Moving, subletting, weeding out potential craigslist killers. It's stressful. (Hey! Anyone need a room in the Lower East Side in a week? Inquire within!)

So this soup made us all feel a little more relaxed. Thank you, soup.

Now for the contest. Drum roll please.

The First Ever MONDAY'S SOUP HAIKU CONTEST!

I know, how did we not think of this before.

Rules:

1. Write a haiku about soup.

2. Paste it as a "comment" to this blog post

3. Wait anxiously to see if you're the winner

You WANT to be the winner.

The Soup!

Slice about 6 cloves of garlic and saute in olive oil in the soup pot

add in 1 yellow onion, chopped

once the onions are getting opaque,

add about two fistfuls of kale, torn into smaller pieces

when the kale is getting softer, add about 1.5 handfuls of baby carrots, chopped

add the florets from one or two heads of broccoli

once the broccoli and carrots are getting softer, but still firm,

add a large can of crushed tomatoes with the juice

and bring the bot to a low simmer

add in a handful of fresh basil

and a handful of fresh parsley

in a separate pan, saute 4-6 Italian sausages cut into bite size pieces (half sweet, half spicy)

once cooked through, add to to the soup pot and fill with chicken broth to get to the right consistency

Bring everything to a boil and eat!

Artichoke My Heart

"You have a bright future ahead of you.

Go into the world.

And use everything we have taught you."

-Tyson Bedford, "Make Me A Supermodel"

Kate has a magic bullet. Alayna has artichoke hearts. You've heard this story before...

Nooo, you haven't.

I was doing who knows what in Jersey so I could not partake on this adventure but Monday Soup fan, Lauren, filled in. Everything was moving along great.

Onions were sauteing...

Alayna was chopping hearts...

Stuff was going in the pot...

The cat was in the bag...

And then... it's time to puree.

"Oh Lauren, it's time to blend," Alayna said, innocently. Having no idea what was about to happen next.

"Yes!" said Lauren, excited to watch Monday Soup in real time and not just recaptured on this blog.

"Lets go to the blender," Alayna says. Bowl in hand. There they go. Five feet from the kitchen. To the corner of the apartment. By the bookshelf.

No one had any idea what was about to happen.

It was the age of innocence.

THE BLENDER IS BROKEN!

Can't you see the crack in the blender?

And that's when Kate's magic bullet comes in. And the story reaches our Monday's happy ending.

Unfortunately, that magic bullet is a wee little thing. And Alayna and soup crew dirtied every dish in the apartment. But worse has happened. And I wasn't there to have to do the dishes.

Now, for the soup:

Ingredients

The hearts from 6 large artichokes
butter
2 leeks
6 garlic cloves, chopped
3 chopped shallots
2 handfulls of baby red potatoes
Veg/Chicken Stock
1/2 bay leaf
Thyme
Handful of chopped parsley
half and half or heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

Method

1 Cut the artichokes lengthwise into quarters. With a small knife, remove the thistley choke part and discard. Cut away the leaves from the artichoke heart and reserve for steaming and eating later. This will probably take longer than you think. Cut or peel away the tough outside skin of the stems and discard. Chop hearts to 1/4 inch thickness

2 In a large pot, melt half a stick of butter and cook the artichoke hearts, leek, garlic, and shallots on medium heat covered until tender (can stick a fork through hearts). Add diced potatoes and broth, about 2-4 bay leave, a handful of parsley and some thyme. Bring soup to a simmer and let cook covered until everything is tender (about 45 min).

3 Remove and discard the bay leaves. Purée the soup with your magic bullet if you somehow accidentally broke your blender body (oops!) and add cream to taste once all blended. Add salt/pepper as desired.

Lauren, with all of our dishes, dirty.

Fennel Is Fentastic

Is it just me or has Monday's Soups become a really big deal? Alayna and I hear stories from all over the country... or world, thank you Aimee from Barcelona... about readers making our soups. And you know, it hits a heart string every time.


Ms. Lauren Cook (what an appropriate last name!) might take the title this week for being the most enthusiastic Monday's Soup fan. (Check out Ms. Cook in this week's Friday's Dinners). But there are others, Austin from Kentucky has stopped making Trader Joe's pizzas for good. (That might be a lie, but he HAS made a soup.)


My mom has been eager for me to post her fan quote that was something along the lines of "Mothers should teach their daughters how to cook but I'm learning how to cook from my daughter." Was that even the quote? I don't remember. I do remember when my mom bought one take-out meal for a family of three to split every night for my entire childhood.


Anyway, I regress. Monday Soup friends, get ready for this soup. You all know not to be afraid of Mondays but do you know not to be afraid of fennel, too? This soup is, hands down, the best soup we've had in a long time. I even considered making a second batch two days later. I said, "I wish this soup ran out of our faucet like water." I still wish that.


P.S. Lastly, soup lovers, if anyone has any idea how I can be paid for this, let me know. Thank you.

Ingredients!

• 2 large fennel bulbs with fronds
• 1 pound carrots, sliced medium thin
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 8 garlic cloves, sliced
• kale
  
• extra-virgin olive oil,
  
• walnut oil (optional, sub olive)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• "chicken broth"

Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in lowest position.

Slice bulbs 1/4 inch thick and toss with carrots, onion, half of garlic, olive oil, a pinch of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a sprinkle of pepper. Spread in a 4-sided sheet pan and roast, stirring occasionally, until browned and tender, 25 to 30 minutes.

Once your veggies are in, saute the rest of your garlic in a little olive oil in your soup pot, and add 3-4 large handfuls of kale (stems removed and ripped into smaller pieces) once the garlic is slightly opaque. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, until leaves are tender and turn off until the rest of your veggies are done.

Once your roasted veggies are tender, add them to the kale in your soup pot and cover with chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then blend the whole soup to the desired consistency.

Can also be served cold, and I think it would also be good roasting the other veggies in walnut oil instead of olive.

Yeah, I know, holy heck we even made pie.

Alayna is sitting next to me right now watching Law and Order for the 3rd time tonight. You want to know how to make that pie don't you? It's really, really good.

This is what Alayna says:

Crush finely a packet and half of graham crackers,

mix with a quarter cup of sugar,

six tablespoons of melted butter.

Mix until moist and press into a pan.

Cook it at 360 for 7 minutes

(After 7 minutes, let cool for a little before put the mix in)

Mix 3/4 a cup of whole milk

with 4 eggs

a splash of vanilla

and a pinch of nutmeg

Mix this all together.

Then mix together in separate bowl a tablespoon of flour and a cup of sugar

After mixed slowly mix in with wet stuff above.

Place two small boxes of fruit (any kind of berries) and arrange them evenly (as one layer) in the pie crust.

Then pour the liquid on top

and cook at 450 for 35 to 45 minutes

until the center has set.

If not sure if it's done, tap the center with a fork- if it jiggles like jello it's not cooked enough and give it a few more minutes.