Gazpacho

I know. I’m bringing up Michael Pollan again. Sorry. But he did just write a long piece in the New York Times Magazine about why America likes cooking shows but doesn’t actually cook. This is all brought on by the Julie & Julia marketing onslaught that at first reminded me that I’m intrigued by Julia Child, (I acted on this- frustratingly asking the bookstore clerk if they had any copies of “My Life In France,” without the movie cover. No. Forget that then.) And now as the Julie & Julia attack drums on in every media outlet known to man I find myself, sadly, sick of Julia Child before I could even decide for myself whether she uses too much butter.

What am I talking about? Right. Pollan. Pollan poses the question, After having gross corporations cook for us, and by cooking, I mean pumping processed stuff up with butter and salt and sugar can we go back?

“Can we ever put the genie back into the bottle? Once it has been destroyed, can a culture of everyday cooking be rebuilt? One in which men share equally in the work? One in which the cooking shows on television once again teach people how to cook from scratch and, as Julia Child once did, actually empower them to do it?”

Sure can, Michael…

I had to run a few errands in different directions around the Lower East Side for this soup. I forgot a red onion at the grocery store and stopped at a corner bodega. I asked the Arab man if I could open a bag of six red onions because the single onion looked bad- he raised an eyebrow then went, Sure, sure. I had to get white wine off Ludlow and then realized I forgot to get bread on Clinton street where they make sandwiches but Amal discovered the bread itself is good. “Just three loaves.” The Italian guy looks at me, “Just bread?” Yes, please.

I cleaned dirt off basil in the sink and Alayna chopped onions and we drank white wine and talked about going to Colombia for a bit.

These are the things we eat here at Monday’s Soups. Interactions and conversations and good salt and chili pepper tea. And it’s all very tasty.

We can put the genie back in the bottle by... and I don't mean to tap into our tag-line... not being afraid of cooking. Alayna has been cooking long before me. She'd make me big dinners in France and I would happily eat it all and that's where our friendship started. But for me, making soup was the real start of my tender and caring relationship with Cooking. Soup is a good starting point. You put real foods together and play around and 99% of the time it'll taste good. Even when you don't have some ingreidents. Even when you throw in something random from the fridge.

So I would answer Micheal Pollan with a Yes, we can go back. And a good start is by not being afriad of soup.

Now go make your Gazpacho my empowered Soupies!

P.S. We had a friend guest soupie, Keith, yogi and potter. We talked about art and books instead of watching terrible television. For that Keith we thank you, come back soon. And can I get a free yoga class?

• fill a medium sized sauce pot halfway with water and bring to a boil
• turn the pot off and add two dried chiles anchos, chopped and seeds/stems removed and two chiles arboles (same)... let this steep until the water has cooled (you're making chile tea!)
• before it cools, add vegetarian broth powder (or just use veg broth instead of water) until salty
  
• chop about 8-10 very fresh vine ripened tomatoes, one large cucumber (deseeded), a large cucumber, a small red onion, 8 cloves of garlic and a large handful of fresh basil into smallish pieces and set aside

• pour about 1-2 cups of your cooled down 'chile tea' into the blender and add as many chopped veggies as you can fit, disposing into your large soup bowl
  
• Repeat until done, watching to make sure it doesn't get too liquidy or too solid
• salt and pepper to taste
  
• let sit for AT LEAST an hour (it's better the longer it sits)
  
• serve with sliced avocado and fresh goat cheese on top!

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!

French Country Soup

In the south of France sleeps a quaint and serene town called Aix-en-Provence. This is the town where Cezanne was inspired by the mountains and light and where Alayna and I were inspired by the soup and bread.

The inspiration of our French Country soup came from a little French restaurant right below the old town on Rue Vanloo with red canopies and outdoor patio tables. It was owned by a sweet Brazilian woman who gave us small shot glasses of carrot ginger soup before our meal. And there was very good bread. AKA soup lover's heaven.

As promised last week, this soup's goal was to dispel one reader's belief, who admitted that although he liked the blog, why would he ever make a soup for forty minutes when he could make a Trader Joe's Frozen Pizza in fifteen?

At first I wanted to lie and say this soup only took 15 minutes also, but Alayna said that would confuse our soup-making followers when they were making the recipe. I realized my competitive side was getting the best of me. The soup takes thirty minutes, unless you cut stuff super fast.

However, in the 'ol Great Recession of '09 making a soup that produces roughly five or so meals for $11 isn't too bad.

And there is, of course, that overall nutrition factor which I feel like I've been intensely harping on recently so I'll just let you decide what the healthier dinner option for yourself and our planet might be...

Okay, my inner-hippie is going away now.

The Soup!

But first, Alayna's inner-hippie and her new pottery creation. The soup pot. Brilliant.

Chop between 6 and 8 cloves of garlic

saute in olive oil with a few shakes of red pepper

1/2 a yellow onion

Add in the following:

a handful of baby carrots (chopped),

half a head of broccoli

Either half of a large eggplant or a small one cut in... and I quote "pinkie sized sticks, unless you have small fingers then pointers,"

Cut in the same manner, 1 zucchini and 1 yellow squash (regular sized or again, half of those weirdly giant ones),

5 vine ripe tomatoes cut in bite sized pieces.

Keep it on medium/low heat as you add everything.

Wait for the squash and egg plant to get cooked most of the way through (fork test).

Add a big handful of fresh basil (chopped) and a couple sprigs of rosemary and thyme (which you should first de-stem).

(If you want to cut down on the price you can use dried "Herb de Provence" from the jar. Though a small bunch of fresh herbs are a dollar. Your call.)

When the squash and eggplant are cooked through add enough water to cover the veggies

Add 2 packets of chicken cubes.

Presto!

Alayna's observation: "This soup is essentially ratatouille with broth. Since ratatouille apparently means random assortment of vegetables put together... As far as I can tell."