soup – Cooking the Books

February 10, 2024January 27, 2024

Soup and the depths of friendship

Hell Bent – Leigh Bardugo

Disclaimer: This is the second (so far?) of two books, so there is one pretty big spoiler that will recur in this review; however, I did my best to keep it general.

Summary: Galaxy “Alex” Stern is not your typical LA girl trying to make it at Yale—but that is mostly because she can see ghosts and her friend is in hell, but worse still, her past is catching up with her and the semester is just getting started.

“Bad news first, please.”
“We have to go back to hell.”
“I see,” he said. “And the good news?”
“Dawes is making avgolemono.”
“Well,” he said as they reached the stone columns that marked the end of Arlington property. “That’s a relief.”
p. 392

My memory isn’t what it used to be, and these past few years have tested that even more, but I did remember the sort-of cliffhanger that ended the previous book in this series, Ninth House, well enough that when I learned that there would be a sequel, I knew I would be reading it as soon as it came out.

Despite some details being vague from the first book, it was easy enough to fall back into the world of Alex Stern and the actually magical houses that occupy much of elite Yale. It was even better to dive back into the many worlds that the complicated young woman finds herself in and find myself at home.

To avoid too many more spoilers than the hints given, I will just say that beyond the magic and the complications, there’s a nice story of friendships and the different ways they unfold—the ones you might leave behind from your pre-college years, the ones who get one aspect of you and those who get another, and the adults in your life who make you feel like you’re *almost* one of them as well.

While this world does more or less revolve around Alex, Hell Bent does show different sides of this young woman, how she is in some ways perceived differently by different people and talks to them as such, but it’s still the same person underneath. And that will definitely keep me coming back again for more (assuming another in the series is on the way).

Again, without further spoilers, there are so many moments in this book that revolve around the curative properties of homemade soup. As we find ourselves in the depths of winter now, I am reminded this is true regardless of whether magic exists in this world.

While the avgolemono soup in the book is not further described, I have made this soup more than once, including trying to give it a little more heft than a starter. As it’s cold out, the added character makes for a nice, restorative meal.

Here’s what I did, using my old recipe:

Ingredients

4 c. broth, chicken or vegetable will work
¼ c. uncooked orzo
3 eggs
3 T. lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped (or buy rotisserie and use about 2 c. of meat)
14 oz. can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
Capers, for garnish, if desired

Directions

Step 1: In a large saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Add the orzo, cover and simmer for about 7 minutes.
Step 2: Mix together the lemon juice and eggs in a medium bowl.
Step 3: Once the 7 minutes are up, ladle about 1 c. of the broth into the egg-lemon mixture, and stir well. Slowly add the mixture back into the saucepan, and stir until the soup thickens and becomes opaque as the eggs cook, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Step 4: Add chicken and artichoke hearts and cook for another 3–5 minutes or so until the artichoke hearts are heated through. Ladle into bowls, top with capers (if using) and enjoy!

December 20, 2019

Chicken soup for the solstice

As we wind down the year, I have to admit 2019 has not been the best. There have been some highs for sure but, man, the daily slog of life has taken its toll this year.

But as we approach the shortest day of the year, and then the day after when the sun shines a little more each day, I’m reminded to be grateful for all the little things that add up to big stuff.

This week that meant taking a mental break from the news. My podcasts were mostly pop culture and holiday themed. My television viewing mostly consisted of Rifftrax and MST3K. The little bit of news that did seep through included the fact that we finally impeached the motherfucker.

One other thing that helped keep my mind off of it all was the days-long process to make the most epic of comfort foods, chicken noodle soup.

Don’t let the “days-long” scare you. The first day was making a broth, which was about 5 minutes of effort and an hour of down time, and can be done in advance (I often make it and freeze for future use). The second day was baking a whole chicken, which was about 10 minutes of effort (including deglazing) and 1 ½ hours of down time, which can also be done in advance.

The last day was a little more labor intensive (I watched most of the Grumpy Cat Christmas movie while I cooked), but that included some cleaning, my required blogging pictures, and some dawdling. Still, picking apart a whole chicken takes time and so does chopping the extra vegetables that make my ideal chicken noodle soup.

The recipe is based off of a very fancy Saveur recipe that I’ve made before but I added some things to make it fit my ideal of the dish. Including the fact that it is mostly a chicken noodle stew by the time I’m finished. I still kept their parts, just also added some of my own.

There’s a little bit of broth poking through. Right?

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, about 3-4 lbs.
2 T. olive oil, plus more for sauteing
Salt and pepper, to taste
12 c. chicken stock, divided
1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 c. frozen corn kernels
1 t. crushed saffron threads
12 oz. egg noodles (I had a 14 oz. package and threw in the whole thing plus an additional cup of broth)
Crusty bread, for serving (optional)

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a 9 x 13 inch dish (a Dutch oven would probably work, but a casserole dish is what I used), rub the chicken with the olive oil and then season well with salt and pepper. Bake the chicken until golden brown and tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Carefully transfer the chicken to a cutting board and reserve the oil, etc, in the baking dish.

Once dish is slightly cooled, pour 2 c. of the stock into the baking dish and scrape with a wooden spoon to deglaze the bottom. (I waited until both broth and dish were pretty cool, and still had no problems, and then poured it into a separate container than the rest of the broth before bringing the whole dish together the next day.)

Once chicken is cool enough to handle or the next day, pick meat from the chicken and tear or chop into bite-sized pieces. You can discard the skin and bones, or freeze them, like I do, for a future chicken stock.

When ready to complete the soup, saute the onions, celery, and carrots in a little bit of oil for about 5 minutes in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Then, pour in the remaining 10 cups of stock and add in the 2 c. from the deglaze (which will look like gravy if you’ve refrigerated it overnight, like I did) as well as the chicken pieces. Add the corn and saffron to the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and continue to cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes until the stock is slightly reduced.

Add the egg noodles and cook for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, until cooked through. Season the soup with more salt and pepper, if desired. Enjoy, and happy holidays, dear readers!

October 19, 2019

Springing into fall with super soup

I set out this week to make a soup. This is partially weather-related and mostly due to the fact that I had a head cold for about half the week and wanted my cozy hot comfort food.

The recipe that stood out most to me was a light spring soup called a brodo. But this is fall, dammit. Of course, I’m sure it’s possible still to find asparagus in the grocery store, either fresh or frozen, but it just didn’t feel right.

Brodo ingredients, sans broth. Isn’t it ironic, don’t ya think?

Also, because this soup had some cream and gnocchi, I thought it’d work as a fall dish.

So, I did some swapping and some additions, and boy, did I make a good, and pretty easy soup. The biggest difficulty was that I made my own broth. However, it’s not entirely necessary, and stupid me, I had some broth in the freezer that I realized to late. So, good reminder to make broth way ahead of time and freeze it, but yeah, try to remember it’s there when needed. Or, just buy some high-quality broth.

To fully fall this soup, I changed asparagus for Brussels sprouts and added bacon. It wasn’t even that many changes, but it sure felt perfect for autumn.

Here’s what I did, adapting from my Soup Nights cookbook (one of too many/not enough soup cookbooks I own):

Ingredients

2 T. vegetable oil
1 lb. Brussels sprouts, sliced
8 c. vegetable or chicken broth (store bought or pre-made)
⅓ c. heavy cream
4 to 5 oz. blue cheese crumbles, divided
4 t. cornstarch
4 t. tap water
16 oz. pre-made potato gnocchi
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste (I like it spicy so I used closer to 1 t. but very taste dependent and a little goes a long way)
1 to 1 ½ bunches green onions, sliced, to taste
8 slices bacon, cooked to package directions, for serving
Chives, to taste, for serving

Directions

In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the oil and then the Brussels sprouts. Cook until softened and starting to brown. Add the vegetable broth and heat to boiling.

Meanwhile, mix together the blue cheese and heavy cream in a small bowl. Once the broth is boiling, add the cheese and cream mixture.

In the same bowl (or separately), mix together the corn starch and water, and then add that mixture to the soup mixture. Stir often for about 3 minutes until the soup begins to thicken.

Add the salt and pepper, cayenne, green onions, and the gnocchi, cooking another 3 to 5 minutes until the pre-made gnocchi is cooked through. Season more, as needed.

Ladle soup into bowls, serve with cooked bacon, any additional blue cheese crumbles as desired, and chives, and enjoy!

January 5, 2019

Smokin’ soup to start off the new year

My sweetie and I had a tradition of smoking meats at Thanksgiving and Christmas until our smoker got stolen a couple years ago. Mercifully, we were able to get another one this year and pick up right where we left off.

The best part for me is, of course, the food. But a nice secondary benefit is I have one less thing taking up space and time in my kitchen. My sweetie handles the meat. I handle the sides and dessert.

I won’t bore you dear readers with all that we made at the two holidays even though I’m still drooling over them. But after Thanksgiving, I told my sweetie we were doing an extra bird at Christmas because I had plans for using it to kick off the new year right.

And ringing in my new If It Fits I Cooks project for 2019: the Dutch oven.

The wild rice and smoked chicken soup is an Amy Thielen recipe, though I varied it slightly because I already had a favorite creamy wild rice and chicken soup.

My most important contribution is the addition of slivered almonds for added texture that blends with the wild rice well. Oh, and I used leftover (frozen) carcasses from the Thanksgiving chicken to make a smoky broth that added a little something.

Like most soups, this is difficult to mess up but it is time consuming. Wild rice always takes forever. Chopping veggies — something I weirdly enjoy but many don’t — is also a chore. And then of course simmering long enough for all the flavors to meld.

But it’s January and there’s not much else to do. This is the part where I’d usually say there’s the added benefit of keeping the stove going and warming up, but if you live in central Iowa, that has uh not been much of an issue so far this winter.

Happy New Year lovely readers and I hope you’ll follow me on this foodie adventure again in 2019!

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

2 c. chopped smoked chicken (I didn’t measure but it was roughly the breast meat)
¾ c. natural wild rice (uncooked)
6 T. unsalted butter
2 leeks, sliced
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ c. white wine (preferably Chardonnay)
¼ c. all-purpose flour
8 c. chicken stock (homemade is best!)
1 c. heavy cream
½ to 1 c. slivered almonds, to taste
2 dried bay leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Add the rice (cleaned, if necessary) to 1 ½ c. water and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for 25 to 45 minutes. (The wide time range is because mine never seems done at 25 minutes, but it’s good practice to start checking around then and taste testing — it goes in at the end of the soup-making so it needs to be done by the time it’s added.) Strain off any excess liquid.

Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the leeks, celery, carrots, and a little salt and pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes, adding the garlic near the end of the saute time. Add the flour slowly and stir until combined, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a boil (this happens quick in a Dutch oven).

Add the stock, the cream, and the bay leaves. Bring to a simmer. Add the chicken, and cook at a bare simmer for 30 minutes uncovered to meld the flavors together. Add the cooked wild rice and almonds and simmer the soup for another 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaves, serve, and enjoy!