Portuguese Bean Soup

If you wanted to try my linguica seitan "sausage" recipe, but weren't sure what in the world to do with said "sausage," don't fear! you can make this awesome cabbage stew. It's a true "peasant stew" americanized by generations of mothers passing down to their offspring, and it was a favorite of mine when I was small during the winter months.

On a completely different, yet slightly related note, I blame Michael Scott and Ricky Gervais for my 4th grade stifled laughter over the last two days. Trust me, I know it's stupid, and immature, but I can't, for the life of me, read or type the word "sausage" without immediately thinking "that's what she said!" Even if it makes no sense whatsoever. Thanks, pop-culture, for taking over my brain. Again.

Portuguese Bean Soup

Celery Pear Soup

Yesterday’s post was about Christmas, so it’s only fitting that tonight I would post about Hanukkah. A few nights ago, night two of Hanukkah, to be exact, I wandered up to my good friends apartment (a whole 3 floors up from my apartment. Boy, life is hard…) with some stuffed squash (I’ll post the recipe soon. Scouts honor. ) and a celery pear soup. I know, I know, it sounds weird. But there was celery root in the stuffing of the squash, and a sweet soup sounded like an ideal pairing with the earthiness of squash, wild rice, mushrooms and celery root. The soup was light, sweet and spicy with after notes of fall with the pear and celery subtly dancing. We lit the menorah, drank some red wine, chowed down, and, as always when good friends get together, our conversations lasted into the wee hours of the morning. Good food and wine will do that.

 

Celery Pear Soup

J.P.’s Itsy Bitsy “Meatball” and Dumpling Soup

I don’t know Joshua Ploeg, but I wish I did. Fortunately, he’s got a cookbook and a couple of zines out, so I don’t have to know him to be able to try and cook like him. See, Ploeg is a traveling vegan chef, riding the Greyhound and Amtrak through this land dubbed amerika, cooking dinner parties, sharing his cooking wisdom, and generally stirring up mischief (don’t trust me? Grab a copy of The Traveling Chef and read it. If you are fluent in the language of kitchen and not a prude, you will die multiple times from laughter.) 

At any rate, he put out a little gem of a cookbook a few years ago entitled In Search of the Lost Taste. It’s a whole $8, so just STFU and get a copy. It has tastes I would never think to put together, but I’m glad he did. From sweet to savory, sometimes using local fresh ingredients, sometimes using tofutti cream cheese, and always using what’s on hand (although you might not have it on hand…) it’s one of the most diverse little cookbooks out there. Plus he cooks the way I do, which is to say “if you’ve got some extra XYZ, you should just go ahead and throw that in there…” Like I said, it’s a little gem.

I made the Itsy Bitsy “Meatball” and Dumpling Soup last night, and if anyone wants a bowl, come hit me up, 'cuz I’ve got a ton of leftovers. I’m not giving you the recipe–that’s just rude to disperse others recipes, especially when the chef in question sell his book for $8. But I will say this. I added smoked paprika to the dumplings, had an adventure whist making vegan faux meatballs, used 2 bunches of carrots (as opposed to 2), and should have thrown in some taters and kale. The only issue I had was the dumplings were a little chewy, but everything I have made in the last few weeks that has supposed to be light and fluffy just hasn’t worked out. Please do not bring up the word “gnocchi” in my presence right now; I need a few weeks to get over that epic fail before I tell you the story. Also, if anyone runs into Mr. Plague, please let him know my birthday is March 6th, and I would like nothing more to have him cook a dinner party for me in my tiny kitchen with no counter space and my ¾ sized stove. At least I have a large stock pot, a cast iron skillet, and some decent Henckels. Thanks! Oh, and here's his recipe for pumpkin pie!

 

Zucchini, Yellow Squash and Spinach Soup

In a continuation of the “look in the fridge and figure out what to do with bits and pieces because I don’t want to go out on this rainy, blustery day” series, I find myself making soup. Again. Actually, I quite like soup, which I guess is a damn good thing, considering it looks like soup is shaping up to be a dietary staple…

At any rate, a good bowl of soup paired with a few slices of good bread (oh Essential Baking Company, I wish you could just come deliver Parisian loafs to my door three times a day), a decent glass of pinot grigio, and a few friends (who don’t mind eating whist sitting cross-legged on the kitchen floor because I still don’t have any chairs) pretty much makes for the perfect night. Phew! Check out that run on sentence!

This soup is thick and creamy and bright fucking green! Like, Kermit the frog green. Which makes it really fun to eat. I also thought I’d share a nifty trick this recipe utilizes: to make a “creamy” soup without the cream, just add a potato or two. When you blend the soup, the starch will thicken it, giving it that thick creamy consistency.

Zucchini and Spinach Soup

Curry Carrot Soup

Well, the rain has officially started here in the Pacific Northwest. Sure, we had a few day stretch about a month ago when it sprinkled, but that wasn’t really the start of the rainy season. A few last warm sunny fall days had been promised, so spirits were still high. And then yesterday happened. Gray and rain, and we officially stepped foot into the weather Seattle is known for. The showers permeated the city, the old windows in our apartment started to rattle against the wind and the “clunk, clink, whoosh” of the steam radiators that heat our apartment building kicked in at 7am.

Once I drug myself out of the quilted cocoon (a.k.a. my bed), and had a cup of tea, I spent the morning hanging shelves all over my apartment (which, by the way, has no storage, but very high ceilings). I realized around 3 pm I was famished, and found an onion and some carrots in the fridge: fixins for a perfect meal to welcome in the fall weather. Nothing beats hot soup on a cool day, especially when it doesn’t take much time or effort. 
 

Curry Carrot Soup

Roasted Yellow Pepper Soup and Roasted Tomato Soup with Hot Pepper Cream

If you ask me what holiday I love most, I will respond “Thanksgiving.” I know, I know, it’s a horrible bastard of a colonized holiday. But for me, it’s just a time to cook for 2 days and share time and food with my good friends. For the last 5 years, I’ve hosted a “friends only” feast, and last year's was by far the most impressive. A full 5-course meal for 16 people, from appies too dessert, and way too much wine in between. The meal lasted 5 hours, including a rock band break before dessert. There was much laughter, much swearing (we all had name tags with pseudonyms like “Fuck Face” and “Ho’ Bag” adorning our shirts) and way too much drinking. I’m not one for traditional celebrations. At any rate, I’ve been meaning to post recipes from last Thanksgiving for about 11 months now. What can I say? I’m a procrastinator. At any rate, it’s high time I posted them, so here’s the first in a long awaited series of recipes from the Thanksgiving 2009 extravaganza!

Course one: Roasted Yellow Pepper Soup and Roasted Tomato Soup with Hot Pepper Cream