Homemade bacon bits with a side of soup

I thought it might be nice to have a light soup to munch on while I watched tv tonight and fortunately for me, a kindly friend had sent me a jar of Williams-Sonoma butternut puree. The recipe called for 3tbsp of butter, but it seemed to me that bacon drippings might add a certain something to the soup. I used a strip of bacon, removing the bits of bacon when they were crisp and continuing with the recipe. The mix of apples and shallots was very fragrant, even before I added cinnamon, freshly grated ginger, and a 1/4c of aromatic white wine.

The end result was a bit acidic by itself and I wasn't quite sure how to tone it down, but once I added the laid aside bacon bits, it was delicious. So delicious, I accidentally ate the entire bowl before I'd finished cleaning the kitchen, never mind the tv. oops! Read More......

Lentil Soup At Last

I finally got my lentils, but I no longer had the original recipe, so I used Cook's Illustrated's "hearty lentil soup with fragrant spice" recipe. It was my first time cooking lentil soup, and lentils in general continue to be a mystery, so I want to get all the details down.

The recipe called for coriander, cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne, but I think the soup would've been better without the fragrant spices. The bacon and the lentils themselves already had so much flavor, it seems a waste to use good ingredients and then mask them.

If the recipe were from anywhere but C-I, I'd be complaining about quality control: the recipe said to cook until the vegetables are softened - multiple times. How soft can a carrot get?? One step also calls for cooking until the lentils darkened - except they were already dark and speckled. Actually, I would argue the lentils lightened in the cooking process. Also, the recipe calls for 0.5c wine, 4.5c chicken broth, and 1.5c water. I like my soups less watery than most, so I left out the last; the final result was almost too watery for me even still. With that amount of liquid, I'd've assumed something in the soup was supposed to absorb water, but of course the lentils did not.

Despite the above complaints, I'm content with this batch of soup. It's warm and the nuttiness of the lentils is deeply satisfying. Read More......

Winter Soup

I consider soup to be the highest ROI food you can cook: it's filling and healthy, with a high tolerance for cooking errors. I'd been looking for a while for a black bean soup because they are so high in iron and once again, Cook's Illustrated had the answers.

I was unfamiliar with some of their techniques: they don't pre-soak the beans, but cook them with the ham steak for 1.5 hours, with the vegetables sauteed in another pot. I'm not crazy about having to wash multiple pots, but this was worth it. I substituted a smoked pork chop made with Berkshire pigs for the ham steak - it seemed like it would have more flavor. Combined with the cumin in the main recipe, it gave the soup a delightful smoky flavor, just perfect for a cold winter's night. Read More......