Recipe: Mulligatawny Soup

Mulligatawny Soup

This is the soup I tried to make unsuccessfully for years.  I don't know what went wrong or why I wouldn't just admit what I was craving when I wanted warming spices, vegetables, tender raisins, coconut hints, and lentils was just straight up mulligatawny, but I went off course a few times before sorting myself out enough to make a straight mulligatawny that was delicious, warming, full to bursting of flavor, and just plain self high-five worthy.  It was so tasty that when my coworker was out under the weather, I knew it was just the thing to bring in the dead of four feet of Boston winter to warm her up.  


But before I do tell you about the recipe, let me tell you a little story.  

All zero of you reading this may recall that I spent roughly five years working to realize a one year New Years resolution.  You know, that time I made 52 recipes in my Le Creuset.  Well, roughly three days after posting my reflections on the completion of said resolution, the.worst.thing.ever.happened.

My Le Creuset broke.

Recipe 7: Black and Orange Chili (aka Black Bean and Pumpkin Chili)

Black and Orange Chili (aka Black Bean Pumpkin Chili)

This recipe came about as a craving for chili, and a desire to clear out the last remaining beer straggler from the fall in my fridge.  I like beer, but I’m not a huge consumer of it, and moreover, I’m doing Dryuary.  Which...well, sigh.  I miss you, wine.  But after a week, I kind of stopped caring, and am actually kind of enjoying the weird sense of freedom I’m enjoying.  Is that weird?  Anyways, I wanted to clear it out, and had a pumpkin beer, a can of pumpkin, and a can of black beans, so I thought I’d revisit pumpkin chili!  

It turned out better than my first attempt (I thought, but then again, I was starving by the time I ate it!), but in the future I’m going to up the spice profile.  My long term, committed relationship with sriracha seems to have increased my tolerance of spice, but that’s just me.  Spice as you like, and leave room to build!  I wanted to use turkey for this, but due to the New Years holiday and a storm that left New England grocery stores looking like the apocalypse had hit, there was none to be had!  I used chicken.  Meh?  I think turkey, or another lean beef or pork would be slightly more flavorful.  Or even TVP, if you amp up the spice profile a bit.  Lastly, I tried to aim for black and orange throughout, as I think this might be a fun recipe to revisit in October, when pumpkin beers and pumpkin flavors invade the universe again!  This could also be a great recipe for a viewing of one my favorite holiday movies: Nightmare Before Christmas!  

Black and Orange Chili (Black Bean Pumpkin Chili)

Serves roughly 6

Black and Orange Chili (aka Black Bean Pumpkin Chili)

Ingredients

Recipe 9: Asparagus, Ricotta, Lemon Soup

Spring is still springing, and I can’t stop thinking about green, and bright things, like sunshine.   I realized last week that I hadn’t had nearly enough asparagus this spring, and was fixing to just get some and roast it, when I met some friends at a local watering hole with nibbles on the menu, saw a chilled asparagus ricotta soup on the menu and promptly failed to order it.  I mean...what was I thinking?  Huge fail.  I should probably also add that sometime in the past month I also developed an overwhelming, inexplicable, and insatiable craving for ricotta.  Double what was I thinking, right?  

Not ordering it was probably the best thing I did all month.  Why?  Because I had to have it, guys.  I just had to.  You know how it is!  I promptly started recipe plotting in the background of my life, and realized that this recipe would be a real winner.  It is super easy.  It is super quick.  It is super simple.  It is (probably) super healthy, being comprised primarily of vegetables.  And, amigos, it is a super celebration of a lot of the things that are the most delicious parts of spring: the green colors, the bright flowers, the sunshine, the spring vegetables, the crisp and warming air, the ricotta (okay, fine, this one is an every season thing).  

Prep probably takes longer than cooking (if you have maybe just tripped over a root while on a run, skinned your hand, and rage cried your pain out in a public place; this will, I assure you, slow things down considerably), but the rest of the process is probably a 30 minute cooking and blending window.  If you are a fast chopper, you’ll probably disagree with the previous statement.  All in all, I give it an over under of about an hour well spent on the road to springtime delight.  The best part?  This soup tastes great hot or cold.  That is to say, it is a rare soup that tastes the same hot or cold.  It just depends on how you want to eat it!  Options!

I have only two other tips besides be careful out there runners; roots can be real witches with a b.  Tip the first is to start with 5 cups broth, and add a bit more, up to 6 cups if you feel you need it for the soup to blend well, or want it to be more liquid than solid.  Tip the second?  I used store bought ricotta.  If you use fresh ricotta, I have a sneaking suspicion this will blow your mind.  If you are able to use fresh, and then are able to form a sentence, do tell me if my suspicions are sound.  Bueno?  

Asparagus, Ricotta, and Lemon Soup

Recipe 17: White Lightning Chili

White Lightning Chili

For a long time, I've been craving an alternative chili.  When I got caught in a snow storm in the Berkshires a few weeks back, it was, frankly, all I could think about (besides not skidding off the road, duh).  But it took a few weeks longer to make it happen, which left a lot of time to research the multitude of recipes out there for white chili.  There are a lot of options - meat, no meat, different types of meat, certain types of beans, cornmeal, no cornmeal, etc.  

I took a few recipes that I liked the look of (The Pioneer Woman, Cooking Light), and hybridized them.  The resulting recipe is pretty good - but I'm open to suggestions.  I've never had white chili before, so I'm not sure what, if anything else I'd like to add.  Maybe adding the hot sauce directly to the soup while cooking?  Maybe some acidity in the form of lime?  Actually, next time I make this, that's happening.  Let me know what you think, and what angle you take on this white lightning flash in your Le Creuset pan. 

White Lightning Chili in a Le Creuset

White Lightning Chicken Chili

Serves 6-8

Recipe 42: Your Favorite Little Black Bean Soup, Basic and Sassy

For my 100th posting celebration, I gift you my family's traditional black bean soup recipe, honed to perfection with every preparation in pots in Miami via Mexican and Cuban traditions.  

Except there's one major tradition: the recipe is never exactly the same.  

TWIST!  

Thusly, I encourage you to use the basic part of the recipe as your base and add in whatever extra ingredients you want (tomato, zucchini, carrots, squash, salsa, etc.) and adjust according to what you want (ie. use spicier peppers in addition to or as a substitute for your basic green peppers).  You can use dried beans if you want the whole experience; I always cheat at use the canned ones because I'm lazy. There's really no wrong way to do this, just taste it as you go along and make sure you are enjoying the flavors! 

  I'm also including the recipe I used to make the version in the pictures; holy macaroni and jesus was it bangin'.  I'm not a huge rice fan, but to serve this dish without rice is like ordering the meatlovers special without the meat (I might have done this...).  It works, but people are sure going to give you a befuddled look.  Everyone just expects black beans to be served with rice, and I don't blame them.  You can serve it with crusty bread or corn chips if you are a freak like me. 

Just know that I love this soup and make it every time I crave Cuban food or miss Miami.  100% of the time, it is delicious, all of the time.

Your Basic Little
Black Bean Soup

(Via the world famous Romina via the even more world famous Mamita, modified a bit)

Ingredients:

2 14-16 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained thoroughly

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed in a garlic press

1 large onion, chopped

2 green peppers, chopped

32 oz broth (veggie or chicken)

1/3 c dry white wine

salt and pepper to taste

Directions: 

1. In a large skillet, saute all veggies except for beans on medium high until they begin to brown. Remove them from the heat. 
2. In a Dutch Oven, begin to heat black beans and broth on medium high until it begins to bubble.  This step may take a while, but remember to stir occasionally to prevent burning.  The idea is to cook the liquid down a little bit.
3. Add white wine and continue to cook for a few minutes on medium high to cook off a bit of the booze.
4. Turn down the heat to medium and stir in the vegetables.  Cook for 10 to 15 minutes until well incorporated and soft.  The soup should appear almost cloudy, but still runny. Taste and season accordingly (often you may not need extra salt if you are using canned beans; they retain a lot despite a vigorous rinse.)
5. Serve! Bon appetit!

Sassy Little Black Bean Soup after the jump:

Recipe 52: Spicy Peanut Soup

Like a bottle of Heinz Ketchup has 52 ingredients, my boy Blue will have 52 recipes. Thus begins the 52 Le Creuset Challenge! Recipe 52 (whatever, whatever, I do what I want, like count down!) was the recipe that started it all. And I'll have you know, it was delish. It comes to me from The Soup Bible, a gem published by Barnes & Noble and edited by Debra Mayhew (ISBN: 978-0-7607-9045-8), but was further edited por moi for reasons like "Oh shizer, I just walked to the grocery store in a blizzard* and forgot to get the corn I set out to get in the first place." This soup is bangtastic, all warm from both the warmth AND the spice, and filled with way more veggies than you originally think. Prep takes a while, but the soup itself cooks pretty quickly.

Spicy Peanut Soup

Allegedly serves six....but it's really more like eight.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large minced onion
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 large red bell peppers, minced (and obvi seeded)
1.5 cups minced carrots
1.5 cups finely chopped potatoes
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
4 cups/32 oz vegetable stock
6-8 Tbsp crunchy natural peanut butter**
1 can whole corn kernels (or one cup frozen)***
salt & fresh pepper

1. Heat the oil over medium-high.
2. Add the onion and garlic and saute for about 3 minutes, until onions are soft.
3. Add the cayenne and stir for about a minute.
4. Add the vegetables through celery and stir. Cook for around 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the stock, peanut butter, and corn. Stir until the peanut butter incorporates.
6. Season the soup and bring it to a boil.
7. Lower the heat to a medium, bringing the soup to a simmer. Cover.
8. Cook for around 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Adjust spices as you see fit!
9. The soup bible recommends serving this dish with crushed, unsalted, roasted peanuts as a garnish. I recommend just eating it. It's a souper supper.

*I'm not making up a fake blizzard to garner your moste skeptical sympathy points. True story, there was a blizzard. True story, the snow was up to my knees. But true story, I did not walk uphill both ways, Old Timer.
**I wound up using closer to 8 because my original 5 were the remainder of my jar of Teddies. Being au-natural, the oils were mostly gone and it was a tad dry. Thusly, I added about 2-3 more heaping Tbsp's from my fresh jar.
***Being a toolbox, I forgot to get the corn (like I said earlier). I used a can of sweet corn I got at the drug store. I let it soak and rinsed it several times in the hopes that it would strip some of the sugars away. I'm pretty sure this did nothing, and it was really good regardless...so...moot point? Up to you.