I have made delicious foods
Mar. 6th, 2010 12:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
minxyI am, dear internets, completely overwhelmed with my life right now. In a good way, but let's just say that between the migraine last week and midterms this week, I am not going outside to see people today if I can avoid it.
My biggest non-work accomplishment recently has been the discovery and implementation of a truly delicious soup. One of the things about California that I embraced was cooking with in season food, and one of the things about New York that I love is that there are actual seasons, so it's elegant to find a) a hearty soup that tastes amazing on days when the sun is blaring in the windows in every direction because there is so much snow outside and b) is made with relatively reasonable winter vegetables (so I'm not paying twice as much to ship them in from California.) Also, being not a huge fan of tomatoes, the eggplant in this soup is a really nice, nutty flavor that adds great texture as an alternative. There is some tomato paste, though, it's just not much.
Therefore, I give you: Roasted Red Pepper and Eggplant Soup.
On the occasion of: the inaugural use of my wand blender.
Bear in mind: I'm an improvisational cook. Most quantities will be approximate.
1 eggplant, halved (~2.5 lbs), pierced all around with a fork (through the skin), smeared with olive oil, and microwaved until soft (my microwave took ~30 minutes, most will take 15. You could also roast this in your oven for 45 minutes at probably 350 F if you wanted to.)
Remove the skin from the eggplant, and cut the meat into large pieces. Rinse thoroughly in a colander, and drain. You might want to salt and drain and rinse and drain, but it's not necessary.
Blacken 5 red bell peppers (or more.) I used a broiler, and roasted a head of garlic at the same time, but you could also black your peppers over a flame and saute the garlic in with your mirepoix. Steam the roasted peppers in a paper bag for 10 minutes, peel and seed. Cut into large pieces. Let the garlic cool.
Saute in 1/4 cup olive oil: ~2 cups mirepoix (two small onions, two carrots, 3-4 small stalks of celery). You could saute a leek instead, if you wanted; that might be good.
When everything is soft and translucent, add: ~8 cups of vegetable broth/water (I used half broth)
1 small can of tomato paste (about 6 tablespoons, or 1/4 cup, but you can judge how much you want)
and the eggplant and peppers and roasted garlic pulp.
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes to blend the flavors. Then literally blend it with a wand blender that you got for Christmas from your fabulous family (it's YELLOW!) Damn, that thing rocks.
Season with salt and pepper, 1/4 cup of julienned basil and the juice of one lemon (don't skip this, it's immeasurably good.)
Serve with shavings of parmesean on top, or toasted garlicy croutons, or a dollop of sour cream, or whatever.
Shopping list: 1 large eggplant, half a dozen red peppers, a head of garlic, fresh basil, a lemon, celery/onion/carrots or a leek, vegetable broth, stuff to put on top.
Today? I make bread. And I'm going to make this black bread I have had my eye on this (but no time!) since Cofax pointed to it. It looks amazing. I made the coconut noodles from the same set of recipes too, but the tomato bothered me a little (delicious! but where I've been in Asia, not so much tomato, so it tasted inauthentic somehow. Plus, tomato.)
Also, I have DW invites. They are yours for the asking, as always. I understand something sketchy has gone down with LJ again, so feel free to holla if you need advice about shifting over. I shall continue to crosspost, but I'm preferentially reading folk on DW if I can find them there. While I don't post a whole lot right now, I will say that my icons are neater on the DW posts.
Spring Break next week. Which means my sweetheart is coming, and I cannot wait.
My biggest non-work accomplishment recently has been the discovery and implementation of a truly delicious soup. One of the things about California that I embraced was cooking with in season food, and one of the things about New York that I love is that there are actual seasons, so it's elegant to find a) a hearty soup that tastes amazing on days when the sun is blaring in the windows in every direction because there is so much snow outside and b) is made with relatively reasonable winter vegetables (so I'm not paying twice as much to ship them in from California.) Also, being not a huge fan of tomatoes, the eggplant in this soup is a really nice, nutty flavor that adds great texture as an alternative. There is some tomato paste, though, it's just not much.
Therefore, I give you: Roasted Red Pepper and Eggplant Soup.
On the occasion of: the inaugural use of my wand blender.
Bear in mind: I'm an improvisational cook. Most quantities will be approximate.
1 eggplant, halved (~2.5 lbs), pierced all around with a fork (through the skin), smeared with olive oil, and microwaved until soft (my microwave took ~30 minutes, most will take 15. You could also roast this in your oven for 45 minutes at probably 350 F if you wanted to.)
Remove the skin from the eggplant, and cut the meat into large pieces. Rinse thoroughly in a colander, and drain. You might want to salt and drain and rinse and drain, but it's not necessary.
Blacken 5 red bell peppers (or more.) I used a broiler, and roasted a head of garlic at the same time, but you could also black your peppers over a flame and saute the garlic in with your mirepoix. Steam the roasted peppers in a paper bag for 10 minutes, peel and seed. Cut into large pieces. Let the garlic cool.
Saute in 1/4 cup olive oil: ~2 cups mirepoix (two small onions, two carrots, 3-4 small stalks of celery). You could saute a leek instead, if you wanted; that might be good.
When everything is soft and translucent, add: ~8 cups of vegetable broth/water (I used half broth)
1 small can of tomato paste (about 6 tablespoons, or 1/4 cup, but you can judge how much you want)
and the eggplant and peppers and roasted garlic pulp.
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes to blend the flavors. Then literally blend it with a wand blender that you got for Christmas from your fabulous family (it's YELLOW!) Damn, that thing rocks.
Season with salt and pepper, 1/4 cup of julienned basil and the juice of one lemon (don't skip this, it's immeasurably good.)
Serve with shavings of parmesean on top, or toasted garlicy croutons, or a dollop of sour cream, or whatever.
Shopping list: 1 large eggplant, half a dozen red peppers, a head of garlic, fresh basil, a lemon, celery/onion/carrots or a leek, vegetable broth, stuff to put on top.
Today? I make bread. And I'm going to make this black bread I have had my eye on this (but no time!) since Cofax pointed to it. It looks amazing. I made the coconut noodles from the same set of recipes too, but the tomato bothered me a little (delicious! but where I've been in Asia, not so much tomato, so it tasted inauthentic somehow. Plus, tomato.)
Also, I have DW invites. They are yours for the asking, as always. I understand something sketchy has gone down with LJ again, so feel free to holla if you need advice about shifting over. I shall continue to crosspost, but I'm preferentially reading folk on DW if I can find them there. While I don't post a whole lot right now, I will say that my icons are neater on the DW posts.
Spring Break next week. Which means my sweetheart is coming, and I cannot wait.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-07 01:09 am (UTC)