Cream of Potato Soup with Sausage and Scallops

Pretty thrown-together, but a huge success.

Ingredients

• Four medium or two large potatoes, diced small (1/4" cubes)
• 5-6 oz. scallops, diced small (1/2" cubes)
• 8-10 oz. sausage (either loose or liberated from its casings)
• 6 oz. milk
• 6 oz. heavy cream 
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• butter

Procedure

1. Warm butter over medium heat in heavy, deep-sided cast iron skillet with cover
2. Put potatoes in skillet, and mix around in butter
3. Add salt and pepper
4. Making sure to mix the potatoes to keep from sticking, sautée for 15 min. until soft
5. Add sausage and mix well; cover, and cook for another 15-20 min.
6. Add milk and raise heat to medium high; cook for 5 min.
7. Add scallops and cook for 5 min.
8. Add heavy cream, raise to a low boil, and cook for 5 min.
9. Serve hot or lower temperature to lowest setting, and keep warm on stove until serving
10. Enjoy!

Verdict

Just fantastic - good blend of flavors and textures, and a great way to start a meal.

Pork Belly

After an initial experiment with pork belly-to-bacon that went good-not-great, I was determined to learn my lessons and treat that most excellent of meats with the care it deserves. This was not simple, but it was totally worth it.

Procedure

1. Take pork belly, wash and pat dry
2. Put belly in a brine - I won't go over it again here, but a basic not-too-salty brine is recommended (bourbon and maple don't hurt - I added onion powder and fried garlic to this one [with excellent results]) - and put in the fridge for five days to a week. Either a sealed Ziploc or airtight tupperware will do.
3. When ready to smoke, remove from brine, rinse and pat dry.
4. Smoke for three hours; remove and let cool.
5. At this point it makes a great bacon (I used one for this purpose), but there's also a highly recommended second step.
6. Heat oven to 250 degrees.
7. Put pork belly in covered Dutch oven or Pyrex container, and cover with either pork stock or water (if, for some reason, you don't have pork stock - which you should)
8. Let simmer in oven for three hours
9. Remove from oven and set pork belly aside; reserve stock either for later or add to simmering broth for ramen or other soup. Not surprisingly, it adds a deliciously smoky, creamy wondrousness to any soup.
10. When soup is ready - or maybe a pork bun, or really anything - heat a cast iron skillet to medium-high. Don't be shy! 
11. Drop the belly in the pan with tongs and spatula at the ready to prevent from sticking. It will sizzle something wonderful.
12. Cook for about a minute on each side to crisp up the belly proper
13. Set aside, slice and serve with soup or direct application to mouth.
14. Enjoy! 

Verdict

Well, just amazing. Really.

Lemongrass Tofu Noodle Soup

Ingredients


For tofu:

• 12 oz. tofu, cut in 1/2" cubes
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. lemongrass powder
• 1 tsp. five-spice powder
• 2 tsp. sesame oil

For soup:

• 8 oz. dried Thai rice noodes, linguini-width
• 2 stalks lemongrass OR 2 tbsp. lemongrass powder
• 6 c. veggie stock
• 1 thumb-size piece ginger, thinly sliced
• 1 stalk green garlic, bulb minced and stalk sliced
• 1 spring onion, bulb minced and stalk sliced
• 1 head broccoli, chopped into florets including stems
• 1 1/2 c. cabbage of some sort, chopped
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 3 tbsp. fish sauce 

Procedure

1. Combine soy sauce, 1 tsp. sesame oil, 1 tsp. lemongrass powder and five-spice powder in spouted cup; pour over tofu in mixing bowl and mix with plastic spoon, covering tofu completely. Chill in fridge for at least half an hour.
2. Dunk noodles in a pot of boiling water, cover the pot and turn off the heat; allow the noodles to soften in the hot water for 10 min.; drain and set aside.
3. Put 1 tsp. sesame oil in wide skillet and heat to medium-low; sauteé tofu until slightly browned on all sides and firm, and set aside.
4. Put 1 tsp. sesame oil in a medium-large soup pot and heat to medium-low; 
5. Add ginger, garlic and spring onion bulbs, carrots and lemongrass (include left-over stalk pieces if using fresh), and sauteé until fragrant.
6. Add stock,  bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 min.
7. Add broccoli and cabbage; stir and allow to simmer 2 min.
8. Reduce heat to minimum and add the tofu, garlic and spring onion stalk, and fish sauce; cook for several minutes.
9. Ladle noodles into bowls and serve soup on top.
10. Enjoy!

Verdict

Fantastic - fresh and very flavorful.

Duck and Vietnamese Sausage Soup

Finally got around to using the duck stock when I found some Vietnamese sausage at an Asian market; put together a few ingredients from recipes I found and let 'er rip.

Ingredients

• 4 oz. Vietnamese sausage, sliced
• 4 cups duck stock
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 3-inch knob of ginger, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 package rice noodles
• 3 Star anise
• 1/2 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 tbs. soy sauce, or more according to taste
• 1 tbs. fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• sesame oil

Procedure

1. Soak rice noodles in cold water, drain and set aside
2. Heat sesame oil over medium-low heat
3. Add onion, ginger, star anise, sugar and five-spice powder; mix thoroughly
4. Add a few tablespoons of the duck stock, soy sauce and fish sauce to prevent ingredients from sticking
5. Add sausage and sauteé for several minutes
6. Add remainder of stock and raise to boil; lower temperature and simmer for 15 min. on medium heat.
7. Add noodles and cook for 10 min. at a simmer
8. Serve and enjoy!

Verdict


Spicy (this may be the result of some leftovers I threw in with some spice of their own, and the inclusion of the chilis the Vietnamese sausage came with), savory, tasty. A winner! Probably would be equally excellent with chicken stock if that's what you got.

Asian Chicken Noodle Soup with Bok Choy

As noted the other week, I've been experimenting with more Asian-style chicken soup recipes, and got the basics of this one from a Food & Wine recipe. Worked well and there's probably even more ways to go within this basic framework.

Ingredients

• 1 tbs. cooking oil
• 1 tbs. sesame oil (not toasted)
• 1 onion, diced finely*
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2" piece fresh ginger, cut into thin slices
• 1 tbs. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. dried red-pepper flakes
• 6 c. chicken stock
• 1 c. crushed tomatoes
• 1.5 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bit-sized pieces
• 3 tbs. fish sauce
• 1 c. cilantro leaves plus 1/4 c. chopped cilantro (optional)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 8 oz. thick rice vermicelli
• 1 lb. bok choy, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices
• 1/4 c. lime juice 

*Interesting note: I didn't have any fresh onion and couldn't get out of the house due to snow (right?), so instead used a jar of Cippolini onions in Balsamic vinegar. They were dynamite, so maybe adding a few dashes of Balsamic vinegar to the soup (or soaking the onions in it for a 20 minutes) might be good.


Procedure

1. In a large heavy pot, heat both oils over moderate heat. 
2. In a separate pot, soak the vermicelli until soft and drain; set aside  
3. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, chili powder, and red-pepper flakes; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 min. 
4. Stir in the tomatoes, fish sauce, salt and chicken, coating each thoroughly.
5. Add the stock and cilantro leaves (if using), and bring to a simmer. 
6. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked, about 20 min. 
7. Add the vermicelli to the soup; cook for a few minutes.
8. Add the bok choy; bring back to a simmer and cook for about 1 min. 
9. Stir in the lime juice and chopped cilantro, if using. 
10. Serve in large wide bowl and enjoy!

Verdict

Freakin' fantastic; very savory and a nice balance between sweet, sour and spicy. I didn't use the cilantro but it'd go well; additionally, if you like it spicier, having a bottle of Sriracha handy would do quite nicely. Veggies can very comfortably sub out the chicken stock with veggie, chicken with tofu, and fish sauce with... well you're on your own for finding some umami.

UPDATE: Upon re-heating, it became clear that given how relatively delicate the bok choy is, this is a better soup to make and eat all of it that night (still fine re-heated, just the bok choy becomes a bit fall-aparty); if you want a re-heatable alternative, sub in kale, collards, chard, etc. and cook for several more minutes.

Vaguely Asian Cornish Game Hen Soup

First, roast two cornish game hens. Pull off the white meat and put in the fridge in marinade below; eat the dark and after all bones are available, make a big pot of stock.

Ingredients

Soup

• white meat from two cornish game hens, marinated [see below]
• 8 c. stock from game hens
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbs. fresh ginger, thinly sliced
• 1 large onion, half sliced thinly and half diced
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 6 oz. thin rice noodles
• 1 bundle mustard greens, washed, de-stemmed and chopped
• 1 can aduki beans, drained
  

Marinade

• 2 tbs. soy sauce
• 1 tbs. garlic pepper sauce
• 1 tbs. fresh ginger, thinly sliced
• 1 tbs. rice vinegar
• 1 jalapeño pepper, halved and sliced thinly
• 1 tsp. fish sauce

Procedure

1. Combine marinade ingredients in bowl and mix thoroughly; add chicken and place in fridge for 30 min. or more
2. Heat stock in large pot to medium
   
3. Add diced onion, ginger and garlic; cook while preparing other elements
4. Add carrots and sliced onion; cook for 10 min.
5. Add chicken and aduki beans; cook for 5 min. 
6. Add mustard greens and raise to boil for 5 min.
7. Add rice noodles and boil for 5 min.
8. Lower heat to simmer and cook for 5-10 min. 
9. Serve and enjoy!

Verdict

Fantastic!

Russian Mushroom-Potato Soup

I, also, was feeling in the mood for mushroom soup but wanted some potato in the mix. Bittman came through as he so often does; I modified the recipe slightly based on not having the called-for porcini mushrooms.

Ingredients

• 4 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and roughly chopped [I also chopped and used the stems]
• 6 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced
  
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 6 small potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 large onion, diced
  
• 6 c. stock [your choice; I used homemade chicken stock but you could use veggie or mushroom water if you're reconstituting]
  
• 2 tbs. olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
  
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• salt to taste

Procedure

1. Pour olive oil into medium saucepan and turn heat to medium-high
2. Add mushrooms, onion and carrots, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown – about 10 min.
3. Add the potatoes and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until they begin to brown [add a bit of stock to keep from sticking to the pan]
4. Add bay leaves, pepper and remainder of stock
5. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook until potato is very tender, 20-30 min., adding salt and pepper to taste
6. Serve hot or cover and refrigerate for up to a day before reheating, adding more water to thin soup
7. Enjoy!
   

Fish Chowder

Ingredients

• 8 oz. fish [something on the meatier side], chopped into 1" cubes
  
• 3 medium-large potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/4" cubes
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 6 c. stock [I used chicken; use what moves ya]
• 1 c. milk or cream
  
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tbs. butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
  
• 2-3 oz. preserved pork of your choice, finely chopped [optional; I used 2 slices of Canadian bacon and a few slices of salami]

Procedure

1. Melt butter in large stewpot with a cover over low heat
2. Add garlic and cook until fragrant
3. Add pork product if using; cook for 3-4 min.
4. Add onions and mix thoroughly; raise heat to low-medium and cook until onions begin to soften
5. Cover with stock, 1/4 c. milk/cream and some salt and raise to low boil
6. When at low boil, add potatoes and mix thoroughly. Cover again with stock and raise again to low boil
7. Add fish, mix thoroughly, and add remainder of stock and milk/cream. Cover and cook.
8. Cook the soup on a medium boil, stirring periodically to avoid sticking to pot, and mashing as fish and potatoes become softer. Variously cover and uncover until soup has cooked down to desired consistency, adding salt and pepper to taste.
9. Serve and enjoy!

Verdict

Fishy, savory, tasty!

Matzoh-Ball Soup

It's that time of year. Well, one of them. And I had a big ol' pot of chicken stock boiling, so – might as well give matzoh-ball-soup-making a go for the first time in my life (my late great-aunt Tiny first and then my mother have of course traditionally handled the previous incarnations). I didn't get Tiny's recipe which I'll need to do in future, but pulled together a reasonable version of it.

The soup

Ingredients

• Big pot of chicken stock, chilled, filtered, cooked way down
• 1 lb. carrots, chopped
• 3/4 lb. celery, chopped
• 1-2 large onions, chopped
• 1 lb. chicken thighs, de-skinned and -boned

Procedure

1. Make the stock in advance. Don't even think about using stock from a can. Chill it overnight, skim, and store outside of main pot.
2. Heat oil (or schmaltz if you've got it) in large pot
3. Add carrots, celery and onions, and cook 10 min. over low heat, mixing frequently
4. Add a few cups of the stock, filtering again as you do, to cover the veggies, and raise to simmer
5. When simmering, add chicken thighs and cover. Cook 15-20 min.
   
6. Uncover and add remainder of stock, and raise to medium boil
7. Add matzoh balls to pot and cook 15 min.
8. Serve and enjoy!

Matzoh balls

Ingredients

• 4 matzoh or 1 cup matzoh meal
• 4 eggs
• 4 tbs. chicken stock
• 4 tbs. vegetable oil or schmaltz
• Pepper to taste
  

Procedure

1. Add eggs, stock and fat to large bowl; mix thoroughly
2. Mix matzoh thoroughly in food processor [unnecessary if you're using matzoh meal]
3. Add matzoh or meal to large bowl and pepper as necessary; mix until combined and unyielding
4. Let sit for 15-20 min. to allow everything to absorb
5. Fill bowl of water to allow for hand-wetting
   
6. When soup is at medium boil, form matzoh balls with hands and drop in gently, wetting hands between
7. Allow to cook for 15 min.; serve and enjoy!

Verdict

Pretty damn good! Need to get the real recipe, next time.

Sunday is Food Day: Catfish Rice and Carrot Soup

Unsurprisingly, much of the time spent since my return to NC has been on food-related issues. There was a slight, er, incident in the freezer in my absence but the damage appears to be localized and minimal. Mostly I just needed to re-stock the larder and cook some food for what promises to be a busy week. Two-and-a-half recipes follow.

Recipe one, lifted from Bittman mostly:

Catfish with Rice

Ingredients:

• 3 cups fish or chicken stock (I used chicken, as it was what I had)
• 1 1/2 cups long-grain rice, rinsed and drained
• 2-3 medium tomatoes, cored, chopped and mashed (w/their juices)
• 3 tbsp. butter, melted
• 2 tsp. garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/2 cup Madeira or other sweet wine
• 1-1 1/2 lb. catfish or other mild, firm fish, cut into bite-sized pieces

Procedure:

1. Bring stock to a gentle boil in medium sacuepan or wide skillet with lid
2. Add rice and bring to a boil
3. Turn heat to medium-low and cover; cook for 15 min.
4. Turn heat to low and stir in tomatoes with their juices, shallot, garlic, butter and Madeira.
5. Gently fold in fish, cover, and simmer for 15 min.
6. Serve hot and enjoy!

Verdict:

Tasting halfway through I knew that this wasn't quite doing it for flavor – nice, but needed something more. So I began preparing a supplementary sauce (below); if I'd had to do it again I'd probably have added a bit of salt to the rice, along with some paprika and saffron. Maybe 1/2 chopped onion. However, all that said – it was really nice, delicate and all the tastes that were there, were good.

Totally-Improvised Accompaniment Sauce to Above Dish

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. red wine
• ajvar (several tbsp.)
• 3 cippolino onions, diced
• olive oil
• 6 preserved capers
• several large dashes paprika
• fewer dashes cayenne

Procedure:

1. Heat olive oil to medium
2. Add onions and cook until soft
3. Add spices, stir in, and then add half of wine
4. Cook wine down for several minutes, stir in ajvar, and add capers and remaining wine
5. Cook down to desired consistency

Verdict:

Very nice and works quite well over the rice

Carrot-Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:

• 4-6 carrots, cut into 1/4" sections
• 1 sweet potato, cubed
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp. fresh ginger root, minced
• 2 sprigs fresh sage, cut
• 2 cups water

Procedure:

1. Bring stock to low boil and add onions; cover and cook for 5-10 min.
2. Add bay leaves, sage, cover and cook for 2-3 min.
3. Add sweet potato and cook 10 min.
4. Add carrots and cook 5 min.
5. Uncover and add ginger; cook 10 min.
6. Cover and cook 20 min, or until most of stock is cooked off.
7. Add water, bring to boil for 2 min. and turn off heat
8. Let cool and transfer to food processor; blend to desired consisentency
9. Serve hot or cold

Verdict:

Sweet, flavorful, and not planned at all. A win!

Sunday is Food Day: Vichyssoise

I recently had the good fortune to happen upon a used copy of Mark Bittman's "The Best Recipes in the World", and it has already been a great resource; if you come across a used copy be sure to pick one up. For Bittman fans, it's a good approach to a cookbook: an enormous hardbacked monster of a book, 1000 recipes from everywhere, and especially useful if you've got ingredients but no specific direction you want to go. Yesterday at the market, there were leeks. I was contemplating buying only one at $0.50, but the hawker successfully upsold me to 5/$2. And a good thing, as almost immediately I realized that I needed to make some cold leek and (also market-purchased) potato soup. Which would be vichyssoise.

Ingredients:

• 5 baby leeks, white bits only, well-rinsed and sliced
• 3 medium potatoes (Yukon Gold in this case), diced
• 5 cups veggie stock (this one derived from collard stems, Swiss Chard chaff, fresh garlic bits)
• 3 tbs. butter
• 1 c. whole milk (calls for 1/2 c. cream, so just upping for more fat)
• salt
• pepper

Procedure:

1. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-low heat; add leeks and stir occasionally for 5-8 min. Keep heat moderate and cook until leeks are soft
2. Season with salt and pepper, and add the potatoes. Mix thoroughly, and cook for one minute
3. Add the stock and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 30 min.
4. Pour into large bowl and let cool to room temp, either in fridge or not.
5. Pour from bowl into blender, and blend until smooth, adding milk now.
6. Return to fridge and cool; serve cold and enjoy!

Verdict:

TBD – still in process as of this writing.

DCNoodles

I agree entirely with Spencer Ackerman - DCNoodles is one of, if not the, best bowls of soup in DC. The wide rice noodles with crab and fish dumplings in spicy soup is fantastic, but our entire party was happy with their orders - the drunken noodles and pumpkin empanada are especially good. And don't listen to the comments section over there - $12/14 is beyond worth it for this food, and unless you're willing to drive out to Falls Church you are not going to get a better Asian soup/noodle opportunity for a similar price in DC.

Pork Soup

LALLI BLAH BLAH makes an excellent suggestion. Note especially step 8:

8. Cut the meat up. It will fall apart and the platter will look like a big delicious mess-pile. Cut the skin, which should be crunchy, into chip-sized pieces and serve them in a separate dish, so you can see which of your friends are smart and which don’t know how to live.

That's correct. The same lesson applies if you inadvertently leave gizzards inside a chicken or turkey while smoking it.

Chickpea-Carrot Soup

I had been excited from when I saw this recipe from 30 Bucks a Week, to make chickpea soup. Of course I couldn't just leave well enough alone and follow the recipe, so I modified it a bit in procedure at a few points, more or less doubled the batch, &c. Many thanks to P. and T. for a dynamite recipe!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups cooked chickpeas
• 3 cups collard stock (or other veggie stock, but collards work well - use the stems and boil down until the broth is a dark golden brown)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• white wine and balsamic vinegar
  
• 1 large onion
• 5 large carrots
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped finely
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Chop carrots, onion and one clove garlic coarsely and blend in food processor into very small pieces
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pot and add garlic.
3. Sauteé for a few minutes and then add the carrots and onion mixture.
4. Let the combination cook down for 5-10 minutes, and then add vinegar to cover bottom of pot
5. Let the vinegar begin to cook down, and place chickpeas and 1 cup collard stock food processor and blend until chickpeas reach a creamy consistency. This is not hummus, so add more liquid if you need to.
6. Add the chickpea puree to the pot and bring mixture to a boil.
7. If it seems too thick, add more vegetable stock until it becomes the soup-like consistency you desire. Add salt and pepper to taste, cover and simmer for a few minutes.
8. Serve and enjoy!

Verdict?

Spectacular, actually, if I don't say so myself - and I do.

Notes on Two Soups d'Italia

This week, after two huge soup successes, I decided that I'm not really a huge recipe guy. Sunday night was a Tuscan white-bean-inspired, and tonight a Pasta e fagioli kindof. But, you know - I'm pretty sure I've never had either of those soups. And didn't read a recipe. So here's more or less how I made the soups, both of which received good reviews:

Tuscan White Bean [inspired]

Ingredients

• Center cut ham steak
• Onion
• Garlic
• Butter
• Water
• Salt
  
• Chard (or another hearty green of your preference - kale would also work here)
  
• White wine
  
• White beans [fresh if possible, of course]
• Whatever else is in the fridge that seems like a good idea

Procedure

• Cut ham into small cubes and set aside
• Dice garlic and onions; tear chard from stems and cut stems into small sections; wash beans
• Set large pot on medium-low heat and put in a generous amount of butter
• Add garlic for a minute, and then onions, stirring until clear
• Add chard stems and stir in; pour in a little wine
• Add beans and a little more wine; let it cook down
• Add ham and stir thoroughly; add a bunch of water now, raise heat to medium and cover
• When boiling, add chard for a few minutes, and turn heat back to medium-low
• If there's anything else you want to throw in, do it, and simmer until eating. Salt to taste.
  
• Serve with a whole buncha bread

Pasta e Fagioli [kindof]

Ingredients

• chicken bones
• collard stems
• aduki beans
• beans of some other sort
• onions
• sweet potatoes
• potato
• salt
  
• clove
• ziti or similar pasta

Procedure

• It doesn't have to be chicken bones and collard stems but that's what was in the freezer. Basically, set a pot to boil and make stock for about an hour with what ya got.
• Fish the bones and stems out; throw the bones, cut the stems into small pieces and set aside
• Set pot to medium heat
• Chop onions medium; dice potato and sweet taters small
• Add all veggies, beans included, and stir
• Add cloves and whatever other spices you want
• Cover for 10-15 minutes or so
• Uncover and raise to boil again, adding water if necessary
• Add pasta and cook for a minute or two longer than dictated
• Serve with parmesan grated on top, and with plenty of bread on the side
  

As an aside, I realized that the above soup is actually absurdly healthy - fiber, protein, carbs, veggies and very little fat. Definitely make sure you cook the beans enough to get them falling apart, makes it a really lovely hearty texture.

Uh-oh! Soup

Forgot that I had Soup Collective today until... about half an hour ago. Thankfully, a quick search of the fridge revealed there was plenty to work with. So, Uh-Oh! Soup:

Ingredients:

• Lamb stock
• Onion (small)
• Spring onions (a few)
• Mild red peppers (many)
• Pinto beans (soaked)
• Rice (cooked)
• White wine
• Italian spices
• Garlic powder
• Bay leaves (if you're into that sort of thing)
• Olive oil
• Water
• Salt to taste
• UPDATE: Large number of pre-cooked greens - collards, mustard greens, kale. Could be engineered to cook these simultaneously but that's not how this went
  

Procedure:

• Chop onions finely, peppers coarsely
• Heat oil on medium-low in a large pot
• Add onions (both) and sauteé for a minute or so
• Add bay leaves, garlic powder, Italian spices and continue to sauteé, adding more oil as necessary
• Add pinto beans and sauteé
• Add peppers and cook until they begin to soften
• Add wine and cook until it begins to reduce
• Add stock and as much water as is necessary
• Cover, and cook for... as long as necessary
• When soup is basically ready, add rice and cook for another couple of minutes - should soak it up fast
• Add pre-cooked greens and cook for a while longer. Make sure greens are cut into smaller pieces or, as I did, retrieve from pot with slotted spoon and cut with scissors. Also - make sure you made the greens spicy (helpful when mustard greens are part of the equation)
  

Result:

• Not sure yet! Will update later
• Okay - delicious.
  

UPDATE: Okay, bit the bullet and added leftover greens and broth. We shall see!

UPDATE 2: Despite idiotically burning my tongue, greens definitely add a kick and heartiness. Good call, JKD.

UPDATE 3: Still needs a little more time for beans to properly soften but, adding a little more water, it proceeds apace. Also, no need for rice with greens now providing plenty of body.

UPDATE 4: Okay. Success - this is a damn fine soup, somehow. smalljones advises that this verges on Caldo Verde - and me with leftover mashed potatoes sitting unused in the fridge! Oh well - next time, and this functions well as is.

Potato-Watercress-Basil Soup

With a bag full of potatoes a few weeks old, and hosting Soup Collective today, there was a fairly obvious course of action: potato soup. I called JD and asked if she had any particular favorites; she found one that wasn't quite what she was thinking, but still sounded pretty good. I modified slightly onnacounta lack of leeks.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups stock (vegetable or chicken)
  
• 6 potatoes unpeeled and diced
• 2 small yellow onions, diced
• 1/2 cup basil leaves, fresh
• large bunch of spring onions
  
• 8 tbsp butter
• 1 cup watercress, chopped
  
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice or cloves
• 1/4 cup white wine
  
• 2 cups milk

Procedure:

• Combine stock, potatoes, onions and cook over medium heat for 15-20 min. until potatoes begin to soften
• Dice spring onions; melt butter and sauteé spring onions w/allspice; add 1/2 cup white wine and cook off partially; add watercress and sauteé 5 more minutes; set aside
  
• Add basil to potato soup mixture and cook 5 minutes
• Add spring onions to soup; simmer
  
• Stir in milk; do not reboil

Hot Slavic

From the Real Paul Jones, Borscht Mexicali:

I took borscht the famous beet and cabbage cream soup South of the Border with some good results. The sweetness of the beets, the heat of the serraño peppers, a slight tang of lime and some chorizo made for a lovely fuschia colored soup which I accented with blue corn tortilla chips. Yummmm.

I started with a “Mexican Beet and Cabbage soup” from Epicurious and subbed serraño for jalapeño. Added some Mexican chorizo (before and after the blending as some in my family like to taste a chunk or two of meat now and then even in soups). To keep with the winter vegetable feel, I also added a few carrots. Some borscht recipes call for parsnips, potatoes, and vinegar. I passed on all of that.

That does sounds pretty good.