Chicken, corn, zucchini, egg noodle, poblano pepper, ginger, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, lime juice, sambal oelek, fish sauce.
Fun mix of Asia and the Occident. Funny how that word isn’t used anymore. Languages change. The Ukraine is now Ukraine, while Gambia is now The Gambia.
“‘Meow’ means ‘woof’ in cat.” George Carlin
Mirepoix: white, red and yellow onion, red bell pepper, celery. Roasted franks, mystery greens, chopped pistachio, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, sambal oelek, ghee, sesame oil.
Wonderful contrast of acid and heat.
“Everything under heaven is in utter chaos; the situation is excellent.” Mao Zedong. Sounds like how I make soup.
Standard mirepoix plus fennel. Ground Turkey, trumpet royale mushroom, maitake frondosa mushroom, crimini mushroom, rice noodle, oyster sauce, teriyaki sauce, ginger, garlic, sugar, sesame oil, lime juice
“I live absolutely like an oyster.” Gustave Flaubert. I guess he’s making pearls.
Mirepoix: yellow onion, celery, green bell pepper. Chicken thigh, portabella shrooms, zucchini, crunchy peanut butter, coconut milk, cranberries, fresh basil, parsley, lime juice, red pepper flakes.
“If you don’t mind smelling like peanut butter for two or three days, peanut butter is darn good shaving cream.” Barry Goldwater
Mirepoix: shallot, yellow onion, celery, carrot. Ground turkey, roasted brussels sprout, carrot, poblano chile, red bell pepper, Peter Pan squash, fresh garlic, baby arugula, chive, fresh basil, paprika, lime juice.
Had a vigorous vegetable flavor, enhanced by those Belgian sprouts roasted by Martin. Treacherously good.
Standard mirepoix. Prepared breaded chicken breasts, egg yolks, calrose rice, fish sauce, dill, lime juice.
Ok ok, there was no lemon, but cut me some slack–lime works as well, doesn’t it?
Four dozen egg yolks went into this hellenistic brew.
“Leave me to my own absurdity”. Sophocles in “Antigone”
Mirepoix: yellow and red onions, organic rainbow carrot, green bell pepper. Roasted eggplant, roasted cauliflower, cod, garlic poblano peppers, more carrot and onion, fish sauce, sugar, basil, lime zest and juice, soy sauce, paprika.
An opus from Martin. Almost an Asian feel to it.
“If God ever wanted to be a fish, he’d be a cod”. Or a whale, I get confused.
Made 7/3/19
Mirepoix: yellow onion, green bell pepper, shallot. Ham, yellow and green zucchini, mushroom, fresh ginger, lime leaves, coconut milk, milk, red pepper flakes, Thai basil, garlic, black pepper.
We never have donations of lemongrass, and rarely have curry paste, so I can only try to approximate the Thai flavor. Although I’m unsure if Thais use ham in curry.
Yul Brynner would have dug it.
Made 8/1/18
Mirepoix: yellow onion, green bell pepper. Nasty canned pork, asparagus, shiitake mushroom, butternut squash, sweet soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, sugar, lime sauce, basil, red pepper flakes.
Had never used “sweet” soy sauce, so in it went. Overall a mildly Asian flavor.
I swear, that canned pork is gross. But it was the only protein available, so had to strive to offset the inherent evilness of the vile cur. I gave my best Herculean effort. It ended up pretty good.
“Um carinho envolve o meu coração
Sinto que é você, falando pra mim
Sussurrando“
Made 10/2/18
Mirepoix: white onion, poblano pepper, red bell pepper. Chicken, zucchini, corn, cauliflower, flour, sage, lime juice, hondashi bonito bouillon, garlic, black pepper.
I really wish we had more hondashi. It gives such an umami umph.
Made 9/19/18
Mirepoix: yellow onion, celery, poblano pepper. Green beans, yam, kolhrabi, dill, curry powder, lime juice, bonito bouillon, garlic.
Lots of lime juice. A lip-smacking amount.
“Lime tree very pretty and the lime flower is so sweet. But the fruit of the poor lime is impossible to eat”. Unsure what Peter Paul and Mary were thinking. Oh wait, they were talking about a lemon. Bang on for lime!
Made 9/18/18
Standard mirepoix. Asparagus, beef, milk, Niko Niko rice, Greek yogurt, parmesan cheese, lime juice, garlic, butter.
Pureed calrose rice for thickness/silkiness. Had a nice little tang to it. Well received. No codpiece this.
Made 5/22/19
Mirepoix: yellow onion, carrot, red bell pepper. Hot Italian sausage, eggplant, canned bacon, snap peas, rice, quinoa, oyster sauce, soy sauce, garlic, roasted chicken stock, lime juice, worcestershire sauce, fresh basil, dried basil, allspice.
Never heard of canned bacon, so forthwith in it went. It was really weird–slices of cooked bacon wrapped in paper and stuffed into a can. Go figure.
In Tokyo I bought a Deng watch. Instead of the second hand going around, the seconds were marked by Deng waving his cigarette.
Made 5/14/19
Mirepoix: red, yellow, and white onion, carrot, green bell pepper. Beef, broccoli, asparagus, egg noodle, tahini, lime leaf, minced garlic, curry powder, lime juice, glace de poulet, sugar.
Made by Martin.
Abandon hope all ye who enter here. Truly a great, savory, thick soup with unexpected flavors. This bastard is making better soups than me.
Made 5/8/19
Mirepoix: yellow onion, parsnip, celery, carrot, leek. Beef, lamb, roasted cauliflower, potato, radish, figs, lemon zest and juice, lime juice, Thai basil, fresh mint, turmeric, ginger, garlic.
Oh my gentle Jesus we have an additional soupmaker, my buddy Martin, who made this extravaganza. I love the use of figs, to give a little sweetness, and mint, to give brightness (and paired with lamb–genius). Great soup.
Martin will be guest-starring in the future. Can’t wait to see what he’ll make.
Made 5/1/19
Mirepoix: yellow onion, green and red bell pepper, poblana pepper, carrot. Catfish, Brussels sprouts, morel mushrooms, apricot jam, strawberry jam, paprika, worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, lime juice.
I didn’t have the luxury to fry the catfish properly as any Cajun would, so my bad. But it turned out pretty good–got kudos from another volunteer and some clients.
As I think I’ve mentioned before, sometimes we get unexpected donations. This time it was a huge box of morels. The heaven’s light shone through.
Made 4/17/19
Mirepoix: white onion, celery. Ground beef (browned with turmeric and dill), zucchini, baby kale, red pepper, garbanzo beans, cannellini beans, sheep yogurt, mint, lime juice, garlic.
Can only hope Mustafa would approve.
“Istanbul was Constantinople, now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople”.
Made 4/16/19
Mirepoix: red onion, celery, red and green pepper (I think that’s the Holy Trinity, no?). Beef, potato, cauliflower, tomato, mushroom, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, paprika, sugar, lime juice, worcestershire sauce.
“You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din”.
And as Morrissey says, “I am cumin and I need to be loved”.
Made 4/10/19
Standard mirepoix. Potato, poblano pepper, yellow red and green bell pepper, mushroom, half and half, peanut butter, lime juice, honey, green curry paste.
Made 3/27/19
Mirepoix: red onion, red and green pepper. Collard greens, corn, cauliflower, spaetzle (German egg noodles), lime juice, worcestershire sauce.
Don’t see collards too often, so of course in they went.
The noodles almost look like tripe. Man, that would be a fun ingredient to use, wouldn’t it?
Mirepoix: yellow onion, celery, rainbow carrot (as the Rolling Stones say, “she’s like a rainbow”). Roasted zucchini, cauliflower, red pepper, portabella mushroom, peanut butter, lime juice, butter, mango vinegar, green onion, coriander, sambal oelek, curry powder, garlic, cinnamon.
Made 3/5/19
Standard mirepoix. Chicken, roasted eggplant, okra, red green and yellow bell pepper, asparagus, parsnip, peanut butter, coriander, cayenne pepper, garlic, cinnamon, curry powder, whipping cream, milk, lime juice.
Met Market packaged vegies are hit and miss. The parsnips in this soup were good–seasoned with rosemary, if a bit soft. But the prepared carrots and mirepoix taste weird. I think maybe they use vinegar or something else as a preservative. At any rate, by the time they get to us, they are acidic and stink. Go figure.
Adams Peanut Butter is good in soups. Others can be a bit too sugary.
Made 1/30/19
Mirepoix: yellow onion, poblano pepper, bell pepper, carrot. Brussels sprouts, roasted corn, roasted zucchini, fresh rosemary, lime juice, garlic.
Doesn’t look like much, but it wasn’t too bad. The lime juice really brightened it up.
Made 1/23/19
Mirepoix: yellow onion, rainbow carrot, celery, poblano pepper. Zucchini, roasted mushrooms, red bell pepper, coconut milk, garlic, lime juice, sugar.
Roasted the shrooms.
It’s “almost” Asian because the coconut milk had practically no taste. Does coconut milk go flat with age?
Made 12/12/18
Mirepoix: yellow onion, celery, those funky organic rainbow carrots. Beef, asparagus, zucchini, tomato, raisin, crimini mushroom, turmeric, coriander, garlic, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, lime juice.
Pureed the shrooms with the mirepoix.
Made 12/11/18
Mirepoix: parsnip, celery, yellow onion (affectionately known as “snipoix”). Garbanzo beans, lentil, tahini, garlic, lime juice, tabasco.
Weird idea, and to boot I didn’t perform well. Tasted ok.
Mirepoix: yellow onion, carrot, green bell pepper. Broiled green beans, chorizo, quinoa, crispy fried onions, lime juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, paprika, garlic
Another surprise protein ingredient. Never used it before, but sounded fun. And the condiment shelf provided an oniony surprise.
For the mirepoix, from about this time on I’ve been using coconut oil. No real reason.
Made 11/27/18
Mirepoix: red onions, celery, carrot. Cauliflower, zucchini, garbanzo beans, great northern beans, artichoke hearts, bone stock, lime juice, garlic, fish stock, butter.
On Sundays, periodically my ma used to make New England boiled dinner. I hated the crap out of it. Rutabagas, turnips, parsnips, potatoes, carrots. The only way I could deal with it was to mash all the vegies together and put a pound of butter on it. Hence this soup. Odd how I now love all those rooty vegetables.
Standard mirepoix. Asparagus, beef, cauliflower, broccoli, anchovy, garlic, red pepper flakes, lime juice (and lots of it)
I’ll use anchovies in any way they come. And anything deep with umami: fish sauce, worcestershire sauce, dashi. That deep brown savory base adds massively.
Made 10/24/18
Regular mirepoix. White fish (the package had no label–maybe it was cod), eggplant, yellow bell pepper, carrot, fish sauce, lime juice, sriracha, fresh lemon thyme, fresh Thai basil, ginger, paprika, garlic, cinnamon, chive.
Made 10/17/18
Mirepoix: yellow onion, carrot, green bell pepper. Butternut squash, potato, beef, asparagus, peanut butter, curry powder, cayenne pepper, coriander, lime juice, garlic, cinnamon
Clients and staff liked this one a lot, and it was great to work with real beef that wasn’t ground and fatty.
Made 10/3/18
Soup Kitchen Recipes 