Today was soup week in our household.
First I decided to make a split pea soup in the crock pot. It was really easy and delicious, despite my failure to put pieces of pig in it. A bag of split peas, a few carrots thickly sliced, a stalk of celery treated the same, three peeled and diced pearl onions, a handful of coarsely chopped cabbage left over from last week, some minced garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper all went into the crock pot and were covered with 7 cups of water boiled in our kettle. I let it cook on high for four hours (slow for the whole day would have worked as well if I'd figured out what I wanted to do before lunch time), then used a sieve to push most of the chunky carrot bits out of the way and immersion blended the remainder for a few minutes.
My other soup was blue cheese and cauliflower. I boiled a head of cauliflower for 5 minutes, reserving two cups of the water. Then I briefly cooked a roux of 3T butter & 3T flour before throwing in two diced pearl onions. After a good five minutes of softening the onions, I slooowly added first the cauliflower water and then an two cups of milk while whisking away to make sure there weren't any lumps. Half the florets went into the proto-soup and I hit it with the immersion blender. Then in with about four ounces of crumbled blue cheese along with a little salt and pepper. Once the cheese was nicely melted I threw in the rest of the cauliflower and quickly whipped up some thyme croutons.
Note the crazy use of onions in recipe! I'm a madman!
I was going to use my remaining pearl onions to make a French onion soup for NDM, but although she can't comprehend how I don't like her trying to cook meat for me that she can't eat, she was aghast that I would consider making a soup that I would not be willing to consume. So the onions still languish awaiting an idea.
Then of course I realized I'd been marinating some firm tofu in a reconstituted black bean marinade for almost a week, so my last meal was a quick tofu and bok choy stirfy with a bit of shredded carrot and some quickly stirfried noodles. I wish I could take credit for the bao, but it is so cheap and easy to steam the frozen bao from our local Asian grocery...
I wish NDJ's answer was correct :-)
So, does anybody have a guess what I'm doing in this picture, and why? Fabulous prizes await!
This is what the beasts look like when they are "playing", as it were. Below, you can see deep into their souls:
First I decided to make a split pea soup in the crock pot. It was really easy and delicious, despite my failure to put pieces of pig in it. A bag of split peas, a few carrots thickly sliced, a stalk of celery treated the same, three peeled and diced pearl onions, a handful of coarsely chopped cabbage left over from last week, some minced garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper all went into the crock pot and were covered with 7 cups of water boiled in our kettle. I let it cook on high for four hours (slow for the whole day would have worked as well if I'd figured out what I wanted to do before lunch time), then used a sieve to push most of the chunky carrot bits out of the way and immersion blended the remainder for a few minutes.
My other soup was blue cheese and cauliflower. I boiled a head of cauliflower for 5 minutes, reserving two cups of the water. Then I briefly cooked a roux of 3T butter & 3T flour before throwing in two diced pearl onions. After a good five minutes of softening the onions, I slooowly added first the cauliflower water and then an two cups of milk while whisking away to make sure there weren't any lumps. Half the florets went into the proto-soup and I hit it with the immersion blender. Then in with about four ounces of crumbled blue cheese along with a little salt and pepper. Once the cheese was nicely melted I threw in the rest of the cauliflower and quickly whipped up some thyme croutons.
Then of course I realized I'd been marinating some firm tofu in a reconstituted black bean marinade for almost a week, so my last meal was a quick tofu and bok choy stirfy with a bit of shredded carrot and some quickly stirfried noodles. I wish I could take credit for the bao, but it is so cheap and easy to steam the frozen bao from our local Asian grocery...
We brought the new puppy home today, a day earlier than expected, as the shelter decided she is coming down with kennel cough which nixed her scheduled spay. Her tummy is a little unsettled, but otherwise she seems fine, and she's very keen on spreading her disease through tongue-to-anything contact.
She was immediately interested in some small wubbies, and even slightly defensive of them when 'Dolon stuck his nose in.
She was even more enamored of a few mostly chewed bones 'Dolon had left lying around. Of course, this also suddenly fixated 'Dolon on his discarded bones. Luckily there were enough to go around.
'Dolon got really excited and wanted to play with her so badly, eventually spiraling into a barking frenzy. The puppy just retreated to my lap.
She has shown only a slight interest in the cats thus far, and so remains unscarred for the moment.
Two hours of exploring, licking, and chewing and she's finally out long enough for me to sit down at the computer. It's going to be a long night...
Seeing as how I've cried more in the past few days than in the previous few decades, NDM is being kind enough to allow me to medicate myself with another puppy, with all my attendant aggravations and whining we remember from our last sweet puppy. We'll probably have her home within the week.
Continually trying new things to keep NDM amused during her studying -- this week I decided to put our dinner through the Osterizer.
I cubed a large eggplant and halved a pint of cherry tomatoes, then tossed them well with 3T olive oil, 3 sliced cloves of garlic, and 1t each of kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and cayenne. The whole mess went on a sheet of parchment on a baking rack and into a 400º oven for 35 minutes.
When the roasting was done, I put another few tablespoons of olive oil in the blender with a quarter cup of coarsely chopped mint leaves, then fed it the contents of the roasting pan bit by bit until everything was pureed. Finally, I thinned the sauce to the consistency I wanted by adding about a cup and a half of the reserved pasta water.
