Monthly Archives: June 2012

Onward to North Africa…in a Bowl!

30 Saturday Jun 2012

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It was a rather kooky wrap up to the workweek this week.  But not at all surprising given it’s my company’s end of fiscal year at the end of June.  Combine that with the 4th of July falling smack in the middle of next week, most everyone plans to get the hell out of town the entire week, plus a weekend on either side.  So lots of scrambling.

Today was spent doing a lot of maintenance in preparation for the upcoming “holiday” week.  I’ll have more on that tomorrow.  I dug deep in my pantry before setting out to run errands looking for yet another new soup recipe, in an older cookbook I haven’t opened in a while.

Yes, I use part of my pantry for cookbook storage.  Someday I will have my dream kitchen with a built-in bookshelf of sorts to hold my cherished cookbooks.  For now they are both in the upper shelves of my pantry and in a portion of a kitchen countertop.

I knew I wanted to whip up a hot and spicy batch of soup today.  We’re still in that icky, rainy, cloudy, chilly-but-sometimes-humid lame-o Seattle weather which is so typical for late June.  Psst:  are you planning to visit Seattle?  We are most welcome to have you at any time…but you’ll be far happier doing it in late July than right now – for real!

So I blew the dust off another cookbook I hadn’t thumbed through in a while:  Mediterranean Hot.  It’s by Aglaia Kremezi.  Wow, this book was published in 1996!  It’s so clear how somewhat dated a book like this is – for example, in the mail-order resources section there are no websites posted – just the names of merchants and their phone numbers.  How the times change!

The recipes, however, are timeless.  They go far, far back in time – some even for centuries, even.  The author provides a wonderful introduction to this book describing the peoples of the Mediterranean region, the seasonings and spices and how pretty much WARS WERE FOUGHT over spices.  Fascinating!

I chose a North African style of soup for tonight’s experiment, and noted how far less chopping and prep time would be needed compared to the other soups I’ve prepared these past few weeks.  There were a few things I took liberty with right off the bat, for both planned and unplanned reasons.  Read on for more.

Spicy North African Soup with Capers – Serves 6

  • 1/4 C olive oil
  • 1 T minced garlic
  • 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground coriander seeds
  • 1 T freshly ground caraway seeds
  • 1 tsp Harissa
  • 1 tsp Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes
  • 1 T tomato paste
  • 1/4 C fine Semolina flour
  • 1/3 C coarse bulgur
  • 3-4 T fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 C capers preserved in salt, rinsed very well under running water
  • 1 preserved lemon with Hot Paprika, rinsed and cut into fine julienne (more on this at the end of this post – it’s optional and I did not use it)
  • Salt, to taste
  • 4 T chopped cilantro or parsley

Mix the olive oil with the garlic, coriander, caraway, harissa and Aleppo pepper (or pepper flakes) in a saucepan.  Place over medium heat and stir to warm, without letting anything burn.  Add the tomato paste and 4-5 cups of water.

Bring to a boil and add the semolina and bulgur, stirring constantly.  Simmer for 10 minutes and then add the lemon juice, capers and preserved lemon.  Taste and season with salt if desired or some more preserved lemon.

Serve very warm, sprinkled with cilantro or parsley.

Fivenineteen notes: The aroma of this soup is heavenly…and SO different from the South American-style soups I’ve been cooking lately.  The coriander seeds and caraway seeds add a unique, punchy scent to this soup.  [Side note:  at risk of sounding like a broken record…PLEASE do the “smell test” with your spices to make sure they are fresh and pungent before adding to this or any recipe.  The scent of my just-purchased coriander and caraway is heads and shoulders above the lame blandness my older jars had.]

I did not have any Aleppo pepper or Harissa on hand.  I since have ordered some thanks to the nice people at Dean & Deluca. Red pepper flakes are an easy sub for Aleppo pepper, but the Harissa recipe (hot Tunisian chile paste) seemed a bit more involved.  I searched online and learned that an ordinary chile paste was a good substitute.

Although I discovered the lone paste I had on hand was a Thai red curry paste.  Oops.  I was a little worried about that when I got home…and I discovered this while the soup was under way and I was a bit into a large glass of Pinot Gris (heh), so I knew heading back out to grab chile paste at a grocery store was not a good idea. It turned out great with no major flavor conflicts!

Semolina flour:  this is the base for your handmade or machine-made pastas.  Lessons learned – I would add this very gradually while whisking it constantly into the soup instead of dumping it all in at once and then the bulgur on top and then attempting to mix.  The Semolina became very lumpy immediately (hmm, just like when making gravy?) and it was super hard to whisk and separate into the broth after the fact.

This is a vegetarian soup.  I opted to not make it 100% vegetarian by substituting one of the 5 cups of water with a cup of chicken stock.

Enjoy…buon appetito!  And if you are still curious about the preserved lemon recipe (as I am I – I’ve yet to try it), here it is:

Preserved Lemons with Hot Paprika – makes 1 Quart

  • 1 1/2 lbs small lemons
  • about 1/4 C coarse sea salt
  • 2-3 T hot paprika, preferably Hungarian
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • Juice of 4-5 lemons
  • About 1/3 C olive oil

With a very sharp knife, cut the lemons into quarters lengthwise without detaching the pieces completely at the stem end.  Sprinkle salt and a little paprika inside each lemon and place in a 1-quart jar.  Press down on the lemons to fit as many in the jar as possible.  Refrigerate 2-3 days.  The lemons will give off a lot of juice.

Press the lemons in the jar to extract as much juice as possible.  Sprinkle with the turmeric and add more lemon juice to cover the lemons.  Top with 1 inch of olive oil, close the jar, and keep in the refrigerator for 4 weeks until using.

To use, remove the lemons you need, wash under running water, drizzle with olive oil and serve or use as you wish.

Random Vinaigrette with Smoked Paprika

24 Sunday Jun 2012

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Two words:  Smoked Paprika.  Where did I first see this recently?  I honestly can’t remember because I would certainly post the link here to give credit where it’s due.  I’d never, ever heard of smoked paprika until just yesterday and for some reason got intrigued.  I had to find out more about this spice!

I enjoy cooking with the more typical sweet paprika for sure…quite a few of the various South American soup recipes I’ve posted in here call for paprika.  I smile and remember the thrill of two trips to Budapest, Hungary in my lifetime (SUCH a beautiful city – very highly recommended) and picking up some tins of paprika in the busy markets on the Pest side of the (Danube) River.  Great gifts and souvenirs; after the paprika is used up the tins are so pretty for decoration or re-using.

It was meant to be.  I had to make a quick trip to the grocery store today and ta daaaa…many of the spices at the Albertson’s down the street are half off for the next few days!  I don’t mind splurging on food at all – I budget quite a bit toward eating out and grocery shopping actually – but stocking up on spices can add up!  I will likely now go do the “smell test” on every other spice I haven’t replaced recently to see if they’re still fresh.  And I’m a bit of a goofball because I alphabetize my spices in my pantry.  But how else can you quickly find what you need?  Smoked paprika, welcome to my spice shelves!

I found this recipe in an online search and just whipped it up in my mini Cuisinart (the one small appliance that doesn’t have a broken latch or leaks).  This makes about 1 1/2 Cups so the mini food processor is a perfect size.  The vinaigrette is a beautiful, deep rich orange color…so pretty to look at and the flavors are incredible!

Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette

  • 1/2 C red wine vinegar
  • 1/3 C honey
  • 1 T stone-ground mustard
  • 1 T lime juice
  • 3/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 3/4 tsp salt (I used my standard grey Celtic sea salt)
  • 1 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 T chopped onion
  • 1/4 tsp oregano
  • 1 pinch white sugar (optional)
  • 1/2 C olive oil

Blend all ingredients except the olive oil in a blender or food processor until thoroughly mixed. Drizzle the olive oil into the mixture while blending on low.  Cover and chill at least one hour before serving.

Fivenineteen notes:  taste the vinaigrette and add a tiny pinch of white sugar if it’s too tart for your taste.  If you’re using a food processor, the little hole at the top is perfect to slowly infuse the olive oil with the rest of the ingredients. 

I was a little nervous about using the honey in my pantry because it’s raw.  It doesn’t flow out of the jar like typical honey does – it’s so thick you need to scoop it out with a spoon…you can turn the jar upside down and it won’t come out.  But it turned out great!

This is also a wonderful choice for a marinade…I can’t wait to try this tonight!

Buon appetito!

The Migraine, the Massage and the Monsoon

24 Sunday Jun 2012

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I always say that you really pay for it both before and after trying to take a few days off from work at a super busy time of the year.  As much as it’s necessary to take a break occasionally, the preparation for being away and the rush of returning and trying to catch up in a fast-moving work environment and a small (or not so small) mountain of email can take its toll. 

I feel very fortunate that I have very little to complain about with my current job.  For the last five years most of my work has been short-term consulting engagements, about a year or less in length, and I’ve really hit the jackpot with this current team.  But taking a typical vacation is not really in the cards for me.  I am only paid for hours worked (and pretty well paid, but still vacations are not paid). 

Doing short-term engagements has allowed me to zoom in and out of very different work environments and cultures and to learn a lot very rapidly – both best practices and things to avoid.  There’s an art to it – you’ve got to hit the ground running, develop rapport very quickly with your new colleagues, get your bearings on what’s happening and what needs to happen, and add value from Day One.  So, trying to carve out a week-long vacation, say, can be challenging, unless it’s negotiated right up front when interviewing for the position.  There’s a chance it might be a deal-breaker if it’s during a crucial time in the project.  And I don’t count my time off between work engagements as true vacation time, for my drive to network and land a new engagement is the noise that overshadows any attempt at really unplugging for a while and relaxing.  Perhaps I’ll get better at that the next time around!

I came back to work on Tuesday after a relaxing 4-day weekend with family in town visiting from Chicago.  Ahhh, when I am with them all is right with the world.  And when I got back to the office I had a very brief 10-second moment of bliss, and then the (absolutely expected) WHAMMO debrief of a ton of stuff that happened that I needed to catch up on – fast. 

This time of year is even more hectic.  The company’s fiscal year ends at the end of June, so everyone’s a little extra nutty trying to wrap things up, make sure budgets close out when they’re supposed to…oh, and come July, this place turns into a bowling alley.  Everyone (well, the employees that is) skips town and goes on very well-deserved vacations.  And it’s usually the contingent staff that covers.  This is the 4th business unit I’ve consulted with at this company, and this year actually marks TEN years of consulting here over the past 13 years – wow!  So I’m very, very familiar with the rhythms of business at this company and how the last half of June is a 27-ring circus.  Get stuff done before the fiscal years closes out AND before everyone goes on vacation!

By Thursday I was feeling pretty much caught up, enough to where I felt good carving out a (spontaneous) true hour-long lunch with my former office mate who now is with a different part of our work division.  I’m so glad we are keeping in touch!  We each had Chiang Mai noodle soup – absolutely delicious.  Curry does not typically agree with me (big bummer) but the curry in this soup is very light, and the flavors and spices make this one of the best lunches on the campus – love it!

Then I had a tiny flash of light dot in front of me.  Oh shit, here it comes.  A migraine.  K and I finished our lunches, hugged and walked back to our offices.  I swung by the first aid cabinet in our break room and fumbled around for some sort of pain reliever.  Sometimes if I pop something right when it hits it will dissipate fairly quickly and won’t linger.

This time I wasn’t so lucky.  But let me back up a minute here.  I am one of the lucky (tongue in cheek) few who are ‘blessed’ with occasional menstrual-related migraines.  Now don’t worry, I’m not going to get too gory in here about female stuff.  I just know that if I do get them, they’re going to be female hormone triggered.  Oh yay. Years and years ago in college when they started happening, my doctor prescribed a very mild anti-depressant.  I remember thinking that was odd…I have migraines, I’m not depressed!  But they worked. 

As the years went by I tried seeing if there were ways to avoid these types of migraines without depending upon a prescription.  I read that there are certain triggers (foods, etc) that might play a part.  Or that perhaps getting more exercise would help.  Caffeine, red wine, cheeses, chocolate…and for me, perhaps curry?  Hmmm, as good as those noodles were, perhaps I should have avoided them that particular day.  And then I remembered…I had a very small wedge of Brie for breakfast that morning.  Oops.  Those two foods in one day were probably not a good idea, and now I was paying the price.

I had a meeting with my manager right after lunch.  The “aura” part of the migraine was starting to increase and my vision was slightly blurred.  I grabbed my laptop, walked into her office and said “hey, I’m not trying to be dramatic here but I’m having a migraine episode.  So if my eyes seem a little out of focus, that’s why.  My vision is a little blurry but this should pass in about 10 or 15 minutes.”  We forged ahead with our work.  Like I wrote earlier, this is a super busy time of year.

What happens with these migraines, you’re wondering?  Well, in my case the tiny bright spot of light slowly turns into an oval or circular ring of pulsating, vibrating colors.  It gets wider and wider until it leaves my field of vision.  Then the after effects set in – a pins and needles feeling in my upper shoulders and back of the neck, the same feeling like when your foot goes to sleep.  Then, a little nausea.  And nope, closing my eyes does not shut out the aura. 

Thankfully I’ve been through this a few times and know what to expect.  And knock on wood, it’s never happened when I’m driving.  Or playing hockey.  Usually a good night’s sleep will leave me refreshed and with all symptoms gone. 

But the next day, Friday, my neck and shoulders were still feeling prickly and horribly stiff.  Wow, this episode was a doozy.  But I smiled, knowing I had a massage booked for later that night.  Relief!

Last month I had a massage for the first time in years.  And I’m going to try to get one once a month and see if this can bring some relief to my neck and shoulders which seem to have the weight of the world on them.  Turns out that in the month since my first massage with J, she is now completely mobile.  She brings her massage table, blankets, music and everything to her clients’ houses!  So hmmmm, this was going to be an interesting change.

I told her about my migraine episode the day before, and we agreed we’d spend the whole hour just working on my back, shoulders, pecs and scalp, not the whole body.  She set up her table in my living room meanwhile and then went into my powder room to wait for me to disrobe and get under the blankets.  Before doing this I laughed and said you know, this is a little weird being naked in my living room.  She laughed as well and said lots of her clients make that same comment!  And it’s true!  I live in a townhouse so all bedrooms are upstairs.  I’m rarely naked down on the main level in the living room, dining room or kitchen (but when I am there is always a guy involved, heh).  OK…anyway back on track here.

J gave a wonderful massage.  At first I had a hard time relaxing because, well, here I was naked in my living room (under blankets) on a massage table which was a first for me…and I realized that I prefer getting massages where I’m not in my home.  For awhile my mind was racing as I pondered everything in the living room, even with my eyes closed in the face cradle…did I dust that coffee table?  Man, I need a new TV.  Should I get new pillows for the sofa?  And on and on.  Finally, I was able to just breathe deeply and enjoy the massage.  J explained that our blood vessels constrict during a migraine, so the massage is a great antidote to increase blood flow back to my scalp, neck and shoulders. I felt so incredibly relaxed when she was done…and refreshed…and taller! 

Now, have I ranted enough about how bad the weather is in June in the Seattle area?  We call it “June-uary” actually.  And we joke that summer does not officially start until July 5th.  Yep, AFTER the fireworks shows on the 4th, which often have to adjust for lower altitudes, otherwise the fireworks will get lost in the thick, grey clouds.  Kind of sad, right?  Well, this June has been pretty crappy, save for a few sunny days.

I woke up yesterday, showered and headed out to the salon for a haircut.  I remember driving into the city and thinking wow, those are some angry black clouds on the horizon.  It wasn’t raining, however.

Fast forward an hour and the skies opened up.  Torrential, pouring rains…and wind.  We got over an inch of rain in about two hours, so say the news folks.  Unbelievable!  I was so relieved I had parked in the garage under the building where my hair salon is.  I had no coat and no umbrella…I would have been soaked through, not to mention ruined my freshly styled hair!

I slipped my parking validation ticket into the machine at the garage exit.  The garage had closed so there was no one around, and there is a chain type of door that raises and lowers automatically just like a garage door.  It opened as I drove up and I remember thinking I should wait until it completely opened, as I’m not the best judge of space and distance.

But when the garage chain door finished opening, it immediately starting closing!  I had a brief moment of panic…do I go for it or just wait for it to close and ring the attendant?

I floored my car and squealed out of there.  Keep in mind there is a very sharp turn immediately coming out of the garage, so I lurched forward and prayed the chain door would not hit my car on the way out.  And immediately got blasted with the heavy rain pouring down.  Man, I am such a dumbass sometimes.  The car and I got out of the garage just fine.

And while we’re on the topic of dumbass, I got home and realized I’d left my master bedroom window open for some fresh air.  This was long before the rains came pounding through.  Now I had soaked wood blinds and a flooded window sill!  Damn!!  Water drops were hanging off the wood.  I immediately grabbed a towel and carefully started mopping up what I could.  Ugh.  Thank goodness for that small wet/dry vac I picked up when L and I started the popcorn ceiling scraping project.  Who in the hell leaves a south-facing window open on a day like that?  Oh wait…that was me.  After vacuuming up what water I could from the window sill it was full again after an hour.  Geez we got soaked.

I’m so ready for a pain-free and dry week ahead!

Even More Soup! Fish Chowder with Fresh Fava Beans

23 Saturday Jun 2012

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…OK, I admit right off the bat I didn’t use Fava beans in my version (*ducks behind the sofa*), but this still is some GOOD STUFF in a bowl.  And I smile and remember my hilarious (and Danish) co-worker’s Facebook comment that I’m turning into the “Soup Master.”  Well, I humbly am not but I appreciate her compliment and humor (she’s a great friend too).  I am just a (middle-aged) girl in the Seattle suburbs with a passion for making soups from scratch.  Just executing/attempting on other’s recipes and not coming up with my own, save for what I ad lib and substitute where needed.  And having a blast along the way.

Today (Saturday) was one of those days where a big batch of soup was the perfect antidote to a tough end of the week.  I’ll save the recap for tomorrow’s post, however.  It did involve an extremely rainy day and a change into illegal, ripped-up leggings once I got home, just as a preview.

Let’s get down to the good stuff:  Chupe de Pescado con Habas Verdes (Fish chowder with fresh Fava beans)  Serves 6.

  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 tsp ground annatto or sweet paprika
  • 1 medium-sized onion, minced (about 1 cup)
  • 3 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp white pepper
  • 2 medium-sized ripe but firm tomatoes (about 10 oz), peeled, seeded and chopped
  • 1 T tomato paste
  • 1 T fresh mirasol pepper puree, store-bought or homemade
  • 2 T plus 1/4 C minced fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano, crumbled
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp sugar
  • 3 C fish stock or chicken broth
  • 1/4 C long-grain rice
  • 4 medium-sized all-purpose potatoes, peeled and sliced 1″ thick
  • 1 1/2 lb firm white-fleshed fish fillets such as sea bass, monkfish, catfish or halibut, cut into 6 pieces
  • 3/4 C shelled fava beans, blanched and peeled, or fresh peas
  • 2 ears corn, each cut into 3 pieces, or 1 C fresh corn kernels
  • 5 oz fresh goat cheese
  • 1 C milk, or more if needed
  • 1 large egg (optional), lightly beaten
  • 8 oz large shrimp, peeled and deveined

In a large, heavy saucepan (I used a 6-quart Calphalon pan, wider than it’s tall), heat the oil over medium heat. Stir in the annatto/paprika, onion, garlic paste, tomatoes, tomato paste, pepper puree, 2 T of the cilantro, oregano, cumin and sugar.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have softened and the mixture is like a thick sauce, about 20 minutes.  Add a little water while the tomatoes are cooking if the mixture begins to get dry.  Add the fish stock and simmer for 15 minutes.  The soup can be prepared ahead up to this point.  Let cool, cover and refrigerate up to overnight.

To finish, bring the soup back to a boil, add the rice and potatoes, and cook for 15 minutes.  Add the fish, fava beans and corn and simmer for 8 minutes.  Add the cheese and milk and cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese has melted and the milk has heated through.  The soup should have the consistency of heavy cream; add more milk or water if it is too thick. (Keep in mind that potato-based soups thicken as they stand.) Taste for salt and white pepper.  If using the egg, add in a stream and stir until it forms strands.  Just before serving, stir in the shrimp and cook for a couple of minutes, until they turn pink and begin to curl.

To serve, in each soup plate place 1 piece of fish, a couple of shrimp, 3 or 4 potato slices, and 1 piece of corn (if using ears of corn). Ladle the chowder over these, sprinkle each plate with some of the remaining 1/4 C cilantro, and serve immediately.

Fivenineteen notes:  Wow, this is a delicious chowder!  And while I like to first make new recipes exactly as they’re written, I took a few liberties right off the bat with this one due to – admittedly – some laziness.

I could not find Fava beans at my nearby QFC (grocery store).  So I decided to just go with the frozen peas I knew I had in the freezer and let them thaw out a bit before adding to the chowder. 

I used 3 potatoes instead of 4.  For some reason, the 4th one I peeled tonight to get sliced up was an oddly weird and pale shade and full of too many moldy spots after peeling.  Just a flukey thing, so into the trash it went.  I figured it was worth the risk of too few potatoes versus having one that was not up to par.

The Mirasaol pepper puree?  I didn’t feel like making it from scratch (maybe I’m still gun shy thanks to my leaky blender, heh)  and could not find it in the grocery store either.  I’d decided to substitute my favorite hot cayenne pepper sauce made by Trappeys.  But I’m glad I picked up a backup plan of a hot Mexican hot sauce at the grocery store just in case, because when I got home, I noticed my trusty bottle of Trappey’s was near-empty and greyish red.  Not the happy, vibrant color it usually is.  I took a tiny taste of it on my finger and yep, it’s gone stale.  It’s great stuff and I’ve placed an online order to get restocked meanwhile, as it’s no longer at my nearby QFC.  Be SURE to find a good, hot cayenne or Habanero pepper sauce for this chowder if you are opting not to make the Mirasol pepper puree from scratch!

The aroma of this chowder is heavenly.  And I opted for a seafood stock (rather than using chicken broth) from Bar Harbor Foods.  I appreciated that it was all-natural…and at over $4.00 for a 2-cup can it better be great, right?  I needed 2 cans to get 3 cups of stock for the recipe. (and it was fantastic, by the way).

Given I splurged a bit on the stock, I opted to choose the local store brand version of basmati (long-grain) rice, rather than the pricier Texmati brand I’ve used prior.  I don’t have a lot of rice typically in my pantry save for the type suited for risotto.

And…I chose sole fillets for the fish.  I was surprised at how they broke up into tiny pieces after adding to the chowder, even after cutting into large pieces and stirring gently.  I’m not sure if that’s because they were sole (vs. another type of white fish) or not. 

I breathed a sigh of relief when it was time to add the cheese and milk to the chowder.  The recipe was turning into more like a super thick stew at this point than a soup/chowder in the making.  I was sooo tempted to add more water or a splash of stock or white wine meanwhile, but I’m glad I didn’t.

I sliced the potatoes less than an inch thick.  And as they were cooking I ended up cutting them with my stirring spatula into smaller pieces.  I like the idea of adding slices to each soup plate for serving, but in my case they were not cooking through thoroughly in thick slices.

And…the cheese.  Either I spaced it or the grocery store did not have goat cheese (Chevre), so I sprung for some gorgonzola.  This actually added a nice tang and punch to the chowder without overpowering it.

Here’s the author’s notes on this recipe: “There is nothing better than a bowl of chupe on a cold winter night.  I especially like this variation from Peru because it is flavored with hot peppers and, instead of peas, it uses fava beans.  This chowder can be made with either fish or shrimp, or a mixture of both.  Peruvians always add eggs before serving.  They either stir in the lightly beaten eggs or put one poached egg in each soup plate and pour the soup on top.  This is a hearty soup that can be used as a main course for a light supper.”

Buon appetito!

From The South American Table, by Maria Baez Kijac.

Small Appliances 2; fivenineteen 1/2

18 Monday Jun 2012

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No, not quite a zero because my plan B small appliance worked…but…oh anyway let me back up here a minute.

What was going to be a relaxing afternoon of cooking to top off a wonderful 4-day weekend (wow, I love my job, but I really needed a little time off!) turned into a brow-furrowing series of setbacks and challenges.  But sometimes that happens with cooking, right?  And trying new recipes?  Sometimes it doesn’t go so great.  BUT the end result…an intriguing, delicious new big bowl of soup for a late lunch…and leftovers for later!

Here are a few ingredients for this latest soup creation in the picture.  That’s a bunch of cilantro on the far right – yum!  What was missing?  My chicken broth (in the fridge), a 1/2 lb of shrimp (safely tucked in the fridge too)…and…an onion.  Which was nowhere to be found.  Ew…all I had was half of a leftover onion in a Tupperware in the back of the fridge, covered in mold.  To the trash it goes! 

So I had to go back to a grocery store AGAIN for just onions.  Earlier this morning I made a run to our local Metropolitan Market.  How I ADORE this grocery store!  Everything is absolutely exquisite all the time.  The place pulses with happiness…and some of the friendliest workers I’ve ever encountered.  So helpful!  I picked up the fresh shrimp this morning, wrapped up and handed to me over the counter with a big smile from the seafood guy, and even found that darn ol’ Lapang Souchong tea I was grumbling about for the marinade for yesterday’s food experiment.  Aha!  And I swung by the cheese section and tried a sample of a mouth-watering English cheddar with mustard seeds.  Amazing.  But when I got home and realized I didn’t have any onions, I just made a quick hop to the Albertson’s down the street from me.  They’re a foolproof store for cheap basics, not specialty items. 

I carefully read the recipe all the way through like the good budding amateur chef I strive to be.  I knew the soup base would be an onion, garlic and tomato puree, and for that I’d need to go grab the big Cuisinart off the top shelf in my pantry.  For some reason I decided to make sure it was working properly before I started putting chopped food in it.  And I’m so glad I did.

I could NOT get the upper lid and feed tube section to latch on properly to the main bowl. So obviously it wouldn’t run, for safety reasons.  This was killing me!  My beloved Cuisinart…I’ve had her probably 15 or more years. I don’t use it all the time, but when you need one, you need one.  It looks like there is a tiny plastic piece that should engage with the bowl to lock it that is slightly bent or warped.  It probably got bent or warped in the dishwasher (note to self…hand wash Cuisinart parts from now on).  ARGH.  I am hoping the nice people at Cuisinart will be able to provide some spare parts online; I would hate to have to drop major bucks on a new one for something as small as a tiny, bent plastic part!

So I was relieved I’d discovered this problem before filling the bowl with the ingredients.  On to Plan B…the (Cuisinart) stainless steel blender. 

Which leaks.  I have no freaking idea why but this has been a constant problem too.  Not a lot, but just enough to be annoying, no matter how tightly I screw on the blender to the base.  I know to keep a spare towel nearby when I’m done blending.

But, on the good side, the blender was working so I was able to make this soup and savor a bowl this afternoon.  This is probably the most unusual combination of ingredients (coconut milk and Worcestershire sauce? Combined?) and preparation method, which made it so intriguing.

Crema de Coco con Camarones (cream of coconut soup with shrimp).  Serves 4

  • 1 small onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
  • 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 medium-sized ripe but firm tomato (5-6 oz), chopped
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 8 oz medium-sized shrimp, peeled, deveined and halved
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp dry mustard
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup well-stirred canned, unsweetened coconut milk
  • 2 T cornstarch or potato starch, mixed with 1/4 cup cold water
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 thin lemon slices for garnish
  • Minced fresh mint and cilantro leaves for garnish

Place the onion, garlic and tomato in a blender or food processor and process until smooth, adding a bit of the chicken broth.  Add the rest of the chicken broth and process for a few seconds until the mixture is smooth.  Pass the puree through a medium-mesh sieve.  Put half of the shrimp in a blender or food processor and process until smooth, adding a bit of the chicken broth puree as necessary.

In a 4-quart saucepan, combine the remaining chicken broth puree and the shrimp puree and mix well.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add the Worcestershire, dry mustard, cayenne and the coconut milk and bring back to a boil.  Stir in the cornstarch mixture and simmer until thickened, stirring constantly.  Add the rest of the shrimp and cook until the shrimp turn pink and begin to curl, about 1 minute.  Add salt and black pepper to taste.

Serve in soup bowls, garnished with a lemon slice and the mint and cilantro.

Fivenineteen notes:  Don’t freak out about the coconut milk if you’re not a coconut fan.  This is not sweet like the shredded coconut you see on desserts.  It’s a rich, savory and nutritious compliment to the shrimp – the flavors combined are incredible (and it won’t taste “coconut-y,” trust me).  I would add more than a pinch of cayenne pepper – I prefer my soups a bit spicy.   It also seemed a bit of a shame that so much of that chicken stock used in the pureeing process went down the drain after straining through the sieve. I’m not sure why so much was needed – perhaps to infuse the puree with chicken flavor?  Next time I will use cheaper, canned stock rather than my pricier organic stock for this purpose.  I also put a tiny touch of olive oil in my saucepan after heating it, before adding the puree.  It just ‘feels’ better to me when there is a bit of olive oil in a soup recipe (or just about anything else actually).  I also purchased pre-cooked shrimp so they did not require much cooking time to heat through.  If you do this, do not overcook the shrimp as they will get tough.  This is a rich and filling soup…enjoy!

Here’s the author’s description: “There are many versions of shrimp soup throughout South America.  Where there was a large concentration of Africans, such as on the coast of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and northern Brazil, this soup was made with coconut milk, as in this version.”

Buon appetito!

From The South American Table, by Maria Baez Kijac.

Too Many Teas!

17 Sunday Jun 2012

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…ARGH…so many choices and where in the hell was the one I needed?  For the totally off the wall, random recipe that inspired me to make a special trip to the grocery store to pick up a few ingredients?? 

I am not a hot tea drinker.  There, I said it.  Quelle horreur, right?  I hear about all the wonderful health benefits from drinking tea, a few co-workers have quit coffee and now only drink green tea and on and on.  It’s just not my thing.  I do enjoy a cup of (black) coffee in the morning but I’m not obsessive about it and I’m not homicidal when I don’t have it.  Yes, I do live at Starbucks Ground Zero but coffee is not a ritual for me.  Now, when it comes to tea, I can drink gallons of plain, unsweetened iced tea.  Homemade in the sun with a lemon wedge or Diet Snapple lemon flavor, I’m callin’ your name.

I’ve been getting re-intrigued with raw food lately.  And not the vegetarian or vegan style either, although there are incredible recipes out there across the spectrum.  I say re-intrigued (yes, I think I just made that word up) as I’m making an effort to keep trying new varieties of foods.  To keep varying my diet.  I experimented with raw food a few years ago – maybe even prior to starting this blog I think…probably around 2007-2008. 

Recently I picked up Carol Alt’s newest book, Easy Sexy Raw.  I have her two earlier books as well and I love how they’re all written with both a no-nonsense style and a little humor too.  Food should be fun, not serious!  And ugh, who wants to read and learn about a food lifestyle where the author is preachy or condescending?  What a turnoff.  Carol’s books are educational and such a pleasure to read.   For those of you who don’t know who Carol is, she was a model on countless magazine covers in the 1980s.  She’s also an actress and is probably the most familiar “face” of the raw food movement.  And if you see pictures of her today in her early 50s…wow, still a knockout.  She says she had a very unhealthy diet growing up and during her modeling years and once she later went raw, her health problems vanished and her energy skyrocketed.  Sounds pretty inspirational to me!  We’re never too old to make changes in our lifestyle to improve our health!

So what’s the deal with tea?  Well, the recipe I wanted to try (which I’ll share at the end of this post) called for a quarter cup of Lapsang Souchong tea.  No offense to tea experts out there, but what the hell is THAT?  I probably have tea stashed deep in the dark corners of my pantry but had no desire to dig around and I knew it certainly wasn’t that kind.  And for some reason, as much as I love grocery shopping (really and truly – today was a one of those rare times I didn’t) I didn’t feel like making a long drive out to one of our nearby specialty stores which I was certain would probably have it.  We’re so blessed here in the Seattle suburbs to have Whole Foods, a PCC (co-op), Metropolitan Market, Trader Joe’s and on and on.  And I am very fortunate to have a grocery store that’s a 2 minute walk from my townhouse.  The good old Safeway. 

Getting to that Safeway, however, is a nightmare and by the time I’m in the store my blood pressure is skyrocketing.  What’s the problem?  Well, whether arriving on foot or by car, the street nearby and the parking lot are very unsafe.  The parking lot is poorly designed.  Between people coming and going with carts, small kids, combine that with a Dairy Queen drive-thru lane dumping out in the opposite direction, a McDonald’s drive-thru on another part of the entrance and a busy 4-lane street that’s dangerous to cross on foot (drivers do NOT yield in the cross walk there – it’s bizarre and scary) you have a mess.  It’s just a weird vortex where common sense goes out the window.  And no, I don’t think it’s just me! 

For some reason I decided going to said Safeway today would be a good idea.  They do have a pretty good selection of specialty, natural foods and organic produce.  So off I went…in search of frozen corn kernels (that was easy) some gourmet mushrooms (I choose a small handful of Shiitake mushrooms), and the elusive Lapsang Souchong tea.  The tea was going to be part of a marinade for the mushrooms.  Sounds interesting, don’t you think? 

And then there it was.  The tea aisle.  I was beyond overwhelmed and probably had my jaw on the floor.  I could not BELIEVE how many kinds of tea there were!  The gatherer/cave woman within me freaked out!  TOO MANY CHOICES that I knew NOTHING about!  And that damn Lapsang Souchong tea was nowhere to be found! GAH!  And I realized, given my near total ignorance about tea, that I had no idea what would be a decent substitute!  So I grabbed some Stash green & black tea blend and said hell with it.  Now I’m truly curious how much different this marinade turned out having used another kind of tea. 

And now for something completely different…this recipe is for Lapsang Souchong wild mushrooms with a fresh corn polenta.  Yes, you can make a raw version of polenta!  In fact, as Carol writes, just about any food out there has a raw ‘twin’ of sorts.  She also shows ways to incorporate raw partially into our diet without needing to go 100% cold turkey.  Again, this is part of the reason I love her books and writing style.  It’s not in-your-face, shoveitdownyourthroat.  It’s informative…and funny!

Serves 4 – requires some marinating and soaking time

  • 3 cups wild, fresh mushrooms such as chanterelles, porcini, oyster or trumpet
  • 1/4 cup brewed Lapsang Souchong tea
  • 1/4 cup cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon Nama Shoyu (unpasteurized soy sauce)
  • 1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked then dried completely
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp minced garlic
  • 2 cups fresh corn kernels or thawed frozen kernels
  • Freshly ground black pepper

To make the tea, steep 1 to 2 teaspoons of tea leaves into 1 cup of hot (not boiling water) for about 5 minutes.  Alternatively, steep the tea leaves in room temperature water in the sun for several hours.

Soak the cashews for about 2-3 hours.

To make the mushrooms, use a damp cloth to wipe the caps and stems clean.  If using larger mushrooms, cut them into smaller pieces so they are all uniform in size.  Combine the tea, olive oil and nama shoyu and mushrooms in a large bowl.  Toss and massage with your clean hands to mix well.  Set aside for 15-20 minutes to marinate.  The tea will give the mushrooms a smoky flavor and the oil and nama shoyu will help soften them so they appear to be cooked.

Meanwhile, make the polenta.  Combine the cashews, salt and garlic in a food processor and process into small pieces.  Add the corn kernels and process to mix well.  Season with black pepper.

To serve, scoop the polenta into individual dishes.  Top with the mushrooms and spoon over some of the marinade.

Carol gives a nod to Ani Phyo for creating this recipe.  It’s truly unique!

Now, I admit I blew it somewhat on a few steps, but I’m excited to try again (and not only to see what it tastes like with the rightly intended tea).  The Safeway did not have raw cashews, so I substituted bulk, salted cashews.  I think this was a mistake.  The polenta calls for a little extra sea salt to be added and so that combined with already salty cashews made for too-salty polenta.  Oops. Thankfully I made about 1/4 of the recipe given this was a way off the beaten path experiment for me, so I don’t feel like I wasted a lot of food.   My frozen corn kernels were also not completely thawed, so the polenta texture was not as pudding-like as it was supposed to be.  But boy it tasted GOOD.  And it didn’t take much to fill me up.

I think that’s the idea about eating foods in their natural state…without additional chemicals, fillers or other ways we alter our food, we’re satisfied with less. 

Buon appetito!

Bedroom Grinning

10 Sunday Jun 2012

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I was thinking about calling this post “Grinning in the Bedroom.”  But that might be a little misleading.  Although I AM grinning in this bedroom too but not for the reasons you might think. 

Now, why does a picture like this make me smile?  Let me count the ways!  It’s PROGRESS.  It’s ACTION.  It’s IMPROVEMENT…and it’s a sign of what’s to come.

A few months ago L and I started this messiest of messy home improvement projects call Scraping Off a Very Heavily Painted-Over Popcorn Ceiling.  It was Super Bowl Sunday actually when we kicked off – no pun intended.  I really wanted to do the fun stuff first like repaint a few walls I was getting sick of here in the townhouse and replace the old doors, but L wisely said no, we need to scrape, sand and repaint the ceilings first.  Man, he was right. 

Back in early February, June seemed a long ways off.  We figured sure, we’ll be done with the upstairs by June.  Now, blink the eyes and it’s MID JUNE.  We have made progress though not as much as I’d hoped.  We’ve learned so much about this process…the guinea pig room was my master bedroom and open dual-sink vanity area.  The largest of the 3 bedrooms upstairs and THE most personal, sacred place for me.  So it was painful cutting our teeth in there, it took far longer than we thought and it’s not yet finished – the ceiling is scraped and sanded but not yet primed and repainted.  Living with displaced clutter has grinded (ground?) my nerves but I’m a lot more used to it now.

The 3rd bedroom has been a dormant mess for, sadly, nearly 10 years.  It was going to be a guest bedroom but ended up being a dumping place for things I didn’t know what to do with…and was too lazy to tote down to the garage (which has yet to have some decent shelving added…Le Sigh that’s another thing on the list).  This weekend it was time to clean it out and scrape the ceiling.

L came over Friday evening.  I made quinoa chowder (find the recipe in my post here…I diced up a chicken breast, sautéed it and added it to the soup to make it a little heartier) and we just relaxed and watched TV.  It felt good having him over.  I’m feeling in a much better place these days.  Work is super busy, but I’m relieved my assignment will be extended into the fall.  I’ve got some fun summer plans on tap, I feel happy that L and I are great friends and he wants us to stay friends forever.  The home improvement work is messy and moving slowly but I trust that he will keep helping me until we finish.  I know it’s going to look great when we’re done.  By 10pm we were both tired and crashed.  He took over the living room couch, M’s dog by his side on the floor and I headed upstairs. 

The next morning I fueled us up with a big breakfast…bacon, scrambled eggs with Tabasco and toasted bagels with cream cheese.  And lots of coffee of course.  We finished the last part of the 3rd bedroom clutter…moving the books off the tall bookshelf and lying the bookcase on its side against the wall, ready to wrap in protective drop cloths.  Ideally we would have moved it completely out of the room but there was nowhere convenient to put it.  My upstairs hallway is pretty narrow, and the other room up here – my home office – now has boxes and stacks of books added to the rest of the clutter already in there.  It’s starting to look like it’s auditioning for an episode of Hoarders.  Scary.  Breathe, breathe…it’s temporary.  This is how I continually remind myself it’s going to get finished and all of this mess will be back in order.  I DO NOT live like this. And I giggled when I realized how pristine the carpet in the 3rd bedroom is.  It’s hardly been walked on in years.  The only routine action it gets is when my house cleaners vacuum what they can every month.

Now if you are considering attempting a ceiling scraping project like this, remember that you cannot have too many plastic drop cloths.  It’s essential to not only cover the floor with them, but also to tape drop cloths along the top edges of the walls to catch the ceiling debris as it comes down.  It’s a pain in the ass taping drop cloths along the top edges of the walls but if you do you will avoid a lot of mess with dust clinging to the walls as it comes down.  You can see a strip of leftover painter’s tape in the picture actually.

Compared to the large master bedroom and vanity area, this room was a breeze.  It’s a lot smaller – it’s too small to hold a queen-sized bed if you would also want two decent night stands to give you an idea of the size.  We started at the section where the window is, so we could take down that wall drop cloth first to get some ventilation.  For those of you just tuning in, L and I are doing the old “spray and scrape” method of taking down the popcorn ceiling.  I use a garden sprayer to spray small patches of the ceiling, let it sit for a few minutes, and L scrapes away.  We found a cool-looking tool designed for this purpose that attaches onto an extension pole awhile back.  Sadly, it’s too flimsy to do the job.  My ceilings are heavily painted over with thick, flat, matte white paint so a couple of good putty knives are what L uses while standing on a step stool.  One knife is 6″ wide and the other 3″ wide.  It’s tempting to get something even wider to cover more surface area more quickly, however the risk is if the ceiling is not perfectly flat you run the risk of gouging it with the tool edges.  So far no problems there.

We’re also learning about the fine line between getting the ceiling damp enough so the scraping is relatively easy, versus getting the ceiling too wet and risking mold later.  Another reason why good room ventilation is essential.  Thankfully the weather has been somewhat decent this weekend.  I’ll be keeping the window ajar for the next few days.  I can already see how a lot of the wetter patches have dried.

Now that the ceiling is scraped we’ll need to sand it down like we did in the master bedroom, but I’m already thrilled with how it looks.  This room is going to transform…I’m not 100% sure how yet but it will.  See that small patch of paint?  That’s a Benjamin Moore paint in Sioux Falls.  It’s a glorious bluish green and I can’t WAIT to paint!  I love color and I can’t wait to get rid of that horrible, flat white paint.  The ceiling will be painted off white, however, not colored.  

L thinks I should make that 3rd bedroom my home office and make the (larger) bedroom where I’m sitting here – my current home office – as the guest bedroom.  Interesting idea!  I could definitely put a queen-sized bed in this home office which would be a lot more comfortable for guests.   I know L likes smaller, cozier spaces to work in, while I thrive in more open spaces.  This could be a fun way to change things up.  Technologically it could be a problem now that I think of it…that 3rd bedroom does not have any phone jacks or cable hookup.  Gotta love older (32 year old) homes that are not pre-wired for technology like homes are today.  Hmmm.

So while I tend to get frustrated when I see the long road ahead in getting this townhouse updated and the shell game of having to move crap between rooms to clear them out for the ceiling work, I remember how great a place it is.  The floor plan is kickass.  I remember when I was ready to start looking to buy a place and made a list of my priorities for my realtor.  She found everything I was looking for at the top of my list…3 bedrooms and townhouse style!   And a huge 2-car garage!  They just don’t make them like this anymore.   Sometimes I wish I’d purchased a newer home that didn’t need so much updating.  Carpet, countertops, window treatments, flooring, appliances…but I know that newer places have problems too.  Guess it’s all part of the journey of homeownership.

For now, I grin…progress and wonderful Man Help thanks to my guy BFF!!

Turning the Page

03 Sunday Jun 2012

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It’s late Sunday afternoon and I’m sitting here reflecting back upon the amazing bookends of this weekend.  A Goodbye on Friday and a Welcome Back today.  Dear friends of mine going on or returning from odysseys.  So much to think about.

D’s pulling up stakes and moving to Austin, TX this week.  A few friends got together at Grand Cru, a wine bar in Bellevue, WA for happy hour, munchies and celebrating her new career chapter.  Every time I go – which is I think all of 2 or 3 times actually – the ambiance and vibe is very warm and relaxed, not pretentious.  LOVE that.  And Friday it was time to toast D and wish her well on her new job and move.  She’s been pursuing this position for quite some time, and the interview process has been exhaustive.  But every time she’d tell me how it was going I just knew.  I just knew she’d get it.  It just felt like and seemed like the Universe would make it happen.  And SHE would make it happen – both with hard work and with the unique combination of passion and effortlessness that it’s just going to happen as it’s supposed to.  Sometimes you just know.

I’ve only known D a few months now – we got acquainted last October in one of my more random weekend encounters in recent memory.  The story is here.  I know there are no accidents in life.  D’s been such a treasured friend – one of my newest – and it’s the type of friendship that while it’s new there is a deep, intuitive understanding of one another.  Sometimes you just resonate with certain people.  What a gift that is.  D’s been such a joy and inspiration.  Selfishly it’s hard to say goodbye as she gets ready to move halfway across the country.  But I couldn’t be happier for her.  She deserves every happiness.  She and Austin will get along amazingly.

And today I met up with P for a fantastic late lunch.  The kind where “all of a sudden” it’s 3:00 after enjoying great food and company.  We went to Desert Fire, a southwest-style restaurant in Redmond Town Center.  It’s funny how I hardly ever shop there (or eat out there, maybe once or twice a year at most, even though it’s not far from where I live or work).  And then I remember why…oh yeah…an ex-boyfriend worked in one of the stores there.  OK, that relationship’s been kaput for 5 years now, but I guess old habits prevail.   I savored the fish tacos and a few glasses of good old plain iced tea.

P’s just returned from an incredible 3-week journey to Alaska… traveling both by the Alaska Marine Highway (a ferry system) and driving with her two beloved dogs.  This trip was not only to visit family, but to experience the incredible beauty and ruggedness of Alaska for herself.  And take a well-deserved vacation.

Tangent time:  P and I worked together very briefly about 5 years ago.  And “worked together” is probably a bit of a stretch.  We were at the same company, in somewhat similar roles but in very different business units which did not have a lot of overlap.  My entire business unit got downsized within a year of me coming on board; P meanwhile remains a seasoned veteran.  I remember as a newbie there scratching my head and wondering how to connect with others in the company who had a similar job title as I.  I scrubbed the company directory and just started emailing people, introducing myself.  And so that was how I met P.  P is one of those rare types where we’ve stayed in contact far longer than anytime we were at the same company together.  And I’m so glad to have her as a friend. 

So back on track here…P’s blog documents much of this trip in both her stories and her photography.  [It’s a great resource for travel planning and preparation too, by the way and for many travel destinations beyond Alaska].   And the additional stories she shared today at lunch reflecting upon the trip and how she feels reflecting back upon the whole experience, well, I just listened joyously, wide-eyed and soaked it all in.  It’s a privilege to know P, to be her friend and her confidante as she thinks about her own journey ahead and shares her dreams, struggles, hopes and passions.  What’s next, where to live, career, successes, joys and ups and down.  LIFE, really.  It’s such an honor when someone opens up about so much to you, don’t you think?  Really, it’s a gift to be cherished.

So here are two great friends of mine, turning two very big (and different) pages in their lives.  What does it mean?  What’s going to happen?  The answers to these questions are unknown, but I DO know everything will unfold in their favor.

I feel so blessed today…to have the friendship of such incredible women in my life.  The gift of time together with great friends, great food and great conversation…THIS is the trio of joys that strums my strings. 

And I’m so happy to have experienced this TWICE in one weekend.  Cheers!

..but I didn’t WANT to use the blender…

02 Saturday Jun 2012

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…or perhaps we could call this post “Soup Bender weekend #2:  the extended dance remix.”

I broke one of my hardfast rules about cooking – ALWAYS read a recipe through thoroughly – every single word – before you start the prep work.  Even before you start grocery shopping for ingredients.  Somehow in skimming through this latest intriguing soup recipe, I’d missed a casual yet crucial phrase in the final steps while the cooking was already well underway.  “…transfer to a blender…”

Um, OK.  The last two soups I made did not require blending/pureeing at the final step, and I’d made a bad assumption this one wouldn’t either given it’s from the same cookbook.  So I’d planned to just make this recipe un-pureed (is that a word) and keep it chunky-style, which is just as flavorful, though a far different texture.  (And yeah, I felt lazy too).  Good news that the vegetables did NOT get too mushy…my alternative turned out great.

Crema de Cangrejo (Crabmeat soup) – Serves 6

  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped (about 1/2 C)
  • 1/2 C chopped carrots
  • 1/2 C peeled and diced (1/4″) all-purpose potatoes
  • 1 celery stalk, chopped
  • 1 T minced fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1 T minced fresh parsley leaves
  • 1 tsp dry mustard
  • 1/4 tsp white pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp chicken bouillon granules
  • 4 C hot water
  • 6 oz fresh or canned good-quality crabmeat, undrained but picked over for shells and cartilage
  • 1 T fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 C whipping cream (optional)
  • Cayenne pepper or sweet paprika for garnish

Heat the oil in a 4-quart saucepan over low heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes.  Add the garlic, carrots, potatoes, celery, cilantro and parsley and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes.  Add the mustard, white pepper, salt, bouillon and water.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the crabmeat and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat.  Let cool for a few minutes, transfer to a blender, and process until smooth.  Return to the saucepan, bring back to a boil, and taste for salt and white pepper.  Stir in the lemon juice and cream (if using), keeping the soup on the burner just long enough to heat through.

Serve in soup cups, sprinkled with cayenne.

Fivenineteen notes:  dry mustard is like a mustard powder.  You can find it in the spice section of most grocery stores.  Do NOT try to substitute regular, creamy mustard or mustard seeds.  It’s not the same and won’t work.  I also chopped up a whole, small potato and a whole, small yellow onion.  It might have been more than the recipe called for, but it turned out great.

Crabmeat:  another sticker-shock moment, although not surprising.  Fresh Dungeness crabmeat was US$29.99 per pound at the grocery store.  Compare that to whole, fresh Dungeness crabs at $8.99 per pound, plus all the cracking, cleaning and scraping/steaming I’d need to do with them…I splurged on a half pound of the prepped, shredded crabmeat.  Which is delicious, by the way.

I was a bit surprised to see a recipe with crab in a South American cookbook for some reason.  But the author, Maria Baez Kijac, explains everything wonderfully in her preface to this recipe:  “In South America, there are a variety of cream soups that don’t necessarily have cream – they owe their creaminess to being pureed.  This crabmeat soup is perfect without cream, but for cream lovers like me, adding a bit of whipping cream just makes the soup taste better.  Sometimes I serve the cream in a separate bowl, so that guests can take a tablespoon to the soup, if they so desire.  Though expensive, crab is found in abundance along the Pacific coast of South America, including Ecuador, where this recipe comes from.”

Yet another fantastic soup meal, with leftovers to savor!  Enjoy!

From The South American Table,  by Maria Baez Kijac