Springtime, Visits, Teeth and Pressies

These are the things I've been up to in the last month that have kept me away from the computer and, to a large extent, the stove. Here's the photo montage...

 

Miss Bray came to town, and we took advantage of the verdant bounty at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market--asparagus, peas, favas, potes, spring onions, watercress... all whipped into a rabbit stew dazzled up with a handful of fresh tarragon!

For dessert, we broke out Miss Kiwi's quadruplet baby ramekins for cherry clafoutis. Non-pitted cherries are definitely superior, flavor-wise and effort-wise, to pitted. I wish I could say that these stayed as airy and fluffy even after being out of the oven for 20 minutes, but... well... they were prettiest as pictured. 

Then I got my wisdom teeth out. All four at once. Go for the kill, right? One of my first meals "back" (pseudo-back) was homemade corn chowder with the first Cali corn of the season--how they can have fresh corn in late May is beyond me, but there it is. I had also been practically protein-free for a week and a half, so I loaded this up with bacon. All pureed, this was delectable and made my mouth feel better.

As a present to myself for getting through the tooth extraction, I took myself on a shopping spree to Sur La Table with the $500 gift card I won for my Pesto Pasta recipe on Saveur.com. I made out. Here's all the luxe loot I came home with. Favorites include the set of Schott crystal glassware, the small scanpan that makes the best fritatta ever, and the set of Sur La Table saucepans.

Mariquita Farms Mystery Box!

I just picked up my first Mystery Box--$25 for all this, which I slung over my shoulder and lugged home from Incanto, a few blocks down the street from home... thank you, Julia and Andy! What should I make for dinner?? Feeling like a giant, herbed-vinaigrette salad with roasted garlic bread crumbs, but pasta with wilted chicory could do the trick, too...

Semi-Sad Soup

Today I call attention to the fact that I don't do everything incredibly well. Like, I don't make Get-Well Soup as well as Sarah does. I'd like to say that every cooking story of mine is a success, but sometimes innovation does not equal incredible. Tonight was one of those nights. Sarah: Please give me the recipe for your amazing Get-Well Soup!

2/25/10

The creation:

Winter greens soup with ginger

What's in the fridge?
Leftover chicken
1 slice guanciale Nevermind; ate that last night while preparing chicken)
small hunk of Stilton Nevermind; ate that earlier tonight)
ginger (this appeared while I was on vacation??)
1/3 red onion
1/2 lime
wild rice (Frozen. I had forgotten about this!)
chicken stock
rabbit stock

frozen peas

Key ingredients consumed:

chicken

ginger

wild rice

chicken stock

Ingredients purchased:

1 sweet potato

2 bunches fresh spinach

1 bunch fresh broccoli rabe

The creative process:

Sarah made Get-Well Soup for me a few weeks back. I have been craving it ever since. Stock plus ginger gave me the idea, but I figured "Why not throw in some extra goodies I have on hand!" I added some wild rice, convinced that the texture would be a complement to the soup. I added a bit of chicken, sure that some protein couldn't hurt. Basically, I chopped up some sweet potato and ginger and covered it with water and stock and brought it to a boil before tossing in loads (I mean loads) of chopped spinach and rabe. 

We should also discuss at some point my apparent inability to properly clean that much fresh spinach. Gritty soup is not remotely appealing. Sigh. If only I had a Salad Spinner! Or the patience to properly clean 2 pounds of spinach. Anyway.

After the greens were in, I dumped in more stock, the rice, and some chicken. Heated it through, S&P to taste, et voila! Oui??

The Verdict:

... Non. This soup was not very appealing. Underwhelming in terms of flavor; aforementioned grit factor; texture not all that thrilling; too little ginger and salt. And now I have a fat pot of it to get through during my next few days' lunches.