Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
2
To answer the question, yes, I had soup today for lunch.
Soup is the home for vegetables which are a bit past their prime but still entirely edible. There was onion, cabbage, and carrot in this one, along with a veggie stock made from bouillon powder. And very nice it was too - and Mrs H was unexpectantly out at lunch time, so I got seconds.
No soup recently, although there’s rain in the forecast, so today’s grocery shopping included enough broccoli to make cream of broccoli soup, probably either tomorrow or Thursday.
Actually I did make soup today, being a bit under the weather and mild stomach ache. Didn’t want to eat anything heavy. Nothing special, chicken soup made from homemade roto chicken stock, some Better Than Bouillon chicken concentrate, onion, celery, carrot, potato, left over rice, olive oil, ghee and finished with green onions, pepper and lemon juice. It’s probably breakfast tomorrow.
Gumbo Ya Ya - had never encountered the term before. According to what I had, includes shrimp, chicken and sausage. I had leftover dark meat chicken only, forgot I had frozen it with the chicken skin and got mostly chicken skin in the portion I threw in the pot. Shrimp added too soon and overcooked. Cajun sausage turned out much better than expected - from a local butcher famous for their varieties of Cajun sausages and boudin, etc. Pork and beef whereas I always thought Cajun sausages were just pork, Whatever. (Rice already mixed in - and sank to the bottom! in the picture as did the overcooked shrimp).
Later fished the skin out and tried to fry it for a snack, got distracted and charcoaled it. I was so frustrated by the end of the day, I was tempted to toss the leftover gumbo completely.
Reading up online, which I didn’t do beforehand, I found apparently the term ya-ya just means chicken and sausage gumbo - never heard the term before, just called it chicken and sausage gumbo.
I had soup today: a can of Amy’s Chunky Vegetable, to which I added a small can(8 oz) of corn, some nutmeg, and some heavy cream. That was my lunch. I ate it all.
I made cream of broccoli yesterday and it was a cinch, as always. No pix because I tend to forget until it’s too late, and a picture of an empty bowl just wouldn’t hit the same. I barely use a recipe, but this approximates it:
Cream of Broccoli Soup
2 T butter
1 onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 medium heads of broccoli (1.5 - 2 lbs?), stems and florets randomly chopped
3-4 C chicken stock
3 T butter
3 T flour
2 C milk
pepper to taste
In a medium stockpot, melt 2 T butter over medium-low heat. Add onions and celery and sweat until softened. Add broccoli and stock, cover, and increase heat to high. When the stock comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
While broccoli is cooking, make a roux with the butter and flour. Add the milk and stir until pleasingly thickened. Set aside.
When broccoli is cooked, hit it with a stick blender (or in a regular blender in batches) until all the chunks are gone and the soup is smooth. Be careful to avoid splatters, 'cause that shit is HOT! Add the thickened milk mixture and stir to combine. Add pepper to taste. Top with parmesan if desired.
