Tortilla Soup

This is the last of the trio of soups aimed at making even the most enjoyable of leftovers more palatable in repetitious consumption. Forget boring, tired leftovers that you end up resenting as much as a relationship gone bad. These soups helped me to consume every last morsel of the one dinner... not to mention leaving me with an entirely virtuous feeling in not having thrown any bit of food away.

The tortilla soup was not my idea but rather that of one of my mini-tour-mates, Sheena, who requested a more brothy soup versus the tortilla soups of the North that seem to be pureed within an inch of their lives. The tortilla soup was the challenge... so I hit the books. I read a great number of recipes and decided on what I liked and didn't like about each of them. Then, I surveyed Sheena for her "key components."

Last thing, before I get down to business, I think that there is something fundamentally enjoyable about food that comes with all sorts of opportunities to personalize it. This soup is no exception. You can tweak it throughout the cooking process... but you can also tweak it when you go to eat. Any number of different additions - lime wedges, sour cream, guacamole, avocado chunks, cilantro... and so on - could adorn or not adorn that particular portion of soup. It almost seems to make each bowl a new experience... an adventure of sorts. And one with immediate belly-filling satisfaction.

Roasted Yam and Smoked Gouda Soup

When I was out and about on my little mini-tour a few weeks ago, I was graced with full spreads for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Despite the fact that I seldom eat a multi-course meal when I am at home, I found myself indulging in soups and salads, then mains, followed by desserts (and, yes, often in the plural sense).

In Winnipeg, I found myself stuck on the various soups that were coming out of the arena catering department. In particular, the Smoked Gouda and Sweet Potato soup caught my attention. A small bowl was more than enough, as this was more of a cheese soup than a vegetable one. Incredibly rich and unapologetically cheesy.

My soup definitely leans more to being a vegetable than a cheese soup... but I had three different taste-testers on this soup and they all raved.

Roasted Carrot, Carmelized Onion and Ginger Soup

Generally speaking, I can made it through one, maybe two, meals of leftovers before I am ready to pull my hair out. This soup, and the two that will follow, have made this one meal stretch through more than a week and have definitely eliminated that guilty task of ridding the refrigerator of the ghosts of dinners past.

This one is for Val, who has yet to test out one of these recipes on her own but pledges that she "could do this one." Fingers crossed. ;)

Thai-inspired Coconut Chicken Soup

OMG. This soup is sooooo good. It seemed ridiculous but every time I tasted to the soup to see what needed to be added or tweaked, I kept saying, "this is soooo good." But it is!

A year and a half later... Christmas Leftover Soup

So, it has been more than a while since I ventured on here. I basically started up the blog, then disappeared into my bubble. Well... to emerge, I hope. And what better time is there to emerge from one's bubble than after the hoopla of the holidays, when resolutions are being formulated and time seems to be abundant.

I was very fortunate over the holiday to join the ranks of many a Parisian woman, and able cook, with the addition of a Le Creuset cast iron casserole to my kitchen. I think I have been coveting this pot for more than twenty years. Covet, no more. It is now mine in all of its warmly orange tinged, red splendour.

I have been pouring over cookbooks and looking into the pantry and wandering the grocery in hopes of finding inspiration for the first ever creation to come from this pot. After watching Julie and Julia and flipping through Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I thought that boeuf bourguignon would be the most appropriate first dish. Or maybe Coq au Vin. But what about my most favourite Tuscan dish of Pici al Cinghiale (a local Tuscan pasta with a wild boar ragu). There were so many directions that I could have gone...

But, after a guilty look at the contents of my refrigerator, I determined that what I would first make in that pot would be a reflection of the holiday and of family... turned into something new... something quite perfect to end 2009 and begin 2010.