This. I learned that from making lentil soup (stew) - a dash of balsamic vinegar really kicks everything up a notch.
Recipe:
1 lb bag of lentils
1 lb + hot italian sausage links (I actually usually go with a pound and a half)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large spanish onion (diced)
6-8 cups water
3 stalks celery (chopped)
5 large carrots (or lots of little baby carrots) (chunked)
1 tbsp celery seed
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp dried chili flakes (optional - if you like it hot)
2 bay leaves
1 28 oz can crushed or diced tomatoes
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt (I donāt really remember how much - probably 2-3 tbsp but could be more)
Brown sausage in olive oil in large pot, then set aside leaving drippings in the pot. Saute onion in pot until soft, then add celery and carrots. Saute a bit longer, then add lentils and water - 6 cups makes more of a thick stew, 8 makes it more soupy. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, add back the sausage (cut in to bite-sized pieces) and add herbs and tomato. If using crushed tomatoes, break them up a bit before adding (squeezing them in your hand is messy and fun). Simmer the whole thing for about 30-40 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Add vinegar at the end, and give it a couple of minutes more heat while stirring. Salt to taste.
Ummmmā¦ whatās wrong with old and crotchety? When you say āoldā, how old would that be exactly? Have you seen a group picture of the editors? Guessed their average age or that of the commenters here?
To answer your question, BB has taken several turns for the worse (my opinion). Itās zenith of excellence was about three years ago. Also, I miss Antiniousā presence here.
As a righteous hater of leeks, finding them in our CSA this week was a horror.
Then I made this over the weekend and now Iām off to buy some goddamned leeks. I also always thought vichyssoise was a soup made with fish. Everything I know is wrong, but this recipe is 100% right.
I, too, came here to sing the praises of the simplicity of butternut squash soup. Olive oil, an onion, half a chopped up squash (which you can sometimes get already chopped and peeled at the store), and some broth (Iām vegetarian, so I get a box of vegetable broth - probably high in sodium, but broth isnāt terribly hard to make either).
Cook onion in oil for like 5 minutes. Add broth and squash, simmer for 20 minutes, or until squash is soft. Blend (I mocked hand blenders until I got one, and itās pretty awesome for soup). Itās even better a day or two later if you put it in the fridge.
I recently had surgery and had to go on pretty much a soup & pudding diet, and my mom mixed this one up by adding a block of cream cheese into it. But with just onion, squash, and broth, baby, you got yourself a soup goinā!
The vacuum system will be a bitch. The rest is mostly just about high voltage.
For home food sterilization Iād go the way of pulsed electric field. Much less complex hardware. But then, a high current electron beam source is sexierā¦
There are two cans of Wolfgang Puckās Tomato/Basil Bisque (ooooooh, call it ābisqueā and you know its gotta be better than soup!) in the pantry. If we want a quick comforting meal, I heat them up and replace them the next time I think about it while grocery shopping. Canned soups are awful; theyāve always been awful, made worse by the uniformity of their awfulness, but especially the lima beans. shudder But tomato soup, supported by sweet sentiment and childhood memories, moreso than my fading senses of taste and smell, and probably a gooey grilled cheese sammich, remain on the menu.
Iāll be back should the thread turn to the subject of chili, e.g. the quest for a divine bowl of red.
If I ever have a general purpose high energy electron beam generator in my kitchen I know that Iāll be dead, cause Iām in heaven :). Just got to keep the cat off of itā¦
I was never a huge canned soup fan; cut way back when I was advised to limit my salt intake. Canned soup is WAY full of salt.
I used āCream of {Whatever Was On the Dented Can Shelf}ā in certain casseroles, and have may four or five cans of soup I have mentally tagged as Earthquake Food.
