138 replies to this topic

[ronnie_suburban]

Ah yes...Dixie Kitchen! I have fond memories of the place. However, I ate at the Hyde Park location years ago while I was in college. I could see trying it again & being disappointed. I'm sure I've had much better Cajun since college.

btw, it's been nice reading your blog Ronnie!

Thanks, via

DK is a place that so many love; I'm probably in the minority. Perhaps I should have given it another shot today instead of just running the delivery back to the office and eating leftover ribs. One of my co-workers ordered the Catfish Po' Boy and he absolutely loved it.

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[ronnie_suburban]

Ok folks, shown below is the final meal of my blog week...

Red Lentil Soup and toasted 'Country' bread with butter (along with a few more of those perpetual chives)


It's about 47 degrees F here and it's been raining all day. Combine that with the fact that it's the first day of standard time and, well, it's been a real bummer. It was all but dark out when I left my office, something that will take some mental adjustment over the next week or so

But what better way to meet the lousy weather than with some excellent homemade soup? The best part of this is that I only came up with the idea, my darling wife followed my advices/instructions via the phone and turned out a wonderful dinner. Honestly though, I think she's been holding out on my all these years. No one who "dosen't know how to cook" could have made a soup this delicious.

I do plan on watching some NFL football tonight and that can often lead to snacking, so I may be back later for a final update. But just in case that doesn't happen, I want to thank everyone for reading along and making my blogging experience such a pleasant one.

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[snowangel]

And you thought you were done!

Describe the soup please? From whence the bread? What kind of butter?

Trust, for dessert, that you have raided a treat bag from last night. My kids know that little Baby Ruth bars belong to mommy, as do any bit o honey's.

[phifly04]

Ronnie,really enjoyed your blog,nice job
Dave s

[ronnie_suburban]

And you thought you were done!

Describe the soup please?  From whence the bread?  What kind of butter?

The soup was started with stock which my wife made from 2 smoked pork hocks (from the fresh meat dept, not home-made) and water. She then made a 'mirepoix' in the cuisinart with 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, 1 leek and 1 yellow onion. She sauteed the mirepoix, added the pound of red lentils, combined it all and then added the stock. She added a bay leaf, kosher salt, fresh-ground black pepper and let it simmer for a few hours. Near the end, she threw in some flat-leaf parsley and what little meat she could harvest from the hocks.

The bread was again, Labriola, via Garden Fresh Market. The butter, President-Unsalted. I also use any one of these other brands, depending on what's available: Plugra, Cabot, Lurpak or my favorite, Jana Valley. Always unsalted.

Trust, for dessert, that you have raided a treat bag from last night.  My kids know that little Baby Ruth bars belong to mommy, as do any bit o honey's.

No, as I mentioned upthread, my son traded away all his chocolate before he even came home last night and that's the only candy I really enjoy (other than some in-season candy corn), so I didn't have Halloween candy. My wife, very wisely, took all our leftover (outbound) candy to a donation spot today, so that's no longer available. I do have some variant of a Rittersport bar on hand, so I may break that out a little later.

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[ronnie_suburban]

Ronnie,really enjoyed your blog,nice job
                            Dave s

Thank you Dave...and I did catch your reply about the red tamale. Thanks for that as well!

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[Marlene]

Ronnie, I have a bucketful of Halloween candy. I'd be happy to share it with you. Very nicely done this week Ron

[Behemoth]

I do have some variant of a Rittersport bar on hand, so I may break that out a little later.

Rittersport: Square. Practical. Good.

Do you know about the special "snap open" quality of the packing? I didn't, until I married a german dude.

[ronnie_suburban]

Ronnie, I have a bucketful of Halloween candy.  I'd be happy to share it with you.   Very nicely done this week Ron

Thanks Marlene...I love those mini snickers bars

I do have some variant of a Rittersport bar on hand, so I may break that out a little later.

Rittersport: Square. Practical. Good.

Do you know about the special "snap open" quality of the packing? I didn't, until I married a german dude.

Ahh...so you don't even need to pull the rip cord, just snap the bar? If that's the case, I do now and thanks If not, please enlighten me (if I go find it now, I'll eat it now )

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[Behemoth]

Ahh...so you don't even need to pull the rip cord, just snap the bar?  If that's the case, I do now and thanks   If not, please enlighten me (if I go find it now, I'll eat it now )

Exactly -- the border of the first row of squares lines up exactly with the packaging seam. Have you ever had the rum raisin kind? They really go fairly "adult" on the rum...

Great blog, BTW, very fun to read.

[ronnie_suburban]

Ahh...so you don't even need to pull the rip cord, just snap the bar?  If that's the case, I do now and thanks   If not, please enlighten me (if I go find it now, I'll eat it now )

Exactly -- the border of the first row of squares lines up exactly with the packaging seam. Have you ever had the rum raisin kind? They really go fairly "adult" on the rum...

Great blog, BTW, very fun to read.

Cool...now I'm doubly looking forward to breaking into it

And I will definitely try the rum raisin; it sounds great. They carry Rittersports at Cost Plus World Market and I'll be right near one later this week. Thanks again, for the tips.

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[snowangel]

Thanks, R, for everything.

Soup sounds divine; smoked pork bones make diving stock. Should I find myself getting to the City of Big Shoulders, I will bring you a pound of Hope Butter. It is a revelation.

[Pan]

Thanks, Ron. I really enjoyed your blog.

[Dejah]

[quote name='ronnie_suburban' date='Nov 1 2004, 07:20 PM']
[quote name='snowangel' date='Nov 1 2004, 07:42 PM']And you thought you were done!

Describe the soup please?
The soup was started with stock which my wife made from 2 smoked pork hocks (from the fresh meat dept, not home-made) and water. She then made a 'mirepoix' in the cuisinart with 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, 1 leek and 1 yellow onion. She sauteed the mirepoix, added the pound of red lentils, combined it all and then added the stock. She added a bay leaf, kosher salt, fresh-ground black pepper and let it simmer for a few hours. Near the end, she threw in some flat-leaf parsley and what little meat she could harvest from the hocks.
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[/quote]
Soup looks great! Your good wife has a few tricks up her sleeve that you didn't know about.
I made a soup last week, similar but without smoked pork hocks. I used a chicken carcass and added Patak's madras curry paste to it. Just before serving, I topped the soup with a thin slice of lemon. You poke the lemon slice down into the soup, squish out the juice with your spoon for that tang. Great topped with cilantro and crusty bread.

[patti]

Thanks for taking the time to do this foodblog, Ronnie. I've really enjoyed it, and that soup looks so good, I might have to make something similar for election day supper. Thanks for the inspiration.

[ronnie_suburban]

Thanks for the kind feedback, everyone and thanks Dejah, for the soup tips, which sound great. I'll need them to trump her next time out.

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[jschyun]

The only thing I didn't like about this blog is that after reading it, I weighed myself and found I had gained 5 pounds.

[ronnie_suburban]

The only thing I didn't like about this blog is that after reading it, I weighed myself and found I had gained 5 pounds.

So, you can imagine where it left me

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[ronnie_suburban]

Ok folks, move along...nothing to see here.

But here would be a great place to check.

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