bloviatrix

Soup, glorious soup....I absolutely adore soup and try to make a pot a week. The best part is having the leftovers. It's so great to open your freezer and see all the variety when you're too lazy to cook. As you work with mushrooms, save all the stems. You can then put them into a stock pot with water and a couple of thyme sprigs to make mushroom stock. It's the essence of mushrooms and makes a really great addition to any mushroom soup. Here's the recipe for my favorite mushroom-barley soup. It's very hearty. You can make it using just button mushrooms. I like using a mix of 10 ounces white buttons, 10 ounces creminis, 4 ounces shiitakes, and 4 ounces of whatever else looks interesting from the "mushroom lady." 2 tbls olive oil 1 onion, small dice 2 ribs of celery, diced 2 carrots, diced 30 ounces assorted mushrooms, thinly sliced 1 tbls flour 2 quarts water 8 ounces mushroom broth (or 2 tablespoons dried porcinis soaked in 8 ounces of boiling water) salt and pepper to taste 1 cup barley 2 tsp olive oil If using dried porcinis, soak in boiling water. Strain through filter, reserving soaking liquid and chop porcinis. In large pot, heat oil. Add onion, celery and carrot and sweat until soft. Add mushrooms and continue sauteeing until mushrooms have given up their liquid. Add flour and stir contantly until the mixture becomes very thick and almost glue-y. Add water and mushroom broth (or porcini soaking liquid and chopped porcinis). Bring to boil and reduce to simmer for 20 minutes. While soup is simmering, in a small pot heat the additional 2 tsp of olive oil. Add the barley and toast until it's fragrant -- 2 or 3 minutes. (This helps prevent the barley from swelling too much in the soup and absorbing too much liquid). Add the barley to the soup and continue to simmer for about 45 minutes or until the barley is tender. (Because the barley absorbs liquid, I season with salt and pepper at every step -- while the vegetables are sweating, after I add the mushrooms, after the water/broth is added, etc. You might still need to season at the end.) Eat! This soup freezes well. But when re-heating, you will want to add additional water to the pot otherwise it will be too thick. -------------------------------------------------------- In terms of chilled summer soups, I posted this recipe for Chilled Yellow Tomato Soup back in September. It's great when tomatoes are at their peak.

The key to hangover avoidance is drinking about 32 ounces of water before bed and taking two tylenol. And all, a hangover is just another term for dehydration so you need to re-hydrate yourself. And if you forget to drink water, have someone bring you a strong Bloody Mary in bed when you awake and just stay buzzed the whole day.

I'm with you on this one. I didn't make it to the gym once in December. But I'll try to minimize my cravings for my beloved yogurt and dill potato chips.

I PM'ed it to you.

I made this recipe from Food & Wine. It was delicious! We found it to be very moist and had a nice sweetness. Best of all, it's a very easy recipe. I used the food processor to grate the zucchini, but otherwise I did everything else by hand.

I save all my mushroom stems in a bag in the freezer. Once a year, after I've accumulated a sizable amount, it place them in a stock pot with water and a couple of thyme sprigs and turn them into mushroom stock. I use the stock as base for mushroom barley soup and cream of mushroom soup.

What kind of ducks did you use? I store confit in fat for storage. If you plan to eat it tomorrow just be sure to cover the flesh completely so it won't lose its silky texture. Do by all means strain out the debris. Keep it to flavor salad dressing, stew or soup. ← I used Long Island ducks. Per your instructions, I did them on the range-top. The heat kept a steady 207F. But, I lost track of time, and they "simmered" for about 4 1/2 hours. Another question...I have some additional duck fat in the freezer. Can I just combine my extra from the confit with that stash? Or should I freeze it separately? I'm running out of room in my freezer and am trying to consolidate.

Couple of questions.... I plan on shredding the meat of two legs for a salad tomorrow night. Should I store them in the fat? The legs rendered something off, normally I would say it looks like fat, but of course they cooked in fat. Should I strain the duck fat before pouring what I need over the legs?

Per Paula's advice, I have my legs sitting in a Le Creuset on my simmer burner, with a thermometer stuck into the pot. If the temp goes below 192 or above 210, the thermometer is set to ring. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Melissa, it sounds as if you've amazing strides in the months since you've opened. I hope that 2005 is very successful year for the bakery.

Since when did Pepsi buy Tropicana? BTW, a half gallon of Tree Ripe recently made it's way into the house. I also thought it was pretty nasty stuff, but I think they may have made some changes. It's actually drinkable now. But then, maybe my taste-buds are off.

I believe that my ducks are Long Island ducks. How long will those take? And at what oven temp should I use?

Non, non,non...What's wrong with giving you BOTH? You're deserving! ← As much as I want Bouchon, I'm trying to convince him to give me The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. before it goes up in price.

I need this question answered as well.

Hey, I watched that too!

Bouchon has been returned. Not to worry though. Considering the way I acquire cookbooks, I'll get again.

I'm an now the proud possessor of 4 duck legs and 2 pounds of duck fat. Now to cure the legs and start the process. Yeah!

It seems that Blovie bought this as a temporary replacement for The French Laundry cookbook. He has since done an exchange. TFL is a gorgeous book. And I've actually discovered some recipes that aren't over my head!!

Normally we go out for a nice dinner, but since New Year's Eve is on shabbos this year, I'm cooking dinner with one of my dearest friends for 3 couples. I making my first duck confit to be served on a salad of frisee and a brisket. She's making soup, the sides, and dessert. If I have time, I'll make a dessert as well. The other couple is responsible for the wine. Good friends, good food, and good drink. What could be bad?

It's an antibiotic taken to prevent malaria. It also treat typhus and other infections.

I've seen it at Dean & Deluca. You might also want to try Kitchen Arts & Letters.

Mmm, doxycycline. My favorite!! (sorry, I couldn't resist) Thanks for taking us on your trip. I've been wanting to go to Cambodia.

One thing I've heard Danny Meyer and Mario Batali say on several occasions is that if you're unhappy with some aspect, they want to know. The feeling is there's nothing worse than having a customer leave who felt mistreated because then you won't come back and you'll tell others not go. They want a chance to rectify the situation and make you happy.

Does anyone know the velocity of an exploding soda bottle? I found a 2 litre bottle of soda in my freezer (that had been placed there by Blovie and forgotten about), and placed it on the counter to defrost. But, I began to feel parched so I decided to take a drink....... Now, I know that opening a soda bottle where the contents have been frozen under pressure will explode, so...I....twisted....the....cap....very...very...slowly and when I felt the pressure mount I twisted it close. I did this several times and figured everything was ok, so I unscrewed the cap. The result as a Diet Pepsi explosion!!! Soda flying everywhere!! I'm finding dried soda on the walls And I was covered as well. I've been punished for thinking I know better.

Like Monica, I've been having problems finding the right words. Reading the accounts bring tears to my eyes. It is truly tragic. And yet, the way the everyone has rushed to the aid of the stricken gives me hope.