Tuesday, September 09, 2014

Comfort Food




Here's a peek at yesterday's comfort food when that white stuff was falling around our place.

We're calling it Making Up For The Weather Soup aka Meatball Minestrone Soup. We didn't follow a recipe and we just used ingredients that were near to hand.

Aside. The Urban Peasant used to say on his television program years ago, if you don't have the ingredients he's using for a recipe, use your imagination and do the best you can with what you got. It's one of those bits of advice I never forgot.

So, here's what I did:

Started by sauteing 1/2 large onion in olive oil (with a dab of butter too) till soft in my blue le creuset pot. Chopped 1 large meaty tomato (Italian), a bit of diced celery, a couple fresh sprigs of thyme and Greek oregano. Added these to the pot.

I let these saute on very low heat for about 20 minutes. Stirred occasionally until everything began to caramelize and come together. For me, that's a key to making soup taste richer; don't be in a hurry at this stage. Oh... and I like to sprinkle a wee bit of salt and pepper on everything as I cook it.

Then I added 5 cups of hot beef broth and a generous handful of orzo pasta. Added salt and pepper to taste. Stirred. Then I found a few cooked meatballs in the freezer... y-e-s... must have made 'em for such a time as this.  If I would have remembered, I'd have included a wee bit of hot pepper sauce...

I let it simmer about an hour on really low heat. At the very end, I added a dollop of sour cream, stirred it in, and sprinkled with a bit of parsley. We paired the thick soup with thinly sliced dark rye bread. Yum.

Somehow the snow didn't matter after that.  



“Some foods are so comforting, so nourishing of body and soul, that to eat them is to be home again after a long journey. To eat such a meal is to remember that, though the world is full of knives and storms, the body is built for kindness. The angels, who know no hunger, have never been as satisfied.” ~ Eli Brown, author of Cinnamon and Gunpowder



BTW, our weather is coolish today, but so far no insistent signs of the white stuff...... a good day for writing blog posts, working on a new chapter of my memoir story, and coming to visit you.  Thanks for stopping by.  Now, here's wishing you......


Glimpses of heaven*´¨)
> ¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
> (¸.·´ (¸.·´ * in unexpected places ! *

Brenda 

xox
  

Photo: © Brenda Leyland, 2014







10 comments:

  1. Goodness, next time let me know when you are cooking up such a yummy pot of soup, and I'll be right over! ;-)

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  2. Dear Brenda - that soup sounds delicious and with rye bread - just the perfect thing for a cold day. Hope you don't see any more of that white stuff for a while. Glad though you are making the best of it. Have a lovely day.

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  3. Oh my! That soup looks sooooo good! Look at you - so resourceful and making the best of a bad day! You have snow - my goodness! Hopefully a temporary inconvenience.....Keep cozy. Hugs xo Karen

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  4. Your post yesterday inspired me to make soup today. It's not very chilly here, but Tim is getting home late and by then it will be cool enough to enjoy soup. Ours has a chicken base and lots of veggies. Isn't soup wonderfully adaptive? Like you!

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  5. Thanks for letting us in on your ingredients and method, Brenda, for that soup! I saw some of the news reports today of the Alberta snow. Oh, my goodness! We'll have it here in Newfoundland soon enough. In the meantime, we've been enjoying summer still these past September days. Each day is a blessing no matter what the weather. XO
    Wishing you a beautiful day,
    Linda at Beautiful Ideas

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  6. Oh divine! The soup looks absolutely YUM! For me, cooler weather is always soup time. It's just here in the Arizona SW, it is often difficult to find that cooler weather! I do believe I will be conforming to the Urban Peasant's philosophy about what you have on hand!

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  7. I agree, it's a great day to catch up on the blog world. You are my first stop! I always know there is something comforting I can read. Either words of wisdom, words of encouragement, pictures to warm my heart or like today's, warm my tummy!
    Perfect way to start my visits!

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  8. it sounds so good. i made spaghetti and meatballs yesterday and it was yummy-temps still in the high 80s but cooling! no snow!

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  9. That soup looks yummy. I make a similar meatball soup...so nice on a cold day. Still summer here in the sunny South.

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To My Beautiful Readers,

Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same. ~ Franz Peter Schubert

Thank you so much for leaving your 'footprint' here in my comment box. I do appreciate you taking a moment to share your thoughts today.

Brenda xo