Archive | January, 2009

DJ Jayro Soup Development Team: Week Eighteen – Single Ladies (Put a Carrot in it)

27 Jan

Dear Soup Development Team:

New York Times food critic Mark Bittman was at the University of Toronto last week promoting his new book “Food Matters – A Guide to Conscious Eating”, and I was lucky enough to get a seat in the packed audience. He was on stage with CBC’s Matt Galloway for an hour-long discussion, with topics ranging from eco-eating to our overconsumption of meat. I know most of you are desensitized to the piles of statistics on the Western diet, however one crazy stat worth mentioning is that 7% of American’s calories come from soda (although, 7% of my diet probably comes from Canadian Club, and another 7% comes from red wine, so I can’t say much here).

One interesting take-away I got from the talk was his argument that you should really only be shopping around the perimeter of the supermarket, as the stuff in the middle is basically processed derivatives of the outside. This would follow that you should only really be buying about 10% of what a supermarket sells.

Below is a simple vegetable soup with some pearled barley in it. You can add whatever vegetables and spices you want, but the below can serve as a simple framework for timing and ingredients.

Single Ladies (Put a Carrot in it)

Start by making a simple vegetable broth:

Put in a soup pan, bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes:

3 litres of ice cold water (or however big your pot is)
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 celery ribs, roughly chopped
1 yellow onion, quartered
1 bay leaf
1 dried clove

remove all vegetables, bay leaf and clove and discard. Then add and cook on medium for 20 minutes:

2 cups carrots, diced
2 cups of celery, diced
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
1 cup pearled barley

Add, cook for another 5 minutes:

1/2 cup roughly chopped or crushed canned tomatoes

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Serve

You could also add some small pasta the same time you add the veggies and barley

Bittman in the News

A good book review of Bittmans book is here.

Track of the Week

This weeks track is “Vegetables” by The Beach Boys. You know you love it.

Cheers,

Jayro
“made from scratch”


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DJ Jayro Soup Development Team: Week Seventeen – Bisque Markie

19 Jan

Dear Soup Development Team,

Barack Obama isn’t the first president to take over in a time of crisis. In January of 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt assumed the President’s office in the midst of The Great Depression. Due to the circumstances, most of the ceremonies for Inauguration Day where canceled, save for a simple buffet for family and a few friends, and a reception in the early evening, which FDR didn’t even attend.

Although not considered a picky eater, FDR quickly grew tired of the meals that were prepared by Mrs. Henry Nesbitt, the White House housekeeper at the time, who believed in plain food plainly cooked, and apparently was very difficult to get along with. FDR is reported to have said, “my stomach positively rebels and this does not help my relations with foreign powers. I bit two of them yesterday.”

Because of his disability, FDR seldom ate out. Fed up with Mrs. Henry’s cooking, he eventually brought in his former personal cook and had a kitchen installed on the third floor, where she cooked two meals for him daily. This was successful right up until when America was put on an austerity program shortly after World War 2, and the White House needed to follow it like everyone else. During this time, the diet consisted of an egg, one slice of toast, one slice of bacon, and coffee for breakfast, and simple lunches and dinners. Staff were even required to bring their own sugar to work if they wanted to use it in their cooking.

FDR is the only president to have presided over the country for more than two terms, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945, eventually being succeeded by Harry Truman. His plan for tackling The Great Depression, called The New Deal, is largely considered to have been a success, as well as his leadership throughout World War II. There’s little doubt Obama and his team will be closely studying the policies of FDR’s administration as to figure out how to steer the US through the next couple of years.

FDR’s favourite soup was Martha Washington’s Crab Soup. I’ve taken the gist of this soup and updated it a little. So this is for those who didn’t want to spend $50 making A Tribe Called Bisque a few months back, but want to enjoy the deliciousness of a good bisque.

Bisque Markie (Just a Friend)

Serves four or five

For delicate soups like this (as well as for things like melting chocolate) try to use a double boiler, however you can make a makeshift one with a large sauce pan, a smaller sauce pan, and a strainer (see picture at the bottom). The idea is that you want to cook the thing in the inside pot, using the heat from the boiling water of the outside pot. The inside pot should be just sitting on top of the water level of the bigger pot.

In the top of a double boiler (or the inside sauce pan if you have a makeshift one), add:

2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp all purpose flour

When mixed well together, add:

2 hard boiled eggs, mashed
zest of one lemon (or one lemon peel grated if you don’t have a zester, which is just a very fine grater)

Stir in and cook on medium heat, until thickened up a bit, about 10 minutes:

4 cups of milk, or light cream (the heavier the milk/cream the better the taste)
1/4 cup of pureed rice (cook whatever rice you like to use and then puree it in a blender with some of the milk

Add and cook for another 5 minutes:

1.5 pounds of crab meat, I used soft shell because it’s much easier to get the meat out, but you can use whatever kind you want

You can also add some shrimp in there as well, or shallots, or any other seafood

Add:

1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup of sherry (used Orion 2001 Chardonnay Sherry, was the only bottle they had at The Wine Rack and I wasn’t driving all the way to the LCBO)
paprika to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Cook for another 5 minutes or so and then serve.

Jayro in the News

If you’re looking for something to do next weekend, I’ll be giving a cooking demonstration on Saturday in Markham, Ontario, showcasing a few of Susur’s French Chinese fusion recipies. Starts at 1, see attached poster.

Track of the Week

Yip Harburg’s “Life is a Bowl of Cherries” was one of the defining songs of the Great Depression. Although Judy Garland’s career came a bit later, her version is still my favorite. Give it a listen and get some perspective yo.

Cheers,

Jayro
“made from scratch”


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DJ Jayro Soup Development Team: Week Sixteen – (Don’t Just Stand There) Borscht a Move

13 Jan

Dear Soup Development Team,

So this is my first Soup Development Team email as a person in their 30s. I promised myself I would keep these letters about food, however in typical fashion I’ll ramble on for a couple of paragraphs, tie in everything with a well-placed non-sequitor, then carry on with how to make Borscht a Move. Starting next week, it will be all about the soup, or at least not about me. Unless something really cool happens to me, but it probably won’t, because I’m now 30.

Feeling psychologically traumatized over the third decade of my life coming to an end, my head has been filled with thoughts, some good, some bad, about this big new change. “Celebrating” with a few friends at the Foggy Dew last Thursday, I broke the news to our server after a few drinks and told her I was a little unsure about the whole thing. The following dialog ensued:

Waitress: Well, do you have a condo?
Me: No.
Waitress: Do you have a girlfriend?
Me: No.
Waitress: Do you have a good job?
Me: Not really. Sort of.

I had scored .5/3, or 17%, on our server’s “things you should have accomplished by 30″ test. She wasn’t helping, although the two shots she later brought did numb the pain a little. So, after four days of ups and downs, exacerbated by mild overdoses of flu medication, I had reached my final conclusion on how to approach this new chapter in my life.

I think one of the great ironies with regards to age perception is that you intuitively think of your 20s as being fun and carefree, and you settle down into this boring life in your 30s as you become established, taking the kids to soccer, and, perhaps, slave away in the kitchen all day making soup with no apparent rhyme or reason for it. However, if you’re like me, you might have spent at least some of your 20s in angst, as you tried to figure out who you were and what the heck you were wanted out of life. And although I haven’t completely figured either of those things out yet, I’m closer today than I was yesterday, so in that sense I’m happier now than ever. So, we’re rolling with that.

One thing I am more conscious of now is my health. The New York Times ran a great article last week on The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating, and #1 on the list was beets. Hence, below is the second delicious recipes so far for a beets-based soup since the inception of the team.

(Don’t just stand there) Borscht a Move

Borscht is a traditional Eastern European soup, and the below is the vegetable-only version. You can add pork, chicken or beef, but the beets are so delicious and flavourful, I don’t think you don’t need meat in here.

In a soup pan, heat

1 tbsp of butter

On medium low heat, add and cook for about ten minutes:

2 cups chopped beets
1/2 cup carrots
1 cup onions

Add, bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes:

2 cups of vegetable stock

(don’t use powder or bullion cubes. Just take a celery stick, a carrot, and half an onion and cook it in a few cups of water for 10-15 minutes, and that will do)

Add:

1 cup of shredded cabbage
1 tbsp of red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste (although you really shouldn’t need much, if at all)

You can serve this hot or cold, I prefer hot but everyone is different. Either way, add a spoonful of sour cream to the middle and serve.

Track of the Week

No brainer. Attached is the classic by Young MC. Because I’m rough like Hunter and clever like McGuyver.

Turning 30 in the News

R A Miller on 10 things you can expect now that you’re 30

Cheers,

Jayro
“made from scratch”


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DJ Jayro Soup Development Team: Week Fifteen – Drop it Like it’s Hot and Sour Soup

5 Jan

Dear Soup Development Team,

Another year is upon us, time for new beginnings and fresh starts. Since I know most of you can’t wait to get back to work tomorrow, I’ll keep this short and head right to the recipe.

A close cousin of Egg Drop it Like it’s Hot Soup, The etymology of Drop it Like it’s Hot and Sour Soup can be traced back to ancient China in Sichuan province. The wood ears and lily buds enhance circulation, chicken broth is said to have healing magic (think chicken noodle soup), and the vinegar to make it sour has antiseptic properties.

Drop it Like it’s Hot and Sour Soup

The sour flavour in the soup comes from the rice vinegar and the ginger. If you find that the below is not enough, keep adding until it tastes right to you. You will need to go to an Asian grocery store to get some of the below ingredients. Any basic one should have everything.

Soak 4 wood ears, 10 lily buds and 4 Chinese black mushrooms in hot water covered for 20 minutes

Cut about ½ a pound of boneless pork into ¼ inch, match-stick size pieces, and marinade with the below for 15 minutes:

1 tsp of soy sauce
1 tsp of rice wine
½ tsp of sesame oil
1 tsp cornstarch

When the wood ears and black mushrooms have fully been rehydrated, cut into matchstick-sized pieces, roughly the same as the pork. Make sure you remove the stems.

In a large soup pan bring to a boil and then simmer:

6 cups of chicken stock
2 tps of rice wine
1 tsp of salt
½ tsp of sugar

Add the pork, murshrooms, and wood ears to the soup base

In a separate bowl, mix 3 tbs of cornstarch with 6 tbs of water and then add to the soup to thicken it

To season the soup, mix the following together and then add to the soup:

3 tbs of soy sauce
4 tbs of rice vinegar
1 ½ tsp of sesame oil
1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
2 tbs of minced green onions
2 tbs of minced ginger

After about 5 more minutes of cooking, take the soup pan off the heat and add two beaten eggs, poring slowly in a small stream while stiring the soup in a circular motion

This weeks track is Lord of our Vice by Blue Sky Black Death. The strings in the sample are reminiscent of a Chinese pipa, and the title is fitting since 90% of you will probably break your New Years Resolutions by the end of the week, if you haven’t already. I know I have.

Cheers,
Jayro
“made from scratch”


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