He Cooks, She Cooks

This NY Times soup was one of the first recipes I bookmarked when I started keeping a folder of online recipes. I loved the idea of this soup and although I probably thought about it every time someone said “soup,” it took me more than a year to get around to making it.

Once I started cooking it, I realized it was almost too simple. Bland even. No onion or garlic? No chilies? Midway through the simmering process, I threw in some garlic cloves, chili powder, cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes. It turned out just right.

The soup is not too heavy, but plenty satisfying in winter. The lime and cilantro give it freshness, while the cinnamon, cloves and chili offer warmth.

We highly recommend serving this with the incredible cornmeal crunch from 101 Cookbooks. Our friend Kat made it and it rocked our world.

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“Sweetness. Saltiness. Sourness. Bitterness. Every delicious bite you’ve ever tasted has been a result of these four tastes coming together on your taste buds. We taste them as individual notes, and in concert.”

The Flavor Bible

This particular meal is a symphony. Not only in flavors, but in textures and all other senses. I’ve started to think about how food is always improved by creating a better balance of tastes and textures. What’s better than a salty, crunchy tortilla chip? A salty, crunchy tortilla chip with a glob of cool, smooth, slightly spicy guacamole.

The Flavor Bible offers the following formula:

FLAVOR = TASTE + MOUTHFEEL + AROMA + ‘THE X FACTOR’

Taste being those four feelings experienced by the taste buds. Mouthfeel being the texture experienced by the rest of the mouth. Aroma being what the nose perceives. And X-Factor being everything else you experience from the dish (visual, mental, emotional, spiritual).

But back to the almost-musical andouille and roasted poblano recipe I found at Bitchin Camero…

The plate is covered with cold, crunchy lettuce and bitter cilantro. It’s drizzled with olive oil. On top of that is a smoky roasted poblano pepper (soft, slightly spicy, but also a little bitter). Then we put a layer of soft brown rice mixed with salsa (spicy). On top of that is a warm medley of andouille sausage (salty, meaty and spicy), corn (sweet), onions (sweet) and salsa (spicy). Then we put chunks of quesadilla cheese (warm, creamy) and sour cream (cold, creamy). We took a bite, and instantly remembered what we forgot: a good squeeze of fresh lime (sour).

Every bite of this dish has the four tastes and a varied mouthfeel. You can hear the lettuce crunch in your mouth. You see several colors on the plate. You sniffle a little from the piquancy. And the kitchen smells great for hours.

I had leftovers probably four times during the week, and each time my tastebuds were equally happy. Make your tastebuds happy too. Make this dish.

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I know I’m late to the game, but soup is my new make-it-up-as-you-go-along meal. My mom didn’t make many soups when I was growing up, so maybe that’s why I never realized how easy they can be. But to think, without a recipe you can turn a pot of tap water into something this delicious…

I made my own shortcut version of stock based on my memories of watching Ina Garten. I didn’t have three whole chickens as she requires, but filled the soup pot with water, added four frozen chicken tenderloins (something on the bone would surely be better), a carrot, some celery, a few unpeeled shallots, cabbage leaves, dried rosemary and lots of salt and pepper. Knowing this would be tortilla soup, I tossed in the stems of a bunch of cilantro, which would have gone in the trash otherwise. The shallots worked well since I was out of garlic (kitchen blasphemy, I know).

After an hour, I strained the broth, saving and chopping the chicken, carrots and celery stalks after throwing out the rest of the mush. From there I added stewed tomatoes, corn and anything else that seemed right in tortilla soup: oregano, cumin, chili powder, lime juice…

It would be good with black beans, zucchini, bell pepper, chilies and anything else you can think of. I know I’ll be improvising more soups in the future, and you should too.

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