Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Musgovian Vegetable, Noodle, and Sausage Soup
I just had a clean-out-the-fridge (on rec.food.cooking we call this "Musgovian" - must-go) soup that was incredibly delicious but probably not reproducable. The principles, however, are good.
On Friday I made the Chicken in a Pot from Dorie Greenspan's excellent "Around My French Table". That, in itself, was an excellent exercise in Fridge Management because it gave me something to do with all the sweet potatoes and carrots that have been accumulating in the farm box. (Short answer: roast them in a well-sealed French oven with a chicken, a preserved lemon, some onions and celery, a little liquid, and a lot of garlic.) I had about a cup of delicious, delicious juices in the fridge (with more than a hint of sweet potato) from this endeavor.
I had a small bowl of rotelle and a couple of Italian sausages left over from a dinner last week. I originally planned to use the juices in an Italian-style sausage, noodle, and vegetable soup similar to what a church friend made for our retreat. But, alas, my bell pepper had to be consigned to compost.
So I abandoned plans for carrot-bell pepper-celery-onion and decided to use the farm box golden beets with carrot and celery. But look, there are some mushrooms that really need to be used. And didn't I get a leek and green garlic in the farm box? So I chopped up the carrots, celery, leeks, and beets, sauteed them, sliced up the mushrooms and green garlic, and last of all cut the sausages into usefully small bits. I wilted everything (the mushrooms and green garlic went in after the sausage) and got the sausage bits well on the way to "cooked". Then the leftover broth/juices went in, with the noodles. It simmered for about half an hour.
Deeeelicious. Slightly saltier and more peppery than my regular taste (I had seasoned the veggies after browning, not realizing how salty my leftover broth was) but it seemed to have positive effects on my suffering sinuses.
The next roast chicken will probably have sweet potatoes and butternut squash roasted with it, but I'll definitely save the juices for sooooooup, glorious soup.
On Friday I made the Chicken in a Pot from Dorie Greenspan's excellent "Around My French Table". That, in itself, was an excellent exercise in Fridge Management because it gave me something to do with all the sweet potatoes and carrots that have been accumulating in the farm box. (Short answer: roast them in a well-sealed French oven with a chicken, a preserved lemon, some onions and celery, a little liquid, and a lot of garlic.) I had about a cup of delicious, delicious juices in the fridge (with more than a hint of sweet potato) from this endeavor.
I had a small bowl of rotelle and a couple of Italian sausages left over from a dinner last week. I originally planned to use the juices in an Italian-style sausage, noodle, and vegetable soup similar to what a church friend made for our retreat. But, alas, my bell pepper had to be consigned to compost.
So I abandoned plans for carrot-bell pepper-celery-onion and decided to use the farm box golden beets with carrot and celery. But look, there are some mushrooms that really need to be used. And didn't I get a leek and green garlic in the farm box? So I chopped up the carrots, celery, leeks, and beets, sauteed them, sliced up the mushrooms and green garlic, and last of all cut the sausages into usefully small bits. I wilted everything (the mushrooms and green garlic went in after the sausage) and got the sausage bits well on the way to "cooked". Then the leftover broth/juices went in, with the noodles. It simmered for about half an hour.
Deeeelicious. Slightly saltier and more peppery than my regular taste (I had seasoned the veggies after browning, not realizing how salty my leftover broth was) but it seemed to have positive effects on my suffering sinuses.
The next roast chicken will probably have sweet potatoes and butternut squash roasted with it, but I'll definitely save the juices for sooooooup, glorious soup.
Labels: farm box, improvisation, musgovian, soup
// whipped up by Charlotte @ 8:12 PM 
