In and Out of the Garden: A Blog

Here is Jerry's selection for this Sunday's Slow Soupers. He says:

"We've made this soup a few times and find it is a great way to use up leftover turkey. I really like the mix of flavours. The only thing that I generally do differently is to roast the cherry tomatoes in the oven for about 20 - 30 minutes at 350 rather than pan roast them."

Mexican Turkey Soup

(Serves 4)

1-1/2 cups fresh corn niblets (frozen will work but thaw first)
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped green onions, white and light-green parts only; reserve dark-green ends to garnish
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp finely chopped, canned chipotle peppers
4 cups chicken stock (or if you have time, try making your own turkey stock)
3/4 cups shredded, cooked turkey
1 ripe avocado
2 limes
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp finely chopped, fresh cilantro

In a large pot, dry-roast corn over high heat until lightly charred. Set aside in a small bowl. Repeat process with tomatoes.

Using same pot, saute onion, garlic and chipotle peppers in vegetable oil over medium heat. Add turkey and stock and bring almost to a boil then reduce heat to simmer.

Roughly chop tomatoes and add (with juices) to pot along with corn. Season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, mash avocado with a fork. Mix in juice from 1/2 of one lime and mayonnaise. Stir in chopped cilantro and season with salt and pepper.

Serve soup topped with avocado cream, finely chopped dark-green onions and a wedge of lime.

Nutritional information: Nutrients per serving: 273 calories, 17 g fat, 17 g protein, 16 g carbohydrates, 2 g fibre.

Our first soup was selected by Amy of Destination Anywhere. I really can't think of a better soup to start this off. It is absolutely delicious, if not particularly gorgeous. Don't let my photo keep you from making this soup if you're on the fence. Yes, it is a plain brown soup, but it has a rich mushroom flavor and a hint of sweetness from the chestnuts.

I followed Amy's recipe somewhat faithfully. I forgot to get a carrot at the market, so I made mine with 2 stalks of the celery along with the shallots. Also, I used the mixed dried mushrooms that are available at Trader Joe's instead of all porcinis. And the recipe didn't call for any salt, so when I added the pepper, I tasted it and decided that it did need a little salt. I guess the thought of all those Top Chef episodes where the Tom Colicchio kept telling people that their dish didn't have enough salt, has really made an impression on me!

So, this would be a perfect soup to start of Thanksgiving. It is slightly rich and flavorful, but not heavy. I think we are pretty well limited to making it only around the holidays when chestnuts are available — unless we plan ahead and pick an extra jar or two. I've included the recipe again in the extended entry. I highly recommend it.

Continue reading "Sunday Slow Soupers: Porcini and Chestnut Soup" »

I am excited to announce a new variation on the Sunday Slow theme - the Sunday Slow Soupers! After all that chilly ice cream, what we needed was some nice hot bowls of soup. And the difference this time will be that instead of cooking from a single cookbook, we are all contributing our favorite recipes.

So the plan is to post the recipe two weeks ahead of time to give people the chance to get the ingredients or to make it ahead of time. Well, somehow the time got away from me and we're starting tomorrow and I'm just now getting around to posting the recipe for tomorrow and the entire schedule, which you can find in the extended entry. I will post the following couple of week's recipes in the next day or so.

Let the soups begin!

Continue reading "Announcing: Sunday Slow Soupers" »

Yesterday evening a devastating fire broke out in Santa Barbara. It started in the foothills at a place known as the Tea Gardens or Mar y Cel (Sea and Sky).

Although it is just ruins now, it was a fantastic garden with pools, waterfalls, Romanesque arches, Greek statues and an amphitheater. It was built sometime around 1917 by Ellen and Henry Bothin on a portion of the old Piranhurst Estate. Much of the garden was constructed after the 1925 earthquake by famous garden designer Lockwood de Forest. After the death of Ellen Bothin in 1965, the property passed through a couple of hands and then in 2000 the portion of the property where the Tea Gardens was became a conservation easement. With a one half mile trail easement, it has been accessible from the Cold Springs hiking trail (see these photos of a hiking tour to Mar y Cel).

Sadly, now it seems it will be remembered as the start of a fire that has taken over a hundred homes.

Many of you may have read Michael Pollan's brilliant article "Farmer in Chief" in the New York Times Magazine last month. If you didn't get around to reading, go read it right now, give yourself a little time — it's long, but well worth it. We'll wait for you, come back when you're finished.

Now the best news is that Obama actually read the article and referenced it in this interview:

"I was just reading an article in the New York Times by Michael Pollen about food and the fact that our entire agricultural system is built on cheap oil. As a consequence, our agriculture sector actually is contributing more greenhouse gases than our transportation sector. And in the mean time, it's creating monocultures that are vulnerable to national security threats, are now vulnerable to sky-high food prices or crashes in food prices, huge swings in commodity prices, and are partly responsible for the explosion in our healthcare costs because they're contributing to type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease, obesity, all the things that are driving our huge explosion in healthcare costs."
- Barack Obama
The Full Obama Interview
Posted by Joe Klein

I am so encouraged that food issues are finally being talked about at the highest levels. Here's to a new awareness in the politics of food!