Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Saturday, October 13, 2012

I Am A Culinary Genius

Invented a soup today off a recipe from Mexico.  It was awesome.

3 quarts chicken broth
1 large garlic clove, bisected at the hemisphere
1 shallot quartered
5-6 sprigs of cilantro
1 bay leaf
1 red bell pepper, seeded and roughly cut
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and roughly cut
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp Penzie's fajita spice
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 tsp garlic paste
A shot of tequila

Combine the above, bring to a boil and then simmer for an hour.  Strain the solids out and return the broth to the soup pot with a few of the cooked garlic cloves.

It can sit for much longer if you want to prepare it ahead of time.

4 pieces of bacon
1 tsp olive oil
1 lb of shrimp, cleaned

Fry the bacon, remove.  Add the olive oil to the bacon grease and then fry the shrimp in the mixture until they are about half cooked.

1 cup orzo
2 tomatoes

Bring the broth to a boil.  Add the orzo, cook for five minutes.  At the five minute mark add the shrimp and tomatoes.  Cook for five more minutes.

Serve in bowls with freshly cut avocado and a lime for garnish.  Sprinkle with the bacon if you like bacon.  And you either like bacon or your wrong.

Serve with a citrus based salad and toasted crusty bread for a nice meal.

It sounds complicated, but aside from frying the shrimp, it's pretty low stress.  I might not add the bacon next time, because it got a little salty, but it's got a nice little heat from peppers, and a medley of flavors from the herbs and spices.

Enjoy.

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