Grilled shrimp, fresh pea and ricotta pasta: a brief and delicious sideline from soup

The story: I recently moved to Brooklyn and inherited a great apartment, a real, big girl dining room table and a backyard with a grill. Those three things put together spell one thing: DINNER PARTY! And boy, did I have one.

I was having my friend B. over, who is my oldest friend and owner of this fabulous blog, as well as her boyfriend. B. had recently discovered youmakethebestsoup and was dismayed by my lack of recent postings, so we decided to make on rip-roaring delicious meal and post it, soup be damned!

This meal was entirely based upon and inspired by my local farmer's market at Grand Army Plaza, an awe-inspiring setting for a pretty awe-inspiring spread of fresh veg, meat, flowers, dairy, and even a fishmonger. My roommie and I cruised by there on Sat before a reallllllllly looooooong bike ride (38 miles, NBD) and I saw they had fresh peas. I.love.fresh.peas. I became obsessed with them in Morocco and buy them as often as possible during their season. I find shelling peas soothing, and eating shelled peas...a miracle of nature, taste, and spring. So I bought a ton, carried them in my backpack for 38 miles, and schemed a great meal for my big inaugural dinner party.

The Ingredients:

• 1 lb fresh pasta, whatever floats your boat


• 1/2 cup fresh, part-skim ricotta


• 1 large shallot, diced


• 1 small yellow onion, diced


• 3 cloves of garlic, diced


• 2 tablespoons butter


• as many freshly-shelled peas as you can handle (we did about 2.5 cups)


• 1/2 lb deveined, shell-on shrimp


• some dried thyme


• Olive oil


• salt


• freshly grated parmesean

The cooking:

Melt the butter on low heat in a saute pan and saute/sweat the shallot, onion and one chopped clove of garlic on low heat until they are clear and mild-smelling. Meanwhile, toss the shrimp with some olive oil, the rest of the garlic, salt and some dried thyme. Let them sit for 1/2 hour and marinate. Once the garlic/shallot/onion combo is done, mix it in with the ricotta. Shell the peas and lightly boil them in water for 5 minutes or so until cooked but not mushy. Grill the shrimp, cook the pasta, lightly toss the cooked pasta in olive oil.

The serving:

Put the pasta in a large bowl and toss in the peas. Plop clumps of the ricotta mixture on top, lightly mixing in, and then the shrimp. Finish with some sea salt and a layer of fresh parmesean. Thank you, Brooklyn.

Braised Pork Shoulder in Salsa Verde: or, what seven dollars and seven hours gets you on a Sunday

The story:
Walking home a recent morning i stopped by my local grocer to browse around. They usually have cheap meats and I was planning on making a tagine so I stopped by the butcher counter. Sitting there in plastic, for 7 bucks, was a hulking, fat-encased pig shoulder. I bought it. Why not? Adventure-cooking, folks! And guess what...it turned out AWESOME.

The ingredients:

• 1 half pig shoulder, skinned and trimmed (this step is super gross, warning you)
• 1 bottle of medium-spicy salsa verde (forget making your own, this is gonna cook for seven hours so who cares)
• 1 bunch chopped cilantro
• 2-3 cups chicken broth
• Some dried oregano
• 1 chopped yellow onion
• Some olive oil
• One serious Dutch oven to shove that shoulder in

The cooking:

Skin and trim the shoulder. This is a gross and somewhat thoughts-of-vegetarianism-inducing process that is best done with kitchen scissors and a strong heart. Heat some olive oil, enough to coat the bottom, in a Dutch oven and brown the shoulder on all sides. Toss in the chopped onion, allow it to sweat for a minute, then add the salsa verde, broth, and enough oregano to smell it. bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, cover, and let cook for...forever. Until the meat is absolutely falling off the bone and the liquid has been reduced to a nice volume for sauce. Remove the meat, brown it for 30 minutes at 375 in the oven to get it all crispy and delicious, then shred the shit out of it, toss it back in the pot, add some cilantro and call it a feast.

The serving:

I made a bowl of corn, beans, rice and pork with sauce all mixed up, and it was perfection. I'm sure you can get real fancy with soft corn tacos and other non-bowl oriented foods, but it's a Sunday, so why would you?

A tale of frozen vegetables: butternut squash and cauliflower bisque

The Story: It was 10 PM. It was freezing. I was broke, coming home from work late, and hungry (this is, on average, two nights per week at least). I wandered into the local grocery and aimlessly and miserably perused the frozen veggies aisle. Sometimes I take comfort here in a bag of frozen spinach. This night, that was not in the cards for me. I instead saw a frozen box of Southland-brand* butternut squash and an idea came to mine...

*A note on Southland: if you don't know what these frozen delights are, you're missing out. A brand that purports itself as 'Southern cooking', they make insanely cheap, dairy-free, healthy and delicious frozen pureed yams, butternut squash, etc. You can get them for 99 cents at your local grocery. My dear friend Laura F. introduced me to them and I am forever grateful. As a side, or a snack, or a soup-base, as you'll soon see, these things are great.

The ingredients:

• I box Southland frozen butternut squash
• 1 whole cauliflower
• 1 tablespoon butter (optional)
• 1 small (juice box-size) container of chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

The cooking:

Stem cauliflower and steam chopped up bunches in a pot with an inch of water. When soft, drain. Toss in the butter and dried thyme. Let sit. Defrost the squash and pour in with the cauliflower. Stir vigorously and the cauliflower will naturally break apart. Toss in the chicken broth, heat, and you're done. It's easy and delicious. You can puree if you like it silky-smooth, but I prefer mine chunky.

The serving:

Ideally, in front of the telly with a warm blanket over your lap. Tomorrow is another day, my friend!

Perhaps the Perfect Chicken Noodle Soup

The Story:

I have always loved my mom's chicken soup. I grew up on it. It is delicious-- a nice clear broth, some lovely, chewy chicken pieces, the occasional carrot, celery, or cut up green bean. Nothing fancy-- not even noodles. I thought this was as good as it gets.

Until I moved to Morocco, and made Perhaps the Perfect Chicken Soup by accident, thanks to an over-watered pressure cooker. That put ideas into my head-- ideas filled with ropey noodles and steaming bowls of soup. That idea was perfected this past Sunday, as you can see from this crappy photo taken will my cellphone above. Here's how:

The Ingredients:

• 1 whole 5 lb quality chicken, rubbed in salt and left to sit for an hour until room temperature, then rinsed and dried


• 1 yellow onion, diced


• a small amount of olive oil


• 2 bunches of celery, chopped


• 1 clove of garlic, chopped


• 5 or so large carrots, peeled and chopped


• 1 lb of green beans, cut in half


• some ginger (a generous sprinkle)


• some salt


• some pepper


• some savory spice (generous sprinkle)


• a bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped


• 1 large bag of extra-wide egg noodles (home-style, sometimes called)

The Cooking:

Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil on medium in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. once clear add the cilantro, savory, and ginger. Then salt and pepper the chicken and brown it lightly in the pot, rotating as necessary. once the chicken is lightly browned on all sides, take it out. saute the carrots and celery lightly in the pot, for about 3 minutes. add the chicken back in, add in the green beans, and cover with water. Turn the heat down to very low, and let sit for about 2.5 hours.

Get a pair of tongs and take out the chicken. It should literally fall apart. Let the meat cool, and shred the met, removing all bones, skin, and tendons. Set the meat aside. Strain all the vegetables out of the broth and skim off the fat. Bring the broth to a boil and cook the egg noodles until al dente. Add back in the veg and chicken, bring to a simmer, and ta da, perhaps the perfect chicken noodle soup.

The Serving

I like to sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan cheese over mine. Otherwise, this is perfection in a bowl.

Non-Brown Soups

My roommates pointed out to my great chagrin that 'all the soups you make are the same color.' And it's mostly the truth-- cumin, lentils, lamb...these things tend to make things brown.

Besides the delicious fish stew and butternut squash bisque featured previously on this blog, much of it looks the same.

Any suggestions for something truly more colorful?? To turn this cumin-scented frown upside down?

Lamb and Chickpea Stew (bag o' spinach v.6?)

The Story: I admit it, I wish I could branch out more-- try some Asian soups, maybe a tom yum, or go for something Greek or French, a nice cassoulet or a delicious avgolemono. However, Middle East, I just can't quit you!

I'm in a new saving money, being delicious mode where I cook a big tupperware of soup and leave it at work to eat for my lunches throughout the week*. Not that I'm tired of lentils, but I was up in the Bronx today and found a great, cheap market where chickpeas were on super sale. I bought myself three bucks worth of lamb stew meat and bam, lunch is born (boom goes the dynamite, anyone?)

The Ingredients

• Enough olive oil to coat the bottom of your pot (in my case, trusty pressure cooker)
• 1 diced medium yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 minced cloves of garlic
• some lamb stew meat, preferably boneless (1 package will do)
• bag of frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed of water
• 2 cans of chickpeas, drained and washed
• dried thyme, to smell
• cumin to taste
• 1 handful fresh parsley
• 1 handful fresh cilantro
• ginger, to taste
• salt and pepper, duh

The Cooking:

Heat olive oil in bottom of pot. Brown meat in the olive oil. Toss in onion and garlic once browned, and saute until clear. Toss in tomato paste and stir until melted in. Add water to cover, and all spices. Cook down until meat is tender. Add chickpeas and spinach and let simmer for around 20 minutes. Yum.

* Someone came in and threw out all our food from work in our fridge! It was a tragedy-- I had two more days of lunch left in there!!

Bag o' Spinach Soup v.4: The Protein Expolsion! Lentil, Spinach and Andouille Soup

The Story: I'm poor, and it's cold and rainy, and I spent all Sunday making PowerPoints in my office and need some soothing. What's a girl to do?

Warm up with a big bowl of soup! After a brief seasonal/transitional hiatus, this blog is back and looking to boogie. Tonight, I just fashioned myself a big pot of roommate-inspired v.4 o the Bag'o Spinach Soup, adding Andouille sausage (I chose chicken, you can do pork, ain't no thing). Man, the smokiness and proteinness was fantastic. Here's the skinny:

The Ingredients:


1 and 1/2 cup lentils (i like brown)
a couple bay leaves
3 cloves chopped garlic
a medium diced red onion
some olive oil (enough to coat bottom of pot)
i bag frozen, chopped spinach, thawed
some cumin to taste
a dash of turmeric
a dash of ginger
a dash of red pepper flakes
1 package andouille sausage, cut into chunks
salt and pepper

*soak lentils overnight in water so they're quick to cook* --> I didn't, but my PRESSURE COOKER took care of those babies in 15 minutes flat

To do:

saute the andouille in the pot with a tiny bit of olive oil until cooked. remove sausage. saute the onion and garlic in the sausage-y-olive oil in the pot until they're cooked clear. add the lentils and bay leaves and cumin, and cover with water. cook down for about 1/2 an hour or maybe more until lentils are cooked. add spinach and rest of spices and a dash more olive oil for body, and maybe some more spices (taste it), and cook a bit more. enjoy!