Hmmm.

[fabrisse]

Many of you may remember that I was pretty damned sick for several days in early April. We're talking ambulance and IV rehydration and days of Gatorade and crackers.

What I don't think I've shared from this is that I am as a result a piscatarian. I eat fish -- a little bit occasionally, mostly as anchovies or sardines in cooking with the occasional plate of bivalves as a treat. I can just about handle a small piece of white fish once a month.

In other words, for much of the time, I'm functionally vegetarian. Cheese is all right. Milk, buttermilk, and yogurt are great, actually. Eggs, well, right now, I'm eating them less often than fish, and I'm not eating much fish. I try a bite of meat occasionally, but my body is NOT happy with me when I do. The smell of most meats cooking turns my stomach. Poultry is a little better: the smell doesn't nauseate me. It's no better for eating though. *sigh*

This can be awkward for a cook. I'm dreading making my first chess pies of the season because I'm not certain I'll be able to eat them.

I'm teaching myself about whole grains. Pasta, as much as I love it, can get old when it's five nights a week, so I'm learning about kasha, quinoa, bulgur, and millet. (Barley, oats and I are old friends, and I always had brown rice in the cupboard even though I don't eat it much. It's a good excuse to keep wild rice -- which I love -- in the cupboard, too.)

I want to continue to do things like cook for friends when I stay at eanja's, but most of the time, it's going to be new and different cooking.

So there will be more soup recipes this winter, including one under the cut. If you're used to cooking with a hambone, smoked turkey leg, tongue, or sausage, go ahead and add it. The recipes themselves will be vegetarian or vegan.


Cabbage and Kale soup

This is a variation on a recipe from last year.

1 clove of garlic

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

¼ cup chopped celery (I use the center leafy sections)

1 large carrot ½ shredded and ½ cut into half coins

1 large bay leaf

1 Medium (sweet) onion

1 Granny Smith Apple

1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

1 three inch chunk of kombu

2/3 of a cup of Granny Smith Cider

¼ head of cabbage sliced

Two big hands full (about two cups torn from the stem) of kale

2 teaspoons of salt

6 cups of water

Spicing: Fennel, Fenugreek, Grains of Paradise, Peppercorns, Cubebs, and Cumin ground together. It made about 1 Tablespoon total.

1/3 cup of cream of buckwheat

½ cup of buttermilk

Dice the onion and apple and add it to the olive oil, carrots, celery, and garlic in a heavy bottomed soup pot to saute.

When the onions are translucent, add the spices and salt. Stir well, and add the vinegar. Let it cook for a moment before adding the cabbage and kale. Once the cabbage and kale have been stirred in, add the cider. Let cook for a minute or two, add the water and the kombu.

Bring the heat up to high and bring it all to a boil. Cover and simmer one hour. Add the cream of buckwheat and buttermilk and cook 15 to 20 minutes more.

Serve.

Comments

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

That picture was taken in a laundry room on my 21st birthday. But I don't think I look THAT different 28 years later.[/delusional]

But I'm very glad your daughter thinks I'm chic. *G*