Food 17 Jan 2005 10:50 pm
A simple vegetable soup
I made a simple vegetable soup the other day, and I’ll make it again. I sweated a mirepoix of a small onion, a little carrot, and one rib of celery (all finely diced), then added a bit less than a pint of chicken broth, a 15-oz can of tomatoes and juice (crushing the tomatoes in my hands), some good organic green beans, a handful of frozen spinach, two tablespoons of alphabet pasta, a little pepper, lots of thyme, and a splash of balsamic vinegar.
I like the spinach in this, but Mr. Sculpin doesn’t. Yes, okay, it’s a little bitter. But it’s good for you, and this way I’ll actually eat it.
I can’t believe it took me this long to learn to cut an onion efficiently. My knives are too dull, and I too ham-handed, to dice them the usual way. So instead of cutting the onion in half, I cut it in quarters, slice each quarter lengthwise, turn 90 degrees, slice lengthwise again, slice crosswise. Easy. (We’re finally getting our knives sharpened this week, which is perhaps more exciting to me than it ought to be.)
on 18 Jan 2005 at 8:04 am 1.naomi said …
Where are you having your knives sharpened? And how much do they charge?
on 18 Jan 2005 at 10:19 am 2.Cam said …
We just took them down to Mrs. Cooks and hoped for the best. I’ve already forgotten how much they charge.
Apparently the guy to see, though, is Bob Kramer. People on eGullet rave about him. If Mrs. Cooks doesn’t work out well, I’ll be sending my knives to him in the mail. (And I’ll be packing them better than some people do.)
on 20 Jan 2005 at 2:43 pm 3.Cam said …
We got the knives back. I think they’re just okay. Next time I’ll probably send them to this Bob Kramer guy.
“Just okay” is seriously better than what we had before, though. It was like trying to cut with a spoon.