Monday, February 23, 2009

Friday Night Frights



At first it looked like baby food, then baby puke, then, well, it looked like the baby had digested and passed it. It is unusual that I make a meal that it inedible. For one thing, we're willing to eat pretty poorly prepared food. Another is that I try to make simple recipes where I slowly add one ingredient at a time, usually avoiding any pitfalls.

On Friday, with just my pantry and an old recipe, I attempted to make curried pumpkin soup. Its very easy: chicken broth, a can of pureed pumpkin, curry powder, salt, and pepper. But this thing went off the rails quickly. When Ab showed up it was just okay but she remarked that it needed liquid and looked like baby food. After adding more stock and water, I accidentally dumped a ton of curry powder into the mix. What could I do?

We tried everything to save it: first we tried to add some thing to freshen it up, pureed carrots. Then something to mellow it out, chickpeas. Then something to counter the bitter base note: honey, white wine, and apple cider vinegar. Finally, some more spices: ginger and clove. It was almost edible but we just couldn't imagine eating any more than a few spoonfuls.

I also couldn't imagine coming home from work and being presented this "soup". My husband will eat just about anything and would probably get through a couple of big mouthfuls before realizing that this was just gross.

So into the sink and garbage it went and we picked up the phone and ordered Italian from across the street. Ab made some yummy Brussel sprouts and we were all set.



Just so you know, the thing that almost fixed it was the chickpeas!

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