Thursday, November 29, 2012

A soupçon of soup's on

I went to bed completely done in by 12 hours mostly on my feet preparing, delivering, and serving a Mexican buffet for 30 persons. It was an excellent gig for my fledgling catering biz, which has had a bit of a dry spell of late. I was so tired when I got home after an hour in the van, which included getting back to DC from a distant suburb, dropping off my assistant and scooting home, that I almost could not walk from the garage to the house. To make matters more challenging, my beloved Scooper (the King Charles Spaniel, who is older than kitty litter) got me up at 4 am. His body has no clue what the end of daylight saving time means (oh, and did I mention that he's blind and deaf?) Got him out to pee, got him his breakfast, got a glass of juice, sat on the sofa for a bit and then lay down and managed to doze off. I think that hour of dozing was entirely in REM sleep and I awoke remembering that I had been dreaming of cooking and, holy cow, even what it was I was cooking: a six course meal consisting entirely of soups. Once I was fully awake I began writing down some of what I remembered. I don't think I finished the meal inside of the dream. But, no matter. The idea resonates with me and I will gather to together my squad of tasters early in 2013 for a sampling and critiquing.

Now I know that a dinner of all soups is odd enough itself, but with an international flair? Them's fightin' words. I ended up tinkering with the specifics if not with the overall concept to represent 7 countries with the 6 soups (Republican book-keeping I think it's called). Read through them and you'll get it. Even though all these soups are to be served hot (it's winter after all), I still think it's a cool idea. (And I know my witticisms are those of an eternal sophomore.)

With the exception of the first course, the broth of each soup will be poured over the other ingredients at the table, lending a certain class-oise to the occasion.

I like to begin with an amuse bouche. The one I dreamed up is to be a shooter (in a shot glass) of miso. Obviously it is representing Japan.


The next course would logically be an appetizer. I chose escarole as a component of a salad soup. It has a nice crunch and a hint of bitterness that could be counterbalanced with some paper-thin slices of radish and mushroom. In order to tie this to France I will add court bouillon to it at serving.

A soup course (of course) could precede or follow the salad. Here comes Greece with avgolemono soup, made with rice and chicken and a lemony broth.



It's time now for the main courses: I will present a meat and some seafood. Here they come:

Oxtail soup from Germany



Italy's cioppino



He's not done yet, Myrtle. There must be a dessert lurking out there.

Indeed there is a dessert. It will hint of America and Mexico. I call it ...

Fudgesicle Tres leches soup with creamsicle balls


Those who are familiar with Mexican cuisine (also known as grub), know that the "three milks" are condensed, evaporated, and heavy cream. Some years ago I re-created the beloved creamsicle flavor of my youth (with the help of some SunnyD). Believe it or not, fudgesicles are still made.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

I love this post! Great dreams lead to great things, right?? I would love to have a 6 course soup meal.. especially with these soups!

Andrea the Kitchen Witch said...

This sounds like a party that I need to attend. I adore the menu. I adore the concept!! Viva la soup! The miso soup and the greek lemon soup are making my mouth water at the mere thought. Brilliant sir!

Chris said...

Brilliant concept menu, Stephen! The shot glass at the beginning is a great kick off and the rest follows suit. The soup course of a soup menu should be "soup squared" (soup x soup) so I was trying to come up with a sqaure soup. Something like chicken gelatin cubes or aspic with suspended veggies but that would be more of a summer thing.

Knatolee said...

Mmmmm, ice cream soup!!! yes please. And yes please to Mexican food!

Pam said...

You never cease to amaze me! I'm a dreamer and have had many of them come true, but I'm sure soup wasn't the topic in any of them. So I'm a bit jealous as these as sound pretty enticing! Especially the avgolemono; love it, and the oxtail. I first had oxtail made by a German neighbor when I was a kid in Louisville and flipped out over it. Unfortunately, I've never been able to duplicate it. Great post, Mister! Dream on!

Shu Han said...

I LOVEEEE SOUP. I think if I had 6 courses of soup I would probably need the toilet a lot though ;)

SavoringTime in the Kitchen said...

What a night! But if it leads to soup dreams, that's a good thing :) Soupcon was one of the very first Junior League cookbooks that I bought (Chicago). Great recipes What delicious soup dreams.

Just came home from dinner at a new restaurant in Milwaukee - Wolf Peach. Give it a Google. Talk about inspirational! They are starting their own farm next year to supply the restaurant. Good luck with your catering business!

The Cutting Edge of Ordinary said...

Now I want soup!!! They all look so good.

Stephen, I want to thank you for your kinds words regarding Moose. They mean the world to me. It's times like this that I really love the blogging world! Thank you again!

Kitchen Belleicious said...

I love when I dream of what food i am going to make next:) love this soup! It is interesting, fun and sounds delicious

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