Soup in a Bowl

Thai Peanut Noodle Soup

So, I realize soup season is basically over, but I felt the need to share these two dishes I made over the last three months with you all.  

PB & Co. sent me this recipe.  I didn't use their peanut butter (because this would be pretty gross with White Chocolate Wonderful), but it is a pretty delicious soup.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp peanut oil (or other vegetable)
1 large yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
6 cups broth/stock
1 package extra firm tofu (I froze and then thawed mine)
1 can straw mushrooms (I tried these the first time, but didn't love them and didn't use them after that)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (better than the stuff off the shelf, for sure)
1/4 cup lemongrass (I could never find this, but I would love to add it at some point)
1 tbsp grated ginger
4 large bay leaves
1/3 peanut butter
1 can light coconut milk
1/2 lb rice noodles, cooked

Directions:
1. In a large stockpot, heat the oil and saute the onion and garlic over medium heat until translucent.
2. Add the stock, tofu, mushrooms, lime juice, lemongrass, ginger, and bay leaves and simmer for 30 minutes.  (I simmered for much longer the first time, maybe an hour, because my tofu wasn't completely dethawed, and I think it helped make the tofu super flavorful.  Highly recommended, if you have the time.  I also added red bell peppers; really, any good vegetable would be good.)
3. Add the peanut butter and coconut milk and stir until well-combined. Simmer an additional 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
4. Remove the bay leaves from the soup. Divide the cooked rice noodles into 6 bowls, ladle the soup over the noodles and serve.

I made this and brought it for lunch and it totally saved my sanity on several cold, rainy days. 

Black Bean Soup

SK's black bean soup is also delish, and I didn't even make the cumin crema.  Also, I soaked my beans overnight and didn't use a pressure cooker, and the time seemed fairly equivalent. 

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Empire State of Mind

These days, I miss New York. A lot. And in my misery over the last month, I started dreaming of the things I would make when it was all over. Invariably, my list was very New York. Bagels. Pizza. Cheesecake. Black & Whites. You get the idea.

When I told another former NY resident that I was going to make B&Ws because I missed New York, his basic response was, "why, they're gross?" And, as is often the case with this particular friend, he had a good point. But the thing about cravings, especially ones that are geography centered, is that even though I never actually wanted or even liked B&Ws while in NY, once I got it in my head to make them, I couldn't make the thought go away. I had to make them, even though almost every single one (of the 5 or so) I ever had (with the exception of a rare aberration from West Side Market) was stale or frosted in such a way that you couldn't actually taste the difference between the two sides. But these red flags would not be an impediment to my determination, and so I took the plunge and made them.

Given everything I've said up to this point about how black and whites usually taste mediocre to me, it should be no surprise that the ones I myself made were no exception to this rule. I knew they were off the moment I took the first batch out of the oven, yet I persevered and finished cooking them and icing them. And almost 60 cookies later, all I could think about was "what am I going to do with these black and white hockey pucks."

I will say, I am being overly hard on these cookies. I gave my cousin a batch, and though she agreed with me that they were off, the throng of children she was feeding found them delicious. My office mate also approved. And even I came around to a decision that the dough wasn't all that thick after all.

Moral of the story? When you miss a place, you're probably not going to solve that longing with a food you didn't really like to begin with, especially when the things you miss cannot be produced in your oven (you cant bake up a batch of friends, or pinkberry for that matter).

Want the recipe after this glowing recommendation? I, of course, used Deb's. I know that HEB has a version that she and CH served to 40 of our closest friends in college, and I feel like I probably liked those. And I believe EW has even posted a version on this very blog. But since I have come to rely on Deb's pictures and antics to get me through the day, I figured I should do her a solid and try her version. That's all for now. I hope happier food tales are on their way.

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