Thursday, December 04, 2008

Chest Freezer Update

The new half-tall freezer is nearly full of food now.
That means we were not inundated with Thanksgiving leftovers to nibble on all last week.
Actually, we have streamlined our Thanksgiving menu to the point that the only leftovers are some turkey meat, and the quarts of glorious stock we simmer from the skin and bones of the stripped bird. Into the freezer they went.
We didn't freeze the gravy, of course. We are eating the last of it today on mashed potatoes.
But the freedom to eat non-Thanksgiving food this past week has been a blessing.
I'm into soups these days (somewhat to Cranky's consternation, but he's allowed to eat whatever he wants), and I needed a bowl of healing noodle soup the other day.
I made it from simmering chicken stock (handily retrieved from the blessed freezer), and stirred in a beaten egg that had been mixed with a little cold stock, a grating of Parmesan cheese, and a mini-handful of chopped arugula. Egg-drop soup, Italian-style. Stracciatelle. I fortified it with some fideo noodles (a short, short Spanish noodle, sort of like snipped linguini, that is becoming my favorite soup pasta).
OK, that all sounds good, right? But I have to emphasize the arugula. Mario Batali calls for a little chopped parsley, but — oh, the flavor and tenderness of rucola!
Dang, I might have to plant another plot of the crazy weed. I think it likes winter weather.

10 comments:

Ms Brown Mouse said...

I trust that noodle soup did it's healing job for you.

Greg said...

a rocket O'flavor!

peter said...

I've got a real thing for egg drop soup, and I love the supplements to the egg- especially as a medium for cheese, which always ends up adhered like oobleck to the spoon.

Arugula likes this time of year. We've still got some soldiering on (plant the selvetica kind for "winter" if you must insist on calling it that out there.)

I started saying no to turkey a few years back and don't regret it at all. We had eaten our leftovers pretty much by the next day, and I try to make broth out of every bone that passes through the kitchen so a shortage there is not a looming danger. I may yet get one of these newfangled "freezers" that you speak of.

michael, claudia and sierra said...

i need a freezer. i try and be organized but i'm busting at the seams...

i could live on that soup...

Unknown said...

I'm hungry.

Biggles

cookiecrumb said...

Morgan: Wouldn't you think it would? How could it not? Yes, much improvement, thankee. xx

Greg: You are a cunning linguist.

Peter: You are so right about the oobleck. You can't wash that stuff off.
So, OK: selvetica. Not to be confused with the Swiss typeface. Thank you for that. I'm off to the nursery. (I assume yours are growing in the hoophouses.)
As for turkey, it's all about the gravy. Must have the gravy.
Oh, do get a freezer. It'll change your life. It's so organized.

Claudia: It's very organized, and I really sympathize with you on the fridge-freezer. Impenetrable, after a while.

Papa: You wouldn't like this veggie slop. (But secretly, you would.)

kudzu said...

I don't know about a chest freezer, but my chest was freezing this morning in the chill December air!

Love this warming soup. You actually CUT up the pasta??
That's dedication.

cookiecrumb said...

Kudzu: The chill comes and goes. Cranky and I managed to sit on the patio, watching the laundry dry on a rack in the sun for a couple of hours today.
And, NO, I did not cut up the pasta. It comes in short lengths, about 3/4 inch. Cute stuff. I think we bought it at Scotty's.

Anonymous said...

That looks mighty tasty!

Arugula LOVES the cold: it's one of the stars of the greenhouse. I also love fideos. (But then again I am a slut for bread carbs in any form.)

Can I tell you again how proud I am of your chest freezer?

cookiecrumb said...

El: Thank you! It feels like getting gold stars on my kindergarten drawing.

We are headed off to the nursery tomorrow to search for arugula.

Yay. I love soup.