Sunday, May 30, 2010

Soup Salad

This is going to gross out a lot of you, so just admit you're wimps and bail. The rest of you can stick around to read about slimy salad.
Oh, it was good. It came about because we had one of the best, most gelatinous batches of chicken stock, ever. Bones bashed with a cleaver. Slow extraction on low heat for four hours. Tons of flavor. And, expectedly, vivid liveliness. Chilled. Sturdy gellaciousness.
So, the salad was just baby romaine with hacked radishes and chopped roast chicken. Tossed with a mild oil and vinegar. Salted and peppered.
Then, brilliant brain thought kicked in. "This would taste really good with some of that chicken stock."
Chicken stock is not part of salad dressing, is it? (Tell me, if you know.)
The rich soup, in its coagulated state, would be so fun, so funny, spooned over a salad. Little cold spoonfuls. Bites of slippery umami. Mouthfuls of jiggly yum. That's what I thought.
That's what I think.

8 comments:

Zoomie said...

I am a huge fan of jellied chicken soup, which my mother used to make in Hawaii when it was too hot to eat anything else. She added chicken bits, fresh celery, fresh peas - already cooked - and served it as a first course. Delicious! I like your salad idea, too! I make the jellied chicken soup each summer but MB won't eat it, so I get it all to myself.

Anonymous said...

I remember, as a very small child, being presented with consomme. It was a very unsympathetic dish to place in front of a 5 year old. As an adult I have a somewhat different view of the subject. I like your idea of soup and salad being one dish, especially in warm weather.

Greg said...

Jiggly yum works for me.

cookiecrumb said...

Zoomie: Your mom's soup sounds too complicated for me. I just adore the smooth silkiness of the consomme. But -- how terribly cool of your mom!

Zia: I know! Like, "What is this 'soup' you're giving me that is cold and slimy?" If only they didn't pretend it was soup.
You might just flip for the flavor and texture and temperature of consomme in your salad.

Greg: You dirty old man.

kudzu said...

One word: aspic.

cookiecrumb said...

Kudzu: Totally, aspic. We thought it was gross when we were young.

Emily said...

A Romanian co-worker told me at home, they'd slice the wibbly, seasoned broth and serve it on bread like lunch meat.

cookiecrumb said...

Emily: Wow, wibbly on bread. I guess I'll try that next! Thanks for something completely new to me.