Quick and Easy Soup for Slow and Difficult People
Soup fills many needs, effortlessly crossing international and linguistic boundaries: comfort, love, adventure, education, and healing. Soup Peddler in Austin, Texas knows this well, inspired by a single man’s desire to translate his love for community and travel, two seemingly disparate concepts, into one pursuit. Cooking is the ultimate answer to bridging this divide.
Who’s the Soup Peddler?
Over twenty years ago, Soup Peddler founder David Ansel really was hitting the streets with bicycle-based deliveries of his favorite soups and stews. The business has grown to include a half dozen brick-and-mortar locations that offer cool fruit smoothies to combat the summer heat, but the sentiment remains the same. Whether it’s through a straw or on a spoon, there’s love in this formula. A dish like this satisfies an appetite beyond hunger.
Luckily for us, and for anyone outside of city limits, it’s not a secret formula in the least. The Soup Peddler’s Slow and Difficult Soups was published in 2005, shedding a light on David’s winning recipes. Don’t let the sardonic title scare you off; it strikes me as quite the opposite in practice. Case in point, the ever-popular mulligatawny soup that remains a perennial favorite on the menu.
What’s mulligatawny soup?
Thick with tender vegetables and lentils, a warm but mildly spiced undercurrent of curry runs through the soulful, deceptively simple base. To fit the rough translation of “pepper water,” I like to spike mine with fresh jalapeños, not included in the original version. What’s more, I’ve made some light modifications to streamline the cooking process. I’m already difficult enough without my soup following suit, after all.
Continue reading “Quick and Easy Soup for Slow and Difficult People”
Axe Me Anything
Bestsellers on Black Friday are typically high-end electronics, kid’s toys, luxury fragrances, and jewelry. Of course, blissfully oblivious to conventional door busters, this past holiday season, I ended up walking away with a kitchen axe.
What does one do with a kitchen axe?
Did I need a kitchen axe? Absolutely not. The most important function of a kitchen axe is that it could scare off potential intruders and makes you look like a badass. Practically though, I had no idea what I would use it for.
Conventional wisdom would suggest that this is a blade meant for heavy-duty butchery, like a cleaver on steroids, but that’s a misconception. It’s actually an entirely unique and very useful tool*
- The long handle is designed for an arcing swing to channel a lot of power into a single strike, which is ideal for cracking open whole coconuts.
- The gently curved blade is ideal for rocking over fresh herbs for a consistent, fine mince.
- The wide metal head is excellent for slicing through large, hard vegetables, like winter squash, jicama, or celery root.
- The small size is compact and great for travel. It fits easily into any purse so you’ll always be properly equipped on the go.
- The razor-sharp edge will do the job in case of emergency dismemberment, decapitation, or disembowelment needs.
Important Note
*A kitchen axe is in fact, poorly suited for all culinary tasks compared to comparable butcher’s knives or simply blunt objects, such as bricks or rocks. It’s only a good gift for someone you think would look better with fewer fingers. Proceed with extreme caution and many bandages on hand, literally.
April Fool’s!
Wordless Wednesday: Best of Tex-Mex
The Forking Vegan – Fajita Waffles, Smothered Burrito
El Chilito – Brentwood Burrito, Puffy Taco
Anthem – Fried Okra, Char-Buff Cauliflower
Mission Street Burrito – Elote
Stir Craze: The New Negroni
Equal parts gin, vermouth, and Campari, the classic Negroni is a reliable staple at any bar. Trouble is, that basic ratio doesn’t do each of the components the greatest justice, and quite frankly, it’s one of the last cocktails I would choose in any lineup.
For years, I thought that gin was the culprit. Served neat, it tastes like a liquefied Christmas tree. All juniper and pine, that resinous taste leaves a film of holiday despair in my mouth that won’t wash away. Some brands are certainly better than others, but it turns out that simply knowing the right way to mix it can do wonders.
How To Improve On A Classic Negroni
If you have similar feelings, let me tell you a little secret: Cut the vermouth with a sweet vinegar like white balsamic to diffuse some of the bitterness. It simultaneously adds a bright hit of acidic contrast for a fully realized, harmonious balance of tastes. The first time I experienced this alchemy was at Neighborhood Goods, a curious mashup of retail and restaurant. They used a fanciful Vermouth Vinegar which was quite luxurious indeed, and lit the spark to experiment with more accessible acids.
Other Vinegar Options
Vinegars are abundant these days, offering a diverse world of flavoring options that go well beyond salad dressing. If you want to experiment beyond white balsamic, other promising substitutes include:
- Sherry vinegar
- Champagne vinegar
- Coconut vinegar
Infused vinegars pose even greater options for customization; I’ve had amazing peach-infused vinegar that incorporated the bright, sunny essence of a summer day, and raspberry-infused vinegar with a brilliant tart-sweet interplay.
Want a sweeter, smoother drink?
Lean in on the citrus element and replace the vinegar with orange juice instead!
Shaken Or Stirred?
One other secret that applies well beyond Negronis: A drink that’s mostly or entirely composed of spirits like this should always be stirred, not shaken. It more effectively incorporates the ingredients without becoming diluted by the ice. Stir with a long spoon for 20 – 30 seconds, and that’s it. Serve with fresh ice for the best clarity and temperature.
The classic Negroni cocktail has been around for roughly 100 years, and it’s only getting started.
Where The Buffalo Roam
No contest, buffalo wings are the painful pleasure most likely to make the MVP list at Super Bowl parties across the nation. From dive bars to family dinners, there’s truly no wrong place or time to put a wing on it. Cauliflower has somehow become the go-to alternative for vegan eaters, perhaps owing to their inherently neutral flavor, accessibility, or compact florets that hold on to that fiery hot sauce brilliantly. Whatever the reason, I’m here for it.
What Are The Alamo Drafthouse Cauliflower Wings?
Vegan Cauliflower Buffalo Wings were one of the hottest recipes to come out of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema kitchens. The (no longer) secret formula was graciously released to starved movie-lovers in the early days of the pandemic. At least that’s one good thing to come from the initial lock down. Now, as they say, the show must go on. After a triumphant return, it’s absolutely a luxury to enjoy these spicy morsels from their place of origin, illuminated by the glow of the screen. Forget dry, stale popcorn; this is a substantial snack that could easily become the main event of the matinee.
That recipe is still a golden opportunity for innovation at home. Using the Alamo approach to kick-start the process, I daresay we can build an even better buffalo wing with just a little work.
How Can You Make Alamo Drafthouse Buffalo Cauliflower Even Better?
- Replace mushy frozen cauliflower with fresh.
- Cut the all-purpose flour with cornstarch for a crispier finish.
- Add more savory seasonings to the flour coating.
- Use any unsweetened non-dairy milk instead of soy for flexibility.
- Make a more well-rounded, seasoned sauce than using just straight hot sauce.
- Replace the thyme in the ranch dressing with dill, because who does that?
Granted, with all those modifications, it’s a substantially different recipe. To be frank, I find it very unlikely that the “real” version starts with frozen cauliflower in the first place, so maybe I’ve hit a better formula to come closer to the original, in an odd, roundabout sort of way. Regardless, it brings this vinegary, spicy snack to life in brilliant color. That should easily earn two thumbs up from the critics.