first day on the blog

Welcome to The Soup Loop, my brand new beautiful blog. The title refers to my obsession with making soup, eating soup, and reading soup cookbooks. But that's not all that interests me. Check back often for the rest of the story.

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when I smell bacon, I can do anything

I will never be a vegetarian. I might cut waaaaaay back on the meat to help shut down Big Food (read this book ), but I will always permit myself to enjoy a bit of the pig now and then. When I eat it, I feel calm. I'm safe. I'm young. And more importantly, I'm enjoying the heck out of my food. Potato soup has many incarnations, and this Potato-Cheese Soup with Bacon is a combo of two favorite soup memories of mine (potato-cheese soup at the late-twentieth-century cas-din chain, "The Black-Eyed Pea," and a hearty bacon-potato soup made by one J. Meyer for a winter birthday last year). I got to thinking about the warming, cozying qualities of potato soup last week, when we had a cold spell (below 40!) in New Orleans. Brrrrr. Anyway, it was time to get to work. Recreating soups I've eaten at restaurants or other gatherings is a favorite activity of mine, but I'd never attempted to make one that was so far back in my memory. I ate that soup at the Black-Eyed ...

Chicken Provencal, Ya'll.

This is one of the best things I've ever cooked or eaten...I took Daniel Boulud's recipe and adapted it slightly. It's one of those dishes that gives you more leftovers than you think it will, that tastes better than you think it will, that impresses your friends more than you think it will, and teaches you a lot about cooking in the process. In the photo you can see big chunks of potatoes, chicken pieces still on the bone (just barely), nicoise olives, red bell pepper...vive la provencal. Note: using canned tomatoes saves you some time and another dirty pot. When tomatoes aren't the feature of a dish, I see no problem using canned, even in summer. Chicken Provencal (adapted from Daniel Boulud's Cooking in New York City ) one 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 serving pieces 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil salt and freshly ground pepper 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 8 spring onions, white part with 1/2-inch of green tops 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch thick st...

woah woah woah pozole!

Yesterday was, yes, too hot to cook soup for hours. But it didn't matter once we got the new issue of Gourmet . You'll see several of the recipes from their articles on Latin food in the next week or two at Soup Loop. Last night belonged to Pozole Rojo ...and guess what? This morning we were still in love. The truth is, when you set out to make pozole (a Mexican chile-sauced pork and hominy stew), you're in for several hours of cooking. Not working straight for four hours, but being near the kitchen for sure. I'd never made pozole before, so didn't really know how working with the dried chiles would go, or how spicy the finished dish would be, and there are some things I will change the next time I make it. First, I won't completely seed the dried chiles. My finished soup had less heat than I was wanting (my guests and I dressed up our bowls with some minced fresh jalapeno, and problem solved). Second, I will follow the instructions to tie the herbs together......

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