Simple Variations
Everyday Italian, Giada De Laurentiis' show on the Food Network, always used to be on when Shannon and I were getting ready for work in the morning. I kind of grew to despise her show, because it seemed like every episode was end-on-end tomatoes, basil, parmesan and pasta with some other Italian element thrown in. I've come to realize that's sort of the beauty of Italian cooking though, it's just simple variations with quality ingredients. The idea behind Everyday Italian is great to me now, because I really could eat Italian every day and since I have to come up with new things to cook every day too, I can just scan her repitoire for ideas.
Tonight I made a variation of one of her soup recipes with Parmesan Phyllo Crackers or croutons. I'm not really sure what the crackers reminded me of, maybe a flaky cheese sandwich, but they were a very nice compliment. Actually, I'd say without it the soup would be lacking something. The Zucchini Noodle Soup was very delicate. It reminded me of my mom's turkey soup when I was growing up, mostly because of the flavor of egg noodle and broth with a bit of extra salt. The parmesan has such a strong flavor, but it definitely adds to the soup rather than being an overbearing one.
I really love the way that leeks smell when they're sautéing. I guess that's why it's considered an aromatic vegetable. Unless that's just celery and I just assumed someone had dubbed it that. The original soup called for the addition of artichokes, but I omitted them. This was entirely by mistake because I swore I had canned artichokes in my cupboard and in mid-preparation of the soup I scanned the cupboard and discovered there were none. I suppose this stands to reason as we're currently emptying the contents of the cupboards for the move and why would I have something like artichokes left over? There's nothing but canned salmon and black olives in there.
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Generally, that’s celery, but leeks are related to onions, which are aromatics.
I like Giada a lot. I feel bad when she gets grief for having a big head. She graduated at the top of her class at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and she definitely knows her stuff. I’m glad you’re giving her kudos, and seeing as how I have some of the ingredients already, I might be making a version of this soup soon!
I think leeks are celery-onions. I really like them, but I hardly ever buy them because 1 leek generally costs as much as an entire bag of onions here.
I didn’t realize she had a big head. Perhaps it’s just because she has such a small body.
Cylons … weren’t those the bad guys on Battlestar Gallactica? I do like leeks, too, but you’re right–they’re pricey. It can also be a challenge to find quality leeks. Plus, sometimes I feel bitter that such a big chunk of it seems unuseable.
Maybe everyone else is out of proportion. I know I am!
I wish you could just cut that part off. That reminds me of a tip I learned from… someone on the Food Network, when making coleslaw. Just take a leaf or two of the red cabbage if you’re not planning on using more and shred that. The 3 cents worth of cabbage might not make the cashiers or produce guys very happy, but it’s definitely worth the scowls, I think.
Yeah–it’s like having to pay for the bones when you want only the meat.
I wish I could just take a hunk of what I need. We can do it with bananas–why not with parsley?!
Yeah.. herbs are never by weight, just by bunch. Sometimes this is to my benefit though.
Not when I only need a quarter-bunch. Mostly I feel bad for wasting any because I try so hard not to do that.
I feel bad about wasting meat products, but not really much else. Unless I paid a lot for it! I’d rather have way too much herb than not enough, at least.
I don’t like wasting food at all. I think I learned that after working in soup kitchens where we’d have to weed though some really disgusting produce to find stuff we could actually use. Another benefit is I learned to be really creative in cleaning my pantry and fridge.
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