So.
I had some tortellini in the refrigerator I needed to use (I’m making carne asada with rojas and guacamole tomorrow), as well as tomatoes I bought last week at the Amish farmers market (they needed to be used up, like today), so I decided this morning to make soup. Since today was the Pilgrimage to Sam’s Club (and the Wal-Mart Supercenter next door), I picked up a pack of six red bell peppers (I can easily use them all in no time), some carrots, celery, a bag of vidalias and a bag of hot yellow onions, and a few chickens (in addition to coffee, and the other staples we always buy at Sam’s). At Wal-Mart, I picked up some baby spinach and mushrooms, some apples (not for dinner — see below), and a couple of quart cartons of Kitchen Solutions chicken stock.
When I got home, I put one of the chickens in a pan. I took a vidalia and a hot yellow onion and quartered them, then put them around the chicken, then I took a bunch of carrots and celery and put them on top of the onions. I put the pan in a 500 degree oven for an hour, let the chicken rest for 30 minutes, removed as much of the chicken as I could, then tossed it in a stock pot, with all the roasted vegetables. I put a couple of cups of water in the pan and brought it to a boil to get all the good bits out, and poured it over the carcass, then added a quart of stock and a couple of cups of water. I quartered the tomatoes and tossed them in, brought it to a vigorous boil, covered it tightly, and put it on my simmer burner.
When it’s done, I’ll strain it, run the tomatoes through the food mill into the stock, and season it. I’ll bring it to a boil, add one of the red bell peppers (seeded, of course, and minced), the mushrooms and the tortellini, and simmer it about seven minutes, until they’re done. I’ll shred the spinach and add it about a minute before the tortellini are done. Then, we’ll eat the soup with plenty of grated parmagianno.
Oh. The apples. Well, you’ll recall that there was that particularly vile restaurant, Passage to India, but across the street was the Naked Chocolate Cafe. That’s where I had that amazing caramel apple tart. I’m going to re-create it. Tomorrow.
Ah, food. Ya gotta love it.