It's cold here, and I'm sick. So I made this soup this weekend:

http://www.jemangelaville.com/2009/02/10/red-lentil-soup-with-garam-masala-recipe/

I have a soup inquiry I am hoping someone can answer. Tomorrow I plan to make some split pea soup in the slow cooker. I don't have a ham bone and don't want to go to the store for just one item but I do have some liquid smoke. Would using the liquid smoke work? If so, how much would I use and at what point would I want to add it?

Liquid smoke will work in the sense that it will impart a smokey flavor to your soup.

What's nice about the bone or ham shank is the gelatinous quality it will lend to your soup.

If you do use liquid smoke, use it sparingly and at the end.

I need a recipe for vegetarian soup using canned black beans and red and gold bell peppers. Any one have any suggestions?

How do I get the most flavor from my mushrooms. Sometimes, when I cook them, they have a wonderful flavor; they really hit the umami part of my taste buds. Then other times, they're flat, dull, and just don't hit the mark. Any suggestions to correct this tissue?

issue not tissue*

@kelleyk,

black bean soup with red and gold bell peppers:

cook diced onions in olive oil until translucent. add freshly toasted, ground cumin seed and minced garlic. pour in a few tablespoons of dry sherry. add drained and rinsed black beans and vegetable broth. add salt and black pepper and simmer. taste for seasoning. puree or leave as is.

dice the bell peppers finely and stir into the soup.

garnish the soup with a dollop of sour cream if you'd like and chopped cilantro.

duo of bell pepper soup:

in a blender, add yellow bell peppers, a clove of garlic, a little salt and pepper a little olive oil, and a little balsamic vinegar. blend till smooth.

repeat with the red bell peppers.

heat both soups separately and when ready to serve, with two measuring cups, pour the soups simultaneously side by side into a bowl creating a yin yang effect.

@brianmac,

caramelization is key with mushrooms. if you are cooking them in a pan, they will go through a couple of stages. first, they will release water--mushrooms are mostly water. then, as the mushroom shrinks and the water begins to cook off, they will undergo caramelization. It's important to let them do their thing. wait for the water to cook off and don't stir them until you start to smell the toasting in the pan.

you can also roast mushrooms to achieve maximum umami. preheat a cookie sheet in a hot oven. meanwhile, have some whole mushrooms (any kind) marinating in a quick toss of olive oil, a splash of balsamic and some salt and pepper.

when the pan in the oven is heated up quickly place the mushrooms on the pan and close the oven. there should be a nice sizzle and your mushrooms will roast much like a piece of meat. you can turn them over to get some caramelization on the other side as well.

@kellyk,

sorry! I thought that the peppers were canned as well. You take the same recommendation but char, peel and seed the peppers first.

I want to cook two homemade pizzas at the same time in my little gas oven. How do I cook them at the same time without over cooking one and under cooking another?

If you can fit them both in the oven you can rotate them throughout the cooking process.

If it seems too tight for two pizzas. Cook them both separately and then reheat them together by figuring out a way to stack them.

for the longest time i've been wanting to make cake balls.
however most the recipes i've seen call for confectioner's coating/almond bark. which i haven't been able to find without hiking down to a specialty bake shop and even then i'm not sure it's going to be there.
what have you used that's worked?
do i need to get the bark?

I'm not that great of a baker and could really use some help:

I am looking for a recipe for a muffin/bread that doesn't have any added sugar/honey/maple syrup.

I want to make something for my daughter (she's only 11 months) because she loves bread, bagels and such and I would like to add some veggies to her breads...pumpkin bread with zucchini? Zucchini and carrot muffins?

And, to make it all more complicated, she can't have eggs.

Texture isn't as important as to a grown-up...I actually think she would prefer dense over light and fluffy.

Rachels-

Google eggless quickbread and tons of recipes come up. Most recipes you can use things like zucchini, carrots, raisins, etc interchangeably as long as you don't drastically change the quantities.

In regards to the sugar:
I haven't experimented with this much myself, but I'm thinking you could substitute the sugar with a mushy fruit (bananas and applesauce come to mind). The fruit would sweeten the bread, keeps the proportions of ingredients intact, and keep out the sugars.

I hope this helps a bit.

I'm making salmon for the first time in my life on Friday. I've also invited over six friends for dinner. (Eep!) I bought the frozen salmon from Trader Joes (the frozen salmon from Alaska) and it's currently thawing in my fridge. I'm planning to prepare them using the parchment paper preparation, thinking of topping each with some lemon and fresh dill and then just a small little drizzle of olive oil. But I have lots of questions:
1) should I use a small pat of butter instead of oil?
2) any tips/tricks with the parchment paper method?
3) do I need to salt and pepper the salmon?

I'm planning on making some asparagus risotto and a salad to go with the salmon. Do you all think that risotto is too heavy to go with a salmon dish? Do you think I'm crazy to prepare risotto for a dinner party (b/c it has to be served pretty much immediately)?

These are all my closest friends, so if I bomb it all I'll just order pizza and they'll tease me about it for a while. But I'm eager to make a nice semi-fancy meal for them and so would really like to not screw things up. :)

Laetitae: I love to do risotto for a dinner party because its a great way to bring people into the kitchen to have a hand in at stirring. But, I have always done risotto as my main course because I'm not that ambitious to try a fish dish in addition to. But, if these are good friends who you can flub with, why not? And yes, always salt and pepper the salmon or in my opinion anything I am cooking, I would go with olive oil over the salmon but make sure it isn't too strong of a flavor, if it is, go w/butter. And, I can't comment on the parchment method.

My friends are throwing me a bridal shower next month, and we're going to make loads of sushi instead of play silly games. I'm the only one with a rice cooker, though, and one load of rice isn't going to be enough for 10 people. Any suggestions on keeping the rice hot and spreadable so that we can have people roll and cook more at the same time?

I'm getting to do the unwanted and unexpected life without a fridge this week. Mine just died and I have an unhelpful landlord situation.

The worst thing is not being able to cook and have the leftovers for lunch the next day.

sigh.

@erin in indy:
Cheap rice cookers are quite cheap. I suspect you could pick up a couple of extras for less than $30. Considering the cost of other sushi ingredients, that is a mere drop in the bucket.

Just got some blue potatoes; any recommendations for something that they're specially great in?

@erin in indy,
At Chinese restaurants, cooked rice is often held in a steamer before serving. I don't know if the technique is appropriate for sushi rice.

I bought some sweet black rice at the health-food store because it was pretty, and I'm wondering what it might be good for. Is it really sweet?

@erin in indy-

How about keeping extra rice in a covered dish in a low heat oven (200ish F)?

@esmebell,
Sweet black rice is used in Chinese cooking to make desserts, sometimes mixed with white glutinous rice. I remember having a coconut black and white rice pudding (it was served in yin-yang configuration).

It's just a little bit sweet, so you could serve it like regular (glutinous) rice too.

I hope this is the right place to share this; I just finished off the leftovers from the batch of Hungarian Mushroom Soup I made last night, and I love it so much, I thought I should share it for soup month.

This is from a 1980s publication of the Moosewood Cookbook, with my own comments and recommendations included.

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

12-16 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced -- I like baby portobellos.
2 C onion, chopped
4 Tbsp. butter -- I use extra virgin olive oil instead.
3 Tbsp. flour
1 C milk
1-2 tsp. dill
1-2 Tbsp. paprika -- I use 2, since I like it spicier.
1 Tbsp. tamari (essentially soy sauce)
1 tsp. salt
2 C stock or water
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 C fresh parsley, chopped -- I usually skip this.
1/2 C sour cream
black pepper

Saute the onions in 2 Tbsp. butter (or EVOO). Salt lightly. Add mushrooms, 1 tsp. dill, 1/2 C stock, tamari, and paprika. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in saucepan (or just add 2 Tbsp. EVOO), whisk in flour, then milk, simmer 10 minutes. Stir in mushroom mix and remaining stock.

Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice, parsley, sour cream, and extra dill (which you can sprinkle on top once it's in the bowl, for extra pretties).

The resulting soup is creamy and spicy, with a gorgeous reddish color, and the mushrooms add a nice meaty, earthy texture.

Thanks, Art!

I love this soup that I once found in blog comments and I now can't remember the blog name to give any further credit. It really is delicious and makes me feel good.
"11/02/02
A Cook from Boston, MA: I'm 34 and have been making this since I could stand up on the stool in my Yia Yia's kitchen (my grandmother who is now 80 yrs. old). Soupa Avgolemono: 8 c. homemade chix stock, 1 c. orzo, 4 eggs/ separated, juice of 3 lemons, fresh ground black pepper. This recipe will make a perfectly balanced salty, rich, filling, comforting soup. Boil broth, add orzo and simmer until tender 20 min. Whip whites until medium peaks, add yolks beating continuously, add juice, beating. Temper eggs with 2 c. broth, adding in constant slow stream while continuing to beat furiously so you do not curdle the eggs. Add egg mixture back to remaining broth and serve. When reheating, do not re-boil - heat slowly until very warm or you may curdle the eggs. Garnish with thinly sliced lemon. I sometimes add more than juice of 3 lemons, as the sourness is the best part of the taste! You should taste lemon, richness of eggs, salt of chicken, and starch of rice, in that order and you've made it perfectly. You can also add thin pieces of shredded chicken meat (pull off bone in strips), although classic recipes don't include chicken, vegetables, garlic or any of the ingredients many reviewers added to "fix" this recipe. Try mine and you'll be hooked for life!
http://www.barnappetit.com/2009/02/yup-its-still-soup-time.html