23 August 2010

Soul-Soothing Soup: How I Got My Cooking Mojo Back

As I’ve mentioned before, I haven’t felt like cooking much lately. It’s a combination of things, but primarily the weather (who wants to spend hours in the kitchen when it’s nice outside?) and my busy schedule have made cooking seem pretty unappealing. Plus, I have a few strategies for keeping it healthy and avoiding takeout even when I don’t feel like cooking.

But this weekend, for whatever reason, my cooking mojo came back in a BIG way. I mean, I seriously got the sudden urge to cook something complicated. Or, not complicated, just… time-consuming. And nothing says real COOKING to me like soup. Soup starts with such basic elements — meat, veggies, spices, water — and turns into something that completely transcends those things. I know, I know, who wants to cook soup in the summer? Well, it was a glum, slightly cooler day, so it felt right.

I have plenty of go-to soup recipes (that exist in my head), but I was in the mood to cook something new. Something with a lot of ingredients. Something over-the-top.

Who better to turn to for that than Paula Deen? Now, I’m not a Paula Deen apologist, but I do love that she embraces ingredients that other chefs would gasp in horror at the sight of. She’s not afraid of butter. Neither am I!

Some quick Googling on the way to Whole Foods yielded this recipe for The Lady and Sons Beef and Vegetable Soup. With a novel of an ingredient list and a total cooking time of 2-3 hours, I knew I had a winner.

I spent a small fortune on ingredients, but it was worth it to reclaim my mojo!

I did all the cooking at casa del boyfriend, so I had to buy even more spices that he didn’t have on hand. Like I said, a small fortune, but worth it.

The best part about this soup? The massive amount of meat involved!

I had to brown this nearly three-pound slab of boneless chuck roast (local, my friends!). In an unusual twist, I followed Paula’s recipe nearly to a tee. And I also used a gigantic pot to fit everything!

Thank goodness the boy has this enormous pot. I definitely don’t own one this big. After a fair amount of chopping, the soup began to resemble something pretty heart-warming.

For those of you who will never venture to Deen territory, this soup had: carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, green beans, black-eyed peas, butter beans, okra, and corn. After nearly three hours simmering, it was ready to eat. Pure bliss… in a bowl!