perfidy

Sez Patton, in the comments to this Buckethead post in which he offers an ancestral food-sacrament to all of us, "I read all the way down to the end presuming I'd see a Johno byline." Heh. Yeah, in the guns/butter debate, I'm a butter kinda guy. Given that I'm a man of hifalutin tastes who likes talking about food only slightly less than I like eating it, and that only slightly less than cooking it, it's a little wierd I have never thought to presume that anyone else in the world would give a crap about my recipes. Well, thanks to Patton and Buckethead, that's changing.

In keeping with my status as an at-home vegetarian, I specialize in recipes that don't include meat and that don't make you miss it. Some of them (Buffalo tofu) sound unspeakably gross but are actually bery, bery good, and some of them are legitimately tasty no matter how you look at it.

Recently, I've been making this soup every couple of weeks. It's spicy, rich, makes for a great quick meal with a grilled cheese, and best of all manages to come thisclose to tasting like real Indian food made by real people named Jagdish. Enjoy!

THE FILTHY IMPERIALIST’S CARROT SOUP

1 ½ pounds carrots, peeled and sliced
4 Tbsp butter
½ cup Basmati or Jasmine rice, rinsed
1 fresh thai red or cayenne pepper (or less; taste for spiciness), seeded and chopped, or 1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes to taste
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp sugar
salt
pepper
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger. Absolutely do not use powdered ginger.
1 tsp cumin seeds (or more), or, if you must, 1 1/2 tsp very fresh powdered cumin.
5 cups broth (I use vegetable stock, but unsalted chicken stock will do too, you filthy murtherer)
8 oz (1 cup) light coconut milk or 6 oz regular fatty coconut milk (more to taste)
Scant 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
optional- 1 tsp non-McCormick’s curry powder, pref. vindaloo.

Over medium-high heat, cook carrots, rice, peppers (if using fresh) and sugar in the butter, stirring often, until carrots begin to soften a bit, about 10 minutes. Avoid excessive browning. Add ginger, thyme, pepper flakes (if using) cumin seeds and salt and cook three minutes more. Add the stock, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to simmer for ½ hour. Remove soup from heat and let cool for five minutes. Puree by any means necessary: I like a stick blender and if doing a hifalutin meal would use the Foley’s food mill for the very height of smoothness, but your experience may vary. Strain if desired through a fine-mesh strainer. Return to pot. Add cilantro and coconut milk. If using optional curry powder, heat a little butter in a pan and cook curry for 30 seconds over low heat, stirring, then add to soup. Taste for salt, body, and subtil coconuttiness, and adjust seasonings.Serve with homemade (homemade!) croutons.

This would go very well as a soup course before a nice roast pork loin larded with garlic and rubbed with olive oil, dry mustard and rosemary, plus maybe some root veggies roasted with thyme, oil, sea salt and pepper, and steamed broccoli finished in a sauté pan with a sauce made with shallot, Dijon mustard and white wine with a squeeze of lemon juice and a little lemon zest and finished with a knob of butter.

[wik] Note: correction above-- original called for too much hot pepper. That has now been corrected. The soup should be spicy, piquant even, but not vicious. No "ring of fire" should ensue the next day.