Is there a place where rain and cold don’t equal bread and soup? The latin or greek roots of “rain” and “cold” must harken to “bread” and “soup.” And if we further investigated the derivatives, would we find more specific information like “sourdough” and “broccoli?” I think we would, but that kind of research is beyond my scope. What I’m really good at researching is recipes. So, while I present you with this glorious picture of a Broccoli Soup Bread Bowl, I will not be giving you the recipes. Why? Cause I didn’t write them, but I sure did make their babies. And those are some good babies!
People! Martha Stewart knows some things. Beside what the daily schedule for a prisoner looks like, this lady knows soups. I fully credit Martha here and her amazing book, Martha Stewart’s Cooking School, but I also credit that I used my amazing homemade turkey stock made from the carcass of a Thanksgiving turkey and frozen for times like these. (That word: carcass). Make your own stocks and broths. Keep them in the freezer. Send me thank you notes.
*Side note. Don’t use the heavy cream. You’ll be amazed that you don’t need it. I was.
The bread. I’ve been making really good bread for about 1.5 years. I had my sourdough starter for about 1.3 years. She has had babysitters and vacations (she loves Charleston, SC) and is an overall hungry entity, but she’s also quite giving and worth the effort to keep her alive.
Here I’m sourcing two amazing bread bakers. My barm, or sourdough starter, comes from The Bread Bible. A sourdough starter takes at least a week to develop and if it’s cold and rainy it’s probably going to take longer. The sourdough recipe comes from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Because it’s cold in my town and my old residence is weakly heated this bread took an 18 hour final rise. That means that the sourness had time to get happy. Luckily, and accidentally (which is a great thing in the kitchen), I discovered how to get as close to the real deal San Francisco taste I’ve been searching 1.3 years for. Isn’t the answer always this: Time?
Now, go do your research and bake and soup and be dry and warm. And send me thank you notes.
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