May I suggest a soup maker? You bung everything you've got (left over, or bought by mistake) in, add an onion and a stock cube, some boiling water up to the Max line (see what I did there?), season to taste (empty all those left over jars of pesto, chutney, curry paste etc), put the lid on, then press the button! 20 minutes or so later you've got soup. It always looks the same colour but tastes different every time, and if you find yourself with an end result you really, really like them hard luck, because you'll never be able to recreate it! Cauliflower leaves and stalks, mushrooms, celery, potatoes, leeks, ...: you name it, we've made soup from it. Never had a total failure, although some were more enjoyable than others.
I love my soup maker, too - my daughter bought it for me a few years back, & it comes out of the box every late Autumn - & is only put away when the threat of cold eases - so, around June time! Lol
Just fyi - Americans have no idea what a zhuzher might be. My dictionary function gave me British slang for jazzing something up but no clue about kitchen implements.
I am bewildered. Leeks, potatoes and a stick blender - what can possibly go wrong? I would take a chopped onion, chunks of potato, washed chopped leeks (earth gets between the layers), throw it all into about three quarters of a saucepan full of home-made stock, simmer till everything is soft, zhuzh it up and bob's your uncle.
If you want to be fussy you can fry the vegetables in butter first but I rarely bother. And add some sour cream or greek full fat yoghurt at the end, but it's not compulsory either. The secret is in the stock....every time you eat chicken or other poultry hurl all the skeleton into a slow cooker, cover in water and leave overnight on low. Here in the Czech Republic they eat so much soup (every day at lunchtime before the main meal) that the supermarkets sell chicken parts and beef and pork bones just for stockmaking.
PS Roasted cauliflower soup is a miracle of subtle taste to which we go back again and again. Made with duck stock, it's a feast fit for a king.
Thinking about over-ordering reminds me. Picture a Royal Navy frigate, circa 1970’s. Just left Pompey Dockyard (that’s Portsmouth for landlubbers). The caterer has just realised that the ten boxes of frozen battered cod balls (I say cod, but knowing the Navy it was probably dogfish) he thought he had ordered turned out to be a hundred. So all the way down to Gibraltar it was cod balls breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Although matelots don’t get lunch, it’s dinner at noon and tea at six. Only officers get lunch, and dinner at eight. You wouldn’t believe how many permutations of battered cod balls a navel chef could come up with. Just a little sailor’s ditty.
I had to make a pie at home and have the family critique it for home ec class a few decades ago. I chose a coconut cream pie. The crust turned out great (my mom actually stole that recipe from me). The filling started out good. But as I stirred away over the stove, it changed from a pleasant pale yellow to a snotty green. I hadn’t added anything, so wtf? My siblings had a jolly time giving their reviews, especially my 2 older brothers. Mom was perplexed (she was an amazing cook). My home ec teacher just shook her head when I told her about it. I was not a great student in the home arts. We finally decided there was a chemical reaction between the filling and the aluminum pan I was using, created by the vigorous stirring I thought was required.
I think the technical term is a stick blender.
I never remember the technical name - just, the 'zhuzher'!
May I suggest a soup maker? You bung everything you've got (left over, or bought by mistake) in, add an onion and a stock cube, some boiling water up to the Max line (see what I did there?), season to taste (empty all those left over jars of pesto, chutney, curry paste etc), put the lid on, then press the button! 20 minutes or so later you've got soup. It always looks the same colour but tastes different every time, and if you find yourself with an end result you really, really like them hard luck, because you'll never be able to recreate it! Cauliflower leaves and stalks, mushrooms, celery, potatoes, leeks, ...: you name it, we've made soup from it. Never had a total failure, although some were more enjoyable than others.
I love my soup maker, too - my daughter bought it for me a few years back, & it comes out of the box every late Autumn - & is only put away when the threat of cold eases - so, around June time! Lol
I always use the word "zhuzh" when using my immersion blender, but had no idea how to spell it. Thanks, Jodi!
Just fyi - Americans have no idea what a zhuzher might be. My dictionary function gave me British slang for jazzing something up but no clue about kitchen implements.
We didn't have that name for it, but I still have a working model about 100 years old, and it will still pinch a plug out of your thumb web.
I'm British and I've no idea what a zhuzher is! I assumed Jodi invented it 🤣
Entirely possible.
I thought when I saw your answer about whether you ever appeared in your books as a cameo that Max making soup might be the closest 🤣
Reading her blog reinforces my belief that Max is actually Jodi’s imaginary alter ego, a la Walter Mitty.
Oh, it heats it up and zhuzhes (Smooth, Chunky, Drink and Blend the buttons say, but we've only ever used smooth) it all on its ownsome!
I am bewildered. Leeks, potatoes and a stick blender - what can possibly go wrong? I would take a chopped onion, chunks of potato, washed chopped leeks (earth gets between the layers), throw it all into about three quarters of a saucepan full of home-made stock, simmer till everything is soft, zhuzh it up and bob's your uncle.
If you want to be fussy you can fry the vegetables in butter first but I rarely bother. And add some sour cream or greek full fat yoghurt at the end, but it's not compulsory either. The secret is in the stock....every time you eat chicken or other poultry hurl all the skeleton into a slow cooker, cover in water and leave overnight on low. Here in the Czech Republic they eat so much soup (every day at lunchtime before the main meal) that the supermarkets sell chicken parts and beef and pork bones just for stockmaking.
PS Roasted cauliflower soup is a miracle of subtle taste to which we go back again and again. Made with duck stock, it's a feast fit for a king.
Thinking about over-ordering reminds me. Picture a Royal Navy frigate, circa 1970’s. Just left Pompey Dockyard (that’s Portsmouth for landlubbers). The caterer has just realised that the ten boxes of frozen battered cod balls (I say cod, but knowing the Navy it was probably dogfish) he thought he had ordered turned out to be a hundred. So all the way down to Gibraltar it was cod balls breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Although matelots don’t get lunch, it’s dinner at noon and tea at six. Only officers get lunch, and dinner at eight. You wouldn’t believe how many permutations of battered cod balls a navel chef could come up with. Just a little sailor’s ditty.
I had to make a pie at home and have the family critique it for home ec class a few decades ago. I chose a coconut cream pie. The crust turned out great (my mom actually stole that recipe from me). The filling started out good. But as I stirred away over the stove, it changed from a pleasant pale yellow to a snotty green. I hadn’t added anything, so wtf? My siblings had a jolly time giving their reviews, especially my 2 older brothers. Mom was perplexed (she was an amazing cook). My home ec teacher just shook her head when I told her about it. I was not a great student in the home arts. We finally decided there was a chemical reaction between the filling and the aluminum pan I was using, created by the vigorous stirring I thought was required.
The triumph of optimism over experience is always a joy to see.
I have every sympathy for you, Jodi - 'though Leek & Potato Soup is my go-to favourite all winter! Lol
But I tried to cook some pasta yesterday - & my house still smells of burnt pasta today, & I'm minus one pan, too far gone to rescue! Lol
I KNEW that I shouldn't have picked up my book to read for "just a few minutes more!"
Trouble is, I can never resist a good book!
I'm totally blaming you, though!.Lol