san francisco clam chowder: tasty memories of a lovely road trip.

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Have you ever wanted to travel, to get away, to just keep driving? Have you ever talked about such things, such feelings, such ideas, and never acted on them? I know I have. Until this past weekend.
17 hours of driving. 3400 kilometers. Several mishaps. Growing girth the further South we went.

This past weekend, I drove to San Francisco.

 

 

 

 

The photos speak for themselves.

 I read the New York Times throughout (to feel more American). 

 San Francisco Clam Chowder

3 tbs. butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
5/6 new potatoes, chopped with skin
1 tbs. fresh oregano, minced
6 bay leaves
1 lb. clams, and juice
1 cup chicken stock
2 cups cream
1 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
salt, to taste
fresh ground pepper, to taste

large sourdough bun

1. Saute onions, garlic and celery in the butter, in a large soup pot, until caramalized.

2. Add the potatoes and cook for several more minutes.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients. Let simmer for twenty minutes.

4. Serve in a hollowed out bread bun.

5. Pray. Eat. Enjoy. Road trip and be blessed with the ethereal beauty of your surroundings.

thai spiced pumpkin soup: a ghoulish brew for halloween madness.

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Oh spooks. Oh ghosts. Oh creepiness. How I am scared of thee.

Roasted pumpkin represents Fall, and is the epitome of all things warming, comforting, and celebratory of the season.

But yet I revel in thee every year. Stelna and I made our Halloween costumes on Saturday -- I sewed her tutu whileshe created our feather clumps for our outfits. We were the epitome of good and evil, dark and light, the antagonist and protagonist: the black swan and white swan ballerinas.

We then headed over to Jered's to remark and marvel at other's costumes. While they prepared for the night, I made food -- pumpkin, to follow the Autumn trend.

It was a hit. And gave us a warm sustenance used by our bodies to fuel our rain-drenched night.   

 Thai Pumpkin Soup

1 medium pumpkin, roasted and skinned
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tbs. Fish sauce
5 kaffir lime leaves
3 lemongrass stalks, the tender part chopped and the rest just left in stalks
1 can coconut cream
4 cups chicken stock
1 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Coriander
1 birds eye pepper, chopped

1. Place all ingredients, except the coconut milk, in a large soup pot and simmer for 45 mins.

2. Remove the kaffir leaves and lemongrass stalks. Purée the soup in a blender and add the coconut. Simmer for another five minutes until completely combined.

3. Pray. Eat. Enjoy. Go spook.

creamy pumpkin soup: a jack-o-lantern in a bowl.

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Pumpkins are one of the cheapest vegetables yet they can be blended to make one of the heartiest soups. One that reminds you of ghosts and cornucopias in the same mouthful.

A pot of pumpkin percolating (try saying that fast ten times) is a delight which creates savory steam that fills my apartment. I love soups - not only for the warm creaminess that saturates every crevice of your mouth and slips easily down your throat, but also for the smells that so easily pervade every area of our abode.

With goodly hunks of bread and hungry stomachs (all that picture hanging in my room is tough work!), we tucked in to our soups. I think (if I could find a better catch-phrase) I topped Cambell's 'Mmm mmm good'.

Creamy Pumpkin Soup

4 tbs. olive oil
1 large yellow onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
6 c. of roasted pumpkin, chopped and peeled (you can also boil the pumpkin to remove the skin, but roasting it makes it taste better)
5 c. chicken stock  
1 c. 2% milk
1 1/2 c. heavy cream (I subbed 2% milk because one ounce of cream would probably kill me, but tastes so much better!)
ground black pepper
3 tsp. tarragon leaves
salt, to taste
pinch, cloves
pinch, cinnamon
pinch, nutmeg
1 tsp. brown sugar


1. Heat oil  in the soup pot and fry the onions and garlic for about five minutes, or until caramelized.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the milk and cream. Simmer for 1/2 an hour.

4. Blend the soup until completely smooth. Add the cream and milk and simmer for a couple more minutes. Taste it and add more spices if need be.

4.Pray. Eat. Enjoy. Alliterate an antecedent.