Box to pot to face

No wine, no stock, and no clue what flavor palate turnips, carrots, and leeks should have. And still, with the remnants of last week’s CSA box wilting to ruin and the fresh produce from this week’s leaving me uncertain of what meal I could pull together without more shopping, I attempted a variation on a soup recipe I found a few days ago. 

The soup only called for leeks and carrots. My new box added turnips to the mix. What the hell do you do with turnips?

What I did with turnips, and my sad wilting carrots, and my last enormous leek, was slice and soak them all. No stock, chicken or vegetable, and too lazy/cheap to go to the store, I seasoned a little bit of water and dropped in all of the veggies with three cloves of garlic.

Caraway salt and dried sage fell into the pot next, and then I put a top on it and left it at medium temperature to work itself out. My sister laughed as she asked me what I was cooking. I guess I didn’t sound too optimistic…truthfully, I wasn’t. 

I let it cool, and then I put it all in the blender. I have an interesting relationship with my blender. I’ve shredded a silicone spatula and a wooden spoon. 

No shredding this time, except the vegetables that were supposed to be shredded. Back into the pot and simmered a little longer, finished off with some Tony Chachere's creole seasoning and garnished with turnip greens, pumpkin seeds, and chives. 

…and bread.

I love fresh bread. It isn’t something I cook all the time.  I baked it a lot in Uganda because the bread in my town was so bad. I loved bread so much that I baked it without a real oven, instead, concocting a Dutch oven. The crust never browned as much, and the bred didn’t rise as high, but it was delicious.

Tonight I was impatient. I didn’t have the three hours to proof yeast and the slow rise and eventual punch down for bread. Instead, god bless google, I looked up a quick bread recipe and slathered the finished slices with butter.

And it was delicious…the whole meal was delicious.