Eat Boutique

Life has been a whirlwind since my return from London. Work is busy. Home is busy. The dog is in desperate need of love. The same could be said for the husband, I suppose. All that said, I’ve barely had time to cook, and certainly have had no time to update this site. I do apologize for the interlude and hope to make it up to you in the coming weeks.

This past weekend was a mess of laundry, cleaning, dog-loving, husband-loving and cooking. Finally.

My Mom, the convenient vegetarian, visited and helped me clean out the fridge. To our shock, we discovered about six pounds of organic carrots from my CSA. I suppose we just kept piling them up week to week. Those poor carrots, huddled up in the lowest part of the fridge, waiting for some inspiration.

Together, we cleaned and sliced half of them for convenient work-day snacks, perfect with a little tub of garlic hummus. I should say, my Mom cleaned and sliced them. She’ll do anything after several glasses of red wine.

The other half was cleaned, chopped and dropped into a huge pot of the following: vegetable broth, organic sliced leeks, a couple cloves of garlic, salt, pepper and 4 teaspoons of Penang Coconut Curry, a lovely spice I stowed in my luggage on the way home from London. I brought everything to a boil and then let it simmer for a while, close to an hour.

[Insert several more glasses of red wine here.]

When the carrots were easily pierced with a knife, I pureed them in a blender, in batches. Once smooth, I tossed the emulsion back into the pot, along with a can of light coconut milk. Another 15 minutes on the stove, and the soup was ready for a late lunch.

As I mentioned, my Mom is the convenient vegetarian. When she hates the protein before her, she can eat only veggies. When it’s a thick, nicely-seared steak, she’s suddenly available for more than a few bites.

Thankfully, she was in vegetarian mode this weekend and devoured two helpings of the soup. I sent her home with several portions for the week and kept a few for myself. It was luscious, thick and truly flavorful. Next time you’re in Notting Hill, make sure to pick up some of that curry. There’s nothing like it.

Chocolate & Zucchini is one of my favorite food blogs. Ever. The photos are lovely and the tone is very conversational, kinda like talking to a friend. I actually met the blogger Clotilde Dusoulier last April at her book signing at Chez Henri in Cambridge, MA (a lovely boutique restaurant you absolutely must try). She was so humble and sweet and very friendly, not at all what you would expect from a young French woman who has become famous practically over night, cooking on The Today Show and meeting fancy celebrity pastry chefs.

Clotilde’s most recent entry is Potato Leek Soup. I happened to have a huge pile of organic leeks in the fridge and 2 potatoes in the cupboard, so I felt karma was pulling me to this recipe. I am also trying to eat as healthy as possible - I mean, who isn’t at the start of a new year, right? (Don’t worry, give me a few months and I’ll be back to IV-ing cookies and candy. After all, Easter is only 2 months away.)

I did edit this recipe slightly. All Clotilde’s measurements were lovely and though I liked the soup, I wanted a touch more depth tonight. To do this, I added 2 tablespoons of light sour cream to the pot once I had pureed the entire soup. It added a touch of tang and creaminess, without adding cream or creme fraiche. I did plop a little more light sour cream upon serving, but that’s totally unnecessary. Unless your a dairy-addict like myself. Then go ahead and plop it on. By the way, I also did not add the super green pieces of leeks back into the pot. My husband has texture issues, and I didn’t want to give him the rope with which to hang me. Speaking of…

I’m not sure how many times I’ve stated that the husband hates vegetables. But he loved this soup. I think that his Irish family placed so many too-well-done-and-mushy veggies in front of him as a kid that he hates ALL veggies now. I’m slowly trying to re-educate his palette, introducing old veggies in new ways. He loved the soup, and had two servings.