Carrot Ginger Soup

This past week, I enjoyed Taste on Broadway with Pete, the girls, and several friends. It was a fun time! Taste on Broadway is similar to the Taste of Chicago and any other 'Taste ofs' that happen in a lot of cities. You eat, drink, listen to music and start again...eat, drink, and listen to music. The event was great and it wasn't overwhelmingly crowded, or at least the amount of people didn't annoy me.

One of the best recipes that I tried was a Carrot Ginger soup, which reminded me of a similar soup that I had in a cooking class. I cannot remember what cooking class this is from; therefore, there is no credit listed, but it is not my recipe!

Carrot Ginger Soup
- Olive Oil, one turn of the pan
- 1.5 lbs. of peeled carrots, chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 rib of celery, chopped
- 1 medium-sized knob of fresh ginger, peeled and minced (it if difficult to put a measurement on this!)
- 1 cup of uncooked white rice
- 6 cups of chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp marjoram
- Salt & Pepper to taste

In a dutch oven over medium heat, add olive oil, carrots, onion, celery, and uncooked rice. Once veggies are tender, add in chicken stock. Add ginger, bay leaf, and marjoram and simmer covered until rice is cooked; about 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally. Remove bay leaves.

Puree soup in a blender or with an immersion blend. Note: If you are not already aware, you cannot just dump hot soup in a blender and blend. You have to do a little bit of soup at a time (maybe 2-3 cups) and hold down the top of the blender lid with a kitchen towel. The combination of heat and blending creates a lot of pressure and the lid can fly off, which will turn your kitchen a lovely shade of carrot orange. 

Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Recipe Alterations
- You can reduce one cup of cream until it coats the back of a spoon and top the soup with the cream.
- You can top the soup with cream or plain yogurt.
- You can top the soup with fresh herbs - maybe some parsley and chives.
- You can add a pinch of curry into the soup for some added flavor.

Gourmet Cooking Class

It has been awhile since I've posted anything because I don't always know what to write about (even though that is what I do for a living). My good friend Lorrie said, "Just write about life, your thoughts, etc." So, I guess that's what I'll start doing.

But, before I start writing about life, thoughts, and other boring Lindsay topics, you get another FOOD POST. Man, I love food :)

Lorrie, Lisa and I are taking a gourmet cooking class through a local college here in Green Bay. This is the second or third time we've taken a class and for some reason, everything is funny. I'm not sure what the issue was last night, but we couldn't stop laughing; everything was funny. Ladies - you know what I'm talking about. You have those times where you just laugh so hard with each other that you're crying. Well, that was last night.

Anyway, the three of us were in charge of black bean empanadas and a frittata last night. The empanadas were fantastic and amazing. They were easy to make, but a little time consuming. There are some recipes that we receive in class that I know I'll never make, but the empanadas will be on my list, especially when I entertain.

The frittata was another story - holy cow did we mess that dish up, mainly because we couldn't stop talking, which meant we weren't reading the recipe. The recipe only called for 8 or 10oz of spinach and we just put in the entire bag (not paying attention). Yuck! If you REALLY like spinach, you could have enjoyed it, but it just tasted like grass to me. Blah.

One interesting thing about cooking classes is that you get to see a different side of your friends and sometimes these group cooking situations make you look at your self! For example, Lorrie is so organized and on top of things like I am...we're kindred spirits that way. But man, she just doesn't want to cook; and her comments are hilarious. I hope that Lisa and I have been able to help give her a bit of confidence through some classes. I've discovered that even when I don't want to be in control, well, I want to be in control! Not the best trait for working in groups, but I guess that is who I am! :) I've also realized that after three hours in a kitchen, I AM DONE! I get antsy and impatient waiting for all the other kitchens to finish their dishes. Again, it's who I am, so I embrace it :)

The three "L's" - Lisa, Lorrie, Lindsay

MMMMM, Empanada filling!

Crappy, awful, yucky frittata!