The Hawthornes are still hunkered down
with little letup from Sandy.
Our hatches are still battened.
Still raining.
Still gusting.
So my thoughts naturally turn to food.
Quite logically so:
The winds are gusting.
Gusting leads me to Gustation.
Gustation prompts Food.
Food => Tortilla Soup
Ole!
Food => Tortilla Soup
Ole!
First, I'm making the seasoned tortilla triangles.
Rosie's Seasoned Tortilla Triangles
3 TB butter
2 large tortillas, sliced into triangles
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp saffron
2 TB cilantro, lightly chopped
Place butter on large baking sheet,
place in oven, turn oven to 350 degrees.
When butter melts,
lightly coat both sides of tortilla triangles in the butter
and place the triangle on the baking dish.
Sprinkle the coriander, cumin,
cayenne, saffron, and cilantro over top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes,
or until golden brown.
2 large tortillas, sliced into triangles
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp saffron
2 TB cilantro, lightly chopped
Place butter on large baking sheet,
place in oven, turn oven to 350 degrees.
When butter melts,
lightly coat both sides of tortilla triangles in the butter
and place the triangle on the baking dish.
Sprinkle the coriander, cumin,
cayenne, saffron, and cilantro over top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes,
or until golden brown.
I find this saffron from the Asian market
in Virginia Beach suspect.
It was 79 cents for an ounce.
Mr. Hawthorne insisted it was saffron
"because it says so right there on the package."
Poor Mr. Hawthorne.
Mr. Hawthorne insisted it was saffron
"because it says so right there on the package."
Poor Mr. Hawthorne.
Speaking of cents,
why isn't there a cent key on the typewriter?
Or if you want to Semi-Ho your tortilla triangles
in honor of Hurricane Sandy,
by all means do so.
by all means do so.
Seasoned and ready for the oven.
Bake at 350 until lightly browned.
Mine took about 12 minutes.
Rosie's Tortilla Soup
( Serves 2)
2 - 3 cups homemade chicken consomme
(Depending on how hungry you are.)
You can sub 2 cans chicken broth if you must.
1/2 cup cooked rice
tomato, diced
1 lime, thinly sliced
1 avocado, diced
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 small boneless pork loin, sliced extremely thin
seasoned tortillas
cilantro
scallions
To properly cut a pork chop,
have the pork loin slightly frozen,
then you can shave the slices off.
Heat chicken consomme to a simmer.
Add in cooked rice, which I happened to have.
If you don't have leftover rice on hand,
you could certainly cook the rice in the consomme.
Bring the consomme to a light simmer
and add the sliced pork.
The pork is ready in two seconds.
Turn off heat.
Ladle into bowls bought in Taos, New Mexico.
Top with chopped tomatoes, red onions, diced avocados,
sliced limes, cilantro, and scallions.
Serve with Seasoned Tortilla Triangles.
Having your meat slightly frozen
helps to cut very thin slices.
Then cut the slices into strips.
Lightly season the pork strips with cumin
and freshly ground salt and pepper.
Isn't my glistening chicken consomme beautiful?
The flavor of homemade
as opposed to canned
cannot be imparted to the uninitiated.
You must make this yourself.
Pour that golden goodness into your pan
and bring to a simmer.
Add the rice and heat through
.
Slice the tomatoes.
Chop the avocado and slice
the noticeably absent red onion.
Thinly slice the lime
and chop the cilantro and scallions.
Drop the pork strips into the simmering consomme.
The pork cooks through immediately.
Add the tomatoes, avocado, red onion,
scallions, and cilantro.
scallions, and cilantro.
Squish the limes with your soup spoon
to get even more flavor.
Don't forget the red onions,
like I almost did.
This is one of those dishes
in which the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
In every bite, there are myriads of flavors and textures.
It's one of the more sublime forms of synergy.
