Tofu-Carrot Soup… With Ginger!

I have come to the conclusion that soups are best "made-fresh yesterday".  A classic soup like chicken noodle is always better if you simmer it all day.  But cream soups often don't have long simmer times.  I'm not sure if this is an oversight, due to the puree and cream-adding processes (most of which happen at the end of cooking), or just a convenient shortcut we assume is Ok because there's a lot of other things going on with the recipe, like cream, that will make up for it.  Either way, the following recipe was mildly disappointing to me until I ate the leftover the next day and tasted all the flavor I had expected.

Unfortunately, I can't remember for sure where I originally came across this recipe.  I think it might've been an issue of Better Homes and Gardens.  All I know is I have it written out on a sheet of notebook paper and a vague memory of transcribing it from a magazine I found at church.  The original recipe called for mushrooms, which would've given some umami flavor, but I was pushing it feeding my husband tofu.  Mushrooms would've crossed the line.  I added ginger, because ginger and carrots are a wonderful combination.

Tofu-Carrot Soup
2 stalks celery
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
3/4 inch piece of ginger root
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 C chopped carrots
5-6 C chicken stock
1 (12.3 oz) package firm silken-style tofu
1 (5 oz) can evaporated milk
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
~1 tsp dried, ground ginger (to taste)

Chop the celery, onion, garlic, and ginger.  In a soup pot (or dutch oven), heat the oil over medium heat, the sauté the celery, onion, and garlic until soft.  Add the carrots and stock, bring to a boil, the reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes, until everything is tender.

Cut up the tofu and add it and the evaporated milk to the soup.  Use an immersion blender and puree until smooth.  If you haven't got an immersion blender, cool the soup slightly, and process in a normal blender.  Stir in the thyme, and season to taste with ginger, salt, pepper, and worcestershire sauce.

Thin the sour cream with 2-3 tsp water.  Serve the soup hot, garnishing with green onions if desired.

As I said in the beginning, I was disappointed until I had the leftovers.  The ginger didn't come out as much as I had hoped, making the whole thing a tad lackluster.  But the leftovers!  They had wonderfully developed ginger flavor, which blended with and brought out the carrot.  

I will say I did a good job with the umami, though.  Worcestershire isn't as great as mushrooms (or fish sauce, possibly), but it did a nice job giving the soup a little more meaty flavor.  That's also why I chose to use chicken stock rather than vegetable broth-- well, that, and I generally have chicken stock on hand.

And I have to say, I liked the silken-style tofu.  As its name suggests, it has a smoother texture than normal tofu, which I suppose helps it incorporate smoothly into the soup, giving a creamy texture to the whole thing.  And it was wonderfully, surprisingly creamy.

It was yummy, and I would probably make it again.  I'd just make it a day ahead of time, let it sit in my fridge, and warm it up to serve it.  Actually, it wouldn't be bad as a cold soup for the summer, if you're into that kind of thing.  Was it my favorite soup?  Nah.  But it wasn't bad at all.

Potato-Pulled Pork Pie (And alliteration!)

The other day I needed a high-quality photo of something, so I grabbed my camera, took the picture, then uploaded the memory card to my computer.  Lo and Behold!  There were photos of a particularly delicious dinner I came up with a while ago.  In fact, this dinner was so good, I wrote it down immediately afterward so that I have a recipe to refer to if I wanted to make it again, share it with a friend, or post it on the internet.  Hooray forethought!  And hooray for finally uploading photos.

This recipe, Potato-Pulled Pork Pie, is a leftovers recipe.  There's no reason you can't make up a fresh batch of pulled pork for it, but there's no need to.  No special recipe was used.  Same with the potatoes. I will say, though, you want nice creamy potatoes.  This, to me, is the secret to making mashed potatoes.  Add milk, cream, broth, or whatever until you have a nice, creamy texture.  Regardless of whether you used mealy or waxy potatoes, CREAMY is the end goal.  While you can use potatoes however you like, the creaminess is going to translate into smooth, rich base with just a hint of crispiness.  Mmmmm.  But getting back to the point!  As this is a leftovers recipe, the measurements are pretty approximatable.  Don't worry about having exactly the right amount of pork or potato-- just make sure you're in the ballpark.  And everything else just needs to be in balance-- more pork?  Consider more veggies and more egg.

Potato- Pulled Pork Pie

1 1/2 C mashed potatoes

3/4 C pulled pork

2 small bell peppers

1 slice onion (like for rings)

3 eggs

1 Tbsp milk

salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and cumin to taste

cheese (as an optional finish)

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

Begin by greasing a pie pan, then spreading the potatoes over the base.  Make them a little higher on the side, but don't worry about going all the way up the side of the pan.  (More like a pizza, less like a pie.)  Bake until dried out but not browned, about 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop pork, peppers, and onion.  Place in a mixing bowl and add eggs, milk, and season to taste.  It should not look like an omelet, but everything should be coated with egg (see photo).  I recommend starting with 2 eggs, then deciding if you need a third or not.  

Pour meat/egg mixture over the potato crust and bake until set, about 20-30 minutes.  If desired, top with cheese and replace in oven until melted.  (If you use a hard cheese, you may need to add it half-way through cooking time.)  

The only thing about this recipe that is less than ideal, to me, is the time.  I think you could probably bake it in a hotter oven (to make it faster) and be fine, but I haven't tried that myself, and didn't want to give you a recipe that would turn out horribly burnt on the top and raw on the bottom.

Otherwise, this is a FABULOUS way to eat leftovers.  It takes minimal effort, but tastes wonderful.  My husband and I got about four servings out of it, using our self-control, because we both wanted to eat the whole thing.  Feel free to use different seasonings, too.  If you've got seasoned pulled pork, use similar flavors to enhance everything.