dMo's blog

Saturday, May 24, 2008

there's new jungle growth outside. kitchen window is wide open. spring. beans cooking, a steady source of steam - don't forget to add water or they'll burn. i cook first thing in the morning. yesterday was beef stock. today, black bean soup. there's a logic to this. combining ingredients into a building blocks. fitting blocks together into a structure. sometimes evoking something from the past, sometimes looking towards the future.

cooking is like architecture.

yesterday -- beef bones roasted in a pan for 30 minutes with salt & olive oil. add coarsely chopped carrots celeriac, parsnips. roast for another 25 minutes. add chopped leek and onion. roast for 20 minutes. put in pot. deglaze pan with boiling water. fill pot with pan-water. simmer for 2 hours. strain. refrigerate. remove congealed fat from the top of stock. strain.

today -- beef stock, cooked black beans. puree. add salt. sweet potato chunks, celery (lots of leaves) + blanched tomatoes. chipotle paste (chipotles boiled in water, pureed). cilantro + lemon juice.

there's still stock left over for another 1, maybe 2 soups. or maybe a stew.

it's getting on. the birds have piped down. only an occasional airplane noise & the constant hum of the wind in the luscious new growth vegetation. lunch in another couple hours.