CHEESY. It’s said that it’s nothing more than milk’s rush toward immortality.
In fact, nobody really knows who ate the first piece of cheese. But Romans get points for introducing curd and whey to Europe.
And Europe remains market leader in cheese production. So much so, that throughout history cheese remains a perfect 10. In fact, Andrew Jackson once shared a 1,400-pound cheese wedge with his public. They rushed to eat it! Then declared a holiday.
IT’S PRETTY CHEESY
Playful Cheesy Soup
Shopping List
Cheese: 2 slices of cheese (your choice)
Butter: 2 T
Onion, Celery, Carrots, White Potato: ½ cup each finely chopped
Flour: 1 T
Chicken Broth: 2 cups
Cauliflower: 1 package cheesy cauliflower
Preparation
In a pot/Dutch oven melt butter over medium heat; add vegetables and sauté until vegetables are tender and fragrant, 8-10 minutes. Cool.
Meanwhile prepare cauliflower according to directions. Cool.
Then in a blender puree all the above with 1 cup broth. Then fork blend flour into mixture. And return to the pot along with any broth.
Bring to a slow boil; reduce heat to medium low and add cheese.
Stir until melted and hot.
CHEESY NOTES
CHEESY Ben Franklin also wrote if he could’ve found a recipe to make Italian cheese… It would’ve been a decade of discovery. In fact, cheese contributes to many of humankind’s feast or famine eating habits. Gorging when abundant. Then starving when there was none.
But it was trial and error that lead to cheese’s discovery. And of course, tasting cheese lead to it’s enjoy-ability. In fact just as cider preserved the apple, cheese preserved milk.
And although, France is the leading cheese consumer. Tiny Iceland consumes enough to come in second.
As for pizza, Americans consume that by the BILLIONS. Thus, exceeding every country in the world. Even Italy.
Of course, we enjoy cheese with many things besides pizza. Like crackers. Or wine. Also, hamburgers, vegetables, salads, tacos, and melting it in a creamy soup.
Because imagination only limits where you choose to put your cheese.
10 for 10 it’s melting on “stuff” around world. By blending traditional recipes. Then adding some kinda cheese.
RED STUFF. The most unexpected ingredients get praise for their ability to stimulate sexual attraction.
More than for their health-related properties of course. And so, from ancient times to modern times many are still—surprising.
Perhaps we should refer to the tomato as overly passionate. As well as those whom eat them.
But for now onions, garlic, and tomatoes will continue to appear in most dishes around the globe. So, let a bowl of the red stuff heat up the body on a cold night or any night…for that matter. Bottom line…for more passion—EAT RED!
Tomatoes. Because there is a fine line between passionate red and the edible green.
Q & A…at last
SHOPPINg LIST
Olive Oil: 3 T
Yellow Onion: 1 chopped
Minced Garlic: 1 T
Turmeric: ½ tsp
Chicken Broth: 1 box
Crushed Tomatoes: 1 cans/4 fresh
V-8: 4 oz (spicy is preferred)
Half & Half: ½ cup
Grilled Cheese Dumplings
Salt & Pepper: to taste
Preparation
In a large pot/Dutch oven heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally until fragrant.
Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the chicken broth, tomatoes, turmeric, and V-8. Bring to boil. Then simmer on low heat 15 minutes.
Stir in the heavy cream, continue to simmer 10 more minutes stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
Heat a medium pan or griddle. Lightly brush sourdough bread with butter & mayonnaise. Then place on griddle butter side down and load up with your favorite cheese (I prefer Swiss). Cook until golden brown and slice into bite size cubes. Eat these alone or atop of soup.
Then reheat slowly to serve.
*Alternate this soup with either rice, orzo, barley, or pasta. Kids aren’t the only ones who love the mini dumplings! EVERYONE DOSE.
RED TOMATOES LE NOTEs
Passionate, hardly. But certainly, many folks feel that way about their tomatoes. As you might be guessing, the little gems attracted the neophyte. Mostly for inciting excessive public passions. As local legend had it. So, they began planting them. They went all out, of course.
Because neophytes never want to start small and expand. Instead, they want to go big. And share the bounty with neighbors.
Red tomatoes! They gOT the power-house reputation!
Incidentally one plant per person is enough. Unless you plan on canning some for winter. But to plant two dozen, neophytes obviously had intentions of eating them morning, noon, and night. Or something else all together.
So, next summer watch how the sun travels across the neighbor’s garden. Especially if they’re growing excessively. In that case, they might be planting the art of persuasion!
BRAT LIST. Raise a spoonful to your lips. Then come up-north for the real thing. Because the sensation is utterly transporting. And the memory will bring many smiles.
BRATS OF MICHIGAN
Michigan Cherry Brat: 1 lb. cut into bite pieces.
Or substitute any bratwurst or sausage. Then simply add some fresh or dried cherries
Yellow onion: 1 cup chopped
Celery: 1 cup chopped
Tomatoes: 1 small diced
Chicken Broth: 1 box
Italian Seasonings: 1 T
Basil: ½ tsp/fresh 3 T
Roasted Garlic Powder: ¼ tsp
Cilantro: ½ tsp/ fresh 3 T
Squirt of Lime
Zucchini: 2 cups diced
BRAT PREP
In a pot/ Dutch oven brown bratwurst on medium. Then add 1-2 T water as needed. Next add onion and celery. Then sauté till fragrant 3-5 minutes.
Now stir in the tomatoes, chicken broth, seasonings, lime, and zucchini. Then bring to a boil. Next simmer covered for 1 hour or until all is tender. Then let the soup rest for an hour or two before re-heating slowly.
*I buy my sausage fresh from the local butcher. If you are lucky enough to have a locally family owned meat market then I encourage you to buy from them! You’ll taste the difference.
BRAT NOTES
BRAT. Who brought the first one to America? No—I don’t mean your neighbors children…I mean the bratwurst. The word brat literally means meat without waste. And wurst pertains to its mixture. And since European climates are much cooler than ours, it likely made for better fixing. In fact, making sausage is preferred. And pork is the ideal meat of course.
HERE IN MICHIGAN WE KNOW HOW TO TREAT OUR BRATS.
As it goes, pigs, hogs, or swine need less grazing land. Which beef cattle always require. Therefore, most cultures make sausage in one form or another for that similar reason. However, Germany remains number one with over 40 different varieties to choose from.
Purposely many brats were made tiny. So small in fact, they could fit through a key-hole. Duly noting them: jail-bird jewels.
And so, for many countries around the globe meat generally makes the meal. Yet for others it’s only a stand-by. In America it maybe the beef. But in Europe its pork that tops the list. And bratwurst being the fun-fest way to entertain and create an informal atmosphere anytime of the year.
So, if the neighbor kids are bugging. Or hounding for a drink from the hose. Give them an Indian burn or two. Or just send them home with a giant noogie instead. Then find your flavor and try the latest trends in BRATS. Because there aren’t any penalties for being a cranky neighbor.
Baffling, but true. When you’re hungry, you feel like sharing. Or rather, when you’re hungry, you learn to share. Either way this strange and unusual soup isn’t as far and away as it seems. Baffling Beer Soup is a key player in SOUP & SEX quest to be epic. In fact, it’s more or less a seeking of creative agreements…one beer at a time.
Baffling Beer Soup
BAFFLING…BUT SURPRISINGLY GOOD
Shopping List
Beer: 2 cans (12 oz.)
Lemon Juice: ½ tsp
Sugar: 1 tsp
Cinnamon: 1 stick
Cloves: 2 whole pressed cloves
Cornstarch: ½ tsp
Preparation(German)
First add beer, after your initial sip of course. Then add lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves in large saucepan; bring to boil.
Next moisten cornstarch with little cold water and add to pot.
Then cook slowly, stirring for 3-4 minutes.
Lastly remove from heat and discard cinnamon & cloves.
Then serve with pumpernickel or rye bread. Of course, you can choose your own succulent.
Preparation (Belgian)
To put it differently, this is the same as above. Instead substitute a pinch of ginger for clove. And flour for cornstarch. Then add 3 T heavy cream.
Now mix flour with a little beer until smooth. Set aside. Then combine remaining beer, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, pinch salt & pepper in saucepan; bring to a slow boil.
Next reduce heat and add flour mixed with beer. Cook slowly, uncovered, 5 minutes.
Lastly remove from heat and stir in cream.
Server Traditionally With French Bread Cubes. But you make the call.
BAFFLING SOUP NOTES
This is a fun way to get in the spirit—literally! Enjoy this soup with a baked potato or beer nuts. Believe it or not soups can be made with beer. Either light or dark. Even ales have sustained popularity in northern Europe for—EONS! In soups.
You can make them several ways. Above are two variations. Beer soups are not for every taste bud. But there are many buds that do prefer their taste. They fall under the curious soup category. The contents are certainly fascinating and may well add a bit of spirit to your soup collection.
So, it shouldn’t be surprising that beer soups can keep love and lust alive at any age. Even after 69. It’s also a wildly popular way to set your focus on steamy romance and passionate exploits. Just one more way of making some twilight tales of your own.
Because the only thing better than bubbles, is a little HEAD!
