Thanksgiving Soup

I usually make a Butternut Squash soup for the family feast, but this year I have had it up to my ears with squash, so I came up with this soup instead. Great the next day.

Lou's Roasted Vegetable Soup with Sun Dried Tomato Cilantro Topping

3 chopped leeks
1 chopped onion
2 minced garlic cloves
4 big carrots, chopped to 2"
3 Zucchini (the Itlian greens) chopped to 1"
3 tomatoes, cut in 4
3 Potatoes (go for the smaller ones) peeled and cut into 2" quarters
5 cups chicken stock or veggie stock (don't use Swansons with the MSG)
3 Tbl. Olive Oil
3 Tbl. Basil, Chopped fine
3 Tbl. lemon juice
Salt and Pepper

Fire the oven to 450. Get a big roasting pan and throw all the veggies in with a cup or so of chicken stock and lot of salt and pepper. Roast until the veggies are soft but not really soft (about 45 minutes in my oven)

Meanwhile, make the pesto in a food processor with:
1 clove garlic
2 1/2 tbl. olive oil
2 tbl. pine nuts
3/4 cup of sun dried tomatoes in oil (check out Bay Cities Deli for the best)
2 1/2 tbl. finely chopped basil
2 tbl. cilantro
salt and pepper

Mix this all up until it's good and chopped. Add oil if you need to. Put this aside.

Put the veggies in a blender (a little at a time) along with some stock). Puree until smooth. Watch out for the chunks that don't get chopped. Pour this into a large Stock pot and once you've creamed all the veggies, add the rest of the stock, some more garlic and salt and pepper and bring to a boil, then simmer again.

Serve hot and put a pretty little dollop of the topping in the middle of the bowl. Watch out, it's strong stuff.

Puffed Rice

It can't be that hard. I look at Rice Krispys and Pirate's Booty (side note: I can dust off a bag in 10 minutes on a BAD day) and rice cakes and all that stuff and I think to myself -- self, you can make popcorn. Why can't you make puffed rice at home?

So this led me to investigating, and investigating I did. According to many accounts, puffed rice was first discovered by an American biochemist at the beginning of the 20th Century who got bored and stuffed some rice into an old cannon and voila! puffed rice was born.

Nowadays, there are big "guns" that shoot the rice at high pressure and heat. Not really suitable for West L.A. life (might work on the East side).

Through my investigations, I discovered this gem of a site called the hungrybrowser archives where people ask obscure questions related to food and this guy answers. He takes his job very seriously. Great grass-roots internet stuff.

Meanwhile, I'm loading up the shotgun in the backyard.