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Hearty Lentil Stew with Smoked Pork Hock
I had to pull up the last garden carrots today. If I’d mulched, I’m sure they could’ve stayed in the beds a while longer, but there weren’t many left and I wanted a few different colors in this lentil stew. There’s a heavy blanket of snow on the ground now, and it looks as though it’s here to stay a while. As much as I love the winter holidays, I think I’m not quite ready this year. Last summer had such a late frost that a lot of the plants were just reaching maturity. My green thumb is still itching for a harvest that will never come. Regardless, there’s not…
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Chicken and Wild Rice Soup with Shiitakes and Vermouth
If you’ve ever made martinis at home before, chances are you have a bottle of vermouth sitting in the back of your fridge, slowly turning to vinegar. Well, maybe you don’t. But I did! And that’s what inspired this recipe. Even a quite dry vermouth is going to be a sweet alcohol compared to most, and I had a lot to get rid of. So I needed some extremely earthy, savory flavors that could ground all of that sweet tanginess. And boy, did this do the trick. I started with a base of my “creamy” chicken broth (which is just my regular chicken broth at a rolling boil instead of…
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Garlic White Bean Soup with Kale and Bacon
I know soup season is over… but I’m not going to stop being me, okay? I’ll do my best to refrain from soup, but it’s going to happen sometimes. Even when it’s above 70 degrees outside. Now, this recipe in particular was inspired by my firm belief that enough garlic will send any cold attempting to take over my body packing. Is this belief rooted in science? Not really. Does it probably only work because of the placebo effect? Possibly. But I’m a willful believer. And I had the sniffles. So needless to say… if you’re not a fan of garlic, just move along. This recipe ain’t for you. It…
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Vietnamese Pho for Meal Prep | Boiled Wheat Meal Prep Series Pt. I
Pho (pronounced like the first half of my favorite four-letter word), has been one of the trendiest Asian dishes on the American scene in the last few years. It’s total comfort, it’s incredibly healthy, and it’s soup. So obviously it’s a trend that makes frequent appearances in the McSorley house. And it just so happens to fit perfectly into my meal prep scheme. You see, this is just Part I of my series of meal prep posts, focused on a gourmet, but also half-hearted version of meal prepping that allows for maximum flexibility on the day-to-day. I’m a person that loves to cook, and that stems mainly from an appetite…
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Roasted Apple and Butternut Soup (Vegan)
Is it fall again yet? No? Darn. We’re doing this anyway. This soup actually does fit wonderfully into winter, considering the fantastic shelf life of winter squash (which is actually grown and harvested in fall). The acorn and butternut you see in the pictures? I bought them as decor before thanksgiving. If you keep them cool and dry, they can be eaten months later, and there’s hardly a discernible difference. Few fruits or vegetables are that hardy, so these dense squashes are a total gold mine for those who make an effort to eat seasonally. Eat better, save the planet, folks! On the soup: This was inspired by a recent…
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Bastard’s Burgundy– My Version of Beef Bourguignon
Beef bourguignon is one of my favorite things on this earth. I was recently telling Myles that this blog may end up being 95% soup, stew, and bread recipes. That was never the intention… but standing over a bubbling cauldron– or, you know, enameled dutch oven– fills me with all the satisfaction of my childhood kitchen witch fantasies. Bread is similar in that it can feel very old-world. Very slow. Very ritualistic. So gastronomically therapeutic. And I love that. Also, this stew is just good. So if witchy aesthetics aren’t the reason you’re here, this stew should be. It’s velvety, it’s rich, and it’ll make you want to take a really…
ADVENTURES IN FOOD, TRAVEL, AND PHOTOGRAPHY
