lunch today.

so, i think we've already established my excellence, but just in case you needed a little remindin', here's what we had for lunch today. really, it was pretty easy and i was puttering around the kitchen enough to make the little details work out.

Heart of Palm soup



So you take a pretty big sized shallot (or 2 smaller ones), chop and add to some olive oil already warming in a soup pot. this isn't going to make a big batch or anything, enough for a meal for two, so a big pot isn't needed. add some pepper and stir around for a minute or so. i actually didn't bother defrosting some chicken stock and just threw in a 1/2 of a bouillion cube. you can use a bit more if it's a low sodium kind but there really isn't a big need to add a bunch of liquid as you want it to thicken up, so make your own choices here because too much salt in such a delicate soup would really be a shame to eat.

open a can of hearts of pam, and chop them up, size not being of complete importance, then add some water, pepper, a bay leaf and nutmeg if available and just let it bubble away on medium low for about 45 minutes. this softens the hearts of palm and makes it tender enough to mash up with your stirring spoon. add some cream or milk (i used half & half), though the really great thing about this soup is that it comes out luxuriously creamy without needing a lot of cream... i'd say maybe 3-4 tablespoons tops.


Big Baguette Sandwich



I'm trying to use up some extra bits of food this week but i've got to admit it's a bit of a stretch for me to tell you that you can just whip up an exact replica of this at the drop of a hat, because of the extra ingredients that i or anyone else would not likely just have lying around. that being said, big sandwiches are probably one of my favourite things to make people that are coming over or just for a certain andy p. who enjoys cheese, meat, and bread in any combination.

this 1/2 baguette is a jalapeno bread that has cream cheese on one side and a softened butter and pesto mix on the other. i roasted a red pepper when i was first in the kitchen getting the soup started, and had thrown some extra shallots in a pan on low to caramelize. added to this was some mozzarella cheese, pepper, and artichoke hearts. wrapped in tin foil it was in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. i wouldnt recommend leaving the tin foil off, as it gets just a little too crispy to the point where it turns to crumbs when a knife gets within a foot of it.

most of the other ingredients that could go in one of these are basically anything you would put on a homemade pizza, if you were so inclined, which is why i usually buy an extra baguette whenever i get ingredients for the former.