Soup

Thank you for reminding me of the Soup Nazi, one of the best memories of that show. And that does sound like a wonderful dinner, especially in cold weather. Perhaps with a salad, for roughage and balance? I've a Macrobiotic Yoginni ex-girlfriend who taught me the importance of harmony and balance in nutrition. As a martial arts instructor, I taught her the importance of harmony and balance in the aggressively physical. We both profited.

Lentil soup! (Homer Simpson voice) Ummmm . . . !

OT If you are ever in a restaurant that offers homemade red pepper hummus as a condiment option, and you are in the mood for a cheeseburger, do it! Forget the ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce and/or mayonnaise. Do the hummus. As some of you know, I pick up my food at a hole-in-the-wall sammich shop owned by a former chef from The Four Seasons Hotel where everything is homemade. Among the Healthy Advice on their menu is to ask for the red pepper hummus instead of mayonnaise on your dish. Tonight I took that advice on my 2-pound cheeseburger sub with American cheese, and grilled tomatoes and beer-battered crispy onions, and I'm never going back to ketchup or mayonnaise again. The taste of the pepper kick is layered, the texture of the hummus is far deeper and richer than ketchup or mustard, the volume of the hummus rivals that of the cheese--complementing and combining with it, not competing with it. Using homemade hummus as the condiment on a cheeseburger is, I promise you, a revelation.

Plus, combined it with homemade shredded roast chicken soup with wild rice and carrot chunks the size of my thumb and a combination of homemade Idaho French fries and beer-battered onion rings, FUGIDABOUTIT!

If we must eat, then let us DINE!

That sounds really good. Does it have chunks of Cod, or shredded Cod? I've not heard of it before.

I want to say that my enthusiasm for food stems not only from my hedonism and quest to survive and thrive, but, more important, from my conviction that food is one way to express love. Cooking for oneself is boring and drudgery. Cooking for those whom we love--not just the mechanics of chopping, peeling, cutting, rolling, etc., but also of planning, envisioning, and rejoicing in our loved ones' enjoyment and nourishment--is, in my view, both spiritual and priceless, and worth EVERY effort. I believe that "to break bread" with those you love is, to quote Tony Shaloub's character from Big Night, "to know God."

Plain Onion Soup, or Onion Soup Gratinee? I tend to prefer the former, with very crusty French bread. I find that many restaurants make the Gratinee version with too much cheese, and it becomes too thick for soup. Yes, the Vermouth in the Gratinee rendition is attractive, but I can take the plain-Jane version and add a nice Chetneuf de Pap or even Beaujolais Village and get a better result.

I like the Onion Soup
that I just described to be followed by snails in garlic butter, and a simple green salad dressed in olive oil and red vinagre.