New Hampshire

I have few coherent thoughts about New Hampshire, except: was it really only a month ago that Dean led Kerry 45–15? And: how long before the press front-pages Kerry haircut “stories” again?

Anyway, in lieu of cutting commentary and scathing wit, here is a nice soup recipe.

Piña Colada Soup

It’s a coconut milk soup with pineapple. Get it? This recipe will make a total of 4–6 extremely filling servings. It’s vaguely Thai in flavor; feel free to add some curry paste if you want to make it spicy.

Ingredients

• 1 quart stock (chicken or vegetable)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 3/4 cup pineapple chunks
• 1 small red onion, sliced into half moons
• 1/2 cup sliced carrot
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1 yellow pepper cut into thin slices
• 2 teaspoons grated ginger
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped lemon peel
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt (roughly!)
• 1 packet of ramen-like noodles per serving
• cilantro and green onion for garnish
• pepper

Procedure

1. Put the coconut milk, lime leaves, lemon peel, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and ginger in a big, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Bring to low simmer, reduce heat, and leave simmering while you do all of the other slicing, chopping, and continuous reloading of election returns. Let it simmer for at least 20 minutes to reduce and concentrate the flavor.
2. Add the stock, stir to mix. Turn heat back up to and bring it all to a low simmer, then turn the heat back down.
3. In another pot, boil enough water to cook the noodles. I recommend that you cook the noodles fresh each time you serve the soup—assuming you’re going to serve some tonight and refrigerate the rest. Anyway, prepare the noodles according to the package directions, drain, and set aside.
4. Heat a skillet, preferably nonstick, over high heat. Add a little canola or vegetable oil. Fry the onion until it is lightly carmelized. Pop the onion into the soup bowl. Repeat with carrots, celery, and pineapple.
5. Add the sliced yellow pepper to the soup, and bring it all up to a low simmer. Add lemon juice. Check for seasoning—I had to add another teaspoon of salt, but your mileage will vary. Take out the lime leaves.
6. Put a serving’s worth of noodles in each bowl, along with a bit of chopped cilantro and green onion. Ladle soup onto noodles.

Was it a hearty dose of Piña Colada soup that put the fire back in John Kerry’s belly? Did a tragic lack of Piña Colada soup lead to the brain malfunction that resulted in someone coining “Joe-mentum”? Only the flinty sales-tax avoiders and state-owned liquor store proprietors of New Hampshire know. And they ain’t tellin’. Nope.

Filed under: politics/2004