Cooking with the computer

I have a new computer and I have to say it hasn’t done much to improve my culinary skills. Since Friday I have managed to burn, boil over, scorch or even melt just about every meal.  The latest casualty was a new recipe from Lilikoi Joy called SpicyTomato & Quinoa Soup. Even though it required emergency rescue when I turned the heat to high instead of off for the last 10 minutes, the great flavor and texture shown through. I have supplied the links to the original recipe which I made with few changes. The only substitutions were to use the recipe ingredients that were available locally or from a freezer well-stocked with last year’s harvest.  

Just a little background.

Quinoa is an ancient grain that is traditionally grown at very high altitudes by Andean farmers. I get organic quinoa from Costco but it is available almost everywhere now. The original recipe for this soup calls for soaking the quinoa in vinegar before cooking but I believe that improved processing makes this step unnecessary. That may vary depending on the brand of quinoa you buy so some trial and error may be required here. Rinsing is recommended.

I start with dry white beans because that is what we have available locally. Cannellini beans are hard to come by so I substitute navy beans. I notice they can take a little longer than cannellini beans but that could have more to do with the age of the beans than the type.  If you cook your own dry beans you can control the amount of salt in the beans. I do not add salt when I am cooking. Depending on the recipe I add salt to taste at the very end or I just provide a salt shaker and let everyone salt to their own taste. I have found that you use a lot less salt this way. Here is a quick soak method for cooking dry beans:

2 cups of dry beans equals one pound of beans generally. Place beans in a heavy saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow beans to sit for 1-2 hours depending on the type and age of beans. Most of the liquid should be absorbed. Add more water to cover and cook until tender. Adding herbs or smoked pork at this stage will add flavor. 2 cups of dry white beans produced more than enough beans for this recipe. I have enough left over to make another white bean dish later this week.

I used 6 large frozen tomatoes from my garden last year. By running them under hot water I was able to slip the skins off and remove the stem. They are much easier to chop while they are still frozen.  6 large tomatoes equaled roughly the same as 2 14.5 ounce cans of tomatoes.

I used 3 frozen roasted poblano peppers and omitted the jalapeno. The soup didn’t lack for fire so we didn’t miss the jalapeno.

Here is the resulting soup.

 

Spicy Tomato and Quinoa Soup ala Ms. BeeHaven

 One last note: A great way to get scorched soup off of the bottom of your good stainless steel pans. Scrape out as much of the scorched food as you can. Add about an inch of hot water and sprinkle baking soda on the bottom of the pan and let it sit overnight and scrub with a sponge. Alternatively, use vinegar in place of the vinegar. I am not sure if it works better but it is more exciting.