Dreaming of Picard’s fresh ground beef and soupe de poissons…
Well, see, we have this amazing French frozen food store (a chain–all French cooks use it but keep it a secret), PICARD, and mama bought a new item, which is a bio vegetable soup and brought it home and the package felt like a bunch of solid veggies all cut up and so she dumped it in a big pot and added some water, broth and wine and started the simmer.
THEN, duh, she read the package!!! You don’t add ANYTHING to that soup, mama, just put in on the stove on low heat and let ‘er rip, whatever that means. But I’m pretty sure that soup could be microwaved, too, mama.
SO–she poured out the now-simmering and way too thin broth (saved for another time) and added some carrots and leeks and a big potato (always a good soup thickener, mama says) and now it’s resembling something that could be eaten, haha.
A pinch of hot pepper doesn’t hurt…especially when it’s ground up fresh dried Espelette peppers from our neighbor’s garden.
Holy tamale, mama has NEVER done that. But then again, mama has never bought frozen soup ingredients all prepared in that rather convenient way.
Well, it’s smelling good but of course I CANNOT HAVE ANY BECAUSE OF ONIONS AND GARLIC IN THE SOUP! Boo, PIcard. Oh, I have a great idea, mama. Next time you go to that amazing place, pick up some of those ready to cook hamburger patties for ME. No onions in those, right?
Or that sirloin steak…
Relegated to eating GRASS!!! Harumph. Hey, do mice hide in grass?
We bet you wouldn’t have liked it anyway, Loulou.
Yes, I’m not a big soup person but if it going to be liquid, make it hot fudge sauce. Just kidding.
LOL – that sounds like something my mama would do!! But whatever the orange melange with the peppers is – is probably FAR better than the Picard frozen soup!!! And, as you know, mama is a HUGE fan of Picard. But that soup looks delicious!! And oops, mama let it slip that Picard has hamburger top quality MEAT and FISH and SUSHI. That’s all we need, right?! Soup – schmoup – harrumph.
Well, she should NEVER have mentioned those other things to you, Mya!!!
Yes, it does pay to read directions first but there are many of us who would likely have done the same thing. Habit! Glad your mama was able to rescue the soup.
Yes, there are those who just like to get on with it and mama is one of those. BUT, she has learned her PICARD lesson. The foods are so easy to fix and she was making it more difficult.
Wow LouLou – that’s a secret of French cooking I could live with ! Since I don’t know French, I googled “poisson” – which doesn’t sound like a good thing to call soup in English – and could only find it as a MATH term. So if you have time could you enlighten me?
Soupe of fishes. Soupe de poissons made with little green crab, various rock fish, bouillon, saffron, tomatoes and whipped all together, then strained. It’s in one of mama’s blogs and I’ll find it for you and send it.