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soupapalooza!

the stories
the kitchen
the market
the proof (party pics!)
the food porn
the recipes
the about
the drop me a line part
the resources
the full list
jewelry alchemy

cream of red bell pepper: roses are red and so is my face

Remember the episode of “Sex and the City” (I think it was titled “Freak Show”) where the girls are bemoaning the freaks they seem to attract even though they’re all so normal only to then have Carrie tear into her new boyfriend’s drawers and closet (whole apartment really) for clues about his possible freakiness? While carnival music plays in the background she realizes, upon getting totally busted by this nice, totally benign guy, that she’s actually the freak show... 

Well, it was me who was Le Freak (not so chic!) this week, even though I pride myself on my almost pathologically boring, non-craziness and I really, really am loathe to refer to Sex and the City after that truly shiteous sequel.

This is the point where the Tiny Dancer might want to avert her eyes and skip to the recipe (sorry, Mom)...

I had a date. Cue the carnival music.

After meeting and bonding over this week’s soupapolooza! festivities (thanks for bringing new blood to the event, Gorgeous G), Hillel-arious, the soup newbie, and I made a plan to watch his DVRd copy of Anthony Bourdain’s 100th Episode of “No Reservations” and then have a little dinner out somewhere. You see, Hillel-arious is a total foodie (though I hate to even use that obnoxious word) and my crush on Chef Bourdain is laughably immature in comparison to his well developed man love for Tony’s sometime side kick, Chef Eric Ripert (oh, those red lips!). Anyway, this is all a recipe for an entertaining night at the very least, right?

riggggghhhhhht.

Earlier in the day, the online version of the Bossy Blonde’s Bon Appetit article on soupapolooza!, “Soup and the Single Girl”, came out and I have to say I was absolutely overwhelmed. So excited, honored and full of feeling, that I forgot to eat all day, actually. Which would be fine if I hadn’t also intend to drink a beautiful bottle of Billecart-Salmon Rose Champagne in celebration of the feature’s release... I think you may know where this is going. 

Poor Hillel-arious.

Here are a few of the lowlights (Seriously, Mom, STOP READING NOW):

A shared three bottles of sake (in addition to the Champagne, of course)
something said about not being good boyfriend material because of traveling (I think, though I really can’t remember, to be fair) and some kind of snotty, stereotypically chickishly lame response on the part of the stereotypically chickish one of the pair

sloppy kissing at the sushi bar anyway

the inability to tell even a portion of a story LESS THAN A SENTENCE INTO THAT STORY and something said about a golden vagina (please don’t ask)

unintentional bloodletting

a dash of self-loathing

making out mixed with CRYING (not from the bloodletting or from the boy)

sneaking home in the middle of the night and leaving nothing but a scrawled upon used business card (there was no paper to be found) saying “Thanks!”

It was enough to make my face permanently red. I mean, really; any girl that would do all that and then claim to not be crazy is, to be frank, kind of effing crazy. 

Totally fitting that the whole soupapolooza! menu on our initial meeting was comprised of red food. We had some red meat charcuterie with tomato crostini and mozzarella, Bloody Mary/ gazpacho shots, red leaf salad with zinfandel vinaigrette, roasted red pepper purée with basil garnish and macerated strawberries and balsamic with crème fraîche ice cream for dessert. 

Semi-Sweet Bitters (my friend that makes artisanal bitters, naturally) brought this year’s batch of his Nocino, which was the hit of the evening. You know how I know this? Because the whole bottle was ingested.

Here are the soup deets:

Cream of Red Bell Pepper Soup 

Bon Appétit | May 1999

Mark Weatherbee, Mollans-sur-Ouvèze, France

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Yield: Serves 4

ingredients

2 1/2 pounds red bell peppers

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup chopped shallots

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

3 cups (or more) canned vegetable broth

1/2 cup half and half

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Sliced fresh basil

preparation

Char peppers over gas flame or in broiler until blackened on all sides. Enclose in paper bag and let stand 10 minutes. Peel, seed and slice peppers. Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots, garlic and thyme and sauté 3 minutes. Add 3 cups broth and all but 4 slices of roasted pepper. Simmer uncovered until peppers are very soft, about 20 minutes.

Working in batches, purée soup in blender until smooth. Return to same pot. Add half and half, vinegar and cayenne pepper. Rewarm soup, thinning with additional broth, if desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with reserved pepper strips and basil.

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OK. So I’m red faced. At least I’m not red handed. 

I hope Hillel-arious feels free to come back to soupapolooza!, though I’m not sure I’d show up to a girl’s house who I thought might boil a pet bunny for my dinner. But that Hillel-arious is pretty adventurous culinarily, so maybe he’d be up for it. You never know when someone might do something crazy.

Soup on!

Newer:Bon Appetit, y'all!: I promise to totally shut up about it after it’s off the newsstandOlder:brandied onion soup with croque monsieur croutons: Vanilli Willie, scorpacciata and making peace with getting burned
PostedSeptember 16, 2010
Authormelissa mcclure
Categoriesvegetarian, soup
TagsGorgeous G, Hillel-arious, recipe, One Night Stand-Up, sake is not your friend, tomato crostini, Blame it on the Billecart, red leaf salad with zinfandel vinaigrette, basil, creme fraiche, soupapalooza!, Eric "Lips" Ripert, Nocino, I love you Anthony Bourdain, mozzarella, roasted, Semi-Sweet Bitters, soup and the single girl, red face, macerated strawberries and balsamic vinegar, crostini, soup, bloody gazpacho shots, no making out in sushi bars, red pepper, a nice girl doesn't scratch and tell, charcuterie, Girls That Attack, DO NOT READ THIS ONE MOM
 
 
goldsmith, sometime costume designer and badass cat owner. 

goldsmith, sometime costume designer and badass cat owner. 

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Why? Because soup is cheap, delicious and easy. Kind of like me.

a weekly attempt to eat well and to savor life. or to see how much food I can get on my clothes.

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