Day 31
First of all, I’m sorry to all of you who have faithfully checked this blog for the past 31 days. I let you down. Although I tried, I just couldn’t find time to write any posts these last few days.
I was actually busier than a beaver, cooking for the most delightful and appreciative group of ladies. If everyone were as cheerful and thankful as those ladies, well…it would be absolutely delightful!:)
***
Now that I’ve been cooking for a crowd for over a month, I’ve made all the basic meal plans at least once. It’s starting to feel more like a rhythm and routine, and I admit there is less fear when preparing a meal I’ve made before.
Still, every now and then I need to try something new.
Yesterday was one of those days. The regular lunch was out of the question, since one of the main ingredients was running low. I needed a Plan B, and fast.
I searched the internet for inspiration and found this soup. The description sounded absolutely scrumptious, and we had all the ingredients on hand. {If you want the recipe for a normal-sized pot, you can find it here. It even comes in a handy printable version, complete with a pretty picture!}
The only problem with the recipe is that it doesn’t say how many servings it makes. That left me pondering how many times I needed to multiply it for the group of 45 I was cooking for.
I decided 10 sounded like a good number. {I certainly didn’t want to run short, you know!!}
Well, that’s what I started out doing, anyway. Then I quickly realized I’d need to improvise at every turn… Here’s how it went:
1. Even before breakfast is served, start chopping vegetables. {Holly was my sous chef yesterday, and she did an amazing job slicing and dicing (and quickly, too!).} Slice 10 jumbo carrots, dice 3 large onions, mince 30 garlic cloves (in the food processor), and slice about 3 bunches of celery.
2. Meanwhile, mix up 20 liters of chicken broth. {Thankfully, I caught my mistake in the nick of time: I had been mixing up beef broth.}
3. Set out all the other ingredients: 1 large (gallon) can of pumpkin puree, barley (I ended up using 2.5 cups), a big bowl of diced baby potatoes with the skins on, and 2 small cans of diced green chilies (the recipe calls for diced chipotle chilies, but I couldn’t find them at the grocery store).
4. Pray.
5. Haul out the ginormous, heavy pot that looks like it must be the soup pot. Grunt a little as you lift it.
6. Take a deep breath and turn on the propane flame. Time to start cooking.
7. As soon as you pour in the first tablespoon of olive oil, you realize you can barely peek over the rim of that tall pot.
8. Hurry your incredibly uncomfortable sensible shoes as fast as they’ll go to fetch your new best friend: the step stool.
9. Position the step stool directly under the tall, heavy pot on the burner and stand on it.
10. Marvel at how different the view is from a different height.
11. Add about 4 Tablespoons of butter and toss in that huge heap of chopped vegetables (but not the potatoes yet).
12. Sauté and stir away. Salt generously.
13. Pray that the vegetables won’t start burning on the bottom.
14. Realize that burning on the bottom is inevitable unless you do something quick.
15. Pour in some of that prepared chicken broth.
16. Ahh…crisis averted.
17. Once the carrots are tender, add 10 liters of chicken broth.
18. Realize there is no way on God’s green earth that 10 more liters of chicken broth will fit in that pot.
19. Add the gallon of pumpkin, 2.5 cups of barley, the bowl of diced potatoes (perhaps it was 30 baby potatoes??), and 2 cans of diced green chilies.
20. Start adding spices confidently, pretending you know what you’re doing.
21. Salt. Nutmeg. 2 tsp. chili powder. Pepper.
22. Grab 1 or a dozen tasting spoons.
23. Use the first of many to taste how the spices are doing.
24. Too bland.
25. Grab the cayenne pepper. Throw in 2 tsp.
26. Taste again. Swallow. Gasp.
27. SPICY!!
28. Grab the honey.
29. Squirt some in.
30. Taste again.
31. Squirt some more in.
32. Have everyone who sets foot in the kitchen take a taste test.
33. Once the seasoning seems good, turn the flame down to “almost out” and let it sit for the next 3 hours.
34. Serve with sour cream that guests can garnish themselves.
35. And when it’s time to carry it to the serving table?
36. Find a strong man.
37. If you’re like me, that pot is so heavy when full that you can’t even budge it!
Although incredibly experimental, it turned out miraculously well. The guests seemed to like it.
And for future reference, a batch that size could probably feed about 80 people if served with a sub sandwich bar. If sour cream and cream aren’t added, it can be frozen and reheated later.
