Part of the joy of being a SAHDiNK is that I get to work from home. That’s right, I work at my high top desk in the front office of our beautiful home nestled in on the south side of the South Hill in Spokane. I was eating lunch a month ago and looked out the window and saw a Moose eating snow by the house. Not something you see every day. I’d show you a picture, but as I pulled out the iPhone and loaded up the camera, the Moose ran along the side of the house to the front. At that point, The gUrt went crazy barking up a storm at the GINORMOUS (his words, not mine) dog outside. All that racket plus Mark and Mary’s minivan chasing it up the street caused so much commotion for the poor cow that she rolled up the neighbors driveway and ran back behind their house into the forest. There’s a lake below our neighborhood and the forest is above us, so I think she uses our neighborhood to access the lake for a drink. She’s really tidy – doesn’t poop on the street or our driveways, so I appreciate that. I was cleaning up the yard and noticed that she did however poop on the grass by the dining room window. I’m rambling.
So, working from home has it’s benefits. Like for instance, on Wednesday, I was able to cut out a little early (4:30) from the office and make my way to the kitchen and start dinner – it was our turn at Wednesday Soup Night. It was awesome. The Wife decided that Matrimonio I-Taliano Soupa was the way to go. Now, a couple weeks ago, I mastered Mamma J’s Soupe à l’oignon gratinée so I thought I would give this one a shot. It was an interesting recipe. You have to make these crazy little meatballs and then you throw them into a chicken broth based soup and cook it for about 10 – 20 minutes. It was awesome. So I hear. The attendee’s said it was really good.
One of the joys of working at home is that you can easily service your clientele because everything you need is there. One of my clients, R+W Advertising was re-launching their website the next morning and needed some last minute assistance. As this is pretty typical on the eve of any website launch, I was on it ASAP to do what I do best! This new site is an interesting concept. There’s this idea called Web 2.0 that is this perceived second generation of the web. It’s centered around mass communication and utilizes Social Networking on the Internet to facilitate it. So, being the innovative guy that Scott Robertson is, he and his team re-designed their site around this Web 2.0 concept. Check out the new Web 2.0 RW-Live.com website to see more about it! Now, what does this have to do with Matrimonio I-Taliano Soupa? Nothing, but it was a great lead in to plug my friend’s website and make you more interested! As for the soup, I was busy assisting with the launch of the RW-Live.com website, so I didn’t taste it until later. Let me tell you – it was Frerking Amazing! (big ups to The Greatest Vet of All Time, Dr. Thad Frerking) And, I’m not a fan of reheated food, but it was really good reheated the next day, unlike the Mamma J’s Soupe à l’oignon gratinée which doesn’t seem to reheat very well. I can’t post the Mamma J’s Soupe à l’oignon gratinée because it is some crazy family historical recipe that goes back to the old days in Orofino, ID, but I’ve added the recipe for the Matrimonio I-Taliano Soupa below, so ENJOY!
Oh, and for the various readers that feel they’re perverted because the two apples make them think of a pair of Great Big Old…you are correct, that’s why I went with them.
My Girl, Giada’s, Matrimonio I-Taliano Soupa Recipe (Thanks Babe!)Giada Delaurentiis - Food Hottie
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 small onion, grated
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 slice fresh white bread¹, crust trimmed, bread torn into small pieces
- ½ cup grated Parmesan
- 8 ounces ground beef
- 8 ounces ground pork
- Freshly ground black pepper
Soup:
- 12 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 pound curly endive, coarsely chopped (1 pound of escarole² would be a good substitution)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
To make the meatballs: Stir the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese, beef and pork. Using 1 ½ teaspoons for each, shape the meat mixture into 1-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a baking sheet³.
To make the soup: Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and curly endive and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through and the curly endive is tender, about 8 minutes. Whisk the eggs and cheese in a medium bowl to blend. Stir the soup in a circular motion. Gradually drizzle the egg mixture into the moving broth, stirring gently with a fork to form thin stands of egg, about 1 minute. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper.
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve. Finish soup with parmesan cheese if desired.
Now, Giada missed the Pasta part – but use orzo or what was next to orzo at Alberton’s – looks like little balls. I used the whole box – way too much. I’d use half, but use as much ash you’d like!
¹I didn’t have White Bread because Babs never allowed it in the house. I did have Texas Toast from breakfast The Wife made for Liberty Wright (She’s Single Boys!) on her birthday, so I used that instead of the Wheat Bread that Babs still makes me eat.
²Albertsons, like my favorite Blackberry Apple Clear Excellence Water, didn’t have Endive either, so we went with Escarole – whatever, I don’t think it matters. It’s all basically lettuce, I think.
³I’m just warning you – it helps to have a sous chef like The gUrt because this is the messy part!
Tags: Babs, Boodel Consulting, Business, Food and Wine, Hogan, Internet Marketing, Mamma J, SAHDiNK, The Store, The Wife, Websites
NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!