January is soup (or gumbo?) month

                            

What could be more satisfying than a hot bowl of soup on a cold January evening?

                             I actually have an answer to that: gumbo. Of course in some regions where gumbo comes out of a can, those two phrases may be akin. Around here we call soup a hot meal and gumbo a festive occasion. It’s hardly ever a one-person affair.

                             I can also go on about chili. It’s another great meal-in-a-bowl option.

                             January is deemed soup month and for some folk that means a can of chicken noodle. For others its about beef stock, bone broth, boiling down carcasses and combining leftovers from the fridge. While I still consider “soup” to be a more plain option than my gumbo and chili affairs, I sure do appreciate that soup made one day is often still there the next, and usually better, as the flavors steep. It’s the cooking day that keeps on giving.

                             Since the calendar always “reminds” me that it’s soup month, I foraged in my pantry to move potential soup ingredients to the forefront, and I’ve put a can of fish powder, bullion cubes and dried mushroom strips to the forefront. Looks like we’re going Asian. Egg drop maybe?

                             May I suggest some other options that will warm you up and give you more space in the pantry?

                             * Lentels – If you have some colorful yellow, green and tan lentils displayed in a glass jar so that it looks like you cook that way a lot, go ahead and cook like that this week.

                             * Cans of corn and/or beans – They’re there for “emergencies.” A quick soup can be one. If using canned beans, try mashing up some along the inside rim of your cooking pot with the back of your spoon to make a creamy texture.

                             * If you’ve ever used a can of tomato sauce as a soup base, it’s not a stretch to try using up a bunch of collected ketchup packets instead.

                             * Stuff you didn’t like much to begin with. Did you ever whip up, say, a vegetable side dish, not enjoy it and yet freeze the rest of  it? Try it again in the soup. Run it through the blender first if you have to. The other ingredients should overwhelm what you didn’t care for.

                             * Like pho at your favorite Vietnamese restaurant? Port Arthur markets sell the seasoning in blocks, so you can recreate this at home.

                             * Menudo:  When I was younger I wouldn’t touch the stuff. I’ve had some great homemade stuff with my husband’s family and I’ve enjoyed it in from a can. It’s also considered a hangover remedy. Ironically, his people in the Valley may liken canned menudo to my dismay over canned gumbo.

                             Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who is ready to have a bowl of any variety of gumbo in any calendar month. Talk soup to nuts with her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com