Secret Recipe (Shhhh)

Last time I was in Everett, my mom and I took a trip to the supermarket. We were getting pantry items and something for dinner. My mom offered to make her fabulous crock-pot pot roast and I can't tell you how excited I was. I love pot roast.

Anyway, my mom told me the story of her awesome dish came to be. Seems she used to work with this fellow who made an amazing pot roast. He'd bring it to all the office luncheons. His co-workers loved it so much, they begged for the recipe, but he would never give it to them. Turns out it was an old family secret. On his last day, my mom got him to give it up. And finally I got my mom to give up his recipe, but only after I swore that I wouldn't tell and especially not post it on my blog.

So we get to the store to get our "secret ingredient" and what do we see when we pull the box of Lipton onion soup mix from the shelf? Right there on the front of the box: "Great for Slow Cookers" with a recipe for pot roast on the back. So here's the recipe, sprinkle onion soup over the pot roast. Way to keep a family "secret."

Soup and Bread

This past Wednesday I was flattered to be one of eight soupmakers in this week's Soup and Bread. In case you're not familiar, this is a weekly wintertime fundraiser hosted by The Hideout. Its founder is the super fabulous Martha Bayne, who writes amazing articles about food, and Chicago, and food in Chicago, and Chicagoans and their access to food, local food, slow food (and I don't mean your server's been smoking weed). Soup and Bread has been very successful raising money, but also in raising awareness for local charities that fight hunger. The proceeds from my Wednesday night benefited First Slice.

For my turn at the ladle I made Black-Eyed Pea, Kale, and Chorizo soup. Usually I make this from scratch, with dried beans and homemade chicken stock. But since I was feeding a crowd, I had to make two gallons of it. I don't have two gallons of homemade chicken stock on hand, so I had to go with canned. The nice thing about this recipe is that it is readily adaptable to convenience foods. Off and on for ten years, I worked at The Sister's Restaurant in Everett, Washington. They taught me to cook, and specifically to make soup. We served this soup there and it was always really popular. Of course, at The Sisters the soup stock was homemade, but Hey, we do what we can, right? What follows is my version of The Sisters' soup.

Black-Eyed Pea, Kale, and Chorizo Soup

2 49oz cans of chicken stock

5 15 oz cans of black-eyed peas (well-rinsed)

one large onion

1.5 to 2 pounds chorizo

2 large bunches of curly kale

olive oil

Bring chicken stock to boil, add black-eyed peas in large pot. Reduce heat. In a skillet, sauté onion in olive oil. Add to pot. In the onion skillet, cook the chorizo though, but not until dry. (When using chorizo in natural casing, you may press it out a little at a time into balls. It’s not so important that they be round, but you’re aiming for little bites of chorizo in your soup and not have it turn out crumbly like ground beef.) Brown chorizo in batches. Do not crowd pan. Drain on paper towel. Add to pot. Simmer on low for two hours stirring occasionally. A half-hour before you intend to serve your soup, skim any accumulated chorizo fat from the top. Chop kale into pieces and add to pot. Serve when kale is cooked, yet still bright green.