Sunday, January 13, 2013

Mother Hubbard's Cupboard


Mother Hubbard's cupboard

I decided that soup would be a good meal tonight. I went into the kitchen to find some inspiration. I opened the drawer where I keep the recipe books, there on the top was a recipe for some corn chowder. Yum, sounds good to me.
Lets see, 5 slices of bacon. I don’t have any bacon.
I have some wild caught Alaskan salmon patties. Check
2 medium onions, sliced thin. Check
3 cups of potatoes, diced. Check, my own organic potatoes from my own garden.
3 cups of water. Check
1 Tablespoon of Redmond sea salt. Check
1 Tablespoon of pepper. I don’t use pepper anymore but I have some Basil. Check
1 can of corn, creamed. Don’t have canned corn but I have some frozen corn out of my garden. I’ll have to make my own cream sauce out of 4 Tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of flour. Check
1 cup of milk. I don’t use milk but I have some Organic chicken broth. Check
Using a large pot, cook crumbled patties in 1/4 cup olive oil till done.
Remove cooked salmon.
Sauté onions in oil until soft.
Add potatoes with water, broth, salt and Basil.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes until potatoes are tender.
Add corn.
Cream butter and flour together and add, stirring until blended. 
Add salmon crumbles and enjoy.
I often cook this way. Some people need a set recipe  to follow, I can take what I have and make a great meal.
When someone asks me for the recipe, I can’t often repeat the same dish in the same way because next time I may have different ingredients in the cupboard.
I thank my mother for teaching me how to cook. She cooked simple meals from basic ingredients. She is a master chef.
Life is much the same for me. I look in my cupboard and decide what I want each day. I check my inventory, see what looks good and make my choices. It is never the same and seldom boring. I can cook up whatever I want. If I want spicy, I add the right ingredients. If I want mellow I add a dash of music with some picture albums and voila’.  
If I want cold cereal, it is there for me to enjoy.
By the way, the Salmon and corn chowder is to die for.
Maybe I should open my own restaurant and call it, Old Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard.
If you hurry over to my house, I still have some left but it is disappearing fast.