It seems like many of my friends and family are floundering in the grip of this terrible cold and flu season. With Culinary school starting in a little over a week I can’t afford to be out sick. I decided that Brian and I need an immune system boost; what better way to get it than from soup. Soup gives the opportunity to combine an array of healthy and healing ingredients because you can basically throw everything in but the kitchen sink.

If you’ve already taken ill this flu season and think you don’t have the energy to cook, this recipe is relatively easy to make especially with the use of canned or box stock (which I use often when it’s just for Brian and me).

I recently read an article called “The Axis of Food Evil:  Fat, Sugar and Salt.” The article explained that food can stimulate the same circuits in the brain as drugs. Every one knows the affects of food cravings and that feeling that you just can’t stop eating even though you’re full. You know that feeling when you’re eating a bag of potato chips and you just can’t pull yourself away from it. It can be difficult to eat well with all of the salty, sweet temptations bombarding us daily.

If you actually stop and think about each ingredient in the food you’re eating as a way to provide your body with caloric energy and nutrients it can change your world. The first two healing ingredients that came to mind while writing this recipe were Ginger and Garlic, but after doing some research I found that most of the ingredients I planned on using anyway would also contribute to boosting our immune systems.

Here’s my reasoning behind some of the ingredients:

• Red Kidney Beans for protein, iron, vitamins A and C.
• Ginger for nausea, migraines, aches, chills and congestion
• Garlic and onions help stimulate the power of macrophages and T cells which are important to immune system defense.
• Celery and carrots for vitamin C which may help reduce the duration of the cold.
• Tomatoes for antioxidants which protect against destructive free radicals

Please keep in mind that this soup is not the end-all-be-all to curing your cold. It contains many healthy ingredients and is an example of things that should be included in a healthy diet  that can lead to a strong immune system, but it is not a substitute for a visit to the doctor if you are sick. For more nutritional health information a great book to read is “Foods that Harm Foods that Heal” by the editors of Reader’s Digest or Prevention.com has a fantastic Nutrition Section.

The Healing Soup

• 3tbs evoo
• 1/2 medium onion finely chopped
• 2 carrots finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk finely chopped
• 1lb mushrooms caps sliced
• 1/2 tsp koser salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1 tbs butter
• 1 tbs flour
• 4 cups beef stock
• 2-3 tbs fresh ginger minced
• 9 cloves garlic minced
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 lemon juiced
• 3 tbs fresh parsley chopped
• 2 green onions diced
• parmesan cheese
• orzo

heat evoo in a large soup pot. Saute onion, carrot, celery and mushrooms until just tender, season with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. add butter to pot, when it’s melted sprinkle in flour and stir. allow to cook 3-4 minutes.

Add beef stock, ginger, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves to pot and bring to a boil. scrape off any foam that rises to the top. Add canned tomatoes and kidney beans. Turn heat down to medium low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, uncover and add lemon juice, parsley and half of the green onions. Stir together. Serve over orzo pasta, garnish with remaining green onions and parmesan.

Additions & Substitutions:

Shrimp: if you don’t like beans, throw in a 1/2 pound of pealed, deveined shrimp at the last ten minutes of simmering. Cook until shrimp are opaque. – shrimp for protein, iron, zinc & slenium

Some of my Home Cooking Philosophy:

I realize that fresh produce provides more nutrients and a better flavor than canned and frozen, but buying only fresh can become quite expensive. Generally, I split my fresh and frozen/canned usage about 50/50. Freshly grated artisanal cheeses are expensive as well; you’ll notice that I use the pre-grated stuff in the plastic cylindrical container for our daily use. I try to be as frugal as possible, I do however frequently spend the extra money on canned or box stocks because I don’t have the time to make them myself on a regular basis. I would not criticize you if you did the same or if you made your own. I believe in culinary freedom.

I was too scared to do anything useful at the TCA open house and job fair. All i kept thinking was all of these people are students here or even graduates, I have absolutely no experience in a professional kitchen; I haven’t even started classes yet. I know I’m not an idiot and I’m a very fast learner and I’m knowledgeable about food and cooking, but I just felt like I couldn’t compete with any of the other people there.

I don’t do well in big competitive free-for-alls like job fairs unless I know I can at least compete with some of the people there. I just get scared and clam up and feel very very small and insignificant. Yes I have experience in the professional world of web development and internet marketing and that counts for something, but I had no idea what sort of experience any of the other people there might have. They might be just as professionally adept as I am plus they are already culinary students and many of them have probably worked in kitchens before.

The students also had the opportunity to sign up for interviews with the employers well in advance; that meant that they knew who was going to be there. This left me even more disadvantaged and unprepared. If TCA had listed the employers that were attending on their website I would have researched them all. I would have found out what type of cuisine they specialize in, the size of their establishment and their average cost per plate. It would have helped me to find a place that I felt comfortable talking to and working in. I wouldn’t have been able to impress someone who looked down at me for having no experience, so I would have focused on those who might be interested in helping me learn and who’s cuisine I already have experience cooking at home.

Going into a job fair completely blind and having no experience is not the right way to do this for me. I think I’m going to continue working at Star Nine part time until the end of the year like we had planned. I don’t think I really need two jobs; Brian is living here now and paying for half the bills, so it’s not like I’m at risk of being evicted or anything like that. I think this gives me a few months to feel it all out better. I’ll start school and then start looking around on my own for job in a kitchen or bakery. I know a one on one interview situation with a potential emplyer would be better for me even without any professional culinary experience. In an interview I would feel more confident and capable and be able to wow them.

So I did what I always do when I’m feeling kind of lame…I cooked, of course. I decided soup would be perfect for a rainy, lame kind of day. This is what I made

Cream of Mushroom Parmesan Soup

• 5 tbs butter
• 5 tbs AP flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1 clove garlic peeled and smashed
• 1 lb white or brown mushrooms caps sliced
• 1/2 medium white onion minced
• 1 cup beef or vegetable stock
• 1 tbs red wine or sherry
• 1 Cup grated parmesan plus a little more for garnish
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper (use white if you have it. I did not)
• 1 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
• 2 green onions chopped – optional garnish

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium low heat. Saute mushrooms and white onion in butter until mushrooms are just soft. Add salt and pepper. Sprinkle flour over mushrooms and stir together, allow to cook until flour is a light sandy color, about 6 or 7 minutes

Meanwhile heat milk with smashed garlic clove over medium low heat until just before it starts to boil; don’t let it boil.

Add wine to mushroom roux, allow to reduce for just a minute then whisk in stock. whisk until it’s smooth, it will thicken at this time too. Once smooth ladle in hot milk whisking together between each ladle. Once all the milk is whisked in and it’s all combined grate the nutmeg over soup and stir in. Taste and adjust salt and pepper, check consistency – it should coat the back of a spoon. Allow to heat just to a bubble then immediately remove from the heat and serve. Sprinkle a little more parm over the top and green onion if desired.

*Last night I was reading “Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom” by Julia Child. She gave me the idea to add dried tarragon to this recipe. A 1/4 teaspoon should do; added in with the nutmeg. I think you’ll like this, give it a try and let me know!