cream of spinach soup

Amazing how time flies! It has already been a week since my last post, so I better catch up.

I've always loved spinach creamed. My fondest food memories involve Sunday family suppers, right before our restaurant would open for business. My dad would always insist on us kids having chicken soup before we were allowed to dig into the Good Stuff. One of my favorites was, and still is, Spinach Fozelek, a sort-of creamed spinach. As Hungarians, we had a fried egg on top and served it with boiled potatoes and sauteed purple cabbage. For me, that was the epitome of a gourmet meal. So good!

 But I get side-tracked. I only meant to impress on you how I love spinach. Cream of Spinach Soup evokes that same feeling of spinach love. Easy to make and very tasty. Hungarians - or at least my family - never added nutmeg to any green leafy vegetables. In fact, the time I did suggest such a thing to my mother, she thought I had left my faculties somewhere far behind, but you can give it a few grinds. Mikel picked up on the 'odd' flavor of the nutmeg right away and pronounced it not his favorite. I actually enjoyed it, but most likely will go at it with a lighter hand in the future for the sake of the family. As with all new things, baby steps.

Cost Breakdown

spinach: $5

milk: $.75

stock: $1

onion, flour: $.50

cream cheese: $.75

Total to make 4 servings:

$8.00

CREAM OF SPINACH SOUP PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

po' boys

Whenever I come across oyster mushrooms for a good price, I know that they will appear on the week's menu as Po' Boys. Although oyster mushrooms weren't to be had, chanterelles were on sale. And since David happened to be shopping with me, he decided that they were good enough to be on Po' Boys. In fact, we picked them up for $8 a pound. That is very nice for chanterelles. 

A Po' Boy is a traditional Louisianan sandwich. It is made of fried seafood (shrimp, oyster, crab) stuffed into a French baguette with lettuce, tomato and mayo. Way back in my youth, I dined at a restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale that offered Po' Boys. Now I am not sure how the place got there or how authentic their version of a Po' Boy was, but it stuck with me over the decades and that is how we eat our Po' Boys to this very day. After some research, I found other recipes made this way as well, so I can now be relieved to know that my variation isn't that far off the course. In any case, we love it and recommend it!

The type of mushroom is up to you, but oysters are the bomb. You can pan saute them and then toast some panko crumbs to add to the mushrooms (the method Robin Robertson employs in Quick Fix Vegetarian) OR you can deep fry them. We typically make them using the former method, but since these were chanterelles, we wanted to give them the ol' Paula Deen treatment - we fried them. 

After the mushrooms are done, put them on a garlic-toasted hoagie or French baguette with tartar sauce and coleslaw. OMG. This does not last long at our place. In fact, we bought and consumed three pounds of mushrooms (not in one sitting). 
Gluttons that we are. And you too, can be one. Join us.

Cost Breakdown

mushrooms: $8
bread: $3
cabbage, carrot, lemon: $3
vegenaise, sugar, pickles, onion: $2
flour, cornmeal, oil: $3
Total to make 4 sandwiches:
$19.00