House Butch
Life with Mrs. deWinter

Soooo lesbian. Soooo dyke.

So queer.

At least around here.

It was a three-star potluck weekend for us. Sugar cookies with color-and-flavor coordinated toppings to the Sunday gig, and for our two Saturday potluck offerings, my:

House Butch Leftover-Brisket Soup

olive oil
onions
celery
garlic (several whole cloves)
peppercorns
anise seeds
thyme
pepper
a wee pinch of salt

Saute slowly in olive oil until those onions are translucent. If you use a really low heat you can stir intermittently while washing and cutting into bite-sized bits:

parsnips
carrots
potatoes
mushrooms
the leftover brisket....

Last Thursday, Mrs. deWinter's body screamed "beef" as it does at a certain time of the month (or so she reports — I must admit I've never heard it). That evening, she walked in the door with a beautiful piece of free-range, organic beef and that look in her eyes, and I moved the enchiladas onto the cooling rack, donned my Miracle Worker muscle shirt, put some water on for rice pilaf, pulled out the new Hamilton Beach indoor grill, and got to it.

As usually happens, her need-beef-now! eyes were bigger than her stomach, so when dinner was done, we had an ample piece of brisket left over.

Now, while Mrs. deWinter likes the idea of leftovers, and while she's a great post-meal put-it-in-a-ziplock-or-tupperware and stash-it-in-the-fridge sous chef, she's all out-of-sight, out-of-mind, bored-with-it when it comes to leftovers.

She can be force-fed leftovers, but I rarely have the heart for such tough love. Leftovers transformed into something entirely new have a certain appeal for Mrs. d, Dieu merci.

So, back to that why-would-you-put-brisket-in-a-soup recipe....

When your onions have taken on the colors of peppercorn and thyme, pour an ounce or two of Merlot or other red wine into the skillet and let the alcohol burn off as you deglaze the pan.

chopped veggies & brisket (from above)
beef broth
4-5 oz. Merlot or red wine
water
2 cans chopped/crushed/stewed tomatoes (whatever you have on hand)
bay leaves (at least 3)
pepper

Pour your deglazed saute into a stock pot and add the above ingredients to it. Cook slowly for hours. Refrigerate. Cook slowly again for awhile on the day your soup is to be served. Crock pots are so 70s, but they so rock for potlucks.

Thursday's intended enchiladas? We had those on Friday night and didn't save a bite for our potlucking friends.

Permabutchlink posted by House Butch -- 8:38 AM.

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