Soup Queens

pork noodle soup with broccoli rabe and fennel

Hello and welcome to A Newsletter! If you’ve found your way over by some miracle but are not yet subscribed, here, let me help you with that:

While I haven’t had bangs since I was in my early 20’s, I frequently have the urge to “get bangs.” I don’t mean literally get bangs (this face could never), I mean something I can do that’s in my control at this very moment that will have a relatively meaningless yet immediate and significant impact.

Yesterday, while I didn’t actually get bangs, I “got bangs” when I manically removed all the hardware of my old IKEA cabinets, then took it one step further by removing two of the cabinets themselves. I love using a power drill, it gives me a fantastic sense of accomplishment. So powerful! So much drilling. 

I fantasized about doing this nearly every day-- I was never that comfortable with the “new” fixtures of this otherwise old-feeling and absolutely dreamy apartment. The clean-looking cabinetry is there to hide the mess, sure, but also hide the things that make me, me. The half-used jars of coconut oil and ghee next to the popcorn and nutritional yeast, the scratched-up melamine bowls courtesy of my insomnia-fueled Etsy purchases. The glasses I spent too much money on but enjoy drinking my water from as it really elevates the experience, the stacked measuring cups, the mismatched plates, the 82 different types of beans. I love to expose those things, proud to have them on display despite the chaos and disorder and disfunction they may belie. Oh god-- I’m using the cabinets as a metaphor for myself and I am sorry! 

Anyway, just like getting bangs, I don’t *think* it was a huge mistake, I think it looks better, I think I like it. It looks sort of unfinished, a little unkempt, a bit like a mistake-- but also more lived in, warmer, more like “me”. It’s still a work in progress (JUST LIKE ALL OF US jk, I’ll stop), but a good fix for someone who doesn’t want to commit thousands of dollars to an apartment they don’t own. 

bangs

This is a really long way of saying: When I was cleaning out my pantry to prepare for the PANTRY EXPOSURE, I found several boxes of half-full pasta. It was annoying, I’m still annoyed, but I have only myself to blame. The upside is I was reminded that a half box is exactly what you need for a big pot of noodle soup (which is why I have so many half boxes), and then I could not stop thinking about noodle soup.  I have been making….so many noodle soups.

While all varieties of chicken noodle soup are obviously a perfect food (thank you to my youthful assistant Jane for telling me about Soup Girls), sometimes eating it too many days in a row makes me feel all Beth from Little Women. When I want something a bit punchier, something heartier but still brothy, something rich but full of greenery, I want this version, where the only thing it has in common with chicken noodle soup is the noodle part. That’s right. No celery, no dill (🥲), but there is ground pork, tender slices of garlic, toasted fennel seed, crushed red pepper flakes, and lots of broccoli rabe. A dream pot, really. 

jane keeps me young

If the words “broccoli rabe” send you into a spiral, please know that I choose it for a reason here and I’m asking you to take a leap of faith. The fattiness of the pork coupled with the “faux-blanch” of adding it to simmering broth, makes it more palatable for those sensitive to bitterness, enhancing its natural sweetness and mellowing out the sharpness. I happen to enjoy bitter flavors, but if that’s not you, I trust you’ll still find this soup pleasing to your mouth (the soup could be more bitter if you ask me!). 

Like all “quick soups” that don’t have you making your stock or broth from scratch, you’re relying heavily on the flavor of the broth you’re using. “And that’s why I use Better than Bouillion” (NOT SPONSORED, JUST WILD FOR THIS PRODUCT). It will truly make anything you use boxed broth/stock for taste better by about 93 miles. I have made this soup with their vegetable bouillon, their chicken bouillon, and their not-chicken bouillon. All of them: 10/10, no notes, would BTB again and again.