10/17: Soup

John was in Ketchikan yesterday, so I was on my own in the kitchen with the two bunches of kale. I thought about this all day: There is a delicious and very easy escarole soup in one of the Marcella Hazan books. Really simple:
1) Wash the greens well, and cut out the stems. Then cut the leaves into ribbons.
2) Dice up some onion into smallish pieces, and sauté in a couple of tablespoons of butter on moderate heat. You want the onions to soften and get a hint of brownness, which adds a nice flavor.
3) thaw some chicken stock, if you are lucky to have a wonderful husband who stocks the freezer with stock regularly, or get a can of stock, or even you can use water and bouillon cubes. You need 5 -6 cups.
4) When the onions are golden, add the chopped greens and sauté them briefly (2 minutes) until they begin to wilt. Add 1/2 cup of the stock, cover and let cook on a gentle heat for about 15 -20 minutes.
In the meantime, wash up the breakfast dishes and cut up some fruit for dessert, in this case mango (from "The Box") flavored with orange zest and coarse black pepper.
5) Add 1/2 cup of rice, Arborio is good, the rest of the stock, cover and let simmer for another 20 minutes.
Set the table, put a load of wash in, clean and feed the fish. Grate some Parmesan cheese. Have a glass of J Lohr Arroyo Seco Chardonnay for an aperitif.
By now the rice is cooked and the greens tender. Ladle it into a bowl, top with cheese, and wish you were here! There's plenty left over, so come on by.